Let's talk Robert Williams

[flintsky21]

He's been playing smarter this year (so far). Just wished Brad gives him as much leeway as he gives to Ojeleye.

[Elrod is Back]

This is mostly a rebuilding year, where, sort of like 17-18, we hope can go on a run in the playoffs.

For that reason, Timelord should play a lot, unless he is downright bad and losing his confidence. We need to see if he can play and we need to give him 1,500-2,000 minutes of court time this season to develop. He needs real game experience.

If he blossoms over the course of the season we could be a tough out come the playoffs. He has truly rare talent, and it will be a few more years for it to come together. The sooner the better. And if he does not develop, no biggie. We're not winning a title with this team this year otherwise.

[sam_I_am]

This is mostly a rebuilding year, where, sort of like 17-18, we hope can go on a run in the playoffs.

For that reason, Timelord should play a lot, unless he is downright bad and losing his confidence. We need to see if he can play and we need to give him 1,500-2,000 minutes of court time this season to develop. He needs real game experience.

If he blossoms over the course of the season we could be a tough out come the playoffs. He has truly rare talent, and it will be a few more years for it to come together. The sooner the better. And if he does not develop, no biggie. We're not winning a title with this team this year otherwise.

^^
This.

[Floody100]

If KAT wants out of Minnesota you trade the Memphis pick, Rob & Gordon for him.

[LewisnotMiller]

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.

A sufficiently good passing big man can participate in a good offense without being much of a scorer personally. Dennis Rodman is the extreme example. Partial examples on the Celtics include Bill Walton and late-career Bill Russell.

It helps if he can set screens too. Not saying how Williams rates there (not quite sure, to tell the truth) but I'm thinking of an example like Andrew Bogut.

[JHTruth]

If KAT wants out of Minnesota you trade the Memphis pick, Rob & Gordon for him.

Lol we never learn.

I agree with the above poster. Rob needs at least 1000 mins this season. Preferably closer to 2000. He'll probably earn it anyway. Theis looks to be maxed out as a spot bench big, Poirier looks like a bust, and Kanter is well, Kanter.

It's TimeLords ahem, time

[Floody100]

If KAT wants out of Minnesota you trade the Memphis pick, Rob & Gordon for him.

Lol we never learn.

I agree with the above poster. Rob needs at least 1000 mins this season. Preferably closer to 2000. He'll probably earn it anyway. Theis looks to be maxed out as a spot bench big, Poirier looks like a bust, and Kanter is well, Kanter.

It's TimeLords ahem, time

What’s their too learn ? dudes a monster & fills a position we need to become a championship contender.

[JHTruth]

If KAT wants out of Minnesota you trade the Memphis pick, Rob & Gordon for him.

Lol we never learn.

I agree with the above poster. Rob needs at least 1000 mins this season. Preferably closer to 2000. He'll probably earn it anyway. Theis looks to be maxed out as a spot bench big, Poirier looks like a bust, and Kanter is well, Kanter.

It's TimeLords ahem, time

What’s their too slearn ? dudes a monster & fills a position we need to become a championship contender.

Exactly. KAT is the new AD..

[Floody100]

Lol we never learn.

I agree with the above poster. Rob needs at least 1000 mins this season. Preferably closer to 2000. He'll probably earn it anyway. Theis looks to be maxed out as a spot bench big, Poirier looks like a bust, and Kanter is well, Kanter.

It's TimeLords ahem, time

What’s their too slearn ? dudes a monster & fills a position we need to become a championship contender.

Exactly. KAT is the new AD..

Ohh sorry didn’t read your post properly, thought you were disagreeing with me
Imagine a starting 5 like this next year ..
Kemba
Brown
Tatum
Grant
KAT

[PtruthP34]

I like the looks of a Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Grant, Timelord starting five. That's a well balanced unit with both Williams being able to set screens for our scorers and keep the ball moving. Play Hayward 32-35 mins off the bench and close out games with him instead of Robert.

