Tag: robert williams iii

Time Lord credits Tristan Thompson with changing approach to game

So far, the difference is undeniable on the court.

Boston Celtic reserve center Robert Williams III has been playing some of the best basketball of his still-young Celtic career thus far this season, and it’s been hard not to notice his improved play for his team in the frontcourt.

A force of nature near the basket since he stepped onto an NBA court, he’s since added some solid midrange shooting and most importantly for a team so reliant on 3-point shooting, passing. The latter was notably on display in Wednesday’s big win over the Memphis Grizzlies, when the Texas A&M product artfully tipped a potential oop to teammate Marcus Smart for an open 3 instead.

“I think we all see his growth when it comes to passing, especially for a guy who’s been out as long as he has with injuries, and trying to get back to that game-shaping mentality,” suggested Smart in his post-practice media availability on Friday when asked about that play.

“We’re so proud of Rob, and he’s only going to continue to get better,” he added.

Asked if it surprised him to see the growth of Time Lord’s passing vision, the Flower Mound native downplayed the idea.

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“That’s just Rob,” he explained. “We see Rob do things down in practice you probably wouldn’t think Rob can do.”

“Rob will probably even tell you, so we’re no longer surprised when he does things like that … for us, we need Rob to play like that and be that type of person every game to not only help us but to rise to the level that he can play to his potential.”

Williams is creating the best sort of problem for head coach Brad Stevens, who has been running occasionally-awkward two-big lineups to start games with bigs Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis to create more playing time for former Aggie.

“I feel like a lot of stuff has been slowing down,” he offered a reported asking him about his ability to move the ball as he did on that impressive play against Memphis. “Passing is something that I love to do, so hopefully we’re going to make more plays like that.”

Asked what changed in how he approaches the game this season, the Louisiana native credited Thompson for his veteran leadership.

“I’ll tell you my mental approach. I feel like Tristan Thompson helped everyone change their mental approach; he’s a warrior. He makes all his teammates better, and you see the way he’s striving, he makes you want to strive better.”

“I commend him on that as far as he changed my fundamental approach,” added Williams.

As do we.

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Celtics exercise options on Grant, Robert Williams, Romeo Langford

Boston picked up its options on the trio of young Celtics, as expected.

To little surprise, the Boston Celtics have picked up their options on big men Robert Williams III, Grant Williams and second-year wing Romeo Langford on Tuesday per multiple sources, an expected outcome given the solid play of all three when healthy.

Time Lord — as the hyper-athletic Texas A&M product is sometimes called — has shown flashes at the end of last season and start of this one of becoming a starter-level big man with improved passing, shooting, and most importantly defense, but missed a large chunk of the 2019-20 season due to injury. Similarly, Langford’s rookie season was marred by a litany of unlucky minor injuries capped off with a torn tendon he is still recuperating from.

Grant Williams on the other hand has been the picture of health since joining the team, and all three have shown they can stay on the floor and help a high-level team.

For that reason, today’s options picked up by the Celtics was more formality than anything else — save perhaps a vote of confidence in Langford and Robert Williams’ ability to stay healthy moving forward.

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WATCH: Robert Williams FULL 2020-21 Celtics preseason highlights

Get a closer look at Time Lord’s offseason growth in his preseason play for the Celtics in this video.

One way or another, the 2020-21 season figures to be a critical one for Boston Celtics big man Robert Williams III. The Time Lord’s time to show what he can do when given the opportunity has arrived, and he could very well play himself into a significant role on this year’s Celtics roster.

But it could also end with Boo Butt traded to another team if the Texas A & M product ends up disappointing with his growth as a player. So far, he’s show a little more maturity to his game and some increased core strength that should keep him from bouncing off of the league’s larger bigs, but Williams is still jumping at the slightest provocation at times, a habit he needs to break.

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There’s plenty of high points to see in his limited run in Boston’s two preseason losses however, so watch the video embedded above produced by Tomasz Kordylewski to help you decide how Time Lord’s growth as a player is going.

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Grading the Boston Celtics’ 2019-20 season by player, part 2: the bench

In our second installment grading the seasons of the 2019-20 Boston Celtics, we focus on the veterans coming off of the bench.

With the offseason in full swing for the Boston Celtics, we’re back with our second installment of our three-part series grading the team’s 2019-20 season on a player-by-player basis.

