Jerry leads Bears' charge

But he and his Genesis Brighton Bears colleagues can hit the heights tonight by creating one of the biggest shocks in years.

Bears face mission near-impossible when they go to regular season champions Newcastle Eagles in the play-off quarter-finals (7.30pm).

The next defeat is likely to be the last in a Brighton shirt for many of the players, including Williams, who must count as one of the very best coach Nick Nurse has ever brought to Sussex.

The future of their other big scorers Terrance McGee, Andrew Alleyne and Steve Parillon is also likely to come up for discussion.

Williams was on a high a year ago. He played for a talented London Towers team, then signed for Dijon in the high-quality French league.

Previous seasons had seen him win the league with Sheffield and the league's MVP award with Scottish Rocks.

Then it all went wrong. Axed by Dijon, he checked into a modest Brighton B&B, joined his best mate McGee at Bears and scrambled for a minor play-off seeding with colleagues who, he is not afraid to point out, are not all as good as him.

Speaking as frankly as ever, he said: "It has been more downs than ups. But we made the play-offs and the season has been good for me. It has been a reality check.

"I thought I had made it when I went to France.

"It was good for me to go through these things.

"It was more than valuable and I got to play with my man Terrance McGee again.

"Without him being here I would have gone crazy. I probably would have gone home.

"I'm going to try and go back (to Europe). I'm not taking any time off this summer.

"I'm going in the gym. Terrance is coming to stay with me (in Jacksonville, Florida) and we'll work together."

When told he had looked dis-spirited in some recent games, he said: "You hit the nail on the head. When I watch myself on game film, I can see I'm down one minute, up the next.

"I get frustrated because some of the guys weren't blessed with the talent I was.

"Sometimes people get upset. But we're not in college now, we get paid to do this.

"There's a way of saying things but you've got to take constructive criticism.

"The players are grown men. They should take that."

Comments like that, or the time he said he should have been given the ball more often in the fourth quarter, do not go down well.

Another time, along with Towers colleagues, he dared to give an honest opinion on English fast food and the lack of entertainment in football matches.

The subsequent feature in The Guardian was waved at him by mocking Newcastle fans at a game the next night.

And yet, on each occasion, you could argue he had a point.

Williams is the undisputed star of the current Bears team.

Last Saturday's display against Rocks summed up what he can offer at both ends of the court.

His 26 points on ten-of-13 shooting kept him top of the league's scoring lists.

And his defensive work kept him top of the steals chart.

It's not all about Jerry, but his highs and lows, smiles and sulks, great plays and turnovers (the third category in which he leads' the league) make him the face of this rollercoaster of a team.

Not that he can claim to be the Bear who has made the most progress this year. That must be Parillon, an unknown at this level before the season started who has shown real offensive flair and could move across the Channel.

McGee and Alleyne have had big nights, despite being short of support in their respective areas of the court.

But then Bears have been under-manned all season and their plight worsened when a devastated Daniel Hildreth was ruled out of the play-offs by a dislocated clavicle bone.

Newcastle have been able to rest star players since clinching the title.

But the result has been three straight defeats and they have been rocked by the loss of Jerry Hyatt, sacked after being jailed for 56 days for driving offences. Hyatt is appealing against the sentence.

Which makes you wonder if the shock could happen.

"They'll be rusty," Williams suggested. "They are coming off some losses. We can do it."