[Fencer reregistered]

I like the looks of a Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Grant, Timelord starting five. That's a well balanced unit with both Williams being able to set screens for our scorers and keep the ball moving. Play Hayward 32-35 mins off the bench and close out games with him instead of Robert.

Not until Grant is willing and able to hit open 3s. Otherwise the paint gets very crowded, especially for guys whose names start with J and who aren't that great at finishing drives.

[grindtime22]

Three games in he is leading the team in WS and WS/48, VORP, PER, TS%, defensive and total BPM, and steal %. He's second on the team behind Tacko's 4 minutes in rebounding rate, third on the team in asst %, 2nd in block %, leading the team in ORtg and 2nd behind Tacko's 4 minutes in DRtg.

Eww. Quite ridiculous to quote stats after 45 minutes of play

Yeah it was pretty much the same last year. Bottom line is Rob is a phenomenal defensive player and underrated offensively. Thats what the stats have said from the beginning.

He is certainly a phenomenal box score defender. Is he a great defender yet? I wouldn't say that yet. Right now, it is a mix. He causes problems for both teams when we are on defense. He is going to get his hands on a lot of balls, he is going to block a lot of shots, alter shots, and he is going to grab boards. He is also going to get lost, be a step out of position, get beat on the pick roll, foul a lot, and chase blocks that he has no chance at leading to his man rebounding and scoring (KAT defense). He has trouble playing more than 5 minute spurts due to fatigue. It isn't all glorious if you are really watching. WS,BPM, VORP are all nonsense on the defensive end.

I'm encouraged right now though. I like the havoc that we can cause with him and our good athletic wing defenders on the floor. Its fun to watch. I'm all for giving him 15-20 minutes a game and more if he earns it. I'm overly excited about anybody else at that position except for the the minutes when we go really small with Grant at the 5.

[JHTruth]

Eww. Quite ridiculous to quote stats after 45 minutes of play

Yeah it was pretty much the same last year. Bottom line is Rob is a phenomenal defensive player and underrated offensively. Thats what the stats have said from the beginning.

He is certainly a phenomenal box score defender. Is he a great defender yet? I wouldn't say that yet. Right now, it is a mix. He causes problems for both teams when we are on defense. He is going to get his hands on a lot of balls, he is going to block a lot of shots, alter shots, and he is going to grab boards. He is also going to get lost, be a step out of position, get beat on the pick roll, foul a lot, and chase blocks that he has no chance at leading to his man rebounding and scoring (KAT defense). He has trouble playing more than 5 minute spurts due to fatigue. It isn't all glorious if you are really watching. WS,BPM, VORP are all nonsense on the defensive end.

I'm encouraged right now though. I like the havoc that we can cause with him and our good athletic wing defenders on the floor. Its fun to watch. I'm all for giving him 15-20 minutes a game and more if he earns it. I'm overly excited about anybody else at that position except for the the minutes when we go really small with Grant at the 5.

Completely disagree that advanced stats are "nonsense" for defense. The people you would expect to be good or bad defenders, the advanced stats tell the same story..

[sully00]

This is mostly a rebuilding year, where, sort of like 17-18, we hope can go on a run in the playoffs.

For that reason, Timelord should play a lot, unless he is downright bad and losing his confidence. We need to see if he can play and we need to give him 1,500-2,000 minutes of court time this season to develop. He needs real game experience.

If he blossoms over the course of the season we could be a tough out come the playoffs. He has truly rare talent, and it will be a few more years for it to come together. The sooner the better. And if he does not develop, no biggie. We're not winning a title with this team this year otherwise.

It has never gone that way under Stevens. It is his roots as a college coach every year is a rebuilding year. Stevens will not piss away team development in an attempt to force the development of any individual player. The clearest example of him giving a guy too many mins without them holding up their end was Hayward last year and that really only lasted 15 games.

Williams will get the opportunity because he has talent and has put in the work and his skill set is unique for this team. But the only way this works and guys get better is if the environment is competitive. That is somewhat the beauty of this reset. The roster has one player over 30 in Wannamaker and it's big are 27 and younger and the team would essentially benefit from any of them developing and improving. So have at it and to the winner go the spoils.

