Same here. At the time of that draft I thought it should have been rather obvious to anyone with half a basketball scouting mind that this guy was a guaranteed bust. I was really shocked to see Atlanta pick him so high. I was not surprised at all how he turned out.
I messed up on the size (girth) thing, but is he really 6'9"? I don't remember much shot-blocking in college. Intangibles? I don't remember any. He didn't seem particularly intelligent and, again, only his brute strength gave him an advantage. To each his own. I saw a 4th year senior enjoying his heyday who had little potential in the NBA.
His height looks about right to me. Mind you, my exposure to him in pro's (even despite being a Hawks fan) was rather limited. He generally only got in whenever the game was out of reach and that moment usually coincided with me shutting off the TV due to frustration or satisfying my "Josh Smith Boneheaded Plays Quota" for the evening. Shot blocking? School's all-time leader and averaged four per game his junior/senior years. They at least used to call him "The Landlord" for a reason. Now? Not quite the case. Disagreed totally on the intelligence and intangibles aspect. In college he was a flat-out winner that knew how to get things done. Rarely ever buckled in crunch time. Off the top of my head, i'm pretty sure the worst a Duke team that he anchored ever finished was 25+ wins and a Sweet 16 appearance. Overall, I would say his basketball IQ and court sense were well above average. But yeah, debating all these minor details is rather pointless since we all know the outcome. I drank the Kool-Aid, you didn't.
Williams was a very good shot blocker in college. (3rd in the nation in both his junior and senior years.)
I remember the rumor that he was promised to go 5th and everybody at the time was saying that was way too high for him. I was downright incredulous, saying there is no way Atlanta made him a draft promise, because I couldn't believe even Hawks management could be that dumb. But, they were.
I can't believe he went 5th. He was a good player, but he was a 4 year guy and he didn't put up crazy stats.
