What I like about Shelden Williams

[BudweiserCeltic]

At this point....what's not to like?

He's been solid overall. He has to improve his hands and boxing out. But, really good pickup by Ainge. For all the crap he got when Ainge signed him instead of Powe and during preseason, I'm quite glad he's shutting up most of the doubters.

He showed a hustle off the ball that really impressed me tonight. He seems to get the defense and switches very quickly getting in the way of players not expecting him there. He also has an excellent knack for knowing where the ball is going to bounce towards a upon missing. Some smart passes tonight and great movement without the ball on offense.

Oh and he has a nice 15 foot jumper and isn't afraid to take it. His hands are well below average for an NBA player though and he could have had 4 more points at least on remarkable passes to him from I think it was Rondo and KG but he could hold onto the ball to finish the play.

Pretty much I feel the same way, TP.

I think his hands can improve. I doubt he ever played with a greater passer like Rondo. Maybe some football drills could improve his hands.

Well, he's shown hands problem in multiple scenarios... during rebounds, during lose balls, during passes from different players. It's just something he has to improve on overall.

[Change]

Well, he's shown hands problem in multiple scenarios... during rebounds, during lose balls, during passes from different players. It's just something he has to improve on overall.

He has Kwame Brown Syndrome. Just the hands, but 10x the player. Williams has looked very impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PP4RT-vv-o

[Rondo_is_better]

Well, he's shown hands problem in multiple scenarios... during rebounds, during lose balls, during passes from different players. It's just something he has to improve on overall.

He has Kwame Brown Syndrome. Just the hands, but 10x the player. Williams has looked very impressive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PP4RT-vv-o

Hahaha, that's actually s great video that puts into perspective just how BS the Gasol trade was. 

[guava_wrench]

It is nice to see Williams getting to the line like Powe and rebounding like Powe. Of course, Powe has much better post moves, but Williams has a jumper.

I'm looking forward to seeing Williams in more games against good teams. Great pickup, no question.

[Scalablob990]

I'm going to be disappointed when BBD steals his mins. Sheldon has looked very very good the last 3 games. Rebounding and a tad bit of offense.

[greenwise]

Williams is playing very well, I wonder if Danny got us another steal. I also like his attitude, he is a solid worker and he fights for every ball. He's long and effective.

For those talking about his hands...he would have been worth that 5th pick draft selection if he had better hands. However, he is still a very good player and will contribute to our banner 18

BTW, it's time to learn to spell his name...someone could fix his name in the thread header??

[greenwise]

I found this awesome article about his time in Duke:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3680710

[Bankshot]

I'm going to be disappointed when BBD steals his mins. Sheldon has looked very very good the last 3 games. Rebounding and a tad bit of offense.

Even if BBD plays better?

[the_Bird]

At this point....what's not to like?

He's been solid overall. He has to improve his hands and boxing out. But, really good pickup by Ainge. For all the crap he got when Ainge signed him instead of Powe and during preseason, I'm quite glad he's shutting up most of the doubters.

He showed a hustle off the ball that really impressed me tonight. He seems to get the defense and switches very quickly getting in the way of players not expecting him there. He also has an excellent knack for knowing where the ball is going to bounce towards a upon missing. Some smart passes tonight and great movement without the ball on offense.

Oh and he has a nice 15 foot jumper and isn't afraid to take it. His hands are well below average for an NBA player though and he could have had 4 more points at least on remarkable passes to him from I think it was Rondo and KG but he could hold onto the ball to finish the play.

Seemed like he had his man blocked out on every rebound opportunity.  Those impressive rebounding numbers he's put up (not just so far this year, throughout his career) aren't just luck.

I'm with you, though - kid looks pretty [dang] good to me.  I thought going into the season that he'd be an OK insurance policy fifth-big, 10th- or 11-th man type, but he's in the rotation probably for good now.

I do not think this means that BBD's out of the picture wholly though - but he's going to have to do more than hit jumpers to stay on the court.  If he wants those 20 minutes a game, he's going to have to bust tail on both ends of the court, he's going to have to rebound better.  He's got some real competition for that spot in the rotation, which is good.

I do think this means that Scal is probably out of the rotation except maybe behind Pierce and in garbage time.  If Sheldon's playing this well, you can trade Scal more confidently, although quite frankly I'm not really sure what this team needs right now.

[Bankshot]

I like Williams too, but why can't we like him without dissing Baby?  I don't get it.

