00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 I just want one fake Instagram video
00:10 of Rob Williams with a basketball.
00:13 - Oh, you didn't see him, John?
00:15 - Oh, is there one?
00:16 - Oh, last couple of days, they've been flying around.
00:19 He's working with a trainer I know named Aaron.
00:22 I can't think of the last name off the top,
00:24 but yeah, he was putting shots up.
00:25 He was dribbling around.
00:27 He was your classic highlight video.
00:29 - How are you not sending these to me?
00:32 - I thought you would have seen them.
00:33 - I know, I've been in a cave.
00:35 Well, no, I've been roasting under the sun
00:37 for a couple of weeks, but no, I missed that.
00:40 So I want that.
00:42 - Hey, did you fall asleep at a Phish concert?
00:43 Is that what happened?
00:44 Or Grateful Dead?
00:45 That's what it was, Grateful Dead.
00:47 - Yeah, no, I just, this is how I roll.
00:50 - Yeah, we'll get those out to you, John.
00:52 I'll do the Jimmy for now.
00:55 - Ahmet heard it, he sent it to me.
00:57 Oh my God, let me watch.
00:59 Oh my God, Rob!
01:00 Look at this guy.
01:03 - Wait, what?
01:05 Let me see it.
01:06 - No, I'm watching it.
01:07 I'm not gonna get copyrighted
01:09 by putting someone else's content.
01:10 - It's a still.
01:11 - Oh my God, he just hit a lefty,
01:13 one-handed shot in the leg.
01:15 - Okay, okay.
01:16 - Look at that.
01:17 - Look at that.
01:18 - This is better than any Ben Simmons video I've ever seen.
01:21 - I thought you would have been all over this, John.
01:23 Look at that, he's got things flying around at him.
01:26 - Oh my God, this is so good.
01:29 - I did hear, by the way, so he's been in the-
01:31 - So here's the thing.
01:32 - Rob Stonk.
01:33 - I don't care about whether or not,
01:36 like, oh, he hit jumpers in the video,
01:38 he's gonna hit jumpers during the year.
01:39 I'm just glad he's playing basketball now.
01:42 Because like last year, you wondered,
01:43 like, what was going on.
01:44 - We never saw a video of him.
01:46 - Never at any point.
01:47 And in fact, it was very clear that when he showed up,
01:49 finally, he just showed up to work out in Waltham,
01:53 or in Waltham, anyway.
01:54 - Oh, he-
01:55 - And they were like, in Brighton,
01:57 and like a couple days in, he was like,
01:59 "Oh man, my knee hurts."
02:01 And they're like, "What?"
02:02 - Yeah, and so that's what happened.
02:03 I finally-
02:04 - Who cares if it's a-
02:05 Who cares if it's this highly realistic-
02:07 - I just care that he's playing.
02:09 I just care that he's actually working on his game.
02:11 That's the key.
02:13 'Cause I don't think he's done any basketball related
02:15 activity for the last couple off seasons.
02:18 So any, like, any step forward you wanna see him take
02:21 on his game, he hasn't been able to do.
02:24 So yeah, and he-
02:25 - Right, he is not-
02:26 - He stayed in Boston after the season,
02:28 which is something he didn't do last year.
02:30 And was checking all the boxes and just close to the team,
02:33 you know, for that month or so after the season ended.
02:35 I think, you know, he's gone back down south home now,
02:37 but you've seen the videos that he's continuing
02:40 that progress down there.
02:42 And again, like you said, John,
02:44 the way you drew it up almost was exactly how it happened.
02:47 Like, it was like a full summer at home, just hanging out,
02:50 showed up to camp, complained about the knee, boom, surgery.
02:53 So it's a completely different summer this time around
02:55 for Rob, which is very encouraging.
02:57 Question I just have is what kind of role he's gonna have
02:59 on this roster.
03:00 Like, I think the plan probably is for him to start
03:03 next to poor Zingas, but I'm not certain of that.
03:06 I just don't know how that fits gonna go on offense.
03:09 You know, with one guy always needs to be
03:11 in the middle of the floor.
03:12 But they could be devastating defensively
03:14 if they find a way to make it work.
03:15 - But if Rob, again, everyone knows the wild card
03:18 with the health, nobody thinks just 'cause he's playing
03:21 a little basketball in the off season
03:23 that he's gonna be healthy.
03:24 That's not the point.
03:25 The point is entering camp in shape,
03:28 because he hasn't been.
03:29 - I think he will.
03:30 - Either due to surgery or two years ago,
03:32 just showing up overweight and not in basketball shape.
03:36 It was obviously not done stuff.
03:37 And going in the quote unquote lab, as the kids like to say,
03:41 and actually working on some aspects of your game.
