Make Rob Williams the Hub of our offensive sets

[footey]

For those of you lucky enough to watch the Suns' game, you witnessed a solid display of decision making by Rob Williams in the offensive half court sets, orchestrating a movement offense that rewarded cutting to the basket with pinpoint passing. 

As noted in the Athletic by Jay King:

"Williams might also deserve more opportunities as a passing hub. It’s something Smart wants to see more of even when Tatum returns from health and safety protocols.

“I definitely do,” Smart said. “It forces teams to not load up on Jayson and Jaylen all the time because they’re cutting and we’ve got other guys cutting around them. We have good bigs that can make the pass and create not only for themselves, but others. So you put teams in full rotations and keep them guessing. When Jayson and Jaylen have the ball, teams just load up and get their defense set. It’s a lot easier for them when they have to look back and find these guys and find where they’re going and then also keep contact with other guys. It makes it a lot harder (on the defense).”"

https://theathletic.com/3045406/2021/12/31/thats-a-good-dub-robert-williams-career-first-triple-double-pumps-brakes-on-celtics-skid/

Could this be the solution to our lack of a true point guard?  That remains to be seen.  But I think we can all agree that Rob's (and Al's) passing ability has been underutilized, and the team offense has suffered.  The more we play through our centers, the more other guys will cut to the hoop and get rewarded for easy buckets.  We produced 17  of the team's 28 assists came from the center position in that game.  How many games have we seen where the entire team produces 20 or fewer assists?

Teams will adjust to this structure, and it is up to Rob to add to his arsenal, starting with the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the hoop off the dribble when over played at the high post.  His ball handling is still quite disappointing,  as witness from that brain freeze pass/turnover on the fast break in the first quarter to Grant when Rob had blue sky to the rim.   This (along with a 15 foot jumper) is where Bam separates himself from Rob as an asset. 

[droopdog7]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

[Who]

Rob should play the same role that Joakim Noah played for Thibs in Chicago. High post facilitator with his passing, defensive anchor, garbage man scorer and possession generator with his rebounding.

[todd_days_41]

Smart’s right. It’s not a replacement for a point guard, but clearly the Ca should run a lot of half court sets through Willams (and Horford as his back-up).

[Atzar]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

This.

His passing will always be difficult to use as a weapon unless he develops some ways to create his own shot. 

The only total non-scorer who consistently runs offense in this league is Draymond.  And Draymond 1) has the handle to get to his spots on the floor, even if he doesn’t use it to score; and 2) plays with one of the most dangerous off-ball scorers of all-time.  Williams has neither of these.

[Rondo9]

Edit

[Rondo9]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

What's with the "sorry" It's a useful tool to utilize more often, not saying that it won't work all the time but it's at least worth a look.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

He's one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA. He will never be an isolation player, but there's good reason to think he can add a move or two to become more of a threat. Two areas I could see are: 1) the short roll floater when he can't get all the way to the rim, and 2) attacking his defender more going to the rim with those long arms and long strides. Also if he could hit a mid-range jumpshot once a game it would help.

Like I said earlier in the thread, it works absolutely fine if his man refuses to put pressure on him while he is looking to make his passes. He can make easy reads and use his abilities to get good looks. If his man stays low, he can simply do handoffs with Tatum, Brown, or Schroeder to get them good looks. If the defender is able to get over Williams' screen, the ball-handler keeps them on his hip and moves toward the basket creating a 2-1 or 3-2 (with corner man) advantage.

The ability to make passes from the high post and time handoffs well are not easy abilities. There's a reason very few big men in today's NBA have ever had a triple double. Williams is special in those abilities. He has a good offensive feel most guys don't have.

Once you identify that ability, you have to design plays and offensive sets that take advantage of it. That's the flow they are working on right now.

[Ogaju]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

This.

His passing will always be difficult to use as a weapon unless he develops some ways to create his own shot. 

The only total non-scorer who consistently runs offense in this league is Draymond.  And Draymond 1) has the handle to get to his spots on the floor, even if he doesn’t use it to score; and 2) plays with one of the most dangerous off-ball scorers of all-time.  Williams has neither of these.

Is Draymond the player he is because of Curry or Curry who he is because of Draymond.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

This.

His passing will always be difficult to use as a weapon unless he develops some ways to create his own shot. 

The only total non-scorer who consistently runs offense in this league is Draymond.  And Draymond 1) has the handle to get to his spots on the floor, even if he doesn’t use it to score; and 2) plays with one of the most dangerous off-ball scorers of all-time.  Williams has neither of these.

Is Draymond the player he is because of Curry or Curry who he is because of Draymond.

My opinion is that they are both special, but they needed each other to show it.

Draymond does much of the same kind of play-making without Curry on the court. He's helped to develop Poole, Wiggins, and Payton. He also makes like easier on Thompson.

[blink]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

This.

His passing will always be difficult to use as a weapon unless he develops some ways to create his own shot. 

The only total non-scorer who consistently runs offense in this league is Draymond.  And Draymond 1) has the handle to get to his spots on the floor, even if he doesn’t use it to score; and 2) plays with one of the most dangerous off-ball scorers of all-time.  Williams has neither of these.

Agreed.  If Timelord could become money from 17 feet he would be really hard to guard.  He doesn't even have to be a 3 point threat (although that would be a lot better), just a consistent 17 foot mid range shooter opens up the lane for our wings a lot.

[SHAQATTACK]

Yeah maybe he works harder on offensive moves and jumper if nothing else.  Give him more offensive opportunities and let him grow ,  he needs lots of touches in live games to build the confidence.   

[droopdog7]

Won’t work big picture because he himself can’t score.  Sorry.

What's with the "sorry" It's a useful tool to utilize more often, not saying that it won't work all the time but it's at least worth a look.

The post says make Rob the hub of the offense.  I say no.  Do you disagree and think he should be the hub of the offense?

[#1P4P]

I have said that using Horford as the playmaking hub to close out games is the best closing offense we have. Until JB and JT have an airtight handle and/or become great playmakers out of the double team, they’re going to continue to be turnover machines in the 4th when teams blitz the ball handler.

Al makes the right play. When defenders give him too much space, he can hit the long 2 or eat the space to bully his way to the rim; when defenders press him, he can find and pass to the open teammate. He can also do what Rob does, which is have him at the top of the key and guys using him as a natural screener. He’s not turning the ball over (which is so crucial in crunch time) and he’s making the right play, it’s the best way to go.

Rob is going to have to show what he can do when opposing players are 5-10 feet off of him daring him to shoot and mucking up the paint because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

[mr. dee]

Our success during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 was predicated around Horford being heavily involved with the offense. No, he won't score 20+ PPG a night but he's a high IQ player who can read the right play and is a solid passer and respectable shooter.