Maine Red Claws: Tacko, Tremont, and Romeo

mwonow

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Hmmm. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of a first-rounder, eh?
 

oumbi

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It is not automatically a sign that the Celtics think Romeo is a bust either. The most reasonable conclusion I find is that, as we already knew, Romeo would benefit from time on the floor and a lot of game experience developing his shooting. Given the number and quality of wings currently on the Celtics, it is understandable that Romeo would find more time in Maine. Many other Celtic first rounders have spent time there.
 

128

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It is not automatically a sign that the Celtics think Romeo is a bust either. The most reasonable conclusion I find is that, as we already knew, Romeo would benefit from time on the floor and a lot of game experience developing his shooting. Given the number and quality of wings currently on the Celtics, it is understandable that Romeo would find more time in Maine. Many other Celtic first rounders have spent time there.
Exactly. More than anything else, Romero needs to actually play basketball, something he's rarely done since the end of his college career.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Will be nice to have a true PG running the show. Always tough to gauge things down there when the league is a mix of G-league lifers, NBA guys looking to latch on somewhere, 2nd round flyers, and raw upside talents like Romeo.

Eager to see some highlights given how little of him we have seen given the injury recovery.
 

benhogan

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Will be nice to have a true PG running the show. Always tough to gauge things down there when the league is a mix of G-league lifers, NBA guys looking to latch on somewhere, 2nd round flyers, and raw upside talents like Romeo.

Eager to see some highlights given how little of him we have seen given the injury recovery.
24 games are on CSNBC. Red Claws game thread?

The Celtics will need Romeo, Tre, Tacko to develop and fill out the bench/rotations in years to come. The Celts will be paying big $$$ to Brown, Kemba, Tatum after Hayward leaves.

https://wcyy.com/nearly-half-of-maine-red-claws-games-to-be-televised-this-season/
 

Big John

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Well Sekou Doumbouya is on his way to Grand Rapids, so I don't feel too badly, although Doumbouya is 22 months younger.
 

Imbricus

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Yeah, hard to read too much into this, except the kid needs more playing time than he'll get in Boston, with the rotations starting to solidify. But -- I still believe he easily has the highest potential for being a bust for where he was taken by the C's. G. Williams is clearly a versatile, unselfish stud who can do a lot of things, Edwards will catch fire eventually and has even had flashes of looking better on defense, Waters is my favorite sleeper candidate in the draft ... but Romeo's going to be a challenge if the shot doesn't come around.
 

Kliq

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I'm still fairly optimistic about Langford, nothing that has happened since the draft has changed my mind on him. He has good athleticism, can get to the rim and finish through contact, and has the physical profile to be a good defender once he gets mentally up to speed. All of the amateur analysis about his jumper through some leaked practice footage that was going around a few months ago was kind of embarrassing, imo.
 

benhogan

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I'm still fairly optimistic about Langford, nothing that has happened since the draft has changed my mind on him. He has good athleticism, can get to the rim and finish through contact, and has the physical profile to be a good defender once he gets mentally up to speed. All of the amateur analysis about his jumper through some leaked practice footage that was going around a few months ago was kind of embarrassing, imo.
yea. He looks pretty big for his age. Maybe a Jaylen Jr type of player? JB was rather raw his rookie year
 

oumbi

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DJnVa

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Very good and thanks for the info. I will have fun watching the battling crustaceans this season. Will this thread serve as the game thread for them?
Might as well. There's gonna be interest, but but once the season starts, most of the Maine posts will be game thread-type anyway. Just keep this rolling.
 

DJnVa

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https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/11/boston-celtics-rookie-tacko-fall-back-with-maine-red-claws-as-celtics-look-to-extend-his-availability.html
The Celtics have already used some of Fall’s 45-day availability, and they don’t want to waste the time they have remaining. According to Brad Stevens, the shallow depth chart at center -- and the potential havoc an injury can cause to that rotation -- means Fall’s time in Boston could be spotty.

“I mean we’ve played multiple games now down two bigs, and that’s only five games in,” Stevens said. “So now we’re going to have him come up for one day (at a time) a lot I think, rather than a week at a time or two weeks at a time.”
 

HomeRunBaker

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It is not automatically a sign that the Celtics think Romeo is a bust either. The most reasonable conclusion I find is that, as we already knew, Romeo would benefit from time on the floor and a lot of game experience developing his shooting. Given the number and quality of wings currently on the Celtics, it is understandable that Romeo would find more time in Maine. Many other Celtic first rounders have spent time there.
It's all about opportunity in this league for young players. If Romeo was drafted by Golden State he probably starts last night......if Bowman ended up with the Celtics he's the one playing in Maine.
 

