The Taming of JWill has had a wondrous impact on the Memphis Grizzlies, who have now won nine of their last 13 games. Aside from joining the NBA's top five in assist-turnover ratio, Jason Williams just shot better than 50 percent from the floor in consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years.

Let's just hope this doesn't become a trend quite yet.

	Jason Williams averaged 22.5 points and 13.5 assists during Memphis' two-game win streak.

I'm happy to report that Williams had no business breaking his streak of 149 games not making more than half his shots two nights in a row. His 10-for-17 against the Hornets Monday night included a couple of fastbreak, off-the-dribble 3s; an off-balance, drifting-to-the-left, 19-foot jumper; and a catch-and-shoot, off-one-foot, falling-back, hand-in-the-face 26-footer.

So, while he has clearly toned down his circus mentality when it comes to delivering the ball, that approach is alive and well in his shot selection. "I really can't play the way I did in Sacramento," Williams said, "but there are certain things I can't do. I'm always going to play a certain way."

To which I say, at least for now, bravo.

This is by no means a blanket declaration of tolerance for bad decisions. Point guards, by and large, are more effective straying on the side of caution when it comes to orchestrating an offense, controlling a game's tempo and giving their team its best chance to win. Nothing can destroy a collective desire to play defense quicker than someone blithely launching early, ill-advised shots, particularly someone whose D is as suspect as Williams'. (If you want to know why the Hawks' chemistry has gone south, count how many times nightly Glenn Robinson gets killed on run-outs yet lauded the next day for his scoring average.)The Grizzlies played a 2-3 zone almost the entire game against New Orleans and Baron Davis sat out with a bad back. Williams, playing man-to-man against the pick and roll, resembles a flyer tucked under your car windshield: a slight inconvenience but basically useless.

What allows him the luxury of heaving a ridiculous prayer now and then is that he is equal to Jason Kidd in getting his teammates' easy shots with early passes in the right place at the right time. His 14 dimes against the Hornets included a court-length touchdown, a half-dozen bounce passes that led Gordan Giricek and Shane Battier. They didn't include a couple of seeing-eye passes that didn't count as assists because the shooter didn't finish at the rim or tipped in an initial miss. He is not selfish as much as he is precocious.

He's also not afraid to shoot with the game on the line. No one made more fourth-quarter baskets than he did to stem the Hornets' comeback. And when he's feeling it, as he did Monday night, an amazing number of the hoisted prayers are actually answered.

Granted, I'm not sure I'd feel this way if Williams were still with the Kings or any other team angling for a championship, or if he still had us worrying he could follow in Leon Smith's tortured footsteps. But the Grizzlies are a long way from that, as is Williams now.

	In my mind, though, Williams is a joy to watch for the same reason Kevin Costner's 'Tin Cup' character was so endearing.

This still feels like a confession on par with admitting I've watched an entire episode of the Anna Nicole Smith Show (true), worn rented bowling shoes in public (true) or thought long and hard about getting a poodle (not true). In my mind, though, Williams is a joy to watch for the same reason Kevin Costner's "Tin Cup" character was so endearing. (And why certain Kings fans still rue that the team traded Williams for Mike Bibby.) Every now and then someone comes along whose greatest value is in breaking with convention and daring to do the electric.

Costner's Tin Cup didn't have the mental makeup to grind, to lay up and play it safe. He never could be Tiger Woods, just as JWill never will be John Stockton or even Pete Maravich, despite the ridiculous early comparisons. The best they can offer is daring to do the unlikely, if not impossible. What makes it compelling is that JWill, like Tin Cup, has just enough talent to pull it off. At least every once in a while.

And Ones
Don't put Tim Duncan on that free-agent list for this summer quite yet. He signed a three-year deal, but can exercise a one-year option that would pay him $13.2 million next season. If he waits, he can then sign a new seven-year deal for approximately $131 million rather than a $100 million deal this summer. If he goes elsewhere -- unlikely -- this summer, he can sign for a paltry six years, $90 million. Next summer: $123 million. ... The luxury-tax windfall and the $300 million expansion fee BET founder Robert Johnson paid in Charlotte raises the bar for offers from anyone interested in buying the Warriors. Owner Chris Cohan can count on pulling in at least $6 million from his cut of the luxury tax paid by the Mavs, Blazers and Knicks, among others. Several unidentified parties have approached the embattled owner over the past couple of years, but sources say Cohan has indicated he'd only listen to "crazy money" offers, which means above the $300 million expansion franchise fee Johnson paid. ... Although Dikembe Mutombo struggled with the Nets' offense, the greater concern could be his reduced effectiveness on defense. Several 76ers have privately said the combination of a lost step and the defensive three-second rule have greatly limited his shot-blocking presence. For what it's worth, his two blocked shots a game in the first 16 games this season marks the fourth year in a row his shot-blocking average has slipped. Mutombo is expected back from torn wrist ligaments no sooner than March 1. ... Vince Carter has been hammered by former teammates about his work ethic, but a source close to him says this last bout of knee problems has convinced Vince to upgrade his fast-food diet and hire a trainer. I went to China with him last summer and we went either to McDonald's or TGIF's three days in a row, while Raptors trainer Chuck Mooney came along to work him out.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ric.bucher@espnmag.com.