Why Ime Udoka Believes Robert Williams Is ‘More Than People Think’

Robert Williams had one of the best games of his young career in the Boston Celtics’ Friday afternoon win over the Phoenix Suns.

The Celtics center struggled recently as his team went through a three-game losing streak, but rebounded in a major way New Year’s Eve as he recorded the first triple-double of his career and did so with a perfect shooting percentage in the process.

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka had nothing but praise for the young big man afterward in his media availability.

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“A few weeks ago I didn’t know how good of a passer he was,” Udoka told reporters. “Obviously, we go through some of that stuff with (Al Horford) coming into the season but we really saw what Rob could do right there as well. You can run stuff through both of those guys but it’s more so not being stagnant when the ball goes into them or the ball goes to the high post so our movement and cuts were great and our pace and variety today.

“He’s more than people think he is and I told him about expanding his game, the role, the minutes and everything increasing and what we see as a high, high ceiling for him for a lot of different reasons. He’s one guy that I know that can take coaching and take coaching hard and so I don’t view it as calling him out, but obviously told him the same thing. He’s been resilient and bounced back every time I challenged him.”

Williams was unstoppable in Boston’s win over the Suns, finishing the game with 10 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and five blocks. The Celtics now have a day off before returning to action Sunday night as they welcome the Orlando Magic to TD Garden with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.