Tag: Romeo Langford

On this day: Celtics draft Langford, Williams, Edwards, Waters

On this day in 2019, the Boston Celtics drafted Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters.

On this day, the Boston Celtics drafted four players of note in the 2019 NBA Draft.

With the 51st pick, the Celtics selected 5-foot-10 point guard Tremont Waters out of Louisiana State University, who would later sign with the team as a two way player who spent most of his rookie season with the Maine Red Claws — the Celtics’ G League developmental affiliate.

There, he would earn G League Rookie of the Year honors while averaging 18 points, 3.2 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 2 steals per game while shooting 7.1 3-pointers per game with 35.4 % accuracy in his inaugural season.

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Ex-Grizzlies exec unimpressed with Boston’s 2019-20 rookies

Ex-Memphis Grizzlies executive and current analyst for The Athletic John Hollinger isn’t very high on the Boston Celtics’ 2019-20 rookies.

After the way their inaugural season went, it’s hard to blame The Athletic’s John Hollinger for his lack of enthusiasm for the Boston Celtics 2019-20 rookie class.

In their defense, they’ve been thrown on a top-five team on both ends of the floor and have been asked to make meaningful contributions in many cases that they simply weren’t ready to do at this stage of their career — and not many first-year players can stay on the floor long anyway.

Hollinger’s gripes are all legitimate ones, though it tends to read as someone who hasn’t spent the same degree of detail watching the class grow and adapt to what has been a fairly bumpy season for some.

Forward Grant Williams got the best review of any Celtics rookie, and while he was actually a significant part of Boston’s rotation, it didn’t exactly floor the former Griz front office member.

“Williams was the most effective in the regular season because he has a high basketball IQ and plays solid defense,” opined Hollinger. “Offensively, however, he’s a total zero, and his glaring weaknesses as a shooter and ballhandler are going to really hurt him in a playoff series.”

Hollinger doesn’t think Williams’ shooting will be coming along any time soon regardless of whether he’s put that terrible cold streak to start his pro career behind him or not.

But he’s not ruling out the Tennessee product getting to the point of being a consistent jump-shooting threat, either.

Guard Carsen Edwards, conversely, is cast as the stereotypical Summer League success story of smaller, trigger-happy gloves who can’t replicate the success they had in Las Vegas at the NBA level. “He’s very small and not really a point guard, so he has to rain fire to have value,” notes Hollinger.

The former exec grants the team’s highest pick — wing Romeo Langford — some slack for the myriad injuries incurred throughout the course of his Celtics tenure.

But he also picked on him for getting only six assists (and while he may have missed a lot of games, that is a low number) and his low rebound rate despite standing 6-foot-6.

He did not mention Langford’s impressive growth as a defender, especially late in the season where he handled some very difficult matchups in short stints — even LeBron James — effectively.

In fact, if he had his way, Hollinger would try packaging Langford with all three of Boston’s 2020 first-round draft picks in a bid to land Atlanta Hawks big man John Collins.

While he isn’t all the way off the island of Danny Ainge’s 2019 draft selections, it’s clear there is a common theme.

Defense matters little in Hollinger’s metrics on what the Celtics need from these prospects, and playoff playability — and shooting in particular — being the key for all three to claim a major role in this team’s success.

The Athletic analyst is big on Time Lord, the second-year center more commonly known as Robert Williams.

The Texas A&M product has had “unbelievable stretches of play this season” and “seems ready to take on a much larger role”, but ought to be a much bigger part of what Boston is doing going forward according to Hollinger.

A fair if not exactly glowing assessment of Boston’s incoming draft picks playing significant minutes at the NBA level.

But also a tough — but not insuperable — path for Langford, Edwards and Williams to traverse if they want a long career in this league.

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Celtics’ Grant Williams donates 100 burritos to a Boston area hospital

The Celtics forward also challenged fellow rookies Tacko Fall and Romeo Langford to help feed healthcare workers in the Boston area.

