Romeo Langford - Pick #14

TripleOT

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Pretty depressing list. It's also a year off for some reason. I'm guessing most teams lists are just as depressing.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/offseason-062118-full-celtics-draft-history-during-brad-stevens-era
Last year you have Robert Williams. Anyone else?

The best 2nd round pick in the Brad Stevens era is currently Semi Ojeleye. He's actually the best pick from 17 on. Rozier was 16th in 2015.
I'm not depressed because I get to watch Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum dominate the NBA for a goodly part of the '20s. Let's not take it for granted that a number 3 pick is going to be a grand slam. Ainge managed to get the best player of the 2017 draft in Tatum, and Romeo Langford, out of the Sixers for them to have the chance to take Fultz.

Obviously, the KO pick when last seasons MVP was sitting out there was a bummer, but who knew GF was going to develop like he has. The James Young pick was a dud, with Gary Harris, Capela, Dinwiddie, and Jokic the most notable picked after him, but most of the rest of that draft was garbage. Smart was a very good pick at six.

Almost all the picks after Rozier were garbage, and even with the benefit of hindsight, there are only a couple of better selections, namely Harrell.

Yabu was a bust at 16, but the Cs weren't the only teams to pass on Siakam and Brogdon. Besides LeVert and maybe Dejounte Murray, the rest of that draft is garbage too.

The Celtics hit on all their top picks, in the Jays and Smart, and struggled with their picks in the teens, with Rozier and Olynyk playing their way into ten figures/year contracts elsewhere. Both players were let go for FA signings. It looks like this last draft should pay some dividends.

I'd have to rate the drafting in the Stevens era as a B, because they struck gold with the third pick two seasons in a row, and made the right pick with Smart at six. With the bevy of other picks, they probably should have hit a home run with at least one of the lower picks, just by chance.
 

Imbricus

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Was the Celtics grabbing Langford at #14 seen as a reach, or was #14 about where he was expected to go?
I think some might have considered it a slight reach. Here's a site that had him #18 or #23. I looked at about four mock drafts a while ago that had him between #13 and #20.

I've been a bit negative about him in the past, but was quite impressed by his Charlotte performance, mainly on D. He's got a nice wingspan and was able to stay in front of the player he was guarding pretty well. Just have my fingers crossed he can stay injury-free.
 

Gash Prex

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Danny nailed the franchise altering decisions when he had the #3 and #1 pick - that’s the most important drafting he has done. If he had whiffed on those picks (which were controversial at the time) the franchise would have been set back a decade.
 

nighthob

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I think some might have considered it a slight reach. Here's a site that had him #18 or #23. I looked at about four mock drafts a while ago that had him between #13 and #20.

I've been a bit negative about him in the past, but was quite impressed by his Charlotte performance, mainly on D. He's got a nice wingspan and was able to stay in front of the player he was guarding pretty well. Just have my fingers crossed he can stay injury-free.
Coming out of high school he was mocked in the 4-8 range. The year at Indiana took the shine off, and largely due to the shooting.
 

Imbricus

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Danny nailed the franchise altering decisions when he had the #3 and #1 pick
This is spot on. Just consider what Phoenix has done with their near-the-top-of-the-draft picks the last five years (except for Ayton, who was a no brainer #1). Bender, Jackson, and Chriss (via trade).
 

InstaFace

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This thread needs a better title at this point.

Leaving aside the plays on his first name as being too obvious, my nomination is:

Romeo 2020: Blessent mon coeur d'une Langford monotone

(reference)
 

Jimbodandy

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This is spot on. Just consider what Phoenix has done with their near-the-top-of-the-draft picks the last five years (except for Ayton, who was a no brainer #1). Bender, Jackson, and Chriss (via trade).
Yep. Guys taken after the lottery and in the second round don't have great hit rates. Guys taken really high aren't guarantees either. But Ainge nailed the top picks, three of them in short time.

I don't know what to say about him whiffing on the same guys that 20-something other GMs whiffed on, except that it seems like an odd thing to focus on.
 

