Should the Boston Celtics embrace their “small ball” side, and roll with rookie forward Grant Williams as their center?
The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks thinks so, and he’s made a compelling argument as to why that should be the case in a new article.
Noting how Boston “struggled to contain the combination of the pick-and-roll between Goran Dragic and Bam Adebayo and the off-ball movement from the Heat’s shooters,” Tjarks believes the Celtics would be better-suited to the flexibility smaller lineups could present against Miami.
Noting Williams’ plus-9 performance as the highest among Celtics in Game 2, Tjarks zooms in on the Tennessee product because of his ability to “switch screens and defend all over the floor while also being able to find the open man and make passes through the zone.”
There’s a Small Solution to the Celtics’ Biggest Problems https://t.co/1QOVsGJ8xZ via @ringer
— Jonathan Tjarks (@JonathanTjarks) September 18, 2020
The Ringer analyst hedges a bit by suggesting such a move ought to be tried only if Hayward cannot play, but there’s an argument for Williams to play heavy minutes early regardless, if only to help keep starting center Daniel Theis out of the foul trouble that’s muzzled him late in games.
If nothing else, the Celtics do indeed have options to how they respond, and against a highly-adaptive team like the Heat, that might just be the most important tool they have.
