There's a lot to love about Celtics mystery man, Romeo Langford

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/theres-lot-love-celtics-mystery-011347645.html




There's a lot to love about Celtics mystery man, Romeo Langford




A. Sherrod Blakely, NBC Sports Boston

15 hours ago



BOSTON -- Not a single Boston Celtics player was on the practice floor when Romeo Langford finally decided to call it a day.

During his post-practice shooting session, the 6-foot-6 rookie took one 3-point shot after another with some going in but too many for Langford's liking, not.

Finding that perfect stroke, that perfect catch-release-swish rhythm, was the mission Langford was hell-bent on completing.

And as he finally made his way towards the locker room, the rookie reminded us that this was the first time we had seen him practice and the extra time that may have seemed out of the ordinary to us, was just another day at the office for him.

"I put extra work in every single time, after practice," Langford told NBC Sports Boston. "Today I needed a little bit more time to get my shots up."

Langford's practice routine is one of the many unknowns surrounding the Celtics rookie who was taken with the 14th overall selection in June's NBA draft.

There's an element of uncertainty surrounding all rookies when they come into the NBA, regardless of where they are drafted.

But with Langford, the usual lack of clarity you expect because he's a rookie, is only magnified by his lack of court time since the draft.

Surgery to repair a torn ligament on his right (shooting hand) thumb, kept Langford sidelined for all of summer league while Boston's other rookies shined during summer league play.

More significant, the injury was one Langford suffered early in his lone season with the Hoosiers but didn't result in him missing any significant amount of time.

Rather than have surgery which would have kept him sidelined for several weeks or potentially all season depending on when he would have had it done, Langford opted to play the final 26 games of the season with the torn ligament.

"He's a quiet kid and because of that, people sometimes get ideas about him not being tough or working hard or not being a leader and all that stuff," an Eastern Conference scout told NBC Sports Boston. "But this kid can play. Think about this. He went to Indiana with everyone knowing he was one-and-done. He took a huge gamble playing with that injury because it could have hurt his draft status more than it already did. Let's put it this way. He had a lot - a lot - more to lose by playing than gain. He didn't care. He wanted to be there for those guys because he knew he was gone after one year. The Celtics got a kid who is a lot tougher than people realize."

Since getting the green light to resume full contact, Langford's teammates said he has made up for the lost time with some impressive play during pick-up games at the practice facility prior to the start of training camp.

Fellow rookie Carsen Edwards has been competing with Langford for years on the prep basketball scene in addition to last season when Edwards was at Purdue and Langford played for Indiana.

"He's a scorer, man," Edwards told NBC Sports Boston's Kyle Draper regarding Langford. "He can score at all three levels, whether that's mid-range, the 3 or get to the rim. He's real athletic, long arms, can finish around big guys and take off from outside the paint and finish.  He has a good feel for the game."

And a good work ethic, evident by his longer-than-necessary hours spent following his first practice.

More than anything, he wants to be as ready as possible when his number is called.

"I'm a team player. I do whatever is called for me to do when I get out on the floor," Langford said. "Whatever minutes I get, I'm going to give it all I got."

In the past, Langford's dynamic play has been in stark contrast to his low-key demeanor.

How much of a contrast we see this year, remains to be seen.

"I'm not the most … outgoing person," Langford said before breaking into a slight smile, "but I'm definitely not quiet once you get to know me."



bob
MY NOTE:  If anybody can break Romeo out of his shell it will be Marcus Smart and Grant Williams.  I've been very excited by rookies Carsen and Grant but I have to keep reminding myself that the player that was picked quite a bit before either one of them (Romeo at #14, a lottery pick despite a weaker sophomore year due to a torn thumb ligament, Grant at #22 and Carsen at #33) has yet to show us what he can do.  He's 6'6", 215# with a 6'11" wingspan; excellent physical stats for a back court player.  We talk about Carsen Edwards being the steal of the draft, not just for the Celtics but for the draft overall, at 33 but Romeo almost certainly would have been picked in the top 10 (that's only a small 4 position drop, he could have moved up to 8 or even 7 too) if he hadn't played his entire season with that torn thumb ligament OR declared for the draft after his freshman year.  Think about that.  We could have a now-healed top 10 draft pick, that we got on the cheap for #14 salary, that we have no idea about.  I cannot wait until our preseason games to start, I'm sure Brad will give him some minutes, and then we'll have a better idea.  Either way let's remember that Kawhi Leonard was a #14 pick too, as was Bam Adebayo (28 starts, 23.3mpg last season), Marcus Morris, Denzel Valentine (37 starts, 27.2mpg last season) and TJ Warren (36 starts, 31.6mpg last season).  All pretty good players.  All-League?  Probably not ever (except for Kawhi, of course!) but very solid players that can get their jobs done well, that start on crappy teams but would be very solid contributors on a good team.  The draft is a crap shoot.


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dboss wrote:Langford has much work to do on his jump shot.  That is not going to happen overnight.  But he should be able to contribute right out of the gate as a wing defender.

The video of him shooting jumpers is very promising, I think all 3 of our draft picks will be able to spread the floor....