Boston Celtics: Robert Williams viewed as C’s ‘weakest link’ come playoffs

While there are only 11 games remaining on the 2020-21 regular-season schedule, barring a cataclysmic turn of events, the Boston Celtics and their fanbase will be gearing up for yet another postseason run, making it seven straight appearances and their 13th over the last 14 years.

With the historical pedigree that the Cs have, making it to the playoffs is not necessarily a major accomplishment but, rather, an expected outcome, what with the fact that they are tied for the title of winningest franchise in NBA history with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite their up and down campaign to this point, Boston is still the Eastern Conference runner-up from the 2020 postseason and has made it to three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals, thus making them a team that knows what it takes to advance.

That said, in order to make a deep postseason run it’ll take a complete team effort and, as the old saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

While it’s quite obvious as to whom the team’s strongest assets are — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown –, determining who the team’s most feeble contributor is may be a bit challenging for some.

For others, however, it seems to be as clear as day and, for Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report, Boston’s weakest link is third-year big man, Robert Williams.

B/R tabs Robert Williams as being the ‘weakest link’ for the Boston Celtics

Citing his inexperience in a big role within an NBA rotation coupled with his potential opposing team assignments, Hughes believes the center could have a rough go at things come playoff time:

"Time Lord can snatch a lob like few other bigs, and his combination of length and bounce make him a serious deterrent at the rim. But as is common with younger 5s, the 23-year-old Williams is often too eager to flash his skills. He gets pump-faked into oblivion, fouls too often and figures to find himself defending pick-and-roll actions with Kemba Walker alarmingly often.Walker was another option here, by the way. He was plagued by inconsistency because of knee soreness in the 2020 playoffs, and after a season that saw him rest frequently, he may not hold up under the intensified stress of a postseason slate. The 6’0″ guard’s lack of size—and the presence of Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown on the wings—puts a mismatch-seeking target on his back by default.Still, Walker won’t be asked to wrestle with Joel Embiid or Brook Lopez like Williams will. If he is, something’s gone horribly wrong. And it’s generally a safe bet to assume playoff offenses will attack an inexperienced center who’s only been a regular starter for part of one season."

While we at the Houdini are big believers in Robert Williams’s talents, with our very own Nathanael Rutherford going as far as to deem the Texas A&M product as being the unsung hero for the Boston Celtics throughout this current season, Hughes does pose some good points when it comes to the youthful center’s follies on the hardwood.