MINNEAPOLIS—Jason Williams already has to settle for being the second-best player on his team.
It’s only natural, then, that he would bristle over the suggestion that he’ll be the second-best point guard on the court tonight.
Williams, a sophomore whose talent is often overshadowed by senior teammate Shane Battier, kept a smile on his face Friday, but clearly didn’t enjoy talking about Steve Blake on the eve of the Final Four.
Blake, also a sophomore point guard, led Maryland into tonight’s national semifinal game against the Blue Devils. He just happens to own a pair of wins over Duke in his first two seasons — games in which Williams struggled.
“I’m not worried about that. Past matchups don’t mean anything,”Williams said. “He’s a great defensive player and a lot of people don’t give him credit for what he deserves.”
But does Blake give Williams more problems than other point guards?
“That’s up to you guys to decide,” Williams shot back with a smile that appeared to mask a far different response.
The numbers build a fairly incriminating case without any help, though.
In six games against Maryland, Williams is averaging 15.8 points, down from his career mark of 18.2. Three points isn’t that big a deal, but the smaller point totals have come thanks to some miserable shooting nights — 7-for-20, 5-for-16 and a quiet 3-for-8.
The most telling numbers come later in the scoring summary — 36 assists, 35 turnovers.
One of Williams’ worst nights at Duke came during his freshman year, when Blake held him to nine points and forced seven turnovers. The Terps won that game 98-87, snapping Duke’s 46-game home winning streak. A distraught Williams left the locker room in tears without speaking to reporters.
“Jason hasn’t really had the best of games against Maryland,”said sophomore Mike Dunleavy, who remembered the mood in the locker room that night all too well. “When he’s made shots, we’ve always beaten them and nobody’s really said anything about Blake. But when he hasn’t, Steve’s gotten a lot of attention for it.”
Blake hasn’t burned the Blue Devils in big ways, but his numbers have stayed consistent with the rest of his career. The pass-first, shoot-second guard averages 9.3 points, 7.3 assists and 4.7 turnovers in his head-to-head battles with Williams.
The one time they weren’t on the court at the same time, Williams dominated. Maryland held a comfortable lead at College Park earlier this season when Blake fouled out with 1:51 remaining.
Williams then went crazy, scoring eight points in the final minute to help Duke erase a 10-point deficit in the last 54 seconds. The Blue Devils went on to win in overtime.
Any offense Maryland gets from Blake comes as a bonus. The 6-foot-3 Terp does most of his damage on the defensive end. His long arms penetrate the passing lanes — his career high six steals came last year against Duke — and he tries his best to disrupt the 6-2 Williams’ shot attempts.
“What I try to do is stay in front of him,”Blake said. “Once he does go up to take a shot, I get a hand up, make him see that I’m there, no open looks.”
Of course, it doesn’t always work.
“He’s got a good all-around game, he can go left, right, pull up, shoot 3s,”Blake added. “He’s a strong point guard.”
Williams knows Blake feels that way. Blake knows Williams has an equal level of respect for him.
Now if everyone would just stop talking about how Blake outplays Williams, then everything will be just fine.
“I’m sure it motivates him,”Dunleavy said. “He’s going to take it into the game but not let it affect our team, get caught in one-on-one battles, get worried about his statistics.
“He’s going to do his best and play a great game for us.”
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Sportswriter Steve Hanf is covering Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
Steve Hanf