Boston Celtics: With Al Horford Injured, Robert Williams Time Is Now

With Boston Celtics big man Al Horford out for a few games to rest a knee injury, rookie center Robert Williams’ time is now.

When the the Boston Celtics selected Robert Williams III with the 27th overall pick in last year’s draft, the expert consensus was that the Celtics got a lottery level talent at near the end of the draft.

However, like most NBA prospects who drop in the draft, there were reasons why teams elected to pass on those prospects and with Williams, it was rumored to be because of maturity issues and a rare knee condition that could limit him on the court.

The Celtics have created an environment for players to come in and grow, both on and off the court, though, so it appeared that Williams had landed in the perfect situation.

But then he slept through his introductory press conference call, after that he missed his first Summer League practice and he even lost his wallet.

As if things couldn’t get any worse for Williams, he ended up injuring his knee in his first Summer League appearance, which would cause him to miss the rest of Summer League.

Media and fans alike began to sour on Williams.

The bumps in the road and judgement lapses were expected, but this many and this early?

Even the ever-kind spirited Dick Vitale openly critiqued Williams on broadcast and social media about his lack of professionalism.

It was at this moment that Williams was afforded the moniker, whether affectionately or not, the Time Lord.

A combination of a playful jab at Williams’ tardiness and, well, just flat out weird Celtics Twitter at its best – Williams was scrutinized from every direction and worst of all, a joke to the outsiders.

Inside the Celtics organization however, there was a different story about Robert Williams.

While the Celtics knew they had their work cut out for them with developing a then-twenty-year-old into a responsible NBA professional and manage his knee condition carefully, their approach was one of patience – not scrutiny.

Williams, himself would begin doing all the right things behind closed doors as he quickly found a mentor in Al Horford to aid in his development, embraced a possible NBA G-League assignment and even impressed head coach Brad Stevens in practices.

Despite putting his best foot forward after his mistakes, Robert Williams was not part of the rotation at the beginning of the regular season despite possessing a unique skill set that no other Celtics big man could lay claim to. While Williams not being part of the rotation was not at all a surprise, it became something some fans questioned as the team struggled out of the gate.

Williams would be relegated to playing in garbage time and be seldom called upon by Brad Stevens, but would impress in the brief stints on the court with his explosive athleticism and surprising feel for the game. Williams would even earn praise from veteran teammate Marcus Morris Sr. after performing well in the opportunities he was given.

Fast forward two months into the season, Al Horford is suffering from a knee injury, which could keep him out for a while and with other Celtics’ big men in Aron Baynes and Guerschon Yabusele nursing ankle injuries – rookie big man Robert Williams would be given his first opportunity against none other than MVP candidate, Anthony Davis of the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.

Although Davis would end the night with his usual ho-hum monster stat line, Williams made life on the court as difficult for him as possible and delighted the Garden faithful with exciting, athletic plays like this incredible block on Davis.

Afterwards, even Anthony Davis recognized that Williams has potential to be a force on the defensive end.

It should not go unspoken that Williams would help extend a possible season altering win streak with the Celtics’ leader in Kyrie Irving also being on the sideline for the game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Williams not only turned in his best outing as an NBA professional with 7 points, 11 rebounds (4 of those being offensive rebounds), 1 steal and 3 blocks in 26 minutes of action, but did so in a very important game as the Celtics look to ascend in the Eastern Conference standings.

Robert Williams provides the Celtics with an athletic big man presence that they have not had since they acquired Kevin Garnett in the Summer of 2007. As someone who is capable of blocking shots in a variety of ways, providing rebounding on both ends of the court, throwing down massive slam dunks with ease and who possesses a sneakily adept passing vision for a big man, Williams’ time to force a role for himself on this team is now.

Even before the injury bug would bite the Celtics big men, the Celtics were in desperate need of a spark, as evident by their 10-10 start that would largely be attributed to an often stagnating, overly-excessive, perimeter-shot-dependent offense and lethargic defense.

Take a look at what Williams can do to help alleviate those problems, given the opportunity:

Threaten defenses on rolls, instead of pops like other Celtics big men, on screen plays.

Provide a lob threat on offense.

Keep possessions alive with offensive rebounding.

Make otherworldly defensive plays.

Help facilitate with his passing abilities.

Who knew that all Stevens had to do was look down his bench and call Robert Williams’ name to find the spark the Celtics had been searching for this season.

A developing trend early in this season has been Al Horford being singled out by opposing teams as the Celtics’ last line of defense. While Horford is averaging a career-high in blocks per game with 1.7 rejections, relying on a 32-year-old to cover up for mistakes on defense is a recipe for disaster.

Horford’s injury can be attributed to the Celtics relying too heavily on an aging Horford to defend the rim. As a result, a hampered Al Horford has struggled mightily with consistency on the offensive end after a spectacular showing in last year’s playoffs run.

Stevens recognized teams were attacking Al Horford defensively and inserted Aron Baynes into the lineup to address that concern. While Baynes does allow Horford to conserve his legs, he struggles playing extended minutes and has just returned from an ankle injury.

Williams has shown himself to be capable on the court by giving the Celtics offense an option they do not have with anyone else, strong shot blocking and rebounding ability and a good understanding of the Celtics offensive and defensive philosophies.

With most of the Celtics big men sidelined, now is the time for Robert Williams to show Brad Stevens that he deserves a role on this team and to show the entire league the power of the Timelord.