I want to say that one of the more fascinating sports moments to me is when someone defies the odds in all the wrong ways—for instance, Eddie Lacy. Eddie Lacy is a man who has already had 2 1000 yard rushing seasons but looks like he eats other 1000 yard rushers for 3 meals a day. But the dude for that time was an NFL quality RB. Otherwhere in the NFL someone like Josh Gordon admitted he showed up to every single Browns game either drunk or high, or both. Think about that for a second—first off, how is that even physically humanly possible and secondly, how does that feel for other players in the league knowing this dude is showing up cooked out of his mind or hammered and was still the best WR in the league that year? Before COVID shot 1000% from this field this year look at this photo of some of the Celtics going to a party at night. There is not a single working brain cell in that group that night and today I want to talk about one man from that group who may love weed but could be the savior of the Boston Celtics, Romeo Langford.
In the past few years somehow a criticism of Danny Ainge is that he hoards assets like it’s going out of style and that it can be a detriment to the team by either picking too many rookies who won’t have any playtime or not making a trade for an NBA quality player with the picks. This past year it was somewhat of the same dilemma as the Celtics held 3 draft picks 14, 20, and 22. Despite a trade down the Celtics still left the draft with 4 more rookies, one of them being the Freshman Guard from Indiana Romeo Langford with the 14th pick. The previous year coming out of high school Langford was that dude when it came to high school basketball. At New Albany he tore up the high school basketball scene and in his senior year averaged 35.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 3 steals a game while being named Mr. Basketball in Indiana, a McDonald’s All-American, and finished 4th all-time on Indiana Boy’s scoring list with 3,002 points. After choosing to stay home and attend Indiana University he didn’t light up the NCAA like you’d expect the 5th ranked recruit to do but he played well enough at 16.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists to land himself a lottery selection.
Although the Celtics season is going to continue into the playoffs who knows how much Langford will play or be a contributing factor to postseason success. Although he hasn’t got much play time at all or at least meaningful minutes he’s shown flashes of being a great wing, specifically on the defensive end. Whether you’re Lebron who went to 27 straight NBA Finals or a second round pick out of Who Cares University if you are a good isolation and on-ball defender you aren’t gonna forget how to do it just cause it’s the NBA. In the case of Langford as a good on-ball defender in college it hasn’t been shocking that when players try to pick on the rookie on the court he holds his own due to agility and size with his 6’11 wingspan and 6’5 height in shoes. Personally, what I am most surprised by and makes me excited by his potential is his natural instinct and basketball IQ on that side off the floor. Countless times he has been able to anticipate a play before it happens and either jump the passing lane or put himself in position to cut off the defender or take a charge.
Usually it takes rookies seasons to adapt to the advanced defensive schemes of the NBA but from day one he has been able to showcase himself as a defender specifically his defensive positioning. One thing he has struggled with a bit is against the smaller, more agile guards in the league as oftentimes he was beaten solely due to their agility and him not being able to turn fast enough, however, was also able to recover plenty enough due to that 6’11 wingspan. A lot of his struggles on that end have come from the inexperience of being a rookie as something like P&R defense he has shown the ability to get over screens easily at times or position himself to be able to hedge it or ice it but quite as often it was vice-versa and he either couldn’t get over or would out position himself badly.
Unfortunately enough there hasn’t been enough chances on the offensive end to make a clear judgement on his offensive game now or what could potentially become. Unless your name is Jayson Tatum most rookies get the Brad Stevens Special of sitting in the corner 99.9% of possessions and Romeo has been no exception to the rule. In the 31 games he has appeared in he’s only taken 71 shots including just 26 threes and 60% of his shots from less than 10ft. Even in his one year at Indiana he played roughly the entire season with a torn thumb ligament severely hindering his shooting ability. While he’s definitely lived up to that poor shooter label as he shoots 35% from the field overall and is in the teens for 3 point % at 19%, however, he did shoot 72% from the FT line which is about average by NBA standards. You know I would tend to say when your shooting splits barely add up to over 100 there’s some serious work to do on the offensive end but it isn’t all bad. For starters, anyone who has played basketball knows how hard it is to get into a rhythm when you have no idea if you’ll even be playing, how long you’ll be playing for, and if you’ll even touch the ball. And unlike someone like rookie year Jaylen Brown who was in the same predicament on the offensive end, Langford appears to have a far tighter handle leading to less turnovers. That ability to create for himself naturally and get to the rim is undoubtedly there, however, he struggled finishing around the rim with the length of NBA defenders.
In a rookie year full of surprises when it came to playing time or opportunities on either end of the court Romeo Langford showcases real flashes of potential to be another great two way wing in this league. Much like the majority of Brad Stevens Era rookies he wasn’t expected to contribute anything meaningful in his first season but rather showcase what he can hopefully do later in his career while also getting his feet wet and get used to the NBA. As of now personally Romeo reminds me of someone like Will Barton who was a very inconsistent and a poor shooter to start his career but a more than capable defender and later developed his shot consistency.
The Closeout 