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Boston Celtics rookie Grant Williams announced on Monday that he will donate 100 burritos from Chipotle to the New England Baptist Hospital to help feed local healthcare professionals.

NBA on TNT reporter Allie LaForce challenged Williams to participate in “Project FRONTLINE,” a charity whose mission is to help the reeling restaurant industry and to also to feed healthcare workers at hospitals across the country.

“I accept [the challenge]. I will be sending over 100 burritos to the New England Baptist Hospital in Boston,” Williams said. “We need more help so I’m going to challenge not only Tacko Fall but Romeo Langford in joining me and donating burritos to the New England Baptist Hospital to thank the healthcare workers who are working night in and night out for us.”

Several players and teams across the NBA have joined together to help support those deeply affected by the coronavirus pandemic and Williams is the latest example of those efforts.

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Hayward talks conditioning, recovery and his bond with Romeo Langford

Boston Celtics All-Star forward Gordon Hayward talks his rehab, conditioning in quarantine, and bond with fellow Indiana native Romeo Langford in a podcast interview with Celtics Blog’s Adam Taylor.

One of the biggest changes for fans of the Boston Celtics since the NBA shut down all league activities on March 11th has been the relative lack of visibility of players, all of whom are now self-quarantining like many of the rest of us.

So apart from occasional phone and internet interviews, social media posts and public service announcements, what’s been going on with various players has been something of mystery.

A few Celtics have made appearances on television, like veteran guard’s Marcus Smart’s interview on his coronavirus experience, and others on podcasts, such as Jayson Tatum’s appearance on the Good N’ Plenty pod.

In that vein, Celtics Blog’s Adam Taylor had All-Star forward Gordon Hayward on the Celtics Pod podcast to find out how the Butler product has been since the mid-March shutdown.

The Indiana native has been keeping busy maintaining his conditioning in hopes of an early-summer return to action.

“I have been doing at-home workouts in our little home gym that we have,” he began.

“[I use] dumbbells up to about 40 pounds, and then the team brought over a kettlebell that I’ve been able to do some lifts with along with a weighted vest. A lot of bodyweight exercises, but [I’ve] just really been doing that for weights. And then when it’s been nice out, I’ve been able to run outside, do some ball handling outside.”

It hasn’t been nice too much though,” he added.

The former Bulldog isn’t just focusing on weight training for his conditioning though — he’s been paying attention to the aerobic aspect of conditioning as well, even using it as an excuse for a little online shopping.

“So, the conditioning, I’ve done a lot of it,” offered Hayward.

“I … got my wife, a Peloton [exercise bicycle] last Christmas, and I didn’t have any shoes to wear on it. And so this was the perfect time for me to actually order myself some shoes, so I got some cycling shoes and I’ve been doing the Peloton for my cardio workouts.”

The popular exercise bike has caught on in a big way with NBA players in recent months, and it’s good that it has given world events of late, with the pandemic limiting access to training facilities for players.

Hayward also opened up on his training more generally, and how he was able to really dig in and go at his training for the first time since his injury at the start of his Celtics tenure.

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“This offseason I was able to train and do everything that I wanted to do without any restrictions,” said the 30-year-old forward, who’d struggled through two seasons of gradual improvements since that fateful season opener.

“[During] the last one I was I was hurt, and so [could] only do things for 10 minutes at a time, and then 15 minutes, … then 20 minutes at a time. And everything was really structured, really rigid and really planned out, and it didn’t allow me to really get after it the way that I wanted to.”

Hayward related wasn’t able to do five-on-five basketball until late September that season, which also didn’t do his game as much benefit as he’d have liked — even if it was probably the right move for his longer-term health.

“This past offseason, being able to train exactly the way that I wanted to train,” said the 6-foot-7 swingman.

“I stayed in Boston and kind of just did my thing here with with the staff and with everybody that we had in Boston, so that was really good. And I think that was really helpful,” he added.