In this edition, we shift our attention to the veterans off of the bench, having a different set of standards than we did for the first installment of the series, on the team’s historically large seven-man rookie class.

With this group of Celtics, we expect more — more scoring, more defensive prowess, and more growth than we did of the rookies.

With five such players on the roster, Boston ought to have had a fairly solid bench, but as evidenced by the team’s early exit from the 2020 NBA Playoffs, there will be a few bad grades to give out.

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WATCH: Time Lord’s best plays from the East Finals vs. Miami Heat

Watch all of Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III’s best plays from the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat in this video.

While injuries plagued his sophomore season in the NBA, Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III still took big steps forward on both ends of the ball.

The Louisiana native had a good start to his 2019-20 season before a serious hip injury waylaid him for an extended period, but came back strong after the pandemic hiatus and made some noise in limited minutes playing in the postseason.

While Time Lord still has work to do in terms of avoiding costly mistakes on defense, his raw athleticism bends the play of the game in ways it is hard not to get excited about.

He even managed some spectacular plays in Boston’s Eastern Conference Finals series with the Miami Heat that likely helped him earn the trust of head coach Brad Stevens more for the coming season ahead.

We don’t know when the 2020-21 season will start, but it’s likely to begin in January according to league Commissioner Adam Silver, so watch the video embedded above for all of Williams’ best plays from that series.

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Time Lord one of Boston’s biggest bubble beneficiaries, says Ainge

While the Celtics’ frontcourt still needs work, Danny Ainge was happy with Boston’s growth this season — particularly Robert Williams III.

The Boston Celtics may need to work on their frontcourt a bit to compete at the highest level, and that growth may come in the offseason with a new prospect or perhaps a signing around the margins.

If you ask team president Danny Ainge though, there’s plenty to be happy about the bigs on the roster already.

Time Lord in particular — otherwise known as as Robert Williams III — got a lot of praise from the Celtics head honcho at his end-of-season press conference held Thursday morning.

“I think that this is Robert’s second year, and he spent a lot of time injured, which has limited his development, unfortunately” related Ainge. “I feel like he’s getting healthy.

“We feel that his time in the bubble was huge, just being around the coaches and having fewer distractions,” explained the Celtics president.

“He was really improving; he played really well in a lot of the games. We’re very excited about Robert’s future and in what he can be, but it is hard to find franchise bigs, and that’s always been the case. But there’s a lot of big guys … that can play, and like I said Daniel [Theis], Robert, and Enes [Kanter] outplayed opposing big men often throughout the course of this year.”

“I’m grateful for them,” added Ainge.

The Celtics probably do need to add a defensive big man with some heft and mobility in the offseason, given  the trouble that players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo gave Boston this season.

And while the former Celtic shooting guard is right to note how successful the “center-by-committee” approach was in a season full of misinformed trade proposals for Boston’s frontcourt, the Celtics need to find an answer for that sort of player to achieve their goals of winning Banner 18.

With three first-round picks in this draft alone and plenty of young prospects on the roster, Ainge is in a solid position to solve such a problem going forward — a ‘problem’ much of the league would love to have.

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Should the Boston Celtics consider playing more Time Lord?

Could the Boston Celtics be getting more mileage out of Robert Williams III? Quite possibly, with an asterisk.

Should the Boston Celtics consider playing more Time Lord?

After their Game 4 loss to the Toronto Raptors, it might be worth exploring — though Celtics fans ought to temper their expectations for the move.

Center Robert Williams III has shown himself to be a much-improved version of himself in the restart, his nascent passing game legitimate, and his verticality a defensive nightmare for opponents.

But he also makes lots of mistakes even after cleaning his game considerably, and is exploitable on pick-and-rolls. It was this latter fact that had head coach Brad Stevens reticent to give the Louisiana native floor time in the second half of Saturday’s loss to the Raptors.

“The [Serge] Ibaka pick-and-rolls were obviously giving us fits, so we went to a smaller, switching lineup there during his normal stint,” explained Stevens on Sunday afternoon.

If the Celtics can plug that leak, we may well see a fair amount of Time Lord on the floor for Game 5; before that defensive weakness was identified by the Raptors, Williams was Boston’s best offensive big man in the series according to Boston Sports Journal’s Brian Robb.

Moreover, he has been good enough on defense to rate a more extended opportunity when not struggling to contain Toronto’s veteran big man from deep.

The Ibaka conundrum may well be superable, however.

