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It's more about what Rob does then his competition. C's know what they have in Kanter - they need to see more out of Rob. Long as he gets some serious minutes to show his stuff - he can compete for starting job. We don't need any gimmick lineups. Just for Rob to play well.

Jurry wrote:In an ideal world Kanter feasts on bench units, Rob is a 15 mpg starter who helps set a defensive tone, Poirier is 3rd string guy who can be called on when injuries hit and Theis returns to all-star form as a power forward

In reality I'm cool with 1 or 2 of those guys just stepping up enough to provide quality rotation minutes.

That is exactly how I would like to see it pan out by midseason, if not sooner.

cloverleaf wrote:

Jurry wrote:In an ideal world Kanter feasts on bench units, Rob is a 15 mpg starter who helps set a defensive tone, Poirier is 3rd string guy who can be called on when injuries hit and Theis returns to all-star form as a power forward

In reality I'm cool with 1 or 2 of those guys just stepping up enough to provide quality rotation minutes.

That is exactly how I would like to see it pan out by midseason, if not sooner.

I'd like to see this scenario, as well. But, I think that it may take the whole season, before TimeLord can be a Starter.

Parliament10 wrote:

cloverleaf wrote:

Jurry wrote:In an ideal world Kanter feasts on bench units, Rob is a 15 mpg starter who helps set a defensive tone, Poirier is 3rd string guy who can be called on when injuries hit and Theis returns to all-star form as a power forward

In reality I'm cool with 1 or 2 of those guys just stepping up enough to provide quality rotation minutes.

That is exactly how I would like to see it pan out by midseason, if not sooner.

I'd like to see this scenario, as well. But, I think that it may take the whole season, before TimeLord can be a Starter.

They don't really need him there until the playoffs, but I'd like he get comfortable in that role first.

Parliament10 wrote:

cloverleaf wrote:

Jurry wrote:In an ideal world Kanter feasts on bench units, Rob is a 15 mpg starter who helps set a defensive tone, Poirier is 3rd string guy who can be called on when injuries hit and Theis returns to all-star form as a power forward

In reality I'm cool with 1 or 2 of those guys just stepping up enough to provide quality rotation minutes.

That is exactly how I would like to see it pan out by midseason, if not sooner.

I'd like to see this scenario, as well. But, I think that it may take the whole season, before TimeLord can be a Starter.

VP might be the starter for the time being.

The big question is how will Brad Stevens use Robert Williams. Has he expanded his game to defend away from the basket, added an outside jump shot also can he play long minutes without committing fouls. Red Auerbach looked for specific mental skills as well as basketball fundamentals to build good very good teams.

thomas1897 wrote:The big question is how will Brad Stevens use Robert Williams. Has he expanded his game to defend away from the basket, added an outside jump shot also can he play long minutes without committing fouls. Red Auerbach looked for specific mental skills as well as basketball fundamentals to build good very good teams.

Rob's fouling rate as a rook was well behind Theis or Haynes, so I am not too worried there. How well will he rotate and defend outside is still an open question, however--as well as how the C's will try to use him. But I think the best outcome for him this year would be to start but only play about 50% of the game anyway.

A defense in which the center stays back seems better for Kanter, better for Poirier, and perhaps better for Williams' current level of on-court recognition.

Assuming that that's the defensive scheme, how likely is Williams to be a better player than Kanter or Poirier? He's obviously the best shotblocker (but Poirier seems pretty decent); he might have a little edge on passing; he seems behind in scoring even if we assume a significant advantage over Kanter in rim-running and a smaller edge over Poirier.

That said, "switch everything" is probably best for Theis, and of course also for true smallball options (e.g Grant, Semi or Jaylen at the "5"). So Stevens and Ainge may still be hoping to establish that kind of system, and might be motivated to force it a bit despite its awkwardness for Kanter and Poitier.

Yeah. He’s starting. Lol at this thread

Homerclease wrote:Yeah. He’s starting. Lol at this thread

R. Williams, Big Man on Campus!!!

I hope RWIII gets a lot more minutes this season, I like what I saw last night. Let's develop him so he can be our starting center next season.

He needs to settle down. He plays too aggressive. When he can contain himself, he'll be much more effective and less foul prone.

When that happens, he will be a monster problem for other teams.

Scarletfire81 wrote:I hope RWIII gets a lot more minutes this season, I like what I saw last night. Let's develop him so he can be our starting center next season.

I agree. His first lob dunk was awesome. The next two lobs were really bad passes even though the dunks were there. He is prone to making a great defensive play and block only to foul unnecessarily on follow through.

I am usually a proponent of players earning their minutes. I think it’s in team’s best interests to give RW, Carsen and Grant more minutes early much like they did with Gordon last year so it pays off in March.

Green89 wrote:He needs to settle down. He plays too aggressive. When he can contain himself, he'll be much more effective and less foul prone.

When that happens, he will be a monster problem for other teams.

And last year as a rookie with injuries and limited playing time people thought he wasn't playing hard enough.

He'll be fine.

His biggest problem is that he's so athletic that he gets himself into a lot of situations where he's going to injure himself or others. Combined with some reckless, out of control play, he's a ticking timebomb for injury to himself/others. A lot like Embiid in this regard; I have no idea how he doesn't injure himself or others every single game, he's all over the **** place and he's 300 pounds.

I assume Williams would become less reckless as he gets more minutes, but for now he knows he only has 8-10 minutes a game so he's trying to fly all over the place.

Gonna be weird to integrate him into what we do when he isn't a threat to score outside of 10 feet. I don't blame Rob for that but we have historically not catered to bigs who don't stretch or at least shoot jumpers out beyond 18 feet. Funny thing is I don't think it remotely hurts us to have a guy play the way he does in our offense I just don't see Brad sticking with him for long stretches because of it. He's kinda addicted to his philosophy. But who the f knows the big man rotation is wide open and will be all year.

Jurry wrote:Gonna be weird to integrate him into what we do when he isn't a threat to score outside of 10 feet. I don't blame Rob for that but we have historically not catered to bigs who don't stretch or at least shoot jumpers out beyond 18 feet. Funny thing is I don't think it remotely hurts us to have a guy play the way he does in our offense I just don't see Brad sticking with him for long stretches because of it. He's kinda addicted to his philosophy. But who the f knows the big man rotation is wide open and will be all year.

Agreed. But the screen and roll threat is pretty helpful, too. When we go small, we have nobody as a threat to roll to the hoop. If he can be in the right spots on D, and get to Baynes level on screen/roll this year, I'll be quite pleased.

I was impressed with Rob last night. His overall awareness seems much better. Looking forward to seeing him actually get consistent minutes this year.

He's got to earn his minutes. Brad put him in late in the game the other night, he went for a fake and got scored on. Brad took him out right away. That's probably the best way to use him this year. Give him a few minutes in the first half for development and give him a try in the second, but if he makes silly mistakes pull him out. He's got to learn to stop jumping at everything.