03:43 So when you catch the ball, you actually might consider
03:46 looking towards the basket and seeing what you might
03:48 be able to do.
03:49 He's a frigging, he's the one, he and Jalen
03:52 are the two massive athletic edges they have on this team.
03:57 He can't limit himself.
04:01 He has to recognize that he can be a weapon in more ways
04:04 than just a lob threaded on the offensive glass.
04:07 So he can do anything resembling half court basketball
04:12 that helps this team, massive, massive thing.
04:14 But also just showing up in shape.
04:16 So we don't have to say like, wow, it doesn't look like
04:18 Rob can jump for the first three months of the year,
04:20 because he's working his way into shape.
04:22 That would be amazing.
04:23 Just showing up and being able to jump out of the gym
04:26 like he normally does would be great.
04:28 - They need Rob more than ever because they are still
04:33 extremely thin at that position.
04:35 Like, I don't know, they're not addressing it.
04:39 They just traded Grant.
04:40 I mean, you can say Porzingis is a bigger guy,
04:43 but he doesn't play that style of basketball
04:45 on defense men, obviously.
04:47 So they need Rob to really be ready to go
04:51 to start this year.
04:52 They just do.
04:54 How much are you going to get out of Al this year?
04:55 You don't know.
04:56 I mean, it's all like bonus.
04:57 - Garden Report is brought to you by AG1.
05:00 Go to drinkag1.com/garden for five free travel packs,
05:05 as well as a year's supply of vitamin D.
05:09 That's drinkag1.com/garden.
05:12 - Need the Rob leap at some point,
05:16 because ultimately, what did you say?
05:17 When they signed him, this could be a steal of a signing
05:20 because he was at that point,
05:22 you were already your third best player.
05:24 And you're like, if he could be an all-star,
05:28 if he continues on a trajectory just based off
05:30 of his freakishness and his defense
05:32 and the center position not being necessarily like,
05:35 well, you know, obviously it has a bunch
05:37 of great players now, but there's so many things
05:40 that he could do for you.
05:43 If he can even do some of them, it makes a big difference.
05:46 'Cause he's been flat, if not backwards,
05:49 since his breakout two years ago
05:51 when Brad refused to play him.
05:53 - No, and there's gonna be something of a competition
05:55 for that fifth spot in the lineup.
05:56 Like I've advocated for Horford there,
05:58 'cause I just think it makes more sense.
06:00 But if Rob comes in, as you said, John, improved,
06:02 blown everybody away and a little more versatile,
06:05 you could do some special things out there defensively,
06:08 again, with Porzingis and Rob playing together,
06:10 Rob playing that role he did a couple years ago,
06:12 and with White.
06:13 - But also again, and if they start to look to Rob
06:17 as somebody who they can work into their offense,
06:20 as opposed to ignoring him, you know,
06:22 for entire stretches out there,
06:26 there's a guy who shoots 80% from the floor,
06:28 like get him the ball occasionally.
06:30 - Yeah, last season was really bad.
06:32 And again-
06:33 - They don't even look at him.
06:34 - They don't look at him.
06:35 - The amount of lob attempts that Brown and Tatum miss,
06:38 you know, because their head's down,
06:39 like look for the frigging guy, you know, he's a threat.
06:45 - Yeah, I worried about the trade.
06:47 - It's over now.
06:49 - Yep, he did.
06:49 - I know, right?
06:50 He was the one guy and I, you know,
06:52 I'll still go back to that, but it's for another day.
06:54 - Fine.
06:55 - He needs to have a huge year.
06:57 He really does.
06:59 - I like it.
06:59 - 'Cause last year was a step back
07:01 and it wasn't a completely lost season,
07:02 but you go look at the reference page, Jimmy,
07:04 like 35 games.
07:06 I mean, in those games,
07:09 like half of them probably weren't very effective.
07:11 So how many good games did he have last year?
07:13 Like a little over a dozen?
07:14 - Rob?
07:15 - Yeah.
07:16 - Even his games where the eye test told you
07:17 he was ineffective, the metrics said that he was.
07:19 So again, he's an impact player at 40%,
07:24 which last year he was about 50% all year.
07:28 I mean, not even close.
07:29 - You're just still waiting for him
07:30 to become something more than he is.
07:32 And I, you know, part of this trade, John,
07:34 I think is something of an acknowledgement
07:36 that you don't want to just keep waiting forever on that.
07:39 - Sink or swim.
07:39 - Yeah.
07:40 - Yeah.
07:41 Sink or swim with Rob.
07:43 - The CLNS Media Network is powered by FanDuel.
07:46 Sign up at fanduel.com/boston
07:48 and get in on the action with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed.
07:52 (upbeat music)
07:55 (upbeat music)
07:58 (upbeat music)
08:00 (upbeat music)
Comments