You may have noticed the national media — many of whom compared him to the legendary short-shorts wearer and claimed he now ranks among the top point guards in the league — going ga-ga over his play. Fans obviously went berserk. And his teammates loved his rapid progression, too.

"Yeah, we noticed. Shee! He played great," Boozer said. "He picked up his level of play dramatically. Don't get me wrong. He was great in the regular season, but he was spectacular in the postseason."

After helping Utah go 51-31 and make the playoffs for the first time in four years, Williams started May off strong. He led the Jazz to back-to-back wins against the Rockets as they advanced past the first round in that memorable seven-game series. His 20-point, 14-rebound effort was critical to Utah's Game 7 103-99 win in Houston.

Against Baron Davis, Williams at times went Emeril and kicked his game up another notch, including a 31-point showing and two 13-plus-assists nights as the Jazz beat Golden State 4-1 in the Western Conference semifinals.

But, ironically, the series in which he really made a name for himself nationally was also the one that turned out to be the season finale for the Jazz. Against the Spurs, Williams averaged 25.8 points on 52.7 percent shooting along with 7.8 assists and 2.4 steals. And he did that partly while battling the flu, a couple of tweaked body parts and Eva Longoria's worse half (read: Tony Parker).

"Barring injuries, he probably would've (done) even more," said Boozer, who will join Williams at the USA Basketball workouts. "That's how good he's become, and that's how good he got really fast."

Since many like to stack him up against Stockton — though differences are aplenty — consider this stat-to-stat comparison of the two guard's second seasons. In 1985-86, Stockton averaged 7.7 points and 7.4 assists in 82 games, including 38 starts. In 2006-07, Williams averaged 16.2 points and 9.3 assists in 80 starts.

But Williams, who's now only 14,702 assists behind Stockton's all-time record, balks at comparisons. He'd rather be the best Deron Williams than the next John Stockton, even if some of their quotes sound similar.

"I'm a competitor," Williams said. "It's always been my nature to be the best I can be, and that's what I'm trying to do. I'm just trying to help my team win."

Teammate Derek Fisher is more impressed by Williams' blossoming leadership abilities than his glossy statistics. The three-time NBA champion has been thrilled to be a part of Williams' growth.

"I think his maturation and his development is really off the charts in terms of what he was able to do for our team consistently throughout the season," Fisher said. "A lot of times with young guys, you see a lot of inconsistency, and he's almost showing he's immune to inconsistency."