How Celtics’ Robert Williams Exceeded Coach Ime Udoka’s Expectations

Robert Williams hasn’t been playing his best basketball of late.

On Wednesday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, it looked initially as though the Boston Celtics center was a little lost. But somewhere along the way to a 111-101 win, Williams turned things around and had one of his better games in recent memory.

Williams finished the game with 21 points, second only to Jaylen Brown’s 34-point performance, and racked up 11 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks.

But it was his playmaking that stood out to coach Ime Udoka.

“I think he’s better than I knew coming in, and I saw that early in training camp,” Udoka said of Williams’ passing abilities.

“It’s an area that I think is underestimated for him. So it depends on what we play out of, more so than the fact that he’s really grown in that area. I think I was surprised more than the other people here when I got here how well he passes the ball.”

The feat certainly makes Williams one of the most underrated big men in the entire NBA despite him being just 24 years old. Especially when he puts together games like he did against Cleveland.