Should we cut Grant some slack?

[Roy H.]

Jay King: Grant Williams said he’s not sure if he’s supposed to disclose the extent of a right arm injury but said he has difficulty bending his shooting arm right now. – via Twitter ByJayKing

That one quote probably isn't enough to draw conclusions.  Is that a lingering injury that may be affecting his shooting over the last month and a half?  Or did it get injured last night?  Did he disclose the injury to Joe?  Why was he in the game and handling the ball if his arm was injured that much?

[Vermont Green]

Jay King: Grant Williams said he’s not sure if he’s supposed to disclose the extent of a right arm injury but said he has difficulty bending his shooting arm right now. – via Twitter ByJayKing

That one quote probably isn't enough to draw conclusions.  Is that a lingering injury that may be affecting his shooting over the last month and a half?  Or did it get injured last night?  Did he disclose the injury to Joe?  Why was he in the game and handling the ball if his arm was injured that much?

Interesting information.  Last night's game was kind of an all hands on deck situation with all the regulars out so what are you going to do.  We needed to play Grant.  But if his arm is injured and it is impacting his shooting, the team needs to manage that.  Rest him if he needs rest.  I don't know if he needs rest or what the story is, but this is something the team needs to manage, this is not solely on Grant.  Maybe now that we have Muscala, they have more flexibility to deal with this.

[celts55]

Apparently the injury causes one to dribble off their foot.

[tonydelk]

Jay King: Grant Williams said he’s not sure if he’s supposed to disclose the extent of a right arm injury but said he has difficulty bending his shooting arm right now. – via Twitter ByJayKing

That one quote probably isn't enough to draw conclusions.  Is that a lingering injury that may be affecting his shooting over the last month and a half?  Or did it get injured last night?  Did he disclose the injury to Joe?  Why was he in the game and handling the ball if his arm was injured that much?

When you are a self proclaimed batman you never get cut slack.  Tatum doesn't complain about his busted wrist.  he says he needs to play better when we all know his wrist is really affecting his shot. As for Grant he has not played like we thought he would for a lot of the season and now that he's hurt he want to provide an excuse as to why he's not helping the team like he should.  If you want the team to back up the brinks truck for you then play better no matter how you feel when 70% of the league is hurt at this point in the season.

[Roy H.]

Apparently the injury causes one to dribble off their foot.

I mean, if somebody's arm is in such pain that they can't lift it, it could affect their dribble.  Which means, they shouldn't be in the game at that point, I would imagine.  So, to me, it depends on when it happened, who knew what, etc.

Overall, if Grant played through a severe injury last night, I'm more forgiving of his turnovers.  If that injury has lasted awhile, I'm more forgiving of his mediocre play over the last six weeks or so.  At the same time, if a player is physically limited, he also needs to know when to stay within those limitations. 

[Goldstar88]

If he was injured to the point where he couldn’t lift his arm, I don’t think he would have been able to grab 10 rebs last night. He had 5 turnovers yesterday. Just careless with the ball.

[Roy H.]

I found more reporting on Grant's injury:

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
yesterday
Asked Grant about his elbow injury and he didn't want to give too much away: "It's something that, I guess you could say ... bending the arm stuff, but I still gotta shoot it ... I've always told myself I can play through everything. It's not an excuse ... I felt pretty good ..."

 "Hopefully this all-star break, I'll let it settle down and just trust that it'll work out. Last two games, I think, it happened the game before and next thing you know, that's why I have the sleeve and brace on. You've just got to play through that."

[Phantom255x]

Grant's probably playing hurt, but I also think that's just the residual effect of Timelord always being injury-prone. Guys like Horford/Grant have to really pick up the slack. It's good we got Muscala, but like even Muscala had to play 43 minutes last night which probably isn't something he's used to at all lol

[Chief]

Apparently the injury causes one to dribble off their foot.

It just not smart to make a late game play against Giannis. 

[Neurotic Guy]

Yes, I give Grant slack. He’s one of a number of role players on this team who can give the team a huge boost (which he’s done many times).  But he’s going to make errors.  I believe that the whole of Grant Williams is an overall plus. Since that’s my perspective, I expect there to be mistakes and limitations - shouldn’t be surprised that they happen.

[Moranis]

No.  You play you need to perform. 

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Someone cut him an actual pair of slacks 

[86MaxwellSmart]

If Mazzulla had used one of his TWO timeouts, Grant and the team wouldn't have been put in that situation...Mazzulla is 100% to blame for his team being gassed at the end. Any good or even mediocre coach knows what to do in this situation....but at least Joe took his 2 timeouts home with him. C's played a valiant,brilliant game, only to be let down by their "Coach".

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

You bring up a good point, Roy.

I'll add that if the coaching staff knew of the injury before that last play, he shouldn't have been in the game.

And regardless of his injury status at that point, I think the ball should've been only in White's or Brogdon's possession, with Grant, Muscala, and Hauser limited to catch-and-shoot. Grant isn't a shot creator, so he shouldn't be putting the ball on the floor and trying to make a move, especially with the game on the line.

[angryguy77]

If Mazzulla had used one of his TWO timeouts, Grant and the team wouldn't have been put in that situation...Mazzulla is 100% to blame for his team being gassed at the end. Any good or even mediocre coach knows what to do in this situation....but at least Joe took his 2 timeouts home with him. C's played a valiant,brilliant game, only to be let down by their "Coach".

But just think how valuable that will be for this lineup when it comes playoff time. Sure we'll never see this in the playoffs, but they learned! Well worth putting the 1 seed on the table.