Boston Celtic reserve center Robert Williams III has been playing some of the best basketball of his still-young Celtic career thus far this season, and it’s been hard not to notice his improved play for his team in the frontcourt.
A force of nature near the basket since he stepped onto an NBA court, he’s since added some solid midrange shooting and most importantly for a team so reliant on 3-point shooting, passing. The latter was notably on display in Wednesday’s big win over the Memphis Grizzlies, when the Texas A&M product artfully tipped a potential oop to teammate Marcus Smart for an open 3 instead.
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“I think we all see his growth when it comes to passing, especially for a guy who’s been out as long as he has with injuries, and trying to get back to that game-shaping mentality,” suggested Smart in his post-practice media availability on Friday when asked about that play.
“We’re so proud of Rob, and he’s only going to continue to get better,” he added.
Asked if it surprised him to see the growth of Time Lord’s passing vision, the Flower Mound native downplayed the idea.
“That’s just Rob,” he explained. “We see Rob do things down in practice you probably wouldn’t think Rob can do.”
“Rob will probably even tell you, so we’re no longer surprised when he does things like that … for us, we need Rob to play like that and be that type of person every game to not only help us but to rise to the level that he can play to his potential.”
Williams is creating the best sort of problem for head coach Brad Stevens, who has been running occasionally-awkward two-big lineups to start games with bigs Tristan Thompson and Daniel Theis to create more playing time for former Aggie.
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“I feel like a lot of stuff has been slowing down,” he offered a reported asking him about his ability to move the ball as he did on that impressive play against Memphis. “Passing is something that I love to do, so hopefully we’re going to make more plays like that.”
Asked what changed in how he approaches the game this season, the Louisiana native credited Thompson for his veteran leadership.
“I’ll tell you my mental approach. I feel like Tristan Thompson helped everyone change their mental approach; he’s a warrior. He makes all his teammates better, and you see the way he’s striving, he makes you want to strive better.”
“I commend him on that as far as he changed my fundamental approach,” added Williams.
As do we.
