R-Dub: Time Lord, Tantalizing Sleeper, or Just a Late Flier?

Smokey Joe

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benhogan

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Apparently, you've never had a teenager. Being a 2 minute walk away means you only have to wake up 5 minutes before practice. maybe only 4 minutes. Hit the snooze button again... ZZZZZZZZ...
That's fine, as long as strength training coach has his address. Hopefully, Rob uses the training facilities as his private cafeteria and stays away from Popeye's/Buffalo Wild Wing's.

Just get him working out, eating right and working on his FTs daily. He has at least the first half of this season to watch and learn. Rob is 4th or 5th on the depth chart at the 5 (Baynes, Theis, Horford, and Yabusele)

Quick question: If you re-draft 2018 right now do you take anyone ahead of Williams?
 

MarkBT

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Quick question: If you re-draft 2018 right now do you take anyone ahead of Williams?
Still way too early, obviously, but I still like the pick as much as I did on draft night. I would've been just as happy with Ellie Okobo, but that's about it. I think Mitchell Robinson was off a lot of team's first-round boards, but he'd look pretty good as a late first-round pick right now, too.
 

DannyDarwinism

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That's fine, as long as strength training coach has his address. Hopefully, Rob uses the training facilities as his private cafeteria and stays away from Popeye's/Buffalo Wild Wing's.

Just get him working out, eating right and working on his FTs daily. He has at least the first half of this season to watch and learn. Rob is 4th or 5th on the depth chart at the 5 (Baynes, Theis, Horford, and Yabusele)

Quick question: If you re-draft 2018 right now do you take anyone ahead of Williams?
At the time, I was pretty excited that Williams and De'Anthony Melton were both still on the board, and Melton's summer hasn't done anything to dissuade me from believing he's going to be a good pro. Didn't know much about Mitchell Robinson other than the off-court red flags, but he's definitely flashed on the court since the draft.
 

lovegtm

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Mr. Williams will have no good excuse for being late to practice. He just got an apartment next to the Celtics practice facility.

Maybe our rookie is growing up?

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/robert-williams-buys-apartment-next-144905226.html
It's a small step, but I like his willingness to financially commit to proactively setting up a good environment. Everyone has weaknesses; the best find ways to work around them and accentuate strengths, the losers use them as excuses. We'll know soon which category RWill is in.
 

benhogan

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It's a small step, but I like his willingness to financially commit to proactively setting up a good environment. Everyone has weaknesses; the best find ways to work around them and accentuate strengths, the losers use them as excuses. We'll know soon which category RWill is in.
well put
 

DJnVa

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I don't recall seeing anything about eating issues to the point where he has to deal with it. Where is that from?
 

bakahump

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Seems weird that a teenager growing in excess of 6'5" and presumably performing copious amounts of athletic activity would gain a reputation for eating a lot from his teasing big sis.

I am beginning to worry about this guy.
 

Marciano490

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Seems weird that a teenager growing in excess of 6'5" and presumably performing copious amounts of athletic activity would gain a reputation for eating a lot from his teasing big sis.

I am beginning to worry about this guy.
I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. When I was fighting, my sister would constantly make fun of my caloric intake and I was mostly losing or maintaining weight and shorter and lighter than this dude.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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You know it's summer when people are worried that a lean 6'10" 240 basketball player has an eating problem based on a throwaway comment by his sister.
 

InstaFace

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When I was 14 I was on a competitive swim team for my local rec center. There were some kids on the team who later made olympic trials, though let's just be clear that I was never anywhere close to their league. I would routinely eat more than the rest of my family combined (mom / dad / brother / sister) at the dinner table, and could not crack 150lbs (6'0") to save my life. I can only imagine with horror what someone nearly twice my size and ten times my athleticism and workout volume would consume.

Point being GB Shaw was right, as always: youth is wasted on the young.
 

Reverend

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When I was 14 I was on a competitive swim team for my local rec center. There were some kids on the team who later made olympic trials, though let's just be clear that I was never anywhere close to their league. I would routinely eat more than the rest of my family combined (mom / dad / brother / sister) at the dinner table, and could not crack 150lbs (6'0") to save my life. I can only imagine with horror what someone nearly twice my size and ten times my athleticism and workout volume would consume.

Point being GB Shaw was right, as always: youth is wasted on the young.
My physics teacher would show a video on calories and energy that was basically built around the sheer chaos that is the breakfast scene among riders at the Tour de France.

Like, imagine each rider with like 8 plates trying to sit at tables together.
 

bakahump

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I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not. When I was fighting, my sister would constantly make fun of my caloric intake and I was mostly losing or maintaining weight and shorter and lighter than this dude.
totally joking.
 

Eddie Jurak

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He's still mostly clueless, though he showed a few flashes. One obvious thing is that he can pick up guards on switches - had a nice block on Malik Monk to win it. Runs the court well. The other thing is that he doesn't look like a ball stopper - he often looks to pass when he gets the ball. Didn't drop any great dimes or anything, but it looks like ball movement will be a part of his game. After his block, he got the ball right back on the break and instead of the game cliniching dunk I was expecting, he fed Yabu for an easy layup.

Here's that game ending play:

 

BigSoxFan

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He's still mostly clueless, though he showed a few flashes. One obvious thing is that he can pick up guards on switches - had a nice block on Malik Monk to win it. Runs the court well. The other thing is that he doesn't look like a ball stopper - he often looks to pass when he gets the ball. Didn't drop any great dimes or anything, but it looks like ball movement will be a part of his game. After his block, he got the ball right back on the break and instead of the game cliniching dunk I was expecting, he fed Yabu for an easy layup.

Here's that game ending play:

Very nice sequence and I loved how he calmly fed Yabu even though he could have Darryl Dawkins’d the shit out of that ball. Won’t see a whole lot of time when the games start counting but you can see why Danny took a chance on him.
 