BigSoxFan

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This is spot on. Just consider what Phoenix has done with their near-the-top-of-the-draft picks the last five years (except for Ayton, who was a no brainer #1). Bender, Jackson, and Chriss (via trade).
You can even argue that Ayton was a miss given what Doncic has turned out to be.
 

Sprowl

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Here's the complete analysis of the first round from 1980 to 2016: https://www.thebackofclass.com/home/2017/9/4/a-complete-analysis-of-the-nba-draft.

Apparently there are 4 players draft #14 who were All-Stars, and they totaled 20 All-Star seasons. The best player ever drafted #14 is Clyde Drexler. In the 1980s, in addition to Drexler, there were several very good players drafted. Here's the list: Tim Hardaway; Dan Majerle; Tellis Frank; Walter Berry; Alfredrick Hughes; Michael Cage; Drexler; Lester Conner; Herb Williams; and Wes Matthews.

Since then, there hasn't been much.

Hopefully Romeo breaks that streak.
So far (one game is all it hot-takes :eyeroll:) Romeo's ceiling is a poor man's Clyde Drexler. Romeo's athleticism may not be explosive, but it is smooth to the point of feline. He has definitely got the Glide. He has a slightly different but equally dodgy release from distance, he is smaller, but almost as long, and the game slows down for him.
 

lovegtm

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Pretty depressing list. It's also a year off for some reason. I'm guessing most teams lists are just as depressing.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/offseason-062118-full-celtics-draft-history-during-brad-stevens-era
Last year you have Robert Williams. Anyone else?

The best 2nd round pick in the Brad Stevens era is currently Semi Ojeleye. He's actually the best pick from 17 on. Rozier was 16th in 2015.
It’s depressing for everyone.

Take a team like Toronto. They’ve hit great on some late guys, and that helped a lot, but from 2009 to this year they had 4 top-10 picks, and came away with DeRozan, Valanciunas, Terrence Ross, and Poeltl. (I think DeRozan is decent, but that’s a very meh haul).

There’s a thread on the forum from a couple years back (before it was clear that Tatum/Brown/Smart were big wins), and even at that time the Celtics were around average drafters.

The sample size is too small to really say anything meaningful, but there’s a slight chance that the Celtics are good at differentiating blue-chippers (the probability of this goes up if Romeo also pans out), while being mediocre at handling the late draft guys. But the sample is so small that if (say) Grant and Waters both end up as rotation players suddenly they’re good at late draft again.

The only thing I’m comfortable saying is that a top-10 pick might have a bit more value to the Celtics than to a random team, and for that reason I’m ok with Memphis conveying.

There also might be something to the idea that for guys with as much physical+basketball talent as Tatum, Brown, and Langford, the main thing that can stop them is between the ears, and the Celtics culture handles that well. But when you get to late-draft guys, no amount of team culture can make Semi good at offense.
 

mauf

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Red Auerbach’s superior eye for talent gave the C’s an edge for decades, but those days are long, long gone. I’m convinced it’s not possible anymore to have a sustainable competitive advantage in amateur scouting. For sure, we occasionally see a savvy move (Tatum over Fultz, Westbrook over Love), but the draft is largely a crapshoot; superior results that aren’t purely luck are more likely to be due to better development of draftees than better talent evaluation.
 

lovegtm

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Red Auerbach’s superior eye for talent gave the C’s an edge for decades, but those days are long, long gone. I’m convinced it’s not possible anymore to have a sustainable competitive advantage in amateur scouting. For sure, we occasionally see a savvy move (Tatum over Fultz, Westbrook over Love), but the draft is largely a crapshoot; superior results that aren’t purely luck are more likely to be due to better development of draftees than better talent evaluation.
Wrt the bolded, it may be the case that the Celtics have gotten “luckier” in the draft as they’ve developed more of an organizational identity and have better young players to set the culture.
 

mauf

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Wrt the bolded, it may be the case that the Celtics have gotten “luckier” in the draft as they’ve developed more of an organizational identity and have better young players to set the culture.
Totally.

