Robert Williams III Offensive Abilities

[footey]

With all the crazy trade talk involving Myles Turner, count me as someone who has more confidence in our current situation at center.  This article from CelticsBlog lays out the positives on offense we are getting from him--particularly his elite passing and court vision--as something overlooked too often.

I've linked it below.

I still love the guy as our a key part of our center rotation.  He has effectively only played a single season for us, given the injury absences.  I expect him to show much more familiarity with the defensive rotations this season, and earn 20-25 minutes a game. If Theis departs the following season, expect RWII to take over that position and play 30 mins per.

 https://www.celticsblog.com/2020/11/13/21546778/robert-williams-is-better-on-offense-than-you-think-boston-celtics

 

[RodyTur10]

I agree with you. TP.

If he can stay healthy I have full confidence in his ability to become a starting center.
He's inconsistent, but you take that with young players. Often the guys that have the biggest up and down swings in performances eventually will reach the higher ceiling over guys that are just solid day in and day out.

I like Grant Williams as a bench player, but has he ever wowed you?
But Robert Williams has done some amazing plays against strong opposition.

[Jvalin]

I have high hopes for Timelord, although I see him as a boom or bust prospect. I believe he has a high ceiling, but at the same time he has a relatively low floor (due to injuries and inconsistency). The advanced stats love his game, so there's that.

Here's an idea:

The Pistons sign and trade Christian Wood to the Celtics for Timelord + Edwards + #26 (signed) + Poirier (salary filler).

The 4 of them can net us up to $10.3 million in trades. According to rumors, Wood's market value may be around the non-taxpayer MLE ($9,258,000 on year 1). Let's say Wood signs a 4-year/40M deal, which is a tiny bit more than the non-taxpayer MLE over 4 years.

Problem is, we'd become hard capped at the apron. Only ways to make this work is if Hayward opts out or if we trade one of Kemba/Hayward/Smart.

[LilRip]

If Timelord wouldn’t get lost in the offense/defense so often, he’d be a big boost to our team. Much more than Theis.

Unfortunately, basketball IQ is hard to teach.

[Somebody]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

[trickybilly]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

Not strange at all. That's the takeaway right now. Have ZERO need for him to play from the post.

[Jvalin]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

[Somebody]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

Hm I think it's more of an effort thing for Timelord, I like how he moves outside at times (he has decent fluidity and speed when he's locked in, some of the possessions in this clip show that).

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

You can't take one player's height without shoes and another player's height with shoes to make a point. Also, as helpful as height is, you don't use your head to shoot a basketball, block shots, or get rebounds. Standing reach, wingspan, and vertical numbers all matter more. What matters even more is anticipation.

I think his lateral speed is ok. Not great, but not terrible. I think he just needs more and more reps to build his anticipation and timing for defending on the perimeter. Maybe that will never fully come around, but that's where he needs to grow.

[jambr380]

I think the Ibaka 3pt lapses thing has been overblown. It seemed to be more of a decision making issue than an ability to move or effort issue. I am not saying that's awesome - as bbiq is a thing - but I believe he is fully switchable as a defender and is willing to put forth the effort to be good in this area.

Hopefully he can stay healthy and continue his development. The guy has barely played, but still seems to make solid improvements. We all knew he was a project coming out of college - let's see how he does with more playing time and less recovery time.

[Somebody]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

You can't take one player's height without shoes and another player's height with shoes to make a point. Also, as helpful as height is, you don't use your head to shoot a basketball, block shots, or get rebounds. Standing reach, wingspan, and vertical numbers all matter more. What matters even more is anticipation.

I think his lateral speed is ok. Not great, but not terrible. I think he just needs more and more reps to build his anticipation and timing for defending on the perimeter. Maybe that will never fully come around, but that's where he needs to grow.

Tatum is 6'8 without shoes btw, he's roughly the same height as Timelord.

[Jvalin]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

You can't take one player's height without shoes and another player's height with shoes to make a point. Also, as helpful as height is, you don't use your head to shoot a basketball, block shots, or get rebounds. Standing reach, wingspan, and vertical numbers all matter more. What matters even more is anticipation.

I think his lateral speed is ok. Not great, but not terrible. I think he just needs more and more reps to build his anticipation and timing for defending on the perimeter. Maybe that will never fully come around, but that's where he needs to grow.

No matter where you look it up, both Tatum and Timelord are listed at 6'8''. You are right about Hayward though. He was listed at 6'8'' up until last season. That number changed about a year ago when all NBA teams were asked to provide exact height (and weight) measurements of their players. He's now listed at 6'7''. I really thought he was 6'8''. My bad.

https://crownhoops.com/2019/10/08/complete-list-of-nba-player-height-changes-and-updates/

In any case, my point still stands. Timelord is the same height as Tatum, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. The benefit of having an undersized C is that you can order him to switch ball screens on D. What's the point of having a 6'8'' C if he cannot play D on the perimeter?

[Darth_Yoda]

Timelord can potentially be an ideal center for this team if he gets between the ears good enough so that Brad actually trusts him on the floor.

[footey]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

I don't buy this. Theis got burned on ball screens just as much as TL in the playoffs.  Especially vs Toronto/Ibaka.  Just no one talks about that. Plus Williams did a better job defending Bam than Theis, who got destroyed by him. 

[Jvalin]

I don't think the issue with Robert is his offence (as strange as that sounds), he just really needs to work on his lateral quickness so we don't need to use him as a drop big when guarding the high PnR.

TP! Couldn't agree more! Here's the problem though: Can you name a player who didn't move well laterally early on his career and became a good on-ball defender later on? Imo, either you got it or you don't (at least to a large extent).

Timelord is only 6'8''. He's the same height as Tatum and Hayward, he's super athletic, yet he cannot play D on the perimeter. If he moved well laterally, he would have already become our starter. This is the one thing that holds him back. Unlike Theis, he cannot switch ball screens on the perimeter.

I don't buy this. Theis got burned on ball screens just as much as TL in the playoffs.  Especially vs Toronto/Ibaka.  Just no one talks about that. Plus Williams did a better job defending Bam than Theis, who got destroyed by him.

Timelord isn't switching on ball screens. Like Somebody said, we use him as a drop big when guarding the pick n roll.

When Theis is on the floor, he meets the ball handler at the level of the dribble hand off and denies penetration.
When Timelord is on the floor, he drops back and protects the rim.

Theis is a switchable big.
Timelord is a rim protector.