Carter-Williams faces tough initiation

Michael Carter-Williams will not get the opportunity to ease his way into the NBA.

In six of the first seven games, the 76ers' rookie point guard will introduce himself to a Murderers Row of point guards in the league.

He will be matched up against Washington's John Wall twice, Chicago's Derrick Rose, Golden State's Stephen Curry, and twice against Cleveland's Kyrie Irving.

It's a brutal challenge that the 6-foot-6, 185-pounder says he welcomes.

"It's a big learning experience for me to see what I can get better on against the best of the best," Carter-Williams said. "John Wall is great. Derrick Rose, anyone argues him as the top point guard in the league."

There's another bonus for a player who was drafted 11th overall after his sophomore season at Syracuse.

"It also gives me a chance to make a name for myself," said Carter-Williams, 22. "They are going to go at me and I'm going to go right back at them."

For Carter-Williams, it won't be anything new. The Hamilton, Mass., native has had to prove himself for the last six years.

Before a fire struck his parents' house, there was a nondescript piece of paper taped to a wall of his bedroom that served as a reminder.

It was an evaluation he received from a camp the summer before his freshman season at Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School. At the time, Carter-Williams stood just 5-9 and the assessment was: With a lot of hard work, he could become a Division III college player.

He went on to become a McDonald's all-American at St. Andrew's School in Rhode Island, where he spent his final three years of high school. But Carter-Williams also had to prove his detractors wrong as a seldom-used freshman at Syracuse.

Now, folks are wondering if the Sixers made the right choice by selecting him to replace all-star point guard Jrue Holiday, who was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans for rookie center Nerlens Noel.

"Jrue is a great player," Carter-Williams said. "He did great for the city of Philadelphia. And I'm just coming in trying to make a name for myself. That's all."

Translation: He's a different player from Holiday and should be judged as such.

Unlike Carter-Williams, Holiday was not an opening-night starter as a rookie in 2009. And unlike Holiday, Carter-Williams doesn't have a point guard on the roster with more than two seasons of experience to tutor him.

But the rookie has shown improvement in his short time with the Sixers.

During the Orlando Summer League, Carter-Williams averaged a league-best 7.3 assists to go with an average of 13.6 points. But he struggled while going to his left, shot only 27.1 percent (23 for 85), and averaged a team-worst 4.8 turnovers.

In the Sixers' seven preseason games, he averaged team bests of 4.4 assists and 2.1 steals to go with 9.0 points and 1.43 turnovers. Carter-Williams' shooting improved to 32.9 percent.

"The competitive side of him when the lights come on, that has surprised me," said Brett Brown, the team's first-year coach. "And there's a talent in him that has surprised me.

"He's better than I thought."

Brown said that his point guard brings competitiveness and toughness. "He has all of those type of things that we are going to treat and work with him on," the coach said. "He responds fantastically. He's a good teammate. He's coachable."

Brown, however, does not like that Carter-Williams has an aloof side. He wants his point guard to be more vocal.

"Yeah, I'm pretty laid back," Carter-Williams said. "That's why Brett's great for me. He likes you to show some emotion."

That has been one of Brown's personal projects. The coach is determined to turn his point guard into a hungrier and more aggressive alpha dog.

Carter-Williams, whose goal is to be named rookie of the year, will need to display some of that aggressiveness during the first seven games of the season. If not, he could get embarrassed in the matchups against Wall, Rose, Curry, and Irving.

"It's going to be tough on him, but I think he's going to handle it," forward Thaddeus Young said. "He's tough."

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