Utah Jazz Player Profile: Mo Williams
By Tyson Newman
October 1, 2012; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz point guard Mo Williams (5) poses for a portrait during media day at the Zions Bank Basketball Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE
PLAYER: Mo Williams
HEIGHT: 6’1”
WEIGHT: 195 lbs
COLLEGE: Alabama
NUMBER: 5
POSITION: PG
YEARS w/JAZZ: 2003-2004, First year back with Jazz
Mo Williams was selected by the Utah Jazz 18th in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft. In his rookie season Mo came off the bench to back up Carlos Arroyo. In 57 games played Mo averaged 13.5 minutes a game, 5.0 points per game and 1.3 assists per game. I thought it would be fun to throw in a highlight video from Mo’s rookie season with the Jazz.
Mo is a little bit of a different player this time around putting on the Jazz uniform. Now he’s a veteran player who has an all star selection on his resume. He’s played in 41 playoff games and started in 25 of them. He’s played on not so great teams but also played with King James in Cleveland when they posted the best record in the NBA for 2 strait seasons in ’08-’09 and ’09-’10. The young rookie that left the Jazz now returns after a lot of experience in this league.
Last season the Jazz finished 8th in the west just sneaking into the playoffs. Even with the success the Jazz had it was no secret that point guard was a position they had to address this off season. Devin Harris was not a long term solution for this team, he at times showed that he could still play at the level of an all star but was a disappointment the majority of the time. Devin did not ever look like he fit in with the Jazz system as his style of play is more of a one on one player who likes to use his quickness to get to the hoop. Mo should be a upgrade this season for the Jazz, he is not a traditional point guard and has never been a big assist guy but Mo has developed as a great outside shooter and should help spread the defense for more opportunities in the paint.
So what all does Mo Williams bring to this team? Mo has made it clear to the media he will be a vocal leader for this team. He will bring toughness to this team who has been missing someone who will speak up. As for his play, he brings shooting which is something the Jazz were in desperate need of last year. He can handle the ball and has said he is going to be an extension of Coach Corbin on the floor. Mo has definitely said the right things to make me believe that he will do whatever he needs to do to help this team win basketball games. As I said earlier I think Mo is a serious upgrade at the point guard position because of the leadership and toughness he will add to this team.
The biggest weakness the Jazz had last year was outside shooting. The Jazz have a loaded front court with very talented players in the post but those guys would get double teamed and when they kicked the ball out we didn’t have much success from the outside. The Jazz solved this problem during the off season by adding Marvin Williams and Randy Foye along with Mo Williams. The Jazz didn’t have a single player last year that was in the top 75 in 3 point shooting, we went out and added 3 players that were in the top 40. The fact is that the Jazz will without a doubt shoot better from deep this season which in turn should open up the middle and help the Jazz be more efficient on offense.
I personally am very excited that Mo Williams is back in a Jazz uniform. I think he is a great option for this team at the point guard position. If Mo can play a little bit more like a point guard and think more pass first then he is used to then I think he could possibly be a long term option for Utah. He could also be a great mentor for a young point guard if the Jazz look to add one through the draft in the future. I expect Mo to have a great season and I’m even willing to go as bold as saying he will have his best season from the 3 point line. In my opinion the Jazz made a great move by bringing in Mo Williams this off season and I believe Mo will have a huge impact on this Jazz team for the better.