TripleOT

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Looking forward to seeing how well Waters runs the team. I'm guessing very well. I'm going to enjoy watching these Red Claw games more than when I watched last year's team.
 

DannyDarwinism

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Well Sekou Doumbouya is on his way to Grand Rapids, so I don't feel too badly, although Doumbouya is 22 months younger.
Goga Bitadze, on the other hand, has put up some decent numbers and as a defensive-minded big who showed signs of developing range, he was the guy I'd hoped for as the draft played out. I still wonder how much of the decision was player evaluation (they like Romeo or didn't like Goga), versus how much was organizational philosophy (cheaper to find serviceable bigs than potential two-way wings).
 

NomarsFool

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I really wanted the Celtics to draft a big with the first pick. Would have been happy with Goga or Sekou. I think Romeo was Jaylen Brown insurance. Now that they've extended him, it's a bit hard to see a path for Romeo to play meaningful minutes in the future (unless Gordon opts out). The Celtics are fortunate to have a lot of talented wings under contract for awhile (or hopefully, in Tatum's case).
 

lovegtm

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I really wanted the Celtics to draft a big with the first pick. Would have been happy with Goga or Sekou. I think Romeo was Jaylen Brown insurance. Now that they've extended him, it's a bit hard to see a path for Romeo to play meaningful minutes in the future (unless Gordon opts out). The Celtics are fortunate to have a lot of talented wings under contract for awhile (or hopefully, in Tatum's case).
Because Brown and Smart (and to some degree Tatum and Hayward) can play 2-4, there will be plenty of minutes for Langford in the future. He just needs a lot of reps before that.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Because Brown and Smart (and to some degree Tatum and Hayward) can play 2-4, there will be plenty of minutes for Langford in the future. He just needs a lot of reps before that.
On that note, interesting article in the Athletic today on their development of Romeo in Portland, possible comps (Livingston? Iguodala?) and how they’re tinkering with his shot:
Langford came into the league with one of the most individualized yet viable forms seen in ages, putting the ball up over the top of his head and flinging it at the hoop with two hands. He got to work immediately with new assistant coach Joe Mazulla to stabilize his shot, even taping a ping-pong paddle to his set hand to stop putting his thumb through the ball. Langford said the goal is to remove his thumb from the shot completely over time, but he has already made progress in limiting its prominence in his shot.

“I know in high school, I vividly remember shooting and my (set) hand turning and one coach told me to use your thumb,” he said with a laugh. “Not my head coach, but one of the managers or somebody. They said the thumb helps you shoot the ball.”

Young players develop the habit of thumbing the ball with the set hand to help give some added power to the shooting hand, but it creates a conflicting sideways motion to the vertical motion of the shooting hand. Many great shooters have it in their shot, but keep it under relative control compared to Langford’s habit of completely flipping his left hand outward. The Celtics have worked with him to “quiet” that hand and there is some noticeable difference since graduating from the ping-pong paddle.

They also had him lower his elbow at the set point of the shot so that he doesn’t have to rely on the left hand holding the ball in place and can shoot it quicker. That helps to prevent him from bringing the ball so far back over his head, as he even recognizes that he cocked his wrist too far back with his old form. When asked if he is abnormally flexible, he actually said he doesn’t know why he can bend his wrist that far back.
Langford said Tuesday that he has been focusing mostly on keeping the shot quicker so there is less margin for error. It showed in his game Tuesday, as he was able to pull up from deep both off the catch and dribble and convert in full-speed action.

“(It’s) just the pace of (the shot), because when I slow down, that’s when I go back to shooting like my normal jump shot,” he said. “That’s when I was cocking back and not making it one motion. So I’m always keeping the pace up so I can get it off quickly.”

On a team that doesn’t even count midrange buckets when keeping score at practice, this is going to be Langford’s bread and butter. While Erman had a chance to watch Langford work at Celtics training camp, his first impression coaching the rookie was a strong one. He was able to jump into the point guard role on defense and control the direction of the ball right away. He knew how to improvise when the ball was swung his way to drive and kick to open shooters.

“It was great,” Erman said. “He played hard, pressured the ball, did a lot of the things the Celtics want him to do and we want him to do. He was really good.”
https://theathletic.com/1354354/2019/11/06/with-help-from-a-ping-pong-paddle-romeo-langford-begins-g-league-journey-to-grow-as-a-basketball-player/
 

128

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bakahump

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Not a straight Swap so I figured I would mention it quickly here...we ordered 5 tix for the Dec 5 Game in portland. Second row Mid court. Looking to get our money back (+ insurance which for some reason doesnt cover ordering on the wrong day...). If anyone is interested let me know. They are on Ticketmaster. Thanks.
 

