Teammates Rave About Rob Williams, Despite His Claim of Costly Mistake

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/prac-122720-teammates-rave-about-rob-williams-despite-his-claim-of-costly-mistake







Teammates Rave About Rob Williams, Despite His Claim of Costly Mistake



By Marc D'Amico | @Marc_DAmico
Celtics.com
December 28, 2020


Rob Williams was devoid of energy following a personal, late-game mistake that cost the Boston Celtics a win Sunday night in Indiana.

He should instead be taking note of the fact that the Celtics wouldn’t have even been in position for that victory had Williams not thrust them back into contention with his energy prior to that brief defensive mishap.

Williams, who returned Sunday night from a one-game absence due to an illness, put forth a brilliant performance for Boston that symbolized what the team wants and needs him to be: an energizer bunny who flies high at both ends of the court and affects the game with his effort, his length and his athleticism.

Williams played that role to perfection Sunday night while canning six of his seven shot attempts and logging a new career high with four steals to go along with two blocked shots.

“He played hard,” Brad Stevens said of the bouncy, third-year big man. “He played really hard.”

Boston needed every ounce of that effort during the second half of a game that featured little of it from the rest of the Celtics. They allowed Indiana to score 39 points on 75 percent shooting during the third quarter alone, which put Boston in an 11-point hole late in the period.

“Anytime you give up 40 on the road in a quarter to a good team, you’re probably gonna lose,” said Stevens. “To our guys’ credit, they hung in there and got back in the game, but Rob was one of the reasons why, because he brought a great deal of energy to the table.”

It was on full display during a late-game play that nearly provided the Celtics with their second victory of the season.

Indiana came out of a timeout owning a one-point lead with 18.2 seconds left in the contest. The Celtics would need to either foul on the ensuing inbound play and send Indiana to the line for two free throws, or force a surprising turnover.

They accomplished the latter, thanks in large part to Williams.

Williams was assigned to be the defender on the inbound pass, which placed him in perfect position to swarm T.J. Warren once he caught the pass. Warren caught the ball and immediately faced away from the defense, which allowed Williams to dart over and join forces with teammate Jaylen Brown for a trap on Warren.

Warren never saw Williams coming before the big man swiped at the ball and forced it out of Warren’s hand, all before simultaneously saving it from going out of bounds and tipping it ahead to Marcus Smart for a reverse layup that gave Boston a 107-106 lead with 11.8 seconds left in the game.

Brian Scalabrine, the color commentator for the Celtics, described the play afterward on the NBC Sports Boston broadcast by saying of Williams, “Great activity!”

Boston sought more of that activity just moments later while attempting to maintain the lead it had just gained. Yet again, Indiana was inbounding from the frontcourt sideline, but this time, Williams didn’t have an answer.

Indiana’s All-Star big man, Domantas Sabonis, caught the inbound pass on the left wing in front Williams, who was his primary defender. Sabonis faked a hand-off to the inbounder, Justin Holiday, and that fake froze Williams and his teammate in the defensive action, Grant Williams, just long enough to open up a driving lane for Sabonis.

Sabonis put his head down and barreled his way to the basket for a bucket and a foul on the recovering Williams to give Indiana a 108-107 lead, which stood as the final score at the end of the night. That play, and his moment of brief miscommunication and confusion, stood out above all the rest for Williams following his outstanding performance.

“We messed up the defensive coverage, so really, throw that other stuff out the window,” he said. “I was brought in the game to bring the energy, so that’s what I was trying to do. But like I said, we messed up the coverage – me personally, I messed up the coverage.”

There was no mistaking after the game that Williams was struggling to cope with his mistake. There was no energy in his voice. Just frustration.

The opposite can be said of the other members of the team who spoke about Williams following the contest. They looked past that singular moment and instead focused on the overall impact Williams made on the game and can make on this team.