With seven rookies coming onto the 2019-20 Celtics roster, you might think it a bit awkward for Hayward, who, along with reserve guard Brad Wanamaker and (nearly) starting point guard Kemba Walker, are the only players who are in their thirties.

But the former All-Star connected with fellow Indiana native Romeo Langford, who at just 20 years old, is the youngest player on Boston’s roster.

“Romeo has been someone that I’ve bonded with this year,” Hayward offered.

“I don’t know if he would say taken under my wing but certainly tried to teach him a couple things and help him out. [He´s] somebody that I think is is really talented and can have a long time in the NBA if he continues to work and continues to get better as a player.”

It’s been good seeing his growth from the beginning of the season to where he is now and hopefully moving forward as well,” he finished.

Moving forward is something all of us are itching to do as we wait out the pandemic, and NBA players like Hayward are far from immune.

But like us, they have their eyes on the future, and a world where interviews don’t need to be via telepresence or phone, and games — and most of our jobs — are happening in ways that don’t seem deeply unusual.

A glimpse into the world of how our favorite players are holding down the fort is an excellent way to help us cope with being cooped up — but also a reminder that no matter who you are, we’re all in this together.

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WATCH: Best of rookie Romeo Langford’s defense in 2019-20

While it’s usually defense that gets rookies benched, it’s an area where Boston Celtics wing Romeo Langford shined in 2019-20.

It’s almost always defense mistakes that send rookies to the bench.

Even very good ones — often including lottery picks — can find themselves riding the pine due to missed defensive assignments, getting confused by more complex NBA coverages.

Sometimes, it’s just that the speed of the game can be too much for first-year players on the defensive side of the ball.

Not Boston Celtics wing Romeo Langford, though.

The Indiana native might have had a cascade of minor injuries and bad luck to start the season, but what he did not have in abundance were those aforementioned issues so common to players as they enter the league.

While he certainly had his fair share of mistakes on both ends, he largely held his own, and was working towards carving out a consistent role before the season was suspended on March 11.

Watch the video above to see some of the former Hoosier’s best defensive moments of the 2019-20 season so far while we wait for some live-action games to see him grow as a player when the season (hopefully) resumes.

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Boston’s Romeo Langford seeing key minutes for his defense

Learning to defend at NBA speed keeps most rookies off the floor in key minutes, but Boston Celtics rookie wing Romeo Langford has been earning crunch time minutes for his stellar defence of late.

You may have noticed a trend concerning Boston Celtics rookie wing Romeo Langford in recent games — he’s been playing in them, and not just in garbage time.

In fact, he’s even closed games, and been assigned some very taxing matchups on defense.

These two things are not a coincidence.

Langford, who struggled with health in his inaugural season in the NBA after injuries were a key factor for him to fall into Boston’s range (14th overall) in the 2019 NBA Draft in the first place, has been finding his footing as the season goes on.

And the footing has been firm, his surprisingly good defense earning him more than token development minutes.

Sometimes, he’s even been tasked with guarding some of the best players on the planet, and for the most part, he’s done well.

In fact, Boston.com’s Chris Grenham reports Langford’s defensive rating of 100 in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was second-best on a team with a top-five defense and a Defensive Player of the Year candidate in veteran guard Marcus Smart.

Let that sink in a bit.

Fellow rookie Grant Williams was the only other player with a better defensive rating at 89 (which , it should be noted, is absurdly good).

“It’s good that [head coach Brad Stevens] already trusts me,” Langford offered (via the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach). “So I’ve just got to go out there and deliver. That’s all it is.”

You may recall Langford trying his damndest to stop LeBron James in the contest, who is still arguably the greatest player in the game, and outweighs Langford by 35 pounds.

And he pulled it off in limited minutes.

While the Indiana product still has a ways to go in terms of shooting 3-pointers, his surprising ability on the defensive side of the court is getting the first-year wing some serious burn late in games and in key stretches.

