Now Rudy's going to stick him in front of the rotation if he sticks to hisusual guns. Season's over, might as well play the young guys. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1268318 Feb. 22, 2002, 9:33PM Williams ready for action Rockets' swingman eager to pick up where he left off By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle UPDATE · Tonight: Boston Celtics at Rockets · When/where: 7:30 p.m.; Compaq Center. · TV/radio: FSN; KPRC (950 AM) and in Spanish on KRTX (980 AM). · Records: Rockets 19-35, Celtics 31-24. Walt Williams is all too familiar with the feelings that come with spending so much time on the injured list. The losses are aggravating, especially to those powerless to help stop them, and it goes without saying the rehabilitation process is lonely for the members of the Rockets' walking wounded. Still, Williams thinks back to how he felt just before the pain shot through his right ankle on Jan. 16. His jumper was connecting that night, with three of four 3-pointers falling. Forced to adjust, the Toronto Raptors chased Williams out to the 3-point arc, where he caught his defender too far from the rim, pump-faked and made his move. When the drive to the basket ended with Williams landing hard on Antonio Davis' left foot and severely spraining his ankle, Williams was forced to spend the next 5 1/2 weeks trying to get well and thinking how right everything had been before he was injured. "It was tough," Williams said. "I was on a roll. I thought I was about to start something. But injuries are part of game. You have to regroup and come back shooting. You do your rehab and transfer it to the court." The 6-8 swingman was placed on the injured list the next day, just before the Rockets were to play at Boston. In a fitting but coincidental bit of timing, Williams could be activated from the injured list tonight when the Rockets host the Celtics at Compaq Center. Williams joined the Rockets last week for their road trip. He went through the off-day practice at Washington on Tuesday, took a turn in Wednesday's shootaround at Milwaukee and got in some running before Thursday's game here against Minnesota. After one more test Friday, Williams said he felt ready to return to the Rockets' rotation. "I went on the trip to be with the guys," Williams said. "That's a key part of playing this game. It was close to time to come back. I wanted to get in the rhythm of the things I do while playing. We didn't practice that hard. We played some three-on-three. But it was good to do that. "I feel pretty good. I put a lot of pressure on it. It's just a little sore. I'm ready to go out there and do some things." Williams was averaging 8.7 points, making only 38.9 percent of his shots, when he was hurt. The Rockets had installed a variety of sets and plays for Williams and Glen Rice before both went down with injuries. Williams had hoped the changes would help him turn his season around; instead, it was stopped short. "There was definitely more movement on the weak side," Williams said. "We did not want to allow defenses to sit and key on Steve (Francis) and Cuttino (Mobley). Guys were getting open on the weak side. It definitely helped me a lot." Williams, 31, is in the last season of a five-year, $20 million contract. He said he is unconcerned about what will happen after the season and will not try to prove anything in what is left of it. "I just want to play my game, do what I'm capable of doing, play solid defense and let my actions speak for themselves," Williams said. "I just want to come back strong. I've been working on my shot. Hopefully I can pick up from where I left off."
I would rather see Walt out there than T-Mo. He may be streaky, but at least he has streaks for the love of God. It seems like T-Mo is doing some special favors for Rudy, because he is always the first sub of the game. Go figure.
Yeah, I agree. Hopefully Walt Williams will move Morris further down on the bench, because when he's in there he doesnt really provide anything positive.
i would rather see morris. we know, basically, that williams will not be back next year. the season is over, so we don't really need him. t-mo might work out for us yet. all he has to do is improve his shot. we need to give morris a chance. if we could still make the playoffs, i would definatley play walt. since it won't be easy to do that, i say play t-mo.
I vote for Morris - his defense is better than Walt's offense. And anyway, Walt is gone in a few months - Morris might fit in the future, but Walt is just eating up cap space right now. But Rudy is going to respect Walt's status as a vet and play him. On one hand, I cringe because it's like Rudy's setting his rotation according to seniority, not talent and/or potential. But on the other hand, the Rockets have a reputation for doing right by players, which gives us a big bargaining chip on the free agent market. Teams like Chicago, Denver, and Golden State could learn a lot from Rudy.
I'm not sure that Walt is gone in a few months. I'm willing to guess that his big salary will be gone, but he may re-sign at a lower or even minnimum contract. No comment on if this is good or bad.
i agree, i don't know if walt is outta here just yet. his contract will be gone but for some reason i can see him being brought back even though we have no place for him.
For the love of God. Get used to having Cuttino and Morris, they will be around as long as Steve is around.
