Trevion Williams has been a force all season long for ratiopharm Ulm, which just last week punched its ticket to the BKT EuroCup Playoffs.
Trevion Williams, Ulm: 'I've always had that chip on my shoulder'
Interviews
9 Mins read
He roared once again with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in his team's 80-84 overtime road win at Buducnost VOLI Podgorica. Despite being a newcomer to the competition, Trevion Williams leads the 2023-24 EuroCup in rebounds (11.3 rpg.) and PIR (22.1), while averaging 14.3 points, 4.3 assists and 1.5 steals in 15 games. He has already had 10 double-doubles this season and is threatening the EuroCup record of 12 that Vladimir Golubovic set with Aykon TED Ankara Kolejliler in the 2013-14 campaign. Williams is not obsessed with stats; winning games is the only thing that matters to him, as he told Javier Gancedo of EuroCupBasketball.com. "I have never been a guy that just looks at my stats and thinks about my stats," Williams said. "People tell me 'You are having such a good season'. I'm always so surprised, man, because I just show up for the game and I try to have fun with it. And like I said, as long as we have success I think I'm good."
Hello, Trevion. Congratulations on beating Buducnost in overtime and making it to the playoffs. How important was it to stop that losing streak way ahead of the playoffs?
"Thanks. It's definitely important for us, man. It's hard trying to find energy from different places, especially when you're on a losing streak like that. And I think we just went into desperation mode. We had to be desperate to win that game as a collective, and we know how important it was. We knew what was at stake. We also knew how the environment was going to be so we prepared ourselves well for that. And we got the job done."
At age 23, you are leading the EuroCup in PIR and rebounds in your first season in Europe. Do you think that you caught some people by surprise?
"Somewhat, yes. Because like you said, it's my first year over in Europe. But I don't think it's a surprise to me and people that know me. I try to be good at what I do. And I think what I do well is obviously pass the ball, but rebounding is a big factor for me. I think it's kind of what separates other bigs, the way you can rebound and just having a knack for where the ball is going to go off the rim. I think that's a skill alone. And that's something I try to be really good at. And that's kind of like the separation factor for me."
"It's very important to have guys around you that want to learn and want to get better."
What allowed you to adjust to European basketball so well? Did playing in a team-oriented college like Purdue help you adjust quickly?
"Absolutely. I would just say European basketball as a whole is a different style of play from the NBA, especially in the G League as well. You are not just watching two guys just take all the shots, it's team basketball, which is something I love to be a part of. And that's definitely the difference. Especially with Purdue, there's similarities in that aspect as well. Our coach never recruited five-star athletes. He never went for those bigger names because usually guys like that, they don't play team basketball. Not to say I'm not a five-star caliber player, but at the time I was three-star, four-star, in some websites, I wasn't even ranked. So I've always had that chip on my shoulder of just being an underdog and just trying to be good at the little things."
Ulm is a young, very ambitious team. You have a lot of teammates around your age and also younger. How cool is that?
"It's definitely fun. It's very important to have guys around you that want to learn and want to get better. I think our younger guys,... I'm a young guy myself, but like you said, the guys that are younger than me, they come in, they bring energy. They are always willing to work and not only work, but have fun with it. You have to have fun in your work and the things you do because it is a long season. Sometimes it can become a mental game and you got to have that energy and the fun to kind of get you through certain things."
I wanted to ask you about Juan Nunez. How is your connection with him and how is he off the court?
"Off the court, he's very outgoing. He's our guy! He likes to sing out loud in the locker rooms and stuff and he's always the DJ. He plays the music in the locker room. He does a great job off the court of just connecting guys in that way. And like I said, he's a very outgoing, very fun guy. On the court, I will say... at the beginning of the season we are very similar in terms of playmaking. So for us, we have been trying to find a balance of just how to balance having the ball in our hands and just trying to play off the ball a little bit off of each other. So, like I said, it's a work in progress, and we are doing a really good job of balancing that out."
You will play Aris at home, then Bourg on the road. How important is it to lock up that fourth place and get to play the eighthfinals at home?
"Well, any team would want to start off at home, just having those at home. First of all, there's no fans like Ulm. They show up every game. They're super loud, they're energetic, and they clap whether we are down 15 or we are up 15. They are going to clap and support us, so it's definitely a special thing. It's really important that we get these two done. One game at a time, but I'm really looking forward to the Bourg game. We kind of dropped that one at home which was a really important one for us. But first, we got to take care of Aris and then take care of that one."
This is your first EuroCup season. How do you like the competition and how did you become such a force so quickly?
"My first season is going well, man. I'm enjoying myself. I love to try new things. This is a new experience for me, so I have just been taking it all in taking it one day at a time and mainly just being myself. I think if you're able to be yourself on the court, everything else will follow. I think a lot of times players try to be something or be a certain thing for a certain team, or everybody's looking to be the guy that gets all the touches. If you just be yourself and play your role and make sure everybody does their job, you will have success with it."
"If you just be yourself and play your role and make sure everybody does their job, you will have success with it."
Do you follow the other regular season group to check potential opponents? Do you watch a lot of EuroCup games outside of the video room and if not, which player in Ulm does?
"I watch it here and there. I have seen Paris a lot, since I have seen a lot of people talk about Paris Basketball. So I have watched them a couple times. Pretty good team to watch, but I would say the guy that watches the most outside of our group is probably Tommy Klepeisz... He is probably the guy that watches all the games on the road and stuff like that."
You work for a young coach like Anton Gavel. How much credit does he get for you and the team playing so well?
"It's a special thing. Obviously, he's been through it. He's been through this level of competition, so he knows what it's going to take to be successful in this league. And it's been really special. I think one thing I've struggled with my entire basketball career is just being hindered and being limited on the corner of things I can do. So I would say back in college, like, I was never able to bring the ball up the court. I was never able to initiate the offense. I was never really able to shoot: not so much not able to shoot, but everybody had a role in the team and I didn't necessarily need to shoot, so I did what I did for the team. But just being here, he's allowed me to be free and just be the player that I am. He's allowed me to playmake and like I said, initiate the offense. It has been a really important key for us in terms of getting out in transition. You don't always have to look for the guard after getting the rebound. I can push it and we can go in transition, so it's been huge with him just letting me play free and be myself. And that way, I feel like for a long time, a very long time, I was hindered and limited in that way. So it's been special."
By reaching the playoffs, Ulm's first goal has been achieved. With that in mind, what would make it a good season for you personally and for the team?
"For me, it's just about winning. Obviously, the experience has been great so far, but I think if we win, good things come with that, more eyes come with that. So I'm just looking at it that way. I have never been a guy that just looks at my stats and thinks about my stats. People tell me 'You are having such a good season'. I'm always so surprised, man, because I just show up for the game, and I try to have fun with it. And like I said, as long as we have success I think I'm good."