I mean, it can be overstated. Tatum would be a rising star wherever he was playing; if he played for a shitty team, he’d have gaudy counting stats and might actually be more highly regarded. But I don’t think Jaylen or Smart would be the players they are if they had been drafted by, say, the Knicks or the Suns.
 

lovegtm

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Totally.

I mean, it can be overstated. Tatum would be a rising star wherever he was playing; if he played for a shitty team, he’d have gaudy counting stats and might actually be more highly regarded. But I don’t think Jaylen or Smart would be the players they are if they had been drafted by, say, the Knicks or the Suns.
I’m comfortable saying that while Tatum would have good counting stats and a good offensive game, he wouldn’t have become nearly the defensive player he is playing in Phoenix or Sacramento or LA, at least not this fast.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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There’s a thread on the forum from a couple years back (before it was clear that Tatum/Brown/Smart were big wins), and even at that time the Celtics were around average drafters.
Not the thread you are referring to but here's the thread on DA's second round picks:
https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/ainges-second-round-picks.23483/#post-2831263.

Overall, I think drafting is mostly luck but DA seems to be able to identify guys who have a NBA-level skill and thus can stick around for a while. But of course drafting that way means not taking the high ceiling, non-existent floor guys.
 

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Red Auerbach’s superior eye for talent gave the C’s an edge for decades, but those days are long, long gone. I’m convinced it’s not possible anymore to have a sustainable competitive advantage in amateur scouting. For sure, we occasionally see a savvy move (Tatum over Fultz, Westbrook over Love), but the draft is largely a crapshoot; superior results that aren’t purely luck are more likely to be due to better development of draftees than better talent evaluation.
I disagree, if only in the recent past case of San Antonio. They largely built around their drafting of foreign players. They've gone away from that a bit recently - I don't know if they've lost/replaced some of the scouts responsible for those drafts, or if it is as you say a loss of "advantage"... but they managed it for quite some time.
 

lovegtm

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I disagree, if only in the recent past case of San Antonio. They largely built around their drafting of foreign players. They've gone away from that a bit recently - I don't know if they've lost/replaced some of the scouts responsible for those drafts, or if it is as you say a loss of "advantage"... but they managed it for quite some time.
1. Other teams caught on to the foreign player ineffiency.

2. Supporting your last point— Lowe mentioned on a recent podcast that the buzz in the league is that the Spurs brain drain over the past 5 years has started to catch up to them, and they’re no longer The Spurs! in that regard.
 

Jimbodandy

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Totally.

I mean, it can be overstated. Tatum would be a rising star wherever he was playing; if he played for a shitty team, he’d have gaudy counting stats and might actually be more highly regarded. But I don’t think Jaylen or Smart would be the players they are if they had been drafted by, say, the Knicks or the Suns.
I think that DA took a bit of a page from the Belichick book as well and does evaluate players somewhat more holistically. Coachability, work ethic, love for the game, etc. are useful in evaluating a bunch of 18/19yo kids that have similar 5 star backgrounds.

Not that the drafting team's culture and development philosophy isn't important--it certainly is--but the culture of the draftee is also important IMO and discoverable to an extent.
 

Kliq

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So far (one game is all it hot-takes :eyeroll:) Romeo's ceiling is a poor man's Clyde Drexler. Romeo's athleticism may not be explosive, but it is smooth to the point of feline. He has definitely got the Glide. He has a slightly different but equally dodgy release from distance, he is smaller, but almost as long, and the game slows down for him.
I think it was ESPN who have their athletic comps based on height, weight, length, vertical, etc. and for Langford the most similar player in their database was Jason Richardson. He definitely graded out as an explosive athlete.
 

benhogan

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Pretty depressing list. It's also a year off for some reason. I'm guessing most teams lists are just as depressing.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/offseason-062118-full-celtics-draft-history-during-brad-stevens-era
Last year you have Robert Williams. Anyone else?

