Sleeker Williams game for games
‘Anxious’ to get back out on floor
LAS VEGAS — When Robert Williams steps out for the Celtics’ NBA Summer League opener today against Philadelphia, don’t check your screen or remote.
It’s not your satellite reception.
“I lost weight. I’ve been trying to get back in shape. I dropped like six pounds maybe trying to (improve) the conditioning part, trying to get it back right,” Williams said yesterday. “We’ve got great strength and conditioning guys.”
And Williams, who didn’t look overweight as a rookie, looked like the pounds were still dripping away following practice at UNLV. Somehow all that sweat made him look slightly gaunt.
Someone said he looked skinny, and Williams brushed it off, saying, “Yeah, yeah. I’m still a problem.”
He’s also anxious to play his first serious time as a focal point since joining the Celtics. A knee injury two minutes into his first game last year wiped out his first summer league experience. Though his infrequent appearances with the parent club last season generally produced crowd-pleasing moments, he was confined to the bench.
The need to keep him in Boston as insurance for Al Horford and Aron Baynes, who were both injured at different stages, also deprived Williams of a Maine Red Claws experience he clearly could have used.
So in his eyes, yesterday’s practice may have been one too many.
“Great. I’m trying to play. I’m ready to play. (Expletive) all the other stuff,” he said.
And from his leaner frame to being a year older, Williams couldn’t feel more different.
That, in turn, has led to a step-up in leadership. Unlike rookie teammate Grant Williams, for instance, Robert Williams hasn’t necessarily thought of himself as a leader.
That’s just the way it’s worked out this week.
“Looking at things completely different,” he said. “I look at everything as an opportunity or chance to learn. I’m trying to lead these guys, which I couldn’t see myself doing at all, but I need to step up, play a role that I feel I’m ready to take on.
“I’m way more vocal, and that started with my effort,” he added. “I started off training camp with a great effort to show the guys what coach is looking for.”
And then there are those ways Williams has to show improvement, in every part of his game, obviously. But if he is going to become the kind of versatile defensive presence the Celtics lack due to Horford’s departure, the weight loss might actually help if it fuels his quickness.
“I feel like I’ve always been quick — but getting up and down the court and still being vocal is something I’m working on,” Williams said. “Things like guarding on the wing has come with being more vocal — all actions, all aspects, I feel like I got better at all coverages, not just middle bigs and side bigs.”
But enough already, he says.
“So anxious. So anxious. It’s been so long,” he said of finally getting onto the floor today. “And enjoying it with these great guys. I played AAU with Carsen (Edwards). I played against Tre (Waters, in the) SEC, (Aaron) Harrison’s SEC. Just ready to get on the court with these guys.”