The number '1' was on his back and the mohawk was on the top of his head, but the effort from Corey 'Homicide' Williams against Townsville on Saturday night just wasn't there.

It was certainly not the effort nor the performance that I, nor the Melbourne Tigers' faithful, had come to expect and perhaps take for granted from arguably the best player in the NBL today.

Williams finished with a solid stat line - 17 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists - but it was a smokescreen to a quiet night from an uncharacteristically hesitant Williams who appeared withdrawn from the contest throughout the game.

The game was a wasted opportunity for the Melbourne Tigers who squandered a seven-point lead at three-quarter time and fell to the Crocodiles, 92-82. The Crocs connecting on 7/7 three-pointers in the fourth period to come from behind and snatch the victory.

After the Crocodiles dumped Williams at the end of last season, following back-to-back appearances in the semi-finals and Williams winning the 2010 MVP, this was Williams' last chance this season to seek revenge on his former team.

And I, for one, expected more from Williams. I expected to see a switched on and focused player take his game to another level and do everything humanly possible to get the Tigers over the line. I didn't see that.

Instead I saw a bystander. I saw Williams refusing to be the aggressor.

In the second quarter, I actually thought to myself that maybe Williams was suffering from the flu or an injury, because there had to be an excuse for what was not happening out there.

"I think it's Townsville," said Tigers head coach Darryl McDonald post-game. "Every time he plays Townsville, I honestly think he just thinks too much, because it was the same up there; the first game up there he struggled, the second game up there he struggled.

"I know he wants to beat them so bad that everything else doesn't matter. He plays but he doesn't."

For a brief moment in the third quarter, Williams shone. He hit a 18-foot jump shot which was followed by a huge sigh of relief from the man himself, and then he lit it up with consecutive three-point plays, before knifing around the defence for another basket from close range, but soon afterwards he was called for an offensive foul and forced to rest on the bench with four fouls.

Still obviously disappointed in the Tigers losing another winnable game, McDonald reflected later: "I know he (Williams) had that spurt in the third quarter, but what happened, foul trouble, that's what kills it.''

The coach then goaded his star recruit, maybe deliberately lighting a fire under Williams by challenging him to give more. "Defensively, to a point, he has to get better,'' McDonald said. ''I know he can play D when he wants too. Has to get better."

If Williams is as great as I believe he is, then he'll respond to this criticism from the coach, and regular Tiger watchers, and sign off in the Tigers' season finale against the New Zealand Breakers next week with a game to remember.