The hard work the former Hoosier has put in behind the scenes is finally beginning to pay off just as the Celtics need some real production from their bench in order to help ease the road off of the players who will see heavy minutes in the postseason.

And Langford credits that work with getting him into the rotation as a useful player; “I work on basically just everything.”

“Everybody sort of runs the same stuff, but I work on it a lot so I feel like I’m more prepared for things when Brad does throw me in, because I’ve worked on it and kind of seen it. The only thing is it’s still a little different preparing because you can’t simulate the pace of the game and the team.”

“But other than that I prepare for mostly everything,” added Langford.

The results, it seems, are starting to show — and hopefully the offense isn’t far off either with a bench hungry for scoring.

Can Langford be the bench help Boston missed out on at the trade deadline? That question remains to be answered, and in truth may be more than can be reasonably expected given the ups-and-downs of the young wing’s season.

But he’s already developed into an important player for a top-five team, hinting that team president Danny Ainge may have struck gold in the draft yet again.

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Langford’s emergence, Timelord’s return key ahead of tough stretch

With center Robert Williams III poised to return after the All-Star game and rookie wing Romeo Langford making a real impact, Boston’s tough February is looking brighter.

The Boston Celtics might not have added anyone to the roster at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, but they might have some different players on the floor making unanticipated impacts anyway.

Boston’s deployment of rookie Romeo Langford for the most minutes of his career in the wake of a number of injuries Feb. 7 paid off unexpectedly well, with the Indiana native matching his career-high burn with the most points he’s scored yet at the NBA level.

His 16 points, 5 rebounds and three blocks were the strongest signal yet the Celtics may have made one of the sneakiest shrewd moves by gambling on the oft-injured wing in the 2019 NBA Draft.

More importantly, he’s not even the only player “joining” Boston who could have a significant impact on their fortunes just as the difficulty of the schedule starts to ramp up.

That honor falls to second-year center Robert Williams III, who has been out since December with a bone-bruised hip.

Timelord has had plenty of time off to get his bottom half in good order, and was already starting to turn heads with some unexpected passing chops and near-basket jumpers.

As the Celtics get ready to dive into one of the toughest stretches of the season, facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers before a rematch with the Rockets to close out the month, they’ll need all the help they can get.

Only the Minnesota Timberwolves loom in what’s left of February as a sub- .500 team, so news Williams would likely return to 5-on-5 practice after All-Star week should be most welcome news for Boston fans.

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The Celtics may yet make minor improvements around the margins with buyout options should one seem a good mutual fit.

But, despite making no moves ahead of this year’s trade deadline, Boston may be “adding” young, capable talent that will help preserve their stars for the postseason even if they aren’t likely to see many minutes in the actual postseason.

And given those new options didn’t cost a single additional asset, that’s a pretty solid boost to a roster that will need it.

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Romeo Langford earns praise, confidence of Brad Stevens

Romeo Langford had the best game of his career on Friday night.

Despite being the 14th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, not much fanfare has followed Boston Celtics rookie swingman Romeo Langford. In large part, this has been due to the myriad of injuries sustained by the Indiana native at the start of his career, injuries that saw him drop from a potential rotation player to one bound for the NBA G League in the time it took you to read this paragraph.

However, as of late, Langford has put the Celtics — and perhaps even the league — on notice, with the 20-year-old earning at least 15 minutes per contest in six of his last 15 games. In fact, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens has played Langford for 28.0 minutes per game in his last two contests, where the rook has averaged 11.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steal per game (while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three), earning enough confidence from Stevens to be allowed to be on the floor in the closing minutes.

On Friday night, Langford was one of the key players of the game, scoring a career-high 16 points — seven of which came late in the fourth quarter. He’s long displayed a fine level of defensive awareness but the timely shots that he made were the next step in his development.