[ballup]

Force feeding Bob minutes won't help him fix his weaknesses. Doing that would reinforce his bad habits since he no longer has that major goal to achieve. Let Brad do his thing here

[Curmudgeon]

TL has shown that he deserves minutes. He doesn't need to be force fed.

[FakeScreenName123]

put yer name on the wall kids if yer too scared to play TimeLord and want to use Enes frickenshoota3orblockashotdude Kanter


TimeLords elite skills are related to blocking shots

[FakeScreenName123]

know why we love grantwill at the 5? cos he hits 3s and blocks shots and is aware of whats happening the majority of the time

Gwill >>>>>>>>>> Kanter

[sam_I_am]

Eww. Quite ridiculous to quote stats after 45 minutes of play

Yeah it was pretty much the same last year. Bottom line is Rob is a phenomenal defensive player and underrated offensively. Thats what the stats have said from the beginning.

He is certainly a phenomenal box score defender. Is he a great defender yet? I wouldn't say that yet. Right now, it is a mix. He causes problems for both teams when we are on defense. He is going to get his hands on a lot of balls, he is going to block a lot of shots, alter shots, and he is going to grab boards. He is also going to get lost, be a step out of position, get beat on the pick roll, foul a lot, and chase blocks that he has no chance at leading to his man rebounding and scoring (KAT defense). He has trouble playing more than 5 minute spurts due to fatigue. It isn't all glorious if you are really watching. WS,BPM, VORP are all nonsense on the defensive end.

I'm encouraged right now though. I like the havoc that we can cause with him and our good athletic wing defenders on the floor. Its fun to watch. I'm all for giving him 15-20 minutes a game and more if he earns it. I'm overly excited about anybody else at that position except for the the minutes when we go really small with Grant at the 5.

RW is dripping with potential. His shot blocking combined with his amazing lateral quickness and ability to cover ground out to 3 pt line should make him great. Visually he blows us away at times. But the box score actually tells a much different story. Although +/- isn’t a great stat, RW is almost always negative even when team is winning big. And his defensive rating of 105 is 20 pts worse than Grant and is even worse than Kanter. May be worst on the team.

For every highlight reel block or steal, he is doing something equally terrible...like unnecessary fouls leading to 3 pt plays, or rotating when he shouldn’t leading to easy dunks. That said, I think the desire and effort are there. I believe, against my usual beliefs, that force feeding him 20 min per game will pay off by end of season.

[Fencer reregistered]

This is mostly a rebuilding year, where, sort of like 17-18, we hope can go on a run in the playoffs.

For that reason, Timelord should play a lot, unless he is downright bad and losing his confidence. We need to see if he can play and we need to give him 1,500-2,000 minutes of court time this season to develop. He needs real game experience.

If he blossoms over the course of the season we could be a tough out come the playoffs. He has truly rare talent, and it will be a few more years for it to come together. The sooner the better. And if he does not develop, no biggie. We're not winning a title with this team this year otherwise.

It has never gone that way under Stevens. It is his roots as a college coach every year is a rebuilding year. Stevens will not piss away team development in an attempt to force the development of any individual player. The clearest example of him giving a guy too many mins without them holding up their end was Hayward last year and that really only lasted 15 games.

Williams will get the opportunity because he has talent and has put in the work and his skill set is unique for this team. But the only way this works and guys get better is if the environment is competitive. That is somewhat the beauty of this reset. The roster has one player over 30 in Wannamaker and it's big are 27 and younger and the team would essentially benefit from any of them developing and improving. So have at it and to the winner go the spoils.

Brad is coaching the perimeter players to be super-aggressive on defense. That suggests:
-- From a human-relations standpoint, he needs to coach the bigs to be aggressive too.
-- From an Xs and Os standpoint, he probably needs the bigs to erase perimeter guys' mistakes anyway.