Robert Williams Is An Elite Center. Deal With It.
Hop on the Timelord bandwagon. Do it before it’s too late. In reality, it probably already is. Robert Williams is an elite center and it happened in the blink of an eye. There is no longer room for interpretation. Williams has gone from tantalizing promising to a MF monster!
Robert Williams leads the NBA in defensive rating (101.1). Seriously, not a joke. Here are just some bonafide facts right now.
- 1st in Defensive rating
- 2nd in Defensive Box +/-
- T-2nd in Defensive Win Shares
- #1 Ranked On-Ball Defending Big
- 3rd in Blocks per game
- 1st in Loose-Balls recovered
- 5th in 3-Pointers Contested
Williams is already a player that should be in the conversation for defensive player of the year. Williams is up to 0.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game. He’s also been a defensive anchor for the Celtics. The Celtics are second in the NBA in defensive rating (104.8 just 0.4 behind Golden State) and are also second in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index right behind Phoenix. Boston is very much real again and it starts on the defensive end.
The Celtics have always been a good defensive team but Williams’ ascension has taken them from a good to great defensive team.
Oh, Robert Williams also leads the NBA in offensive rating. Yeah, not a joke. In fact, Williams’ current offensive rating of 143 would go down as the best number in NBA history should he finish the season that way. Williams is also doing this across 30 minutes per game so it’s not a small sample size.
Williams is finishing 73.2% of his shots. If he gets his hands on the ball, that puppy is going in. While the former first round pick out of Texas A&M isn’t an elite shooter, he’s nailing 69.3% of his free throws so he’s not someone that’s getting subbed out in crucial portions of the game.
Williams, 24, is currently averaging 10 points, 9.7 rebounds, and two assists per game in his fourth NBA season. The Celtics deserve a lot of credit for locking him up to an extension worth $54 million over the next four years. A contract that’s looking like a damn bargain.
The Celtics starting center always had potential and probably comped to a Clint Capela type. Williams always had way more upside than Capela. We just didn’t know if those bone headed mistakes would go away. The man is known as Timelord for a reason because he missed his draft call with the Celtics after being picked.
Those bone headed mistakes are gone. A year ago, Williams would make a play that took your breath away. It was then followed up by a missed defensive assignment and a throw pass into the stands 15 seconds later. Not anymore. Everything has clicked and now we’re seeing a franchise altering player.
Instead, we now see stuff like this on a nightly basis. There isn’t another center in the sport doing things like this. Big shot blocking Bob has turned into his own defensive playmaking lob threat unicorn.
Maybe we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves and declare Timelord as the third star behind Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Since the acquisition of Derrick White, Boston looks lowkey scary again. The Celtics are in the midst of a nine-game win streak and own the best point differential in the Eastern Conference (+5.5).
Maybe the Celtics aren’t true title contenders but they might be the scariest defensive team in the league that nobody wants to play come playoff time. They don’t have anyone that you can pick on defensively and Williams already covers up any potential sins on that end.
This is just the beginning. Robert Williams is elite and I’m not sure how many centers you would take over this guy right now.
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