Grant Williams Thread

[ballup]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

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[playa-hater]

I am really happy to see anyone on Boston knock down shots.. might say even shocked/surprised that Grant is our leading candidate for 40-50-90.. But I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but It needs to be pointed out Grant is taking extremely wide open 3 pointers.. mostly baseline. Not sure why the league keeps "daring him" to shoot them.

*IF and when Grant can become a shooter who can be relied upon to make contested shots, I will be all in on Grant. Until then I reserve the right to withhold my enthusiasm to a more conservative level.

But if the future of Grant "can Be" a poor man's PJ Tucker, I would be happy.

[playa-hater]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

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Diaw was a very good playmaker as well for his size and position. Grant is a willing passer. but has limited play making aility.

[ballup]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Diaw was a very good playmaker as well for his size and position. Grant is a willing passer. but has limited play making aility.

That can come in time. Grant currently lacks a way to shoft the defense and may only ever be a conduit passer. Of course I don't expect Grant to reach the same aptitude of Diaw, but I was speaking more on how similar they are in player molds more than other choices like PJ Tucker.

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[SatchSanders]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Diaw was a very good playmaker as well for his size and position. Grant is a willing passer. but has limited play making aility.

That can come in time. Grant currently lacks a way to shoft the defense and may only ever be a conduit passer. Of course I don't expect Grant to reach the same aptitude of Diaw, but I was speaking more on how similar they are in player molds more than other choices like PJ Tucker.

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I had been thinking PJ Tucker myself, but Diaw's an interesting comparative if Grant continues to develop. Overall I just don't understand this team. It seems like they have good components and should improve significantly, but they're not there yet. Maybe it's as simple as the conference being really balanced now.

[Fencer reregistered]

I am really happy to see anyone on Boston knock down shots.. might say even shocked/surprised that Grant is our leading candidate for 40-50-90.. But I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but It needs to be pointed out Grant is taking extremely wide open 3 pointers.. mostly baseline. Not sure why the league keeps "daring him" to shoot them.

*IF and when Grant can become a shooter who can be relied upon to make contested shots, I will be all in on Grant. Until then I reserve the right to withhold my enthusiasm to a more conservative level.

But if the future of Grant "can Be" a poor man's PJ Tucker, I would be happy.

Grant has already taken the next step, which is to succeed when defenders try hard to recover on him. His release on wide-open shots has become pretty quick, and he can also exploit closeouts against not-the-greatest defenders.

But yeah, his percentages aren't as impressive as they would be from somebody who's the focal point of the offense, drawing defensive attention accordingly, and still scoring at high efficiency.

[24istheLAW]

Diaw had such a complete floor game, I think the comparison is a bit unfair to Grant. GWill does have some mid range shooting ability based on college and can do a little bit of everything, but he’s not going to ever have the passing vision, change of speeds when attacking the rim, and creative finishing ability that Boris did. Diaw was also bigger - he was one of those players who probably could have been more than he was if he had the drive. GWill and PJ Tucker make more sense as comps to me. If Grant has a 3&D niche and can foray out of it, that’s all you need from him.

[Bohemian]

I think I was one of the biggest Grant haters here. I saw him as a player who added almost nothing in the offense and was foul prone in defense, too slow to guard forwards and too little to guard centers. So I thought he was a waste of a first round pick.
Enter 20/21 and he has shown me he can hit the 3 and move the ball well in the offense. On defense he is moving better and I have the impression he is fouling less. So yes, he is adding a lot to the team and has shown I was wrong. So I admit it again (I think I already did it in another thread):

Grant Williams is a good NBA player and was a good pick by Danny Ainge in the draft.

[BillessuR6]

Like I have been saying, he can be our PJ Tucker...Grant is 23, PJ came back into the league when he was 27...

Maybe he won`t be the defender Tucker is but he will be a better shooter...

[Froob]

I always believed in him, just needed to drop some weight.

[darrendaye]

Tremendous results so far this year. Along with the shooting stats has been a strong assist/turnover rate as well and he's been more assertive. He should get all of the kudos he's received. I will say though, it was not a good look suggesting the team was to blame for his weight issues last year. While they likely did tell him to add weight, I doubt the program focused on gaining it mostly in the mid-section.

[Jaqua92]

Agreed. A lot of posters last season lumped him in with Semi and other roster fodder who sucked. Grant’s been an obvious rotation quality guy since he got here, and has made great strides in his body and game (especially shooting).

I never considered him an obvious rotation guy till this year. He's absolutely earned it now.

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[Gomes3PC]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

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Grant would really need to blossom as a passer and ballhandler to get to where Diaw was. In his prime he was a 5-6 APG guy.

Flip side is I think Grant will stretch the floor better than Diaw ever did and is probably a stouter defender.