Anyway, I like Williams.  I think the problem with him was that he was picked too high and he is a bust based on where he was drafted.  But what he is, is a really good role player and if people thought of him as such, he'd be fine.  Forget about where he was drafted, Atlanta made a huge mistake drafting him at 5.

And there is no reason to be down on Baby because of Williams.  With all the blowouts seems the Celtics will have, there will be plenty of playing time for both and Sheed will get rest.

[the_Bird]

I like Williams too, but why can't we like him without dissing Baby?  I don't get it.

Anyway, I like Williams.  I think the problem with him was that he was picked too high and he is a bust based on where he was drafted.  But what he is, is a really good role player and if people thought of him as such, he'd be fine.  Forget about where he was drafted, Atlanta made a huge mistake drafting him at 5.

And there is no reason to be down on Baby because of Williams.  With all the blowouts seems the Celtics will have, there will be plenty of playing time for both and Sheed will get rest.

It's just that the things Williams does well are mostly the things that BBD struggles with, and they also happen to be the things I really want to see the backup big men be able to do (rebound, interior D, etc).  There is a fairly stark contrast between the players.  Doesn't mean that Williams is necessarily better, but he's definitely better at certain things.

And, to an extent it IS an either/or situation.  Both will get some minutes, but especially when the playoffs come there are only so many minutes to be had.  Even before we had 'Sheed, you would usually only see Powe OR BBD get meaningful minutes, it would cycle through who was in and who was out of the rotation.  But, competition is good, and I think it'll bring the best out of BBD.

So, we'll see. 

[ma11l]

So far he's taken advantage of the situation Davis had put him in.  He's been a solid option off the bench giving them the depth some thought they would lose without having Davis.  Rebounding and defense is all he needs to do.  I consider a 10 point night like he had last night a bonus.

[PRIDE]

Shelden will be a steal when he learns to BOX OUT. He doesn't carve out space like he could. Don't get me wrong I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far, but he could be an even better rebounder if he works at it. I'd also like to see him crash the offensive glass more. BBD and Powe made a living on that.

[billysan]

I dont see any reason why Davis and Williams cant share the floor together for short periods of time. With a couple of shooters on the floor, House and Pierce/Allen they would both be effective in their different roles. Shelden lo post and Davis hi post.

Much of the garbage time in the 4th quarter last night Shelden was matched up against Brad Miller and Noah before ending the nite against the rookie Gray. I noticed Williams got tangled up with Miller a couple of times and they seemed to 'bang' each other a little more enthusiastically. Probably from playing together last season in Sacramento.

I like the way Shelden seems to be able to get to the foul line a lot. He is definitely a work in progress with regard to improving his hands, but positioning and smart basketball seem to be almost automatic. If you take out the hands factor I dont see a lot of mistakes. For a second unit guy playing the 4/5 slots that is valuable playing opposite shooters like Sheed and even Baby.


I think Shelden Williams could become 'Perk lite' with some extended work with Clifford Ray and time in the weight room. He has the basic tools, we just gotta improve those hands.

[snively]

Uh, I'll take Williams' defense over Davis' every day, along with his rebounding, intelligence and effort.

Poor Shelden. If he'd just been drafted by Ainge, he'd be worshipped by this board.

In the meantime, he's an outstanding acquisition who provides exactly what this team needs off the bench. Great, great move by Ainge.

If Williams can learn to cleanly catch passes in traffic, then I will agree with you.  But until then, he is going to have some ground to make up on Davis.

Chris, I really don't care what we get offensively from Williams. We didn't bring him in for offense. With this group, and this bench, we need defense and rebounding - neither Davis' strengths - from that role. Baby's decidedly mediocre as a defender, and he's just way too easy to defeat on the glass.

We're getting both of them, plus smart basketball - which is really great to see after all the years of brain-dead bench play from the Celtics. It's a mistake, I think, to assume that every member of our bench has to have a well-rounded game. They don't. You bring in different pieces who give you the ability to address different issues on the floor. Williams' role is defense, rebounding and smart basketball, one it appears he's more than able to fill at this point.

When Davis comes back, he won't be asked to do what Williams is. He'll be asked to score. He'll be a different piece of the puzzle, and he has to be because the only thing well rounded about Davis is Davis, unfortunately.

Great point CoachBo.  Williams skill-set is unique off the bench.  Davis' smoother offensive game makes him a nicer fit for a high-scoring attack and his ball-friendliness is useful for our slightly ball-handler challenged bench mob, but Shelden's contributions might be more useful more often.