The problem with Williams has been his difficulty defending Ibaka’s 3, and other than last night, the older big man has only connected on more than 3 in one game twice, neither of those games coming in the postseason.

Time Lord is Boston’s best offensive option in this series, and while Daniel Theis has earned his starting role, the impact on the game for the entire team on offense as Williams’ vertical gravity warps Toronto’s D to the Celtics is simply too great to ignore.

Boston will still need to find an adjustment to allow the second-year center to stay on the floor when Ibaka is feeling his shot.

But, for a coach as accomplished as Stevens is, it seems likely that Time Lord will have himself another moment on Monday.

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Time Lord might just have an endorsement deal to ‘watch’ out for

Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III might just have himself a timely sponsorship deal in the works.

It’s about time Boston Celtics second year center Robert Williams III got himself an endorsement deal, and if the rumors pan out, there’s really no more appropriate of a sponsor in the NBA for the company being discussed as such.

Swiss watchmaker Tissot is rumored to be considering working with the Boston big man on a sponsorship deal, revealed during yesterday’s Toronto Raptors Game 3 broadcast on NBC Sports Boston, with analyst Abby Chin getting Williams on record about the sponsorship possibility.

The Texas A&M product is an ideal brand ambassador ot just because of his impeccable timing protecting the rim, but also because of his ‘Time Lord’ nickname, bestowed on the Louisiana native by ‘Weird Celtics Twitter’ (as the quirky, meme-driven subculture calls itself) after some early-career difficulty with appointments.

It is of course derived from the popular BBC sci-fi series “Dr. Who,” named after the race of aliens able to control space and time with their advanced technology.

As Tissot has worked with NBAers like Tony Parker and even serves as official timekeeper to basketball organizations ranging from the WNBA to FIBA, it’s hard to think of a more apt partnership.

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Boston’s Robert Williams III ready to tangle with Joel Embiid, 76ers

Boston Celtics reserve center Robert Williams III is ready to put his full range of skills to the test against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Boston Celtics reserve center Robert Williams III is ready for his first real postseason run, having shown he can contribute at a high level off the bench in the Celtics’ seeding games of the Disney restart.

Speaking in a recent Zoom interview with the media, Time Lord was keen to note that success for Boston will be a product of their collective effort, and ability to play connected.

“I’ll just say we’re focused in on [that] we’re the only fans that we have [in the arena]; we’re here by ourselves, so we just have to lock in mentally, all together,” he explained. “And I feel like me, including all of my teammates and coaches, we’ve been doing a great job with it.”

As to what he needs to do for his part of that group effort? More of the same, if we’re being honest.

“I’ve just got to build off of what I’ve been doing; stay humble,” suggested Williams, “that’s the biggest thing; just stay ready physically and mentally.”

How does one prepare mentally for having to face Philly’s All-Star center Joel Embiid in the playoffs?

“For a guy like me, not that particularly strong on the level of those guys, you’ve just got to do your work early. You can’t let him get to his money spots, get to his sweet spots — just make him work as much as you can.”

This is, incidentally, what most analysts see as Boston’s best path to victory — making the 7-footer tired by having to do it all for his team.

The combination of having to adjust to Time Lord’s athletic verticality, Daniel Theis’ speed and shooting, and Enes Kanter’s strength should go a long way towards that end.

And if Williams indeed stays humble while bringing his unique energy and skill set, the Celtics have more than a good chance of advancing to the second round.

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WATCH: Boston best of Disney restart bubble so far – Robert Williams

See all of Robert Williams III’s best plays in the Disney restart bubble so far with the Boston Celtics in this video.

It’s taken so long for Boston Celtics second-year center Robert Williams III to get a chance to really show us what he is capable of at the NBA level, it nearly gave new meaning to his nickname ‘Time Lord’.

With a host of minor injuries plaguing the Louisiana native — most recently a serious bone bruise on his hip — it hasn’t been until the Disney restart bubble seeding games that we have really seen how much the LSU product has grown as a player since becoming a Celtic.

Flashing far more body control, fundamentals awareness and some nifty passing and shooting, Williams has looked every bit the player Boston hoped they’d drafted and then some.

Averaging 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.2 blocks per game over just 10.9 minutes of game play while shooting an absurd 84.6 % overall and 88.9 % from the line, Time Lord is looking like a real threat off the bench.

Watch all of his best plays from the Disney restart so far — and get hyped to see him tonight as Boston takes on the 76ers in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

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