What was Herb Williams' game like?

[SelakStreet]

Offensively, defensively, etc. when he was in his prime with Indiana and Dallas.

[penbeast0]

I remember him mainly with the Pacers. Athletic physical player with good size, midrange and post-up on offense, not a good passer. Defensively became more of an enforcer type as he aged but similar to offense, physical and aggressive but not a rim protector or very switchable.

[sp6r=underrated]

I'm interested too. For me Herb Williams, as a middle aged Knicks fan, was my introduction to the aging vet who is really a coach in a player's uniform. So I'd like to know from people who remember him in his salad days.

[kcktiny]

In 1985-86 he was pretty darn good - scored 19.9 pts/g, 6th highest scoring C in the league at that time. Also blocked the 6th most shots that season (184) - that may not sound like alot but the past 5 seasons only 5 players blocked more in a season.

Had a 37 point game against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks, a 33 point game against Tree Rollins (a really good defensive C) and the Atlanta Hawks, and a 38 point game against Manute Bol and the Washington Bullets, and Bol was an elite shot blocker. Bol that year blocked 397 shots, 2nd most in league history.

The 7 years 1981-82 to 1987-88 Herb Williams blocked the 5th most shots among all players.

He played 18 years in the league, and when he retired he had played the 19th most regular season minutes among the league's Cs.

[penbeast0]

To be fair, while Manute was probably the most disruptive and prolific shotblocker in NBA history, that was about the extent of his defensive skills other than pure height. He moved poorly vertically though decent laterally, couldn't hold position in the post, and didn't handle PnR particularly well either.

[kcktiny]

To be fair, while Manute was probably the most disruptive and prolific shotblocker in NBA history, that was about the extent of his defensive skills other than pure height. He moved poorly vertically though decent laterally, couldn't hold position in the post, and didn't handle PnR particularly well either.

That Washington Bullets team was 2nd in the league in lowest 2pt FG% allowed on defense (47.4%) in 1985-86, and ranked 4th best in the 23 team league defensively (just 103.5 pts/100poss allowed).

This despite the fact that the player to play the most minutes on that team was SG Jeff Malone, a player never known for his defense, and two 32 year olds playing key minutes - PG Gus Williams and PF Dan Roundfield - the 3rd and 4th most minutes on the team (and were 10 and 11 year league veterans).

Bol was named all-defensive 2nd team that year, playing just 26 min/g.

Check out the 7-7 skyhook on the Bullets first team possession:

Watch on YouTube