After Family Friend Said He Was ‘Playing Soft,’ Darrion Williams Delivers Breakout ACC Performance

Darrion Williams had been struggling.

The guy who was looked at as NC State’s most valuable player coming into the season started ACC play shooting just 30% from inside the arc.

It wasn’t just the percentage, either. Williams looked awkward when he was trying to score inside. He was settling for fadeaways, and if he was trying to score at the hoop, it seemed like he was just tossing it up.

A lot of times, you see this when a player is shying away from contact, unable to play through that contact, or playing tentatively (you see this a lot with players returning from injuries, and feeling less confident in absorbing the physicality and push you get on every shot in the paint in a league like the ACC).

We were wondering what was going on.

In my Williams piece from prior to the game, I laid out a few theories…

Maybe his shoulder is still bothering him?
Wade hasn’t mentioned but I did see him move it around awkwardly after getting knocked out of bounds against Pitt. Still, I think if it were a real issue, we’d know about it.

Is he worried about getting hurt?
He’s been missing shots around the rim, and it seems he’s been shying away from contact more than his videos show from last year. He wants a future in the NBA, so this could be an issue, but again, I think this is less likely.

Is he playing about 15 lbs lighter than he was last year?
According to a source, Williams weight is down this season. It’s likely that he got feedback from the NBA that to be a wing, he needed to be more versatile and a lot quicker. With less weight, could he be struggling to create the physicality and get down deep enough on the block to where he was comfortable last year? And when you lose that strength, it’s easy to lose some confidence. I think this is having a bigger factor than many realize or would like to admit.

It turns out, maybe it was none of those. Maybe he just needed a phone call.

Against Syracuse, Williams looked totally different. He was hunting contact. He was delivering body blows instead of accepting them. He seemed balanced, under control through contact, which to me was a sign that he was anticipating and inviting it.

So after the game, I asked him…

“You looked like a different player today. You seemed more physical out there. Is this something the coaching staff has been working with you on, or what was different?

Darrion’s answer actually surprised me.

“I had a phone call with a family friend yesterday. They just told me I was playing really soft this whole season, so I just tried to play harder, be more physical with other guys,  instead of letting other guys move me off my spot. So thanks to him, but I don’t know, I was trying to be more physical, especially when I got mismatches.”

I wondered if this was something the staff had been seeing, so I asked Wade as well and asked if Wade knew that he got a call from a family friend about ‘being soft’…

“We planted that call.” Said Wade, joking. “Darrion doesn’t like that pad. We’ve been hitting with that pad. We kind of let him do stuff against the air before. Sometimes you’ve got to touch him up a little bit with that pad, get him to feel that pad a little bit. So we’re trying to put that pad on him.”

Whether it was his family friend or ‘the pad,’ something changed last night for the 6’6 forward, and it showed in the box score.

24 points, 9-16 from the floor, 5-9 from 3pt range, 4-6 from inside the arc, 6 boards, and 5 assists.

This is the Darrion Williams that Will Wade knew he had, and the one that NC State has been looking for all season.

I believe that if Williams can keep this level of physicality, he’ll be able to replicate this type of performance more consistently, and that would come just in time for NC State’s stretch run.