Jason Williams talks ACC hoops

ACC basketball fans may have noticed a familiar name was working with an ESPNU microphone on Monday in Raleigh. Former Duke star Jason Williams - his mom still calls him that, though he's fine with "Jay" - provided the color commentary as Marquette beat N.C. State, 68-65. As He was traveling back to his home in New Jersey, he talked by phone about State, UNC, Duke and Stephen Curry.

On N.C. State: First of all, I'm very, very impressed with Sidney Lowe. I had known who he was, and I got a chance to see him play when I was younger. I had a lot of admiration for him because he led the ACC in assists and turnover ratio, so watching tape of him back when I was in school was something I was very interested in. But meeting the actual person, that persona behind the coach, he's such a player's coach. He's a great guy. Just seeing his team and hearing him talk about his team, he's very passionate.

I think the only place they struggle is the guard play. You know, Courtney Fells is great. Being 6-5, he can shoot the ball. But
they don't have that consistent guard threat. Where they do dominate you is in their low post play with McCauley and Costner. I mean, when those guys get going, they're very dangerous. But Costner with nine attempts from the field? [He had 10 against Marquette.] I was very surprised they didn't put the ball in his hands at the end. ... Their guard play is something that's going to be pivotal for them going into ACC play.

On UNC: It's funny. Everybody in the country talks about this
player of the year battle is between Tyler Hansbrough and Blake Griffin [of Oklahoma], and the one player that I've seen who impresses me - and he may not get it - is Ty Lawson. ... I really think that he is the engine behind that car for UNC. If you take Tyler Hansbrough out of that lineup, they still have Deon Thompson and Ed Davis, two guys who can get it done down low in the post. If you take Ty Lawson off that team, I think they lose a lot. He's averaging around seven assists, around 15 points. He had some big games in the Maui Invitational. And I really enjoy watching him play. He makes some really great passes. some great decisions. I think he's a heck of a
basketball player.

On Davidson's Stephen Curry: He's a great player ... but sometimes I really question a lot of his shot selections. One game I saw him, I think it was versus N.C. State, he had 44 points, but he took 33 shots. Granted, he didn't have anybody else on his team to take shots. But I know once he gets to the next level he's going to have to be a point guard, and he's going to get drafted to get people into the game. ... Will he be able to carry on the same kind of shooting and have the same shot selection in the NBA? I don't think so. I think he might struggle the same way you see J.J. Redick struggling. When the plays aren't run for you all the time, now all of a sudden, instead of getting 33 shots, you might get four or five, and you're expected to make those shots. And if you don't, you're going to have a hard time kind of getting in that true circle of a team's rotation, so I seem some struggles ahead for him if he can't turn himself into more of a point guard/shooting guard.

On Duke: I think Kyle Singler is going to be a stud. He's kind of filling out his new role. But the one question I have for my alma mater is they need somebody to be a star. They need somebody to really put the team on their shoulders and to want the ball in end-of-game situations. I look at their team as having a bunch of great role guys.

Kyle Singler's the one guy who's hovering around that point of being a star. But the guy who I really think can help them break out is Gerald Henderson. He needs to be the stud for that team. I got a chance to work out with him in the summer and got a chance to play pickup basketball with him, and usually when I play pickup, I'm still pretty good. I'll be able to bully guys for calls and say, no, the ball stays here. He was the one guy this summer that I could not bully. Defensively, I tried to guard him, but him being 6-5 and around 210 pounds, when he wants to drive the ball to the basket, you can't stop him.

He has a pro-like game when he attacks, but sometimes he reminds me of Vince Carter. I love watching Vince. When Vince attacks, you can't stop him. But sometimes you wonder where the heck Vince is during the game. He kind of just disappears, and I think that's what happens to Gerald. ... When he and Kyle Singler emerge as stars, which they still haven't done, then Duke becomes a threat. But until that happens, I don't seem them challenging Carolina. You know, Clemson is playing great basketball now. Miami's still a pretty good team. Wake Forest, with Jeff Teague and Al-Farouq Aminu and Tony Woods and everybody they have over there, they're a good team, too. And I kind of see Duke in that second tier.

Coming soon: Williams discusses how difficult it was to be so widely second-guessed after his motorcyle accident and how the death of former Boston Celtics star Dennis Johnson, who coached him in the National Basketball Development League, influenced his decision to stop pursuing a professional career.