The best 2nd round pick in the Brad Stevens era is currently Semi Ojeleye. He's actually the best pick from 17 on. Rozier was 16th in 2015.
Denver and Toronto, at similar spots as the C's, are the models to copy for picking and young player development.
I think that DA took a bit of a page from the Belichick book as well and does evaluate players somewhat more holistically. Coachability, work ethic, love for the game, etc. are useful in evaluating a bunch of 18/19yo kids that have similar 5 star backgrounds.

Not that the drafting team's culture and development philosophy isn't important--it certainly is--but the culture of the draftee is also important IMO and discoverable to an extent.
I like this.

On the whole, I think people have little clue what the ceiling or floor is for 19-20yr old kids. It's great if the kid has a wingspan 2" longer then normal, but if his work ethic and attitude are sub-par then it makes development really tricky. ALL of these kids drafted have been the stars of their HS, AAU, NCAA teams, if they can't handle being the 15th-man on the roster and looking to improve every day/summer in the gym, weight room, diet, video room, G-League, etc then they will never approach their ceiling.

Basically, how a team develops a prospect is just as important as analyzing 19yr talents since they still have many years before reaching their peak potential.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Looking for something else, found this nice article on Romeo from his high schools days, which were all of, what 18 months ago? https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/03/31/romeo-langfords-basketball-decision-molded-indiana-childhood-new-albany-mcdonalds-game/471593002/ Opening paragraphs:

The Langford family stood in disbelief, in amazement in the hallway of their modest home.
Romeo Langford was oblivious to what had just happened. He’d been running through the hall when a mini basketball landed at his feet.
He scooped it up in his 4-year-old hands and he shot it toward the goal hanging on the door at the end of the hall.
Swish. It went in, from 12 feet away. Fluke.
Do it again Romeo, his sisters squealed. Swish. Again. Swish. Again Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again.
He missed his eleventh shot.
 

lovegtm

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Looking for something else, found this nice article on Romeo from his high schools days, which were all of, what 18 months ago? https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2018/03/31/romeo-langfords-basketball-decision-molded-indiana-childhood-new-albany-mcdonalds-game/471593002/ Opening paragraphs:

The Langford family stood in disbelief, in amazement in the hallway of their modest home.
Romeo Langford was oblivious to what had just happened. He’d been running through the hall when a mini basketball landed at his feet.
He scooped it up in his 4-year-old hands and he shot it toward the goal hanging on the door at the end of the hall.
Swish. It went in, from 12 feet away. Fluke.
Do it again Romeo, his sisters squealed. Swish. Again. Swish. Again Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again. Swish. Again.
He missed his eleventh shot.
Nice article, definitely adds some personality context as to why he might have played through injury at Indiana.
 

Jimbodandy

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On the whole, I think people have little clue what the ceiling or floor is for 19-20yr old kids. It's great if the kid has a wingspan 2" longer then normal, but if his work ethic and attitude are sub-par then it makes development really tricky. ALL of these kids drafted have been the stars of their HS, AAU, NCAA teams, if they can't handle being the 15th-man on the roster and looking to improve every day/summer in the gym, weight room, diet, video room, G-League, etc then they will never approach their ceiling.

Basically, how a team develops a prospect is just as important as analyzing 19yr talents since they still have many years before reaching their peak potential.
Exactly. Placing importance in your organization on a development strategy AND picking kids that can be and want to be developed are two separate and equally important things, to paraphrase Law and Order.