“Just his activity, especially on the defensive end, and he’s such a great passer,” Jayson Tatum, who missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer, said of Williams. “He’s so long and active, getting blocks, he’s contesting shots. Rob has really come a long way, and he’s worked so hard, and he’s going to be a big part of our success this season.”

Added Jaylen Brown, “He’s extremely important, and he does a really good job, and he’s always usually in the right spot.”

That last defensive possession just happened to be one exception to that trend. And that’s OK. Mistakes are going to happen, no matter how hard one plays.

Williams should recognize that fact and quickly move past any nightmares of his defensive lapse. He should rest easy knowing that his energy, effort and impact are what gave the team a chance at a win in the first place.

The Celtics will be looking for more of the same from him as the rest of this season unfolds, beginning Tuesday night with a rematch against these very same Pacers.


Bob


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The reason why Sabonis was able to get the drive was because Grant Williams FU.  RW tried to recover but it was too late as Sabonis had a perfect ankle after taking Grant off the bounce even though Grant was shaded to Sabonis's left.  Grant also messed up on the missed Brogden 3 PA because he did not go get the rebound and allowed Turner to get a layup.  

I have no earthly idea why Grant is in the game at the end.  

RWIII should be our first big off the bench.    My rotation:  Teague, Pritchard, Rwill, Semi and Nesmith,  We need scoring in the rotation.

RW3 did what I think we all wanted to see last night; he brought consistent energy on both ends every minute he played. That's been missing at times in the past. If we see a repeat of last night's effort every time out, I believe we'll have the big man we've been looking for.

NYCelt

Last night RW played in just his 63rd regular season game.

I always felt that if he can stay healthy, his development is all about opportunity which means playing time. It is all about repetition. Mistakes are made and lessons are learn.

You cannot teach his impressive level of athleticism but you can teach him how to better use that gift. As long as he is working everyday to get better and is provided with the opportunity to play through a bad patch or two, I think he will become an important part of our young core.

Sounds like RWIII has been watching lots of Russell tapes. Great passer, strong defender, pinpoint scoring, highly active....hmmmm! Makes you think who we have here!!

db

Sabonis is a good player and schooled RWill (and GWill) on the final bucket. I like RWill taking responsibility- he’s got the right attitude to go along with his physical gifts. Glad to see Brad giving him more time. It appears RWill has turned a corner and is on his way to being a reliable part of the rotation.

On Sabonis - he’s slippery and uses angles well. He did get unnecessarily physical with RWill I believe in the third quarter (forearm to to the head that seemed to daze RWill). I’d like to see Tristan, RWill return the physicality - nothing cheap but no easy path to the rim or buckets at the rim.

BingBang! wrote:On Sabonis - he’s slippery and uses angles well. He did get unnecessarily  physical with RWill I believe in the third quarter (forearm to to the head that seemed to daze RWill). I’d like to see Tristan, RWill return the physicality - nothing cheap but no easy path to the rim or buckets at the rim.

Brad pulled TT from the game in the 4th because Sabonis was abusing him. He put RW in the game which is not something we have seen in the past.

I watched the replay of the Sabonis drive to the rim for a score and you can see that Grant got taken off the bounce even though he had perfect position to stay in front of him. RW took the blame sort of but it was a miscommunication mostly on the part of Grant.

Something went wrong as Sabonis beat a double team.

Nice of the young man to take the blame even though it was obvious GWill made the improper play too, getting in the way.

Again, not all double teams work, if you get my drift.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Nice of the young man to take the blame even though it was obvious GWill made the improper play too, getting in the way.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
3 minutes ago
Thread on what happened on the Sabonis game winner last game: The Celtics were switching the Sabonis handoff most of the night and the Pacers ran that play looking for the switch. Rob indicated he blew the coverage, meaning Stevens wanted to not switch that time…


Bob
MY NOTE: Turns out RWill knew what he was talking about and why he was taking the blame. He knew Brad's play call and we didn't.



