So what happens when he comes back, after the obligatory few shifts when he first returns?
This year, the Theis/Enes Kanter rotation has worked nicely, and I'm not sure it will help those guys to give up 6-8 minutes each for the rest of the year.
He probably averages 10 mins a game. The occasional "rest/load management/cautious about an injury" off day for Kanter and Theis will give him some burn.
And I bet he takes like half of Grant's minutes.
I highly doubt this. Robert may be longer and more athletic, but being in the right place and making the right decision is more important at this stage of the season. Grant was already ahead in that department three months ago, and he’s not going to fall behind in the final stretch/playoffs.
Agreed. I see Robert not getting much PT. Grant pretty much does everything better.
Wow, huge undersell from you guys. DNPs and only 10 min? Grant is a nice story, but his lack of length has hurt us at times. (Le'ts see what happens vs Lakers game). RW3 was getting very good minutes before he got hurt, so if he is now healthy why on earth would Brad change his mind and bench him? Makes no sense.
Not really underselling at all. When he was healthy, he got less than 15 minutes a game. It's not unlikely that Brad would gradually integrate him back into the lineup. Grant has been playing well for us, so it makes no sense to yank him out of the lineup for a rusty Timelord who hasn't played an NBA game in several months.
agreed, and to add to that, it's not like Timelord was setting the league on fire before going out with injury. sure, he made some nice dunks off lobs and some pretty blocks but his overall team D was still pretty bad and his offense is pretty limited to dunks and some decent passing. GWill has excelled in all those areas where Timelord has not.
They need to make a judgment about how much he can learn this year. His ceiling is obviously much different than Grant’s, and if he can correct the focus/mental errors it is much higher. It may be that he’s lost too much time to make it this year, but I’m still a little hopeful.
Thanks for backing me up folks, I knew I was being bold, but I'll stick by it and repeat it (since my original words are not in the thread quotes now): Grant does just about everything better than Robert at this point, in large part due to his BBIQ. Robert has higher upside but I wonder if he will ever reach his potential. This is coming from a fan who likes Robert, a lot.
As always, this depends on what your definition of is, is. The greatest ability, as the old NBA cliché goes, is
availability.
Having said that, If what we’re doing here is comparing how they’ve played this year, I can only go along partway with what you say.
I’ll just point to a couple of important differences. First of all, Rob has been an excellent defensive rebounder, while Grant has been a very poor one. Rob is quicker off the floor and has great hands and length, and that has resulted in a much higher rate of steals. And, of course, Rob Williams is a savant of shotblocking, Who in addition to his instincts has exceptional acceleration off the floor and quick enough closeouts to block jump shooters.
I’m not sure why we are comparing these two; I don’t really have the heart to find out how far back in this 129 page thread I’d have to go to find the rationale for it. I see them as substantially different players, and I’m not sure that the need to compare them is compelling.
As I’ve said before, I think that Grant Williams is a Celtic. He came into the league, as was evident from his summer league play, knowing how to play NBA defense. That is truly extraordinary. His overall feel for the game, for moving the ball and team play - in addition to some really good tangibles, his intangibles might actually be better. Looks like he’s a leader, even as a rookie. You mention his basketball IQ; while I agree with you, it is also the case that he has dedication and does an extraordinary amount of preparation.