Williams the Driving Force Behind Ft. Worth Lions

DENTON, TX. -- If there was any doubt as to who was the leader for Ft. Worth Lions, all you needed to do was watch about 10 seconds from the Lions' two playoff games on Saturday here at the Great American Shootout.

When the game is on the line, Deron Williams has tremendous poise and composure. In a 72-71 victory over Oklahoma Athletes First on Saturday morning, Williams drove to the basket and drew a foul with 3.8 seconds left. After missing the first free throw, Williams sucked it up and nailed the second to provide the winning margin.

But that was nothing out of the ordinary for Williams, who made big shot after big shot in the second half and overtime to help the Lions erase a 62-54 deficit with less than two minutes to play in regulation. He finished with 20 points in the narrow win.

Then Williams put an exclamation point on later Saturday afternoon against a scrappy Houston JR Hardballers squad.

The Lions once again appeared headed for certain doom, falling behind by double digits midway through the second half.

That's when the Lions began to turnover the Hardballers with startling regularity, scoring an astounding six points in seven seconds via the foul line and one layup to knot the game at 61 with 1:12 left.

After Brandon Chaison's driving layup attempt failed to give Houston the lead, Ft. Worth milked the clock in the final seconds of the game.

Williams had the ball, maneuvering to his left and firing a tremendous deft pass to forward Chris Moore underneath, who corralled the basketball and slammed it home with 6.5 seconds to play to give the Lions another thrilling win.

"Those goals are hard as a rock, and I had trouble getting my shot to fall today," Williams said following the Lions' win over Oklahoma Athletes First at the Super Pit on Saturday afternoon. "So I was going to get my teammates involved, and I knew I had to step up since we were down, and I started shooting the ball and it started falling."

And that pretty much describes Williams' game to a tee. He gets to the basket pretty much any time he wants thanks to his strong frame and slick handle, but he would rather set up others before taking shots in the lane or from the perimeter.

But when the chips are down, he does what is necessary to help his team win.

And that, folks, is the mark of a truly great floor general.