And to be fair, most of the teams are following these kids in high school, but there are degrees. Watching Jalen Green highlights on YouTube doesn't tell you how he's going to react to sitting behind other wings or work through a doctor-ordered rehab plan for his first ever major injury, nevermind when learning or not learning defensive rotations will limit his minutes for the first time in his life like ever. Learning about these guys at a personal level is really important, because fucking up that top five pick is catastrophic. And landing a guy like Romeo at 14 and having him blossom into an all pro--if he does--is a grand slam.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Even with Hayward back, Langford got good minutes today off the bench (20, compared with only 7 for Semi). They don't run plays for him, so he didn't put up numbers, but Brad seems comfortable with his defense. In offensive sets, he's usually set up on the weak side baseline, and he had one nice play from there - getting in to win a battle for a long rebound of a missed shot and then calmly taking it to the hoop and scoring in traffic. Similar to a play he made a couple of games ago. He's got some sound instincts.
 

NomarsFool

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He was also playing wing - at least for one stretch he was out there with Walker and Wannamaker. For now at least, and these things change a lot, he is Brad's first choice off the bench - while Semi is a bit demoted and Edwards has been limited to garbage time.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Even with Hayward back, Langford got good minutes today off the bench (20, compared with only 7 for Semi). They don't run plays for him, so he didn't put up numbers, but Brad seems comfortable with his defense. In offensive sets, he's usually set up on the weak side baseline, and he had one nice play from there - getting in to win a battle for a long rebound of a missed shot and then calmly taking it to the hoop and scoring in traffic. Similar to a play he made a couple of games ago. He's got some sound instincts.
They have Romeo playing on the baseline because there's only so many guys that can run the PnR each game. But as this MassLive article points out, Romeo's strongest attribute in terms of NBA may be his ability to run the PnR.
https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/12/boston-celtics-super-talented-rookie-romeo-langford-is-making-his-case-for-extended-minutes-tom-westerholm.html: "So where does Langford fit in? It’s hard to say, but his talent is obvious. So far, his biggest contributions have been on the defensive end and as an off-ball threat -- spacing the floor and attacking closeouts. That role could easily expand, since Langford’s real strength (which Stevens has hinted at on multiple occasions) is his feel in the pick-and-roll at his size."

Something to look forward to.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Thing with Langford is they really don't have anyone else like him off the bench, do they? If you squint, maybe Green.
 

lovegtm

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Thing with Langford is they really don't have anyone else like him off the bench, do they? If you squint, maybe Green.
In the role they’re currently using him in, he’s basically non-jacked Semi, with the ability to get more blocks and steals due to the length.

Obviously as he starts getting worked into the rotation more you’re right, he becomes Defense JaVonte.

I wonder how much of this is his normal mental
makeup defensively and how much is him adjusting his approach during the injury and just wanting to do anything to get on the floor. Either way, I’ll take it.
 

NomarsFool

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I didn't realize without looking it up that Green is the same height as Langford. I thought he was taller. Langford's even heavier than Green, which I wouldn't have expected.
 

Kliq

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In the role they’re currently using him in, he’s basically non-jacked Semi, with the ability to get more blocks and steals due to the length.

Obviously as he starts getting worked into the rotation more you’re right, he becomes Defense JaVonte.

I wonder how much of this is his normal mental
makeup defensively and how much is him adjusting his approach during the injury and just wanting to do anything to get on the floor. Either way, I’ll take it.
My initial take on Romeo after he was drafted and reading a lot about his time at Indiana were that his two major flaws were his poor outside shooting and his lack of defensive effort/IQ. I feel like both of those things can be reasonably ironed out in the Celtic's system, especially if you consider that Indiana was kind of a mess when he was there. He isn't the first young kid to come into the NBA with a questionable jumper, and hopefully he can refine it the way Jaylen (and countless other guys) did over their first few seasons. I think with his defense, playing in a professional system with a lot of experienced defenders playing with you is very different than what he was doing at Indiana. With more time in the pros, and even in Maine, I can see the issues with his defensive IQ diminishing.

He has a few flaws that can hopefully be corrected with more time, but he brings enough to the table (athleticism, ability to take the ball to the basket, length on defense) that he should earn enough minutes to work out those flaws.

I have been impressed so far with his attitude and makeup; he hasn't been forcing shots and working hard as a role player. He is a young kid that is used to shooting a lot; he graduated high school with over 3,000 points and is fourth all-time in career scoring in Indiana high school history, and also had the green light at Indiana. I think that shows a level of maturity to play 20 minutes like he did last night, only take four shots, and finish +19.
 

