Toronto — Kevin O'Neill loves defence and that was all Jerome Williams needed to know about his new coach.
A player who honed his game at Georgetown University where players were schooled in Defence 101, Williams is thrilled to have O'Neill calling the shots this season.
The two are cut from the same canine cloth. Williams — otherwise known as Junk Yard Dog — cares little about fancy spin moves or smooth jump shots, but prides himself on the less-glamorous skill of stopping a player in his tracks.
O'Neill, nicknamed Mad Dog, comes to the Raptors after two seasons as the defensive coach for Detroit, where he cobbled the Pistons into one of the best defensive teams in the league.
"He's a defensive-minded coach, nicknamed Mad Dog," William said. "I think that speaks for itself about how we're going to be able to work together."
O'Neill, 46, took over from the laidback-to-a-fault Lenny Wilkens after the Raptors finished a woeful 24-58 last season.
O'Neill is known as a brilliant tactician, a great defensive mind, and a strict disciplinarian, who has no qualms about cracking the whip at practice.
His influence has already shown at training camp, where the days have been split into two sessions — three gruelling hours of defence in the morning and offence in the afternoons.
"Maybe with more discipline, [the players] will be focused more on that end of the court," Williams said on the Raptors' reputation for being soft on the defensive side.
"I think [O'Neill's] committed to it."
Same goes for Williams.
"He's not going to have any problem out of me, especially if the word 'defence' is in front of it," said Williams, who led the team last season in rebounds averaging 9.2 a game.
"If you want to talk about offence, there's a host of guys here who can talk about their jump shots. But defence? I'm probably the last guy you need to talk to."
The six-foot-nine forward said he came into this season ready to work hard after spending the summer "building pipes" — he put in four-hour days in the weight room, either at his own gym in Washington or at the Toronto Fitness Institute. He gained about 10 pounds to put him at 220.
"When I'm on the court, my play is predicated on being tough," said Williams. "In order to be tough, you have to toughen up, lift more weights."
Williams wasn't able to lift much last season because he was plagued by elbow and hamstring injuries.
"You've got to be able to hold off more people, or throw more people. Body slam more people, whatever it takes."
Williams, who arrived from the Detroit Pistons in a trade in February of 2001, quickly became a fan favourite because of his infectious enthusiasm and his boundless work ethic on the court.
And he's as energetic off the court as he is on it.
Armed with a sociology degree from Georgetown, Williams is involved in numerous community activities, and was honoured by The Sporting News as one of its "Good Guys" in sport for 2001-02.
Williams brought the JYD Project to Toronto last season, a program aimed at troubled teens that he started with brother Johnnie in Detroit and had plenty of success with there.
Williams even did his part at a kids' car wash over the summer to raise funds for the project.
Under his own Dogg Pound Recording label, Williams released a CD last week called Mission Possible. It's available at Indigo bookstores and features rap and hip-hop songs that encourage kids to make good decisions, like staying in school and steering clear of drugs.
"I'm a parent so when I go to the CD store to get my kids a CD and I constantly see 'parental advisory' on everything I want to pick up for my kids, I've got to do something about it, if I have the capacity to do so," said Williams. "That's what I do with some of my free time, so then when parents pick it up they say, 'Oh, every song doesn't have something in it my kids can't listen to."'
Williams doesn't sing or rap on the CD.
"What do I do? I bark. Barking is on the CD," he said, laughing. "Isn't that a talent? Can you bark?"
The seven-year NBA veteran vows to do plenty of barking in the locker-room this upcoming season, hoping to take on more of a leadership role after last year's dismal performance, and spurred by enthusiasm for coach O'Neill.
"I just feel like there's a different breeze blowing in the air," said Williams. "I just feel like each individual guy has to do everything, that he's capable of doing to help this team, the organization in this city, the fans. I just hope they worked as hard as I did [in the off-season], because this is very serious at this point.
"We had a very bad year last year. Everybody knows that, but it's how we prepared for today that's really going to make the difference."
