I like not just the individual effort but those 2 assists coming off a big man show that he has the unselfishness to make the right play and give it up to a teammate in a better position.
I think you might be off base saying his passing shows unselfishness. It's more like it has been drilled into him to pass the ball because his offensive game is virtually non-existent outside of being right under the basket.
Unselfish implies giving up his own shots to give others better shots. Williams doesn't have a shot to take, other than a dunk, so has been coached to move the ball, which he does decently, for a big man.
I understand your hesitancy about Williams (we weren't even allowed to start a 2nd thread this offseason because he was so unproven), but I think it's more than 'he just moves the ball decently for a big man.' He has made a number of pinpoint passes in rhythm without hesitation. This was considered a strength of his coming out of college and I continue to see this as a strength...
And I think that is a huge addition to an otherwise athletic big man who throws down alley-oops and blocks shots. I certainly don't see him as the next Russell, but am glad the his firmly cemented in the rotation with room to grow. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Ainge drafted our Center of the future with the 27th pick?
I am not getting the praise he gets for his passing. For a big man, he is decent to good at it. He is and never will be Jokic good or even Horford good at it. He makes the right passes and does so quickly and occasionally he has a really nice pass.
Is his ability to pass any better than Tatum or Brown? No. And as big a fan as I am of those two, I don't consider them any better than decent to average, at best, passers.
I don't see his passing as being any better than Theis, and I don't see anyone running around claiming Theis is some sort of great passing talent.
For a big man, he is a decent passer. I'm not going to call what he is currently doing as good or great, like many, until he can actually become a center that can have offense run through him with his passing rather than a guy that just is a part of the offense.
For those that think I am down on Williams, know I am not. I have always said he would just need time and by year 3-4 he could be a starter/difference making player. He appears to be on course to be a starter next year if he continues to develop. I think he has Clint Capela upside.
I just think expectations shouldn't be that he is going to be Bill Russell like with his shot blocking or Horford like unselfish, creative and accurate in his passing. He'll block lots of shots. He will make the right passes and some really good ones. But let's temper the expectations. Let's just first get him to the point where he can stay on the court starter minutes and be a positive influence most of the time.
Oooh, I don't know man. I think you can make the case he is. Right now his Asist% is 18.3, which is VERY good for a big man. Jaylen and Tatum right now have assist % of 11 and 10 respectively right now. Now granted its an extremely small sample size, and his usage rate is pretty low even for a passing big man at 12%, which indicates not much offense it running through him. And last year his Asst% was only 3.3%, although he played largely garbage time.
I very strongly disagree with the Theis point, I think he's CLEARLY a better passer tha Theis. Like I can remember one actually impressive pass from Daniel Theis all year.
By comparison Al Horford career assist% is 16.3, and his first three years he had 7.9, 11.9, and 10.4%. Draymond's career 22.7 and his first three years 7.0, 11.9, and 16.1%. Both of those guys came int the league at RWII ages or older.
Anecdotally I'd say the best passes Robert Williams makes are about as good as the best ones we've seen Brown or Tatum make, buts thats just an opinion.
So I guess I agree in some ways, the EXPECTATION shouldn't be that he's al Horford passing. But the expectation wouldn't have been that Al Horford would be Al Horford in the passing department either. It is a strength, he's better than a lot of big man at it already and that can certainly help your offense. Its an area he shows significant promise in, and one that could develop, and thats exciting. It may never be the kind of thing you can design an offense around, it may flatline at where it is now, but all thing considered if its a choice between being clint capela and being clint capela with better passing you'd take the latter. Clint Capelas career assit % is 6.2 btw.
Its worth noting, just to make one final point, that the passing was considered a strength of his out of college as well. Here's an excerpt from a real gm prospect report on RWIII.
"His ability to help facilitate offense is closer to a real asset, though. Williams has can spot shooters on the opposite corner, pass out of the short roll, participate in post-to-post pre-arranged reads and aid dribble hand-offs from the elbows or the high post, assisting on 12% of Texas A&M’s scores when he was on the floor."