White Chocolate

No, not the food. Although I have some on my table at home right now, Cadbury, and man, that stuff is pretty good. So stop by if you want some.

I'm talking about Jason Williams, the once-flashy point guard whose passes and plays are ridiculous.

Jason Williams came into the league out of Florida University, was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, and instantly started crossing people over left and right, throwing three-quarter court alley-oops, three-quarter court bounce passes, the works.

He was fun to watch, and passing wise, fundamentally sound. He knew where everyone was on the court, and always found people perfectly in stride. He threw his passes exactly where the person would be with the correct speed, correct height, everything. Man, it was just pretty.

When he'd train in the offseason, before he's even take one shot, he would spend three hours just dribbling, throwing passes, and working on wrist strength. Three hours of handling practice to make sure that any pass, flashy or normal, got to the person at the perfect height, perfect time, right where they'd want it.

Two of his passes stand out to me in particular, one of which is in the clip, and one of which isn't. The one in the clip is the 3/4 court bounce pass, mainly because of its sheer difficulty, and his ability to do it in stride. The second one is just a simple bounce pass to a man coming around a screen. The pass is made before the guy even comes around, and it is made at a slow enough speed to allow him to come around, but quick enough for it not to be stolen. Right when the man comes off the screen, the ball is in his hands. This allows for the player to know that as soon as he passes the man, he can just set his feet because by the time he is set, the ball will be in his hands, just where he likes it.

The precision to make that happen is ridiculous, and his skill actually inspired me to become a better passer when I was younger. I still try to focus more on passing, getting the ball to the man at the right place, right time, above scoring.

He was never the best player on his team, never a great player, but his passing will be missed, maybe not by too many people, but definitely by me.