BACK AT WORK
UNM’s Tim Williams is working his way back after a long absence
So, what did Tim Williams do Monday with that gray walking boot that was a fixture on his left leg everywhere he’s gone the past month?
“I threw it in the trash,” Williams said quickly, flashing a smile Wednesday when asked about the doctor visit Monday. Then, he was told he had been cleared to return to practice after a month on the Lobos bench nursing a stress reaction in his left foot.
OK, so the 6-foot-8 senior power forward didn’t actually get rid of the boot, at least not literally. But in his mind, the boot is gone. He now hopes to return to game action for Saturday night’s Senior Night in the Pit against San Diego State, and more importantly in time for next week’s Mountain West Tournament.
A final ruling on whether he’ll play, however, won’t come until later this week as doctors evaluate how he progresses in practice.
Nevertheless, the Illinois-native is happy to be free from the boot and the past month of misery — both from inactivity as his college basketball career winds down, but also from not being able to help his teammates, who struggled to a 3-4 record in his absence from the recent injury. UNM was also 1-1 when he missed two games in December with a concussion.
“Yeah, it was frustrating not being able to be out there — not just to be out there for scoring, but to be out there and alter the game (in other ways) like freeing up some things,” Williams said.
Williams is one of the few classic back to the basket, lowpost scorers in the MWC. He was able to draw in defenses toward the basket and open up driving lanes or shooting space on the perimeter for the guards.
Williams has averaged 17.9 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 57.9 percent from the field in 20 games.
The Lobos (16-13 overall, 9-8 MWC), in 20 games with Williams, had a 12-8 record and outscored opponents by 4.84 points per game (75.95 points scored, 71.11 points allowed). That point differential would rank fourth in the league.
In his absence, the Lobos are 4-5 (3-4 in February due to the foot, 1-1 in December due to the concussion). They were outscored by 1.82 points per game (72.85 points scored, 74.67 points allowed). That minus-1.82 point differential would rank 10th in the 11-team MWC.
“He’s a security blanket when you can’t score,” Lobos head coach Craig Neal said last week of Williams. “If you get in trouble, you can just throw it to him. Right now, we don’t have that.”
UNM’s leading scorer, guard Elijah Brown, has seen his production slip in the team’s current three-game losing streak. Opponents not worried about a consistent post scoring threat have focused on making life for him difficult on the perimeter.
With Williams back, the hope for UNM is offensive opportunities can again open up for the guards on the outside. But that doesn’t mean fans should be too optimistic it will happen immediately.
He’s not only been away from game-action for a month, but was only recently allowed to return to limited activity and sprinted for the first time Monday night. He said that went well, and the injury is of zero concern now. The only questions that remain is conditioning — specifically his body’s ability to get back in enough shape to endure the physical way in which teams defend him.
Williams said he’s going into his return to the court with patience, not yet knowing if he’ll be allowed just a couple minutes of playing time or more.
“I’m not going to get a month’s worth of games in one night, so I’m just going to try and relax and let the game come to me,” Williams said. “I’m probably not going to play 38 minutes, but just the minutes I’m out there, I’m going to be trying to get back in the flow — hopefully get back to where I was before I was injured.”
Team doctors will evaluate him throughout the week before determining how much, if at all, he’ll play Saturday against San Diego State. And, as he puts it, no matter what he does this week to get back in shape, the real test won’t come until he’s in a game.
“You can practice all you want, but once the adrenaline is going in a game, you can’t really match that (in practice),” Williams said. “So I won’t know until Saturday after the game how I feel.”