[Bad-Thoma]

I am really happy to see anyone on Boston knock down shots.. might say even shocked/surprised that Grant is our leading candidate for 40-50-90.. But I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but It needs to be pointed out Grant is taking extremely wide open 3 pointers.. mostly baseline. Not sure why the league keeps "daring him" to shoot them.

*IF and when Grant can become a shooter who can be relied upon to make contested shots, I will be all in on Grant. Until then I reserve the right to withhold my enthusiasm to a more conservative level.

But if the future of Grant "can Be" a poor man's PJ Tucker, I would be happy.

Here's the thing: Grant only takes open shots, with the improved ball movement he has ample opportunities to take bad shots but he doesn't. He moves the ball quickly. He's not efficient because defenses aren't respecting him, he's efficient because he is doing exactly what the whole team is supposed to be doing and moving the ball to try to find an open shooter etc rather than firing away contested 3's. 50/40/90 isn't any less of an achievement because the shots are open, he's hitting 50/40/90 because he is smart and unselfish and takes what the defense gives him. He's a smart, unselfish player who plays hard which is why some of us really liked his potential last year when he wasn't as productive. I thought high end role player was his ceiling which is great for where he was drafted but I think maybe he can be an above average starter in this league if he keeps growing his game.

[31to6]

Agreed. A lot of posters last season lumped him in with Semi and other roster fodder who sucked. Grant’s been an obvious rotation quality guy since he got here, and has made great strides in his body and game (especially shooting).

I never considered him an obvious rotation guy till this year. He's absolutely earned it now.

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do you mean to tell me ... that you and I didn't see eye to eye on something, Jaqua??
Grant was obviously a 50/40/90 guy the day he was drafted, maybe the first 60/50/100:)

(was McHale really 60/80 once? Is that a thing?)

[Jaqua92]

Agreed. A lot of posters last season lumped him in with Semi and other roster fodder who sucked. Grant’s been an obvious rotation quality guy since he got here, and has made great strides in his body and game (especially shooting).

I never considered him an obvious rotation guy till this year. He's absolutely earned it now.

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do you mean to tell me ... that you and I didn't see eye to eye on something, Jaqua??
Grant was obviously a 50/40/90 guy the day he was drafted, maybe the first 60/50/100:)

(was McHale really 60/80 once? Is that a thing?)

Lol wholeheartedly, you're one of my favorite posters here.

But correct! Yeah, honestly, I'm still fearfully waiting for him to regress to the norm because I still see him as a barely NBA calibur player. Had no expectations.

But I'm really happy to see him turn into a reliable 3 point shooter. A young hard worker providing a skill we need..proving me wrong. I'll take it.

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[playa-hater]

I can dig out my early posts on Grant when he was drafted, and again when he went for his infamous 0-25 streak from 3 or whatever it was.. My replies were always the same. Grant has good shooting mechanics.. I said it was all confidence related. Guess he has gained the "much needed confidence".

So on that note, I say Nesmith is fine in the mechanics department and his missing is all "confidence" related. Ditto PP.

Still waiting for the day (if it ever comes) when Ime can give the same "confidence" and opportunities that Grant has been given.

Back to Grant, I definitely haven't turned the corner on declaring Grant a solid draft pick and a fixture for Boston's future. But for the first time there is some real hope that can still happen.

[ballup]

I see a lot of player comparisons, but surprised late career Boris Diaw isn't one of them. Both undersized for their time, but smart defensively with bulk. Has a 3 point shot and Grant has shown a possible low post game, although the efficiency isn't there yet

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Grant would really need to blossom as a passer and ballhandler to get to where Diaw was. In his prime he was a 5-6 APG guy.

Flip side is I think Grant will stretch the floor better than Diaw ever did and is probably a stouter defender.

Which is why I specified late career Diaw when he was on the Spurs. That version of Diaw was more of a great bench player who played smart on both ends.


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[31to6]

I can dig out my early posts on Grant when he was drafted, and again when he went for his infamous 0-25 streak from 3 or whatever it was.. My replies were always the same. Grant has good shooting mechanics.. I said it was all confidence related. Guess he has gained the "much needed confidence".

So on that note, I say Nesmith is fine in the mechanics department and his missing is all "confidence" related. Ditto PP.

Still waiting for the day (if it ever comes) when Ime can give the same "confidence" and opportunities that Grant has been given.

Back to Grant, I definitely haven't turned the corner on declaring Grant a solid draft pick and a fixture for Boston's future. But for the first time there is some real hope that can still happen.

Grant has good shooting mechanics but there's something about the way his head follows the ball after he shoots it that always gets me. Especially from the corner, it's the weirdest 'follow through' I can think of. Anyone else with me on this? This is a thing, right?

[zoyathedestroya]

UPDATE: Still a 50/40/90 guy w/ 60 games to go. Shooting better than both Currys from 3.