Following the game, Stevens would comment on why he went with Langford at the end of the game, saying that the rookie’s physical attributes — which were on display on defense, on the boards and offensively — and his strong play were the primary reasons for his decision.

Stevens would comment that Langford played well in their last game, a 116-100 win over the Orlando Magic, too.

Langford, who would note how surreal it was for him to play against veteran Hawks forward Vince Carter — whose NBA debut occurred before he was even born — was nonplussed by his performance.

Now, he’ll attempt to build off of his recent play and perhaps be able to earn a spot in a fully-healthy rotation, though it would come at the expense of a player like forward Semi Ojeleye (who’s also been playing well). It’s long been known that Boston has one of the deepest teams in the league and the constant injuries incurred by the players allow for someone like Langford to get playing time regardless.

Nonetheless, the recent play by the rookie has undoubtedly been a confidence-builder for him, the staff and his teammates. If not this season, continuing his steady improvement should allow him to lock down a rotation spot next season.

In the meantime, Langford will have to continue to be as professional as he has been up to this point, working hard behind-the-scenes and accepting whatever role he’s asked to play on a team with championship aspirations.

Romeo Langford scored a career-high 16 points during Celtics’ win

The Celtics rookie turned in a career performance on Friday as he continued to play well in an expanded role.

Boston Celtics rookie guard Romeo Langford tallied a career-high 16 points and five rebounds on Friday night during a 112-107 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The 14th overall pick finished by shooting 5-of-11 from the field in nearly 29 minutes of work in the victory as he continued to play well for head coach Brad Stevens after recently entering the rotation.

Langford logged 28 minutes in his first career start on Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic as he recorded six points and made a number of plays on the defensive end. The rookie once again had another strong defensive outing on Friday after blocking three shots.

Langford has battled a number of injuries this season but appears to be healthy again and ready to contribute for the Celtics. He has shown to have strong instincts on the defensive end, which should ultimately keep him on the floor in crunch-time situations.

Langford is averaging 3.4 points and 1.1 rebounds in 16 appearances this season.

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Celtics survive scare from Hawks thanks to Jayson Tatum’s stellar play

The Boston Celtics had a tough battle against the Atlanta Hawks but pulled out the win while led by star Jayson Tatum.

The Boston Celtics have now won six games in a row after defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 112-107, on Friday night.

It wasn’t an easy win for Boston, who found themselves down 55-54 at halftime and only up by three points with just seconds remaining in the fourth. However, 32 points from Jayson Tatum (on 10-19 shooting from the field and 7-12 shooting from three), along with a double-double from Enes Kanter (16 points and 15 rebounds) and 31 combined points from wings Marcus Smart and Romeo Langford made the difference for the Celtics, who saw Langford score seven of the team’s last 11 points with Atlanta down just five points with 2:47 left in the fourth.

The most memorable play of the game — an aesthetically-pleasing sidestep three — may have come from Tatum but it was a team effort from Boston that brought them the win after they saw an early 24-10 lead dissipate rather quickly in a game of runs.

Tatum, who scored 30+ points in consecutive games for the first time in his career (the first Celtics player since Paul Pierce to accomplish the feat in his first three seasons).

Kanter, who recorded his eight double-double of the season (Boston is 8-0 when Kanter records a double-double).

Langford, who scored a career-high 16 points.

Although the Hawks played without All-Star point guard Trae Young and a few of their recently acquired players, it was a gritty win by a Celtics team that was also shorthanded, missing Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams. Their biggest issue was containing power forward John Collins (30 points, 10 rebounds) and guards Kevin Huerter and Brandon Goodwin (46 combined points) but they made plays when they needed to, especially at the end of the game.

Boston, now 36-15, will face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday. They’ll need better performance, particularly on defense, against the Thunder and more healthy bodies as well. However, the Celtics are on a roll and gaining plenty of momentum before the All-Star Break, which Tatum and Walker will be a part of.