Langford, Nesmith Ready to Soar Among Celtics Wings

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/prac-101721-langford-nesmith-ready-soar-among-celtics-wings







Langford, Nesmith Ready to Soar Among Celtics Wings



By Taylor Snow |  @taylorcsnow
Celtics.com
October 17, 2021



Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum aren’t the only pair of young Celtics wings that you should be excited about heading into this season.

It’s time to put Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith on your radar, as well, if they aren’t already.

This preseason, Langford and Nesmith both emerged as consistent offensive threats, finishing second and third on Boston’s scoring list behind only Tatum.

In four exhibition games, Langford poured in 50 points while shooting 19-of-34 from the field, including a team-best 9-of-15 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Nesmith recorded 43 points on a 16-of-30 clip from the field, including 8-of-16 from long range.

Both guys are setting the stage to make a leap this season, and their teammates are behind them, eager to help hoist them up.

“Romeo Langford and Aaron Nesmith have really come into their own,” Marcus Smart told Celtics.com Sunday afternoon. “You can tell the game is slowing down, the game is coming to them. So we’ve got to continue to keep those guys going and try to send them in the right direction.”

It was clear that those guys were heading in the right direction right off the bat. They were both tested in the preseason opener when head coach Ime Udoka subbed them in during crunch time against the Orlando Magic. And they both seized the opportunity, as Nesmith scored 10 points during the fourth quarter before Langford delivered the game-winning 3-pointer.

Langford earned his next opportunity in Game 2 when he was promoted into the starting lineup, taking the place of Brown after the veteran wing tested positive for COVID-19. Langford played so well, that he remained in that starting spot for the remainder of the preseason.

“He had to take on a bigger load with Jaylen being out and some guys sitting out certain games, so he's taking the challenges,” said Udoka. “He’s shown us at training camp as well as open gym, and now he's translating that to the game.

“I've talked about it quite a bit with our young guys, we want to see them take a step in their progression and growth and he's taken advantage of his time with guys being out. So we want him to stay aggressive, you see moments and flashes of some youth in there every now and then, but for the most part, he's doing what we asked offensively and defensively. And he's a great playmaker, facilitator as well, so he brings a lot to the table.”

Langford’s shooting has been the most impressive trend thus far. He made nine 3-pointers in four games after making just 10 in 50 regular-season games through the first two seasons of his career.

Langford says the difference between now and then is that he’s simply feeling more comfortable on the floor.

“I feel like when I have my confidence, I can do just about anything I want on the court,” the 21-year-old said. “I’m just able to play freely.”

Nesmith has shown a rise in confidence as well, especially when he earned a start in Game 3 and finished with team-high marks of 23 points and four assists against the Magic.

The second-year wing says he worked this past summer on improving his playmaking skills, “being able to put the ball on the floor, read close-outs, read second defenders, make second moves once I get past the first, and keeping my head up a little bit for open players on the passes.”

Udoka called Nesmith a “very good complementary piece,” and believes that the 22-year-old is putting himself in a position to take a leap in his role this season.

“We talk of our young guys taking that leap and progressing, and I think him, Romeo, Grant (Williams), and Payton (Pritchard) have all done that,” Udoka said when asked about Nesmith. “I’m proud of the work he puts in. I see it every day ... He plays very confident and free, which is what we want him to do.”

What both Nesmith and Langford did throughout the preseason is exactly what the Celtics want to see from them moving forward. And the fact that their confidence is on the rise is a promising sign for whenever they're called upon to step into a big moment.

“We're excited for those guys,” said Smart. “We're excited to see when the lights are on, and they mean something, for those guys to come in and be impactful.”


Bob
MY NOTE:  Nesmith has been a bit inconsistent in preseason.  Not horrible, just not really predictable.  Romeo has been pretty much all good.  I said last year that the reason why I'd trade Romeo before Nesmith is that Nesmith is the better shooter and his defense is active if not as good as Romeo's.  Well, Romeo's shooting has come a long way.  There's no reason to jump the gun and start moving pieces right now but, after this short preseason, the scales are a bit more balanced than they were at the end of last year.  Danny got a lot of shite for drafting non-shooter, always-injured Romeo Langford.  Maybe we're just a little too impatient?

