Duncan says D-Will's college days paid off

San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan is one of the rare NBA superstars who spent four years playing college basketball. Duncan, a Wake Forest graduate, is a believer that playing several years at the college ranks can help a player develop once he gets to the NBA.

He points to Utah point guard Deron Williams as an example. While Williams didn't go the University of Illinois for the full four years, he did get three years of experience with the Illini — even playing the the national championship game — before entering the NBA draft.

"The experience of having those years in college has really been paying off," said Duncan of Williams. "He's got a good handle on the game and for a young player he has a lot of experience for only being his second year (in the NBA) ... He's obviously played very well against us."

Duncan's teammate Michael Finley agrees.

"(Williams') college career has definitely helped his progress here in the NBA," said Finley, a Wisconsin alum. "He played in the Big 10 Conference — which is the best conference in college basketball. So from that standpoint, he was very mentally prepared to come in and play."

Williams is averaging 30.3 points and 9.0 assists in the three games against the Spurs during the Western Conference finals.

"He's playing with a lot of confidence right now," said Spurs point guard Tony Parker on his Jazz counterpart.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich seems almost resigned to having Williams put up big numbers against his team.

"It looks like (Williams) is replacing (Phoenix's) Amare Stoudemire for us," said Popovich. "In the last couple of series against Phoenix we've held Amare to about 38 a game. It looks like it's going to be holding Deron to 31 or 32 a game."

THE EYES HAVE IT: Duncan showed up to Sunday's interview session with a red, black and blue shiner under his right eye.

"On a rebound someone threw an elbow and hit me in the face," explained Duncan, who simply rolled his eyes when asked if a foul was called on the play.

It was reminiscent of the cut Duncan's teammate Manu Ginobili had under his eye earlier in the playoffs.

"Honestly, I thought it was sexy when (Ginobili) had it, so I thought I would try it out," joked Duncan. "I'm just trying to get to his level. I think it's a sexy look."