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I really hope he can stay healthy moving forward, he can be this eras or our teams version of Dennis Rodman. In a league where everyone can jump and run, his jumping ability stands out, similar to Rodman in his heyday. I know it’s very very early, but he is making intangible type plays off effort and athleticism routine and has even done them in the clutch. Let him play Brad.

Williams may jump and run like Rodman, but he will never have Rodman's knack/understanding of the NBA game that Rodman had. Rodman was a very, very special talent for many years in the NBA.

We can only hope that Williams continues to improve to make him a better player.

Rodman was a great rebounder. I do not see RW reaching that level however RW can still have a great career. He looks steps ahead of last year.

Brad needs to find a way to get him more minutes. If any player scores more times than not when he has an opportunity you got to play him. You have to get him the ball. In 3 games he is averaging 8 points while shooting 92.3% from the field (12 out of 13 Makes) He was in the came during our late 3rd QTR run. We were behind by 15 (88-73) Rob comes in at 2:02 left in the 3rd and he started the 4th. TT came in for him with 8:42 left in the 4th with Boston down 2 (96-94) Rob impacted the comeback.

dboss wrote:Rodman was a great rebounder.  I do not see RW reaching that level however RW can still have a great career.  He looks steps ahead of last year.

Brad needs to find a way to get him more minutes.  If any player scores more times than not when he has an opportunity you got to play him.  You have to get him the ball.  In 3 games he is averaging 8 points while shooting 92.3% from the field  (12 out of 13 Makes)  He was in the came during our late 3rd QTR run.  We were behind by 15 (88-73)  Rob comes in at 2:02 left in the 3rd and he started the 4th.  TT came in for him with 8:42 left in the 4th with Boston down 2 (96-94)  Rob impacted the comeback.

Right his intangibles, etc were crucial in that comeback stretch, to me he’s earning more minutes, he should be getting 20 minutes next game ideally IMHO.

cowens/oldschool wrote:

dboss wrote:Rodman was a great rebounder.  I do not see RW reaching that level however RW can still have a great career.  He looks steps ahead of last year.

Brad needs to find a way to get him more minutes.  If any player scores more times than not when he has an opportunity you got to play him.  You have to get him the ball.  In 3 games he is averaging 8 points while shooting 92.3% from the field  (12 out of 13 Makes)  He was in the came during our late 3rd QTR run.  We were behind by 15 (88-73)  Rob comes in at 2:02 left in the 3rd and he started the 4th.  TT came in for him with 8:42 left in the 4th with Boston down 2 (96-94)  Rob impacted the comeback.

Right his intangibles, etc were crucial in that comeback stretch, to me he’s earning more minutes, he should be getting 20 minutes next game ideally IMHO.

I agree 100%. He is currently 7th in scoring on the roster and 4th in rebounds.

BUT only 10th in minutes per game.

John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 10 minutes ago
Robert Williams credits Tristan Thompson for helping him change his mental approach this season... called Thompson a warrior that's impacting everyone's approach to the game


Bob


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bobheckler wrote:John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 10 minutes ago
Robert Williams credits Tristan Thompson for helping him change his mental approach this season... called Thompson a warrior that's impacting everyone's approach to the game


Bob


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Not a superstar, but if he can influence us as much or near as Paul Silas, he will be exceeding my expectations.

Chris Forsberg
@ChrisForsberg_
·
2h
After Rob Williams praised Tristan Thompson for changing his mental approach, Thompson detailed his desire to help Williams improve. Thompson said he foresees the duo passing an ass-kicking baton in the postseason where, "teams don't get no time off at the center position."

https://twitter.com/i/status/1345471480537223170


Bob
MY NOTE:  Someone on this board, probably Cowens, has been beating the drum for a big man coach for a while.  Well, a world champion veteran is pretty helpful too.  What a great pickup by Danny.  Two years with The Time Lord and we won't even remember what he was like now.


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