Bunt4aTriple

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Not a straight Swap so I figured I would mention it quickly here...we ordered 5 tix for the Dec 5 Game in portland. Second row Mid court. Looking to get our money back (+ insurance which for some reason doesnt cover ordering on the wrong day...). If anyone is interested let me know. They are on Ticketmaster. Thanks.
So ticketmaster ISN'T lying when they say all those people buy the insurance? Figured it was bs!

If it wasn't my office party that night, I'd take you up on that.
 

Sox Puppet

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Awesome pic! Though a "Tacko-Bol" sounds like something you'd get at a Tex-Mex restaurant
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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got to game tonight. SSS but Romeo looks way too good for G-League.

Blue Coats put Zhaire on Tremont for a bit; interesting to watch that match-up.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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was going to say that Romeo needs to work on his shooting after he missed his first but then he makes his next two.

Theyhave him playing the point too.

He doesn't look super athletic when you watch him but he can get anywhere he wants on the court and he has three blocks already, including at least one chase down.

Tacko needs to get better conditioned
 

RoDaddy

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Wait - 111 points and this isn't the end of the game?

Have only watched a short time but from the box score and watching, good start for especially Romeo, Tacko and Waters
 

RorschachsMask

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Ive used the comparison on another site quite a bit, but Romeo reminds me so much of Tyreke Evans. Just minus the....off court activities.

Not a freak athlete, but can get to the rim almost at will. He was the most efficient player in college when running the NpR last year. If he gets a reliable jumper, he will be a damn good player.
 

DJnVa

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Romeo has 23, 9 of 14 from the floor, Waters has 18, Tacko has 13 an 10.
 

k-factory

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Ive used the comparison on another site quite a bit, but Romeo reminds me so much of Tyreke Evans. Just minus the....off court activities.

Not a freak athlete, but can get to the rim almost at will. He was the most efficient player in college when running the NpR last year. If he gets a reliable jumper, he will be a damn good player.
I wonder if he gets activated for the next few weeks with Hayward down. He’d get minutes
 

DJnVa

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I wonder if he gets activated for the next few weeks with Hayward down. He’d get minutes
He would, but Kanter should be back and that could push Grant over to some of Hayward's minutes. Javonte could get some too.

Rather have Romeo getting 25-30 minutes per night in Maine.
 

RorschachsMask

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I wonder if he gets activated for the next few weeks with Hayward down. He’d get minutes
I think it's tough, because he can bring some of the things that Hayward was so good at. Being a guy with size who can run the PnR, really good at getting to the hoop, can rebound.

But it would be 5-10 minutes a game, whereas he can stay in Maine and get big minutes and continue to work on his jumper and building confidence in it.
 

BillMuellerFanClub

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Claws set a franchise record in points scored tonight with 148, besting the previous mark of 147 in 2016. Fall with 13pts, 11reb and 3 blocks. Langford looked great with 27pts hitting 2/6 from 3 with 6 blocks. Waters had 28 and was 7/11 from 3.
 

k-factory

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He would, but Kanter should be back and that could push Grant over to some of Hayward's minutes. Javonte could get some too.

Rather have Romeo getting 25-30 minutes per night in Maine.
This is probably right and he’s missed so much time that getting back in rhythm is huge. But I do see value in getting experience with the big club for a bit while the opportunity exists. And getting the coaching staff’s direct attention and feedback.
Williams and Green tho are electric themselves and so intriguing - will be fun to see how they respond to the need. What a beautiful job DA has done with the depth of this club.
 

DJnVa

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I'd assume there will be a night in the next month or so when another guy that normally gets minutes needs to sit out and they'll bring him up for a night to be with the team and get some run.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Romeo was 10-15 from the floor and 2-6 from 3, meaning 8-9 from 2. 27 points total. He must have been able to get to the rim at will. Also 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 (!) blocks.

Waters was 9-18 from the floor, including 7-11 from 3, for 28 points, 4 rebounds 3 assists.

Fall was 6-9 from the floor, 13 points, 11 boards, an assist and a steal, and 3 blocks.

Not bad at all.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Romeo was 10-15 from the floor and 2-6 from 3, meaning 8-9 from 2. 27 points total. He must have been able to get to the rim at will. Also 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 6 (!) blocks.
One of the 3s was a 2/3rds court heave at the end of the half.

As for his drives, I can't remember if he beat Zhaire off the dribble but every time anyone else on DE picked him, he just got past them for easy layups. It wasn't like he blew past them or leaped over them - I guess he has this really deceptive first step and can just get past people and finish. I hadn't really watched him before but it was pretty amazing to watch. Even my wife, who isn't really a basketball fan and didn't pay a ton of attention to the game, mentioned how good he looked.
 

lovegtm

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I wasn't in the "Romeo is a bust" camp, but he's surprisingly good. Really under control and advanced off the dribble.