What's wrong with Grant Williams?

[liam]

He looks so discombobulated on the floor this season. Did have covid? Is he hurt? He had a decent rookie year but now looks totally unplayable.

[BMark]

He's been fully scouted by the other teams, they have learned and exploited his weaknesses and GWill has not been able to adjust.  If he can't adjust, he won't last.

[SHAQATTACK]

He read our blog game threads 

[Celtics2021]

Last year it was about a 55/45 split at PF vs center.  This year it’s closer to 85/15 at PF.  I personally think his best position is a small-ball 5, and he’s barely playing that position this year.

Could be tough going forward for him in the future if Thompson is kept in the offseason, but at the same time maybe he’ll have time in the offseason (which didn’t really exist last year) to work on being a PF instead. 

Also, the sophomore slump is a very real phenomenon.

[liam]

Last year it was about a 55/45 split at PF vs center.  This year it’s closer to 85/15 at PF.  I personally think his best position is a small-ball 5, and he’s barely playing that position this year.

Could be tough going forward for him in the future if Thompson is kept in the offseason, but at the same time maybe he’ll have time in the offseason (which didn’t really exist last year) to work on being a PF instead. 

Also, the sophomore slump is a very real phenomenon.

I was thinking sophomore slump. One of the reasons I wanted us to go after PJ Tucker, besides the fact that he's a savvy vet, was to try and help mentor Grant. That's how Grant needs to play. 

[konkmv]

At this point he is a guy who should play only with some matchups and only for 5 to 10 min.. he has no height no attacking moves.. we should have a pf who could play 20 25 min

[Csfan1984]

Not enought training and conditioning. Plus he needs practice to have more knowledge and confidence in what he has to do. Not everyone has been able to train and learn at the rate they were pre-covid. I never liked Grant but this isn't his best situation.

[Bostonborn62]

IMO, Grant is too slow, too short for 4 or 5,plays way below the rim, short arms with no rise. Waisted draft pick. G League or China is his best bet. Can't move him fast enough.

[SHAQATTACK]

Energy in college with smaller opponents and way less overall talent pool.   If your short for your position  ,  you better have long long arms or can really jump .  He is over matched in the NBA physically most nights .  Players are faster , longer , taller and eat him up.

[gouki88]

Last year it was about a 55/45 split at PF vs center.  This year it’s closer to 85/15 at PF.  I personally think his best position is a small-ball 5, and he’s barely playing that position this year.

Could be tough going forward for him in the future if Thompson is kept in the offseason, but at the same time maybe he’ll have time in the offseason (which didn’t really exist last year) to work on being a PF instead. 

Also, the sophomore slump is a very real phenomenon.

As much as people gripe over his lack of size, he was at his best when he's the 5. I fondly remember his defence of Bam Adebayo last season.

I still think the small ball 5 is his best spot, same as you. Especially if he's played alongside a rim-protecting 4

[Jiri Welsch]

This is some surface level analysis that I'm blaming on it being 6:50 am. In addition to the "out of position" discussion that has been touched on, Grant appears to have regressed dramatically in his decision making. In other words, he's often making dumb plays out there.

Last year he was on the floor against the Raptors in Game 7 because he could be trusted to make the smart play on offense and rotate on defense. This year it's very common to see Grant "try to do too much" and turn it over on offense (horrible passes, failing to catch good passes, being in the wrong spot and causing a teammate to turn it over, airballing floaters, etc.) or simply make bad defensive plays (missing rotations, taking what he thinks are "smart fouls" to stop transitions/layups while ignoring the amount of team fouls, etc.)

The long and short of my point is that he's not playing smart this season. Maybe it's a lack of focus, but at this point the game should be slowing down for him and it clearly isn't.

[Birdman]

He is ok as a 3rd stringer, that’s it

[Sophomore]

This is some surface level analysis that I'm blaming on it being 6:50 am. In addition to the "out of position" discussion that has been touched on, Grant appears to have regressed dramatically in his decision making. In other words, he's often making dumb plays out there.