Cesar Crespo

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In the role they’re currently using him in, he’s basically non-jacked Semi, with the ability to get more blocks and steals due to the length.

Obviously as he starts getting worked into the rotation more you’re right, he becomes Defense JaVonte.

I wonder how much of this is his normal mental
makeup defensively and how much is him adjusting his approach during the injury and just wanting to do anything to get on the floor. Either way, I’ll take it.
Yeah, you'd just have to think Romeo has more of an offensive game than Semi because it would be hard not to. That's not really a shot on Semi either. He's fine in his role. Langford might already be better than Green so while they may be similar, they are similar in the sense a $20 bill is similar to a $1 bill.

Health permitting, I think Langford should be done with Maine and that the Cs should find 10-15 minutes a game for him to play. It also might be the best use of the minutes anyway. I could see him developing into our first option off the bench if you consider Marcus a starter. He's the one guy on the bench that actually projects to a starter.
 

lovegtm

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Health permitting, I think Langford should be done with Maine and that the Cs should find 10-15 minutes a game for him to play.
Based on his getting 20 minutes even with Hayward back, I think the Celtics agree. Even with Smart there, and with Hayward playing 30-35 minutes instead of 26, once you factor in random injuries and planned rest during the rest of the year, there should be 10-25 minutes available for him basically every night if he's healthy.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Based on his getting 20 minutes even with Hayward back, I think the Celtics agree. Even with Smart there, and with Hayward playing 30-35 minutes instead of 26, once you factor in random injuries and planned rest during the rest of the year, there should be 10-25 minutes available for him basically every night if he's healthy.
Just replacing most of Edwards and Green's minutes would get Langford to 15. Semi's minutes have also dropped in the last 3 games from 18 to 11 to 7.

I'm convinced Brad really likes Semi though so I'm not sure it's much more than a 3 game blip. Even if he does, there's still plenty of minutes to give Langford. The small random injuries where a starter misses a few games open up a lot of minutes for bench players.

I like Waters too but I wouldn't make minutes for him and I'm not really seeing any there. Waters/Edwards would offer something different off the bench too.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Yeah, you'd just have to think Romeo has more of an offensive game than Semi because it would be hard not to.
No need to just think it. Langford has played 67 NBA minutes. In that time, he has flashed more offensive skill than Semi will ever have. Langford can drive, evade the big in the paint, and get off a good layup or floater. That's more than Semi can do.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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No need to just think it. Langford has played 67 NBA minutes. In that time, he has flashed more offensive skill than Semi will ever have. Langford can drive, evade the big in the paint, and get off a good layup or floater. That's more than Semi can do.
He's actually flashed more defensive skill than Semi, even given Semi's prenaturally quick feet.

For those who play basketball, you know it's apparent that you're a better athlete than the guys you are playing against and you play at their speed until you really have to - the converse being that when you are playing against someone who is a significantly better athlete than you are, you can tell by how they are playing?

It looks to me that Romeo knows he's a better athlete than most of the guys he's faced up to now. Maybe not quicker than everyone or a better jumper than everyone - but overall, he knows that with his size and wingspan and ability, he's a better athlete than the guys on the other team.

That's what I see when I watch him play.

I am super excited to watch him develop. I hope the Cs don't trade him.
 

Imbricus

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Grant and Romeo have shown that they can be useful rotation players now. That's great considering you don't expect much of first-year guys, on a .750 team. I still recall Jaylen's first year, when everyone was wondering if his handle would ever get better and if he could become a decent foul throw shooter. Brad used to hide him in the corner. Carsen and Tremont are the guys who need development time. Tacko too obviously, though I wonder if he just becomes a "special situations" kind of player and they don't expect too much out of him.
 

benhogan

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I am super excited to watch him develop. I hope the Cs don't trade him.
Me too and I doubt the Celtics will deal him. They have a chance to build something special here with all these good young players. While competing hard for a Championship this season, they are setting themselves up for a half-decade run of Championship caliber basketball if they just develop their own/acquired draft picks. They possibly view Romeo/Grant as replacing Hayward next year/or the season after. Both guys are being given rope/minutes to "learn on the job" which is the right way to develop them. I'd expect with the schedule getting more intense, starters will get rest and we'll see more of them.