Notice that Ime referred to Nesmith as a “very good complementary piece,”.  That doesn't sound like he's thinking about starting him, not unless he thinks he really needs both Schroder and Richardson coming off the bench, or he's benching Smart and has Smart and Schroder or Smart and Richardson coming off the bench and I don't see that happening.  He has said he's putting the offense in Smart's hands.


.

Every player on the team is complimentary to the Jays or they are not.

Bob,

Maybe we're just a little too impatient?

Not me. I have always held out hope for Romeo.

I'd learned my lesson with Avery Bradley. AB couldn't get on the floor due to early injuries/surgeries, just like Romeo. AB got a lot of unwarranted grief here, just like Romeo.

In Bradley's case, he was further vilified here due to a thick-headed coach relentlessly trying to make him into a point guard. In that case, the majority got it right, he was not a PG.

Let’s not put him in the HoF yet….

cowens/oldschool wrote:Let’s not put him in the HoF yet….

???

He got the grief that he earned. He could not stay healthy and he could not make a shot.

Now at the beginning of year 3 he is healthy and has worked on his shooting mechanics and other aspects of his game.

He should be able to carve out some quality minutes if he continues along his current trajectory.

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
3 minutes ago
Aaron Nesmith let out a huge scream at the end of his post-practice shooting drill. He gave a flying body bump to assistant Joe Mazzulla. Then went and told Jayson Tatum he broke his shooting record. 244 shots without missing 2 3s in a row.
MY NOTE:  Wow.



Marc D'Amico
Marc D'Amico @celtics
3 minutes ago
Aaron Nesmith says he just broke Jayson Tatum’s Celtics practice record of how many 3-pointers he could make without missing two in a row. He made 244 🤯




Jay King
Jay King @ByJayKing
about 8 minutes ago
Aaron Nesmith said one of his goals is to “carve out a very good role” for himself.
MY NOTE:  This will do it.


Bob
MY NOTE:  The really revealing moment will be if Tatum immediately tries to regain his title.  That's what Bird and Pierce would do.  Someone setting a record just gave them a new target.


.

Nesmith is going to be the next Klay Thompson, Romeo is going to be a much better offensive version of Tony Allen. We would have such an awesome young crew and been fully loaded at every position if only we would have kept Moses Brown….damn

cowens/oldschool wrote:Nesmith is going to be the next Klay Thompson, Romeo is going to be a much better offensive version of Tony Allen. We would have such an awesome young crew and been fully loaded at every position if only we would have kept Moses Brown….damn

Those are pretty lofty targets. That would be incredible, so I hope you're right!

****************************

A side-note and thought about those bits on Nesmith breaking Tatum's shooting drill record.

That's nice, and maybe a good sign.

However, there are a ton of practice court All-Stars out there that can't hit a shot with a man on them. I think it will really grab everyone's attention if Nesmith can look a little more like Tatum in an actual game. Fingers crossed on that one.

With both Nesmith and Romeo showing quality improvement how long will it be before the Celtics trade Josh Richardson?  

It is never too early to prognosticate into the unknown future.

Josh has pretty much topped out as a 12 PPG guy but remains a willing defender.  

Aaron and Romeo may be ready to move into a 25 MPG slot but that will not happen this year unless we have an injury to one of our wing players and we pray that does not happen.

Those guys are still very young so there is plenty of time for them to become household names.

In the meantime there will be the temptation to sell low on them in an effort to add what may be perceived as that 3rd star.    The better they get the more attractive they will become.

I hope Boston will hold the line.

I will sit back and watch Nesmith make me proud!! And I will eat my words about Romeo, even thouIgh I saw signs of his defensive abillity, I never thought his shot would come around to where it is right now. Thank Jay Laranaga for working him out constantly the last couple of years, changed his shot and really helped the kid. I could not be happier for him. It has been a long road for him.

Nesmith was jovial in his interview yesterday, 244 three pointers, not missing two in a row. Love it. Maybe my drooling over Terence Ross can stop!!

If Romeo and Nesmith become reliable rotation players, that would be huge.

dboss wrote:He got the grief that he earned.  He could not stay healthy and he could not make a shot.  

Now at the beginning of year 3 he is healthy and has worked on his shooting mechanics and other aspects of his game.

He should be able to carve out some quality minutes if he continues along his current trajectory.  

Could not stay healthy? I'm getting on in years. Is there a knack for that?