Imbricus

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I think he's been quite impressive, at least in terms of being athletic and getting guys to change their shots on defense. If he can get into the flow of the system, I wouldn't be surprised to see him coming out with the second unit. I think Brad will also use him strategically, because he brings something no else does, that size coupled with elite quickness.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Jimbodandy

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I agree it could get him minutes, in kind of the same way that on ball defense got Semi a lot of minutes last year even though he wasn't doing a whole lot else at the NBA level.
Good analogy. Additionally, Williams has serious length. There will be some good situations for him.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I agree it could get him minutes, in kind of the same way that on ball defense got Semi a lot of minutes last year even though he wasn't doing a whole lot else at the NBA level.
Good analogy. Additionally, Williams has serious length. There will be some good situations for him.
Just to clarify a bit, I think the main driver of Semi getting minutes last year was injuries. But even had the team not been devastated by injuries, Semi would seen spot minutes as a defensive option in certain matchups. Even this year, without injuries, I'd expect Semi to get some run in certain situations, such as the Bucks.

I don't think RWill will come anywhere near Semi's 1,150 minutes from last year... maybe he'll get a third of that if everyone statys healthy, but it is encouraging to see that there may be one useful thing he can do out of the gate, along with some very good future potential.
 

nighthob

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After those blocks these last couple of games I’m thinking that Area 51 might be appropriate. Someone needs to redeem the nick.
 

TripleOT

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I finally watched the Cavs pre-season game. Williams has some serious defensive tools. He covers the court effortlessly, and gets up in the air very quickly. I don't know if he will see any real minutes this season when games are in the balance, but he should be fun in garbage time.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I finally watched the Cavs pre-season game. Williams has some serious defensive tools. He covers the court effortlessly, and gets up in the air very quickly. I don't know if he will see any real minutes this season when games are in the balance, but he should be fun in garbage time.
This kid could last 15 years in the league if he matures and gets some good mentorship that he follows. With him it's mostly above the head.

Or he could forget his jersey, his mind, and enjoy living the NBA lifestyle for a few years before finishing up his career in Istanbul.
 

BigSoxFan

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Would people be happy if he turned out to be Tony Battie?
I'd like him to be a better shot blocker than Battie was (0.9 BPG for his career and peaked at 1.5) but if he has a Battie-esque 15 year career, then that's a clear win for Ainge. Obviously, it would certainly be on several different teams but Battie was a pretty solid player for us and other teams. I do think Williams has a lot more physical talent than Battie.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Would people be happy if he turned out to be Tony Battie?
Nice production comp. If you're a low-1st round pick you would be ecstatic with a 15-year career earning $57m dollars even though Battie was a pretty craptastic player over his final decade since he left Boston.
 

Kliq

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I'd like to aim a bit higher. I have no idea if he'll ever have his motor or intelligence by Tyson Chandler is the best case scenario for The Big Sleep.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Just to clarify a bit, I think the main driver of Semi getting minutes last year was injuries. But even had the team not been devastated by injuries, Semi would seen spot minutes as a defensive option in certain matchups. Even this year, without injuries, I'd expect Semi to get some run in certain situations, such as the Bucks.

I don't think RWill will come anywhere near Semi's 1,150 minutes from last year... maybe he'll get a third of that if everyone statys healthy, but it is encouraging to see that there may be one useful thing he can do out of the gate, along with some very good future potential.
I don't think RWill will come close to 1150 minutes either but unless Semi has made some improvements over the summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets more minutes than Semi. RWill potentially brings shot blocking/rim protection along with size, something the Celtics don't have in abundance. What Semi offers seems mostly redundant.

RWill also has the clearer path for minutes because the team is really only 3 deep at center though Semi and Yabu might get some time there as well.
 

lovegtm

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I don't think RWill will come close to 1150 minutes either but unless Semi has made some improvements over the summer, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets more minutes than Semi. RWill potentially brings shot blocking/rim protection along with size, something the Celtics don't have in abundance. What Semi offers seems mostly redundant.

RWill also has the clearer path for minutes because the team is really only 3 deep at center though Semi and Yabu might get some time there as well.
Could he take Semi's role as Giannis/Simmons stopper? That's the best chance I see for him to have a big role this season (barring injuries, knock on wood, etc).

I've been impressed with what I've seen from him after the flight incidents. He seems to be working hard, doesn't look lost, shows improvement, and is obviously a complete freak athletically.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Could he take Semi's role as Giannis/Simmons stopper? That's the best chance I see for him to have a big role this season (barring injuries, knock on wood, etc).

I've been impressed with what I've seen from him after the flight incidents. He seems to be working hard, doesn't look lost, shows improvement, and is obviously a complete freak athletically.
The only reason Semi had that role last season was due to injuries or else he'd have rarely if ever seen the floor. Neither will figure prominently until players in our 10-man rotation begins missing games.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Could he take Semi's role as Giannis/Simmons stopper? That's the best chance I see for him to have a big role this season (barring injuries, knock on wood, etc).

I've been impressed with what I've seen from him after the flight incidents. He seems to be working hard, doesn't look lost, shows improvement, and is obviously a complete freak athletically.
Like HRB said, I don't see him getting minutes in the playoffs. If last season is any indication, the team needs a Middleton stopper more than a Giannis stopper anyway.
 

Eddie Jurak

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I could see Williams getting spot minutes in a situation where C's bigs are getting victimized on switches. I think Semi will get spot minutes against the Giannis types.

But really, it will be spot minutes for everyone after the top 9 (Al, Kyrie, Gordon, Tatum, Brown, Baynes, the Marcuses, Rozier) and maybe Theis.

I expect Williams should get a decent amount of time with the Red Claws.