C’s Williams set to return
Big man back after 37 games
Robert Williams last played in a game in Boston on Dec. 6 against the Nuggets, before re-emerging Saturday night against Houston from a 37-game absence due to a deep hip bruise.
He’s been billed as the trade deadline addition the Celtics didn’t need to get — athletic big-man support.
And now Williams hopes that he’s better for all of that observation time.
“I’m very excited, man. Just going through the tunnel again with my teammates,” he said. “I’ve been picking that up a lot over the past two months. Attention to detail. Hopefully, you see the IQ change.”
IQ change?
“Feel like just knowing my whereabouts on the court, me vocally,” he said. “Knowing that my voice can help people a lot. Being a 5, obviously at the back of the offense most of the time, just speaking up. Recognizing what’s going on and making the right calls for other people.”
And beyond his improved basketball aptitude, Williams has had plenty of time to add strength while waiting for the healing process to end.
“Just really strengthening my body, my lower half as much as my upper half,” he said. “Strengthening my hips, knees, calves, everything. Working on a strong core, too, so I could start (strong), on the court. I’ll be jumping, but that’s really much it.”
And now Williams has to practice patience of another sort — the kind needed to wait on the bench for his name to be called.
“Probably not a lot of minutes,” said head coach Brad Stevens. “We’ll see how it goes, but we’ll bring him back at the appropriate place.”
Asked about Williams’ growth during his time away from the floor, Stevens said that in truth, the young center is still just getting started.
“I think you improve from the experience-side of things by going through another season, but he’s gonna have his moments early,” said the Celtics coach. “It’s not like he was a 30-minute-a-game guy before. Sometimes we misconstrue that, but it does give us a lot more flexibility and options at that spot to rotate guys. We’re excited to have him back, it will be a gradual process over the next few weeks to get him back to feeling good.
“Obviously what makes him different is his vertical athleticism. He’s got a special ability in those small spaces to block shots, to go up and grab lobs, but he’s also improved passing the ball. I thought he got better in coverages and those types of things before he got hurt, and those are the things that will probably take a few — when the first guy comes at him full out of a pick-and-roll, it’s not going to be like going against our coaches. No offense to our coaches or our strength guys. It’s not going to feel the same.”
Kemba eyes Tuesday return
Kemba Walker ran through an individual workout Saturday morning, and is scheduled for a 3-on-3 session today. After missing his fifth straight game with a sore knee last night, the Celtics guard is pointing to Tuesday’s game against Brooklyn for a return.
“He shot. Been in the weight room now. He’ll play 3-on-3 (Sunday) and then we’ll see if he’s cleared for practice Monday,” said Stevens. “If he’s cleared for practice Monday, then Tuesday’s in play.”
Theis earning time
Williams’ return will impact the roster in several ways, but not where Daniel Theis’ minutes are concerned — not with the way the Celtics’ small-ball center has been playing.
“Don’t know that that will change a whole lot,” said Stevens. “Theis is a hard-playing guy. He’s usually in the right spots. His minutes may change a little bit because we have another big to rotate in, but it’s not going to change a ton.”
Enes Kanter, on the other hand, has already experienced a minutes fluctuation.
“I think the thing that I love about Kanter is that he’s here to win,” said Stevens. “So there will be times where he plays a lot. There will be times where he plays a little bit less. He understands that. But our chance of winning at the level we want to win at is, like I said, to accentuate all those guys on the perimeter and to give ourselves the best bet every night against whoever we’re playing. We’ve seen Kanter be great against a lot of teams. And so, we’ll use all three of them.”