The vast majority of the teams' salary cap will go to Kemba/JT/JB over the next 4 seasons, they will need those young cost/team controlled players to step up and play vital complementary roles.
 

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Smart coming back is going to move the Semi/Romeo/Green slot to 10th in the rotation, if everyone above them stays healthy. Brad could use Smart more as a PG and cut some Wanamaker minutes if he wants more minutes from one of those guys. After an excellent November of 9 ppg in 20 minutes on 52/43% shooting, Wana has crashed to 6 ppg in 21 minutes on 36/31% shooting.
 

amarshal2

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Oct 25, 2005
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Smart coming back is going to move the Semi/Romeo/Green slot to 10th in the rotation, if everyone above them stays healthy. Brad could use Smart more as a PG and cut some Wanamaker minutes if he wants more minutes from one of those guys. After an excellent November of 9 ppg in 20 minutes on 52/43% shooting, Wana has crashed to 6 ppg in 21 minutes on 36/31% shooting.
There’s no reason to be giving Wanamaker big minutes. Romeo has shown more defensive ability than Brad by a lot and has enough offensive ability to not be a black hole. Whether the Celtics are the 2 seed or the 4 seed is not very consequential (and is unlikely to be decided by how Brad manages these minutes). But what is consequential is developing Romeo for the future: both future years as well as the playoffs this year. He’s plausibility better than Wanamaker now and certainly could be a real upgrade by May. With Smart and Hayward there’s no reason to play Brad 20 mins a game in most games. 5 should suffice.

I will say I was disappointed to see Tremont Waters gamble twice on defense yesterday and get beat. I thought he could also match Wanamaker now but if that’s representative he’s going to need to watch some Kyle Lowry defensive footage first.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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Smart coming back is going to move the Semi/Romeo/Green slot to 10th in the rotation, if everyone above them stays healthy. Brad could use Smart more as a PG and cut some Wanamaker minutes if he wants more minutes from one of those guys. After an excellent November of 9 ppg in 20 minutes on 52/43% shooting, Wana has crashed to 6 ppg in 21 minutes on 36/31% shooting.
From 1/3 to 2/13 the Celtics play 23 games over 42 days

Brad came out recently and said he will rest key players/load manage. Even with a fully healthy roster, there will be plenty of minutes for Smart, Wanamaker, Romeo.

Important regular-season games (Phila/Mil/Miami) will give us a clue into Brad's mindset in regards to hierarchy/rotations.
 

TripleOT

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Jul 4, 2007
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From 1/3 to 2/13 the Celtics play 23 games over 42 days
Good point. By my quick count, 15 of those games are against sub .500 teams, 10 home 5 road.
Of the 8 plus .500 games, it's at Sixers, Bucks, Heat, Thunder, Rockets, and at home with the Lakers, Sixers, and Clippers. Go 6-2 in these games to really impress. 5-3 would be doing well.

I'd like this fully healthy team to start blowing out lesser squads, especially at home, for load management purposes.
 

amarshal2

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Oct 25, 2005
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I'd like this fully healthy team to start blowing out lesser squads, especially at home, for load management purposes.
Recently they have been. Had 20+ point leads in many games in a row. Tacko and Waters are finishing games.
 

TripleOT

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Jul 4, 2007
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Recently they have been. Had 20+ point leads in many games in a row. Tacko and Waters are finishing games.
I meant to write, "especially on the road" and not "at home." You are correct that the last four wins have been blowouts, including one up North. Hopefully, they'll bust out Toronto again tonight.