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NBA considerations distant memory for pair of eager Cats
06:22 PM MST on Tuesday, August 29, 2006
By Bruce Pascoe / Arizona Daily Star
For more of this article check out www.Fox11AZ.com

Marcus Williams' phone rang constantly before, during and after the June 28 NBA Draft but no team ever called. Just curious friends and family, wondering what might have been. Mustafa Shakur also watched the draft almost as a fan, like Williams, having been connected to so many draftees by playing against them.

Both UA basketball players, back in school after flirting seriously about starting their professional careers early over the summer, say watching the draft was fun.

That was enough. No regrets, no worries, no pressure.

"I was excited (to watch it) because I was more attached, I knew a lot of people in it," Williams said after a UA practice last week in preparation for the Arizona Wildcats' exhibition trip to British Columbia this weekend. "When the draft came on everyone was asking me, but you can't think about it.

"I'm in Arizona Wildcats locker room right now and I've got the practice jersey on. That's the way it is. So you make the best of that situation. The NBA will always be there."

For Shakur, the Wildcats' second-round NCAA tournament loss to Villanova in his hometown of Philadelphia added incentive. He did not want to end his college career on that note.

"That made it easier for me," Shakur said. "It would have been hard to leave. I felt there were unfinished things. My heart was saying I wanted to return to school."

Although it is only August, both players are talking team goals. Players who return from the brink of NBA Drafts can return self-absorbed, more concerned about their NBA skills rather than what their college team needs. But UA associate head coach Jim Rosborough said he hasn't seen that in Williams and Shakur.

"The feeling I have is that these kids really have some goals," Rosborough said. "With Mustafa and Marcus, I haven't sensed anything in terms of them not being team guys. It's never come up in conversation or anything."

The goals are really only one goal. "Everyone wants to get to the promised land - Atlanta'' for the Final Four, Williams said. To get there, there must be some changes.

For example, Shakur is aware he must cut down on overpenetration, so he's worked constantly in pick-up games since returning to Tucson in mid-summer, practicing the art of knowing when to pass, pull up or drive depending on what the defense gives him.

He says he is not obsessed with scoring, a good thing on a team that appears to be loaded with scoring options.

"To me it's not about points," Shakur said. "Going through the process, (I've found) the NBA is looking at 'Is he going to improve his shot and help take his team to the next level?' They're not looking at whether you score 20 points a game."

Even Williams, who scored 20 or more points in three of UA's final five games last season, says he doesn't mind the idea of being a go-to guy on a team of go-to guys when needed. He's seen that role work out, too.

"You don't really even think about numbers," Williams said. "I definitely am going to assert myself more than last year when I was the third option on the team. But if a few games I get a triple-double, that's fine with me. Look at Andre Iguodala (who had three triple-doubles at UA). He's doing fine with what he's doing.

"You can't think, 'I've got to get 25 every game to be a Top 5 pick in the draft.' If you can win games, that all comes together."

So instead, one of the thoughts that crossed Shakur's mind during last summer's draft was reaching the Final Four. His former UCLA counterpart, Jordan Farmar(see Jordan Farmar Stats), arguably played no better than Shakur at last June's predraft camp in Florida, yet went to the Lakers as the No. 26 overall pick after leading the Bruins to the NCAA's title game.

"I think he definitely had the momentum from the Final Four," Shakur said. "That's what coach O (Lute Olson) said - when the team does well, everybody does well. It makes everybody look that much better because they're winning."

More Jordan Farmar News:

•Rookie Farmar says he's living Hollywood dream with Lakers
• Grizzlies challenge Farmar
• Stars come out at Camp
• NBA considerations distant memory for pair of eager Cats