Not buying the first round for Rob
Williams’ rehab ramping up but an early return unlikely
Though the Celtics would gladly accept a change to Rob Williams’ timeline for return from knee surgery, they don’t expect him back at some point during the first round of the playoffs, according to Ime Udoka.
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
“We haven’t looked at him being here for the first round, honestly,” the Celtics coach said prior to Wednesday night’s game in Chicago. “Four-to-six (week) time frame is what it is and everybody kind of reacts differently to surgeries. But if possible, you know, we haven’t really ruled them out obviously, being if he’s ready, but we’re going in with the mindset that he won’t be there for the first round.”
Udoka said that Williams is already well along in his rehabilitation from last Thursday’s surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
“Immediately pretty much started the mobility, flexibility standpoint, and then weight bearing and different exercises as far as that,” said Udoka. “Two-a-days will ramp up pretty quickly. We left him back in Boston to expedite the process, although he could have done it here.
“He’s a guy that’s locked in with the guys and so I felt it was better to leave him back there and get the process rolling as fast as possible. But like I said, he’s in good spirits. His first surgery, so he’s attacking it with the right mindset and I look forward to having him back sooner than later.”
Experienced group
Despite the relatively young ages of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, all have made multiple conference finals appearances. That’s naturally beneficial this time around.
“Been there, done that, that’s something you don’t have to anticipate guys being caught off guard with,” said Udoka. “They’ve been to the conference finals with this group. Bringing in a guy like Derrick who’s playoff-tested as well. That’s something you don’t have to touch as much. Been through it, understand what it’s about. From a newness standpoint it’s something we don’t really have to talk about. We understand the intensity and how it ratchets up. We’ll be prepared for that on our side.”
Playoff preparation
The jumbled nature of the Eastern Conference’s playoff seeding complicates the preparation process for Udoka and his coaching staff. Heading into Wednesday’s
game against the Bulls, for instance, the Celtics were part of a three-way tie for second, and thus in position to play the top team coming out of the play-in tournament. But that can change multiple times by Sunday’s season finale in Memphis.
“We are digging into — doing it already, looking at different matchups, the playin adds another wrinkle to it, where we’re at between 1 and 4, and 5 and 6 being pretty close,” said Udoka. “From that standpoint it doesn’t change. I’m in my 10th year now coaching, nine as an assistant, so you get a heads up on ideas and what you want to do going into the playoffs. As far as schematically, what we do travels well into the playoffs. Our physicality on defense is gonna carry over. Things we’ve done unselfishly on offense is the right step. More so than any of that, it’s playing the right way and being healthy.
“Been through it enough honestly,” the Celtics coach said of his own playoff coaching experience. “We’ve done a lot of switching up as we go through the season, honestly, so it’s not something that’s gonna catch our guys off balance, off guard. But also the playoffs is about adjustments, so we’ll have A/B/C/D with the coaching staff. We’ll present what we need to with the players as well as adjustments, and it’s similar to what we’ve done all year, which is throw different things at teams, keep them off balance. From that standpoint it doesn’t change a whole lot. That’s what we’re doing.”