Last year he was on the floor against the Raptors in Game 7 because he could be trusted to make the smart play on offense and rotate on defense. This year it's very common to see Grant "try to do too much" and turn it over on offense (horrible passes, failing to catch good passes, being in the wrong spot and causing a teammate to turn it over, airballing floaters, etc.) or simply make bad defensive plays (missing rotations, taking what he thinks are "smart fouls" to stop transitions/layups while ignoring the amount of team fouls, etc.)

The long and short of my point is that he's not playing smart this season. Maybe it's a lack of focus, but at this point the game should be slowing down for him and it clearly isn't.

I agree with this. Guessing, but he seems to get up in his head a lot. Like he’s lost confidence and is doubting himself, so he overthinks, overreacts to his mistakes.

[spikelovetheCelts]

This is some surface level analysis that I'm blaming on it being 6:50 am. In addition to the "out of position" discussion that has been touched on, Grant appears to have regressed dramatically in his decision making. In other words, he's often making dumb plays out there.

Last year he was on the floor against the Raptors in Game 7 because he could be trusted to make the smart play on offense and rotate on defense. This year it's very common to see Grant "try to do too much" and turn it over on offense (horrible passes, failing to catch good passes, being in the wrong spot and causing a teammate to turn it over, airballing floaters, etc.) or simply make bad defensive plays (missing rotations, taking what he thinks are "smart fouls" to stop transitions/layups while ignoring the amount of team fouls, etc.)

The long and short of my point is that he's not playing smart this season. Maybe it's a lack of focus, but at this point the game should be slowing down for him and it clearly isn't.

I agree with this. Guessing, but he seems to get up in his head a lot. Like he’s lost confidence and is doubting himself, so he overthinks, overreacts to his mistakes.

It takes him a few minutes to get comfortable but he is not in there long enough. When he has starts he has done well but that has been awhile. AS the other poster says he needs to emulate PJ Tucker. His corner three needs to rise to higher level too. LIke PJ.

[Celtics2021]

This is some surface level analysis that I'm blaming on it being 6:50 am. In addition to the "out of position" discussion that has been touched on, Grant appears to have regressed dramatically in his decision making. In other words, he's often making dumb plays out there.

Last year he was on the floor against the Raptors in Game 7 because he could be trusted to make the smart play on offense and rotate on defense. This year it's very common to see Grant "try to do too much" and turn it over on offense (horrible passes, failing to catch good passes, being in the wrong spot and causing a teammate to turn it over, airballing floaters, etc.) or simply make bad defensive plays (missing rotations, taking what he thinks are "smart fouls" to stop transitions/layups while ignoring the amount of team fouls, etc.)

The long and short of my point is that he's not playing smart this season. Maybe it's a lack of focus, but at this point the game should be slowing down for him and it clearly isn't.

I agree with this. Guessing, but he seems to get up in his head a lot. Like he’s lost confidence and is doubting himself, so he overthinks, overreacts to his mistakes.

Definitely, although I think part of that can again be attributed to playing out of position.  At the 5 with four shooters around him, he could receive the ball in the post and either look to score or find someone for a kickout, or he could receive it at the top of the arc looking for cutters or passing it to a shooter.  Now as the 4, he receives the ball on the wing a lot more.  With a 5 already in the paint, there is no room for cutters.  He's also not a great shooter from the wings (15-52 this year, compared to 24-52 from the corners), and teams sag off him when he gets the ball there.  So he either has to take a low-percentage shot, pass through worse angles, or dribble to create better passing angles and draw a defender to him.  Clearly this year he's shown that none of those are good options for him.

I generally defend Brad, but he has not put Grant in a position to succeed this year.  Certainly some of that is due to roster construction (with 2 pure centers ahead of him the minutes at the 5 just aren't going to be there), but there have been a lot of guys out this year, so it's frustrating Grant couldn't have had more time in the position that best suits him, because he's kind of broken right now.  It was a smaller sample, but the same thing happened with Wagner -- he played most of his minutes at the 5 last night, and looked like a viable NBA player.