Zach Lowe comments on Cs bench

[todd_days_41]

For the Celtics to hit their ceiling -- and that has very much not happened -- one backup would have to step into somewhat of a void at power forward: someone who could break up the Al Horford/Robert Williams III duo if it proved clunky, and spare Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown some bruising.

Grant Williams has become that player. He's shooting 42.4% from deep, with an even split between short corner 3s and longer bombs. He has hit 36% on above-the-break 3s, and there's a huge and underrated difference between corner-3 specialists and stretch bigs who shoot from everywhere. The everywhere types do more stuff from more places as screen-setters, cutters, and handoff hubs.

Williams looks more comfortable working off the bounce when defenders run him off the arc. He sees the floor well, and he's converting inside the paint: a ridiculous 83% at the basket, and 40% on floaters.

Williams is a brick wall with nimble feet on defense. He can guard every position. If this shooting is anything resembling real, Williams is a heavy-minutes rotation player and maybe even a fifth starter on the right team.

On the other hand: After every Romeo Langford stint, I find myself asking, What would you say ... you do here? He barely shoots, though his 15-of-36 mark on 3s is encouraging after Langford went 10-of-45 combined over his first two seasons. He has 37 career assists, and even if he were a good playmaker -- maybe he is! -- he's not involved enough to show it.

He's solid defensively, though not on Williams' level. He's battling Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard on the fringes of Boston's rotation. Those two haven't lit the world on fire, but at least they do things. You notice them. (Also enjoying a bounce back: Josh Richardson.)

Langford is 22, so there's time. Still: This is disappointing return on a lottery pick. The five players taken right after Langford haven't amounted to much yet, but the sixth -- Matisse Thybulle -- haunts Boston some. The Celtics traded the rights to Thybulle for Carsen Edwards and Ty Jerome. (They did pick Grant Williams two spots below Thybulle, and had so many first-round picks that it was going to be hard to roster all of them.)

Hard to argue with any of it. Langford was considered a scorer coming out of IU. Should Ime encourage Romeo to jack it up more as a bench spark when he's out there?

[PhoSita]

The problem with Romeo is that when he was drafted he was years away from being an NBA player. He was also drafted by a team that has not, at any point during Romeo's time on the roster, been especially invested in trying to develop young players.  So now we're in the third season of his rookie deal and he's showing signs of being an NBA player, but he's still very, very limited.

Maybe in a few more years, in the right situation, Romeo will have a more significant and varied role.  But for now, he's shown that he can be the 5th guy on the floor, hit some open shots, finish some fast break plays, and not be a weak point on defense.  That's a positive piece to have, but as Lowe points out, pretty disappointing for a lottery pick.

Danny went for upside but unfortunately he either underestimated just how raw Romeo was or he overestimated how quickly Romeo would develop. 

As to the latter point, Romeo has been injured a lot in his first couple of seasons, which has put a damper on his development.  But of course, being in physical shape to avoid frequent nagging injuries is part of being "ready" for the NBA.

[todd_days_41]

Ok PS, but what was his most NBA ready skill coming in? Slashing to the basket, right?

[LilRip]

Maybe Langford would’ve developed better if he could stay healthy. Bad luck + fragility is a bad combination.

I think Romeo has looked good out there when he’s been out there. And when I say “looked good”, I mean someone who is serviceable and can provide productive minutes. Despite my preseason prediction of him being a benchwarmer, he’s looked better than Nesmith and Pritchard. The problem for him is JRich has outplayed him and we don’t have enough minutes to divvy up when everyone’s healthy

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

The problem with Romeo is that when he was drafted he was years away from being an NBA player. He was also drafted by a team that has not, at any point during Romeo's time on the roster, been especially invested in trying to develop young players.  So now we're in the third season of his rookie deal and he's showing signs of being an NBA player, but he's still very, very limited.

Maybe in a few more years, in the right situation, Romeo will have a more significant and varied role.  But for now, he's shown that he can be the 5th guy on the floor, hit some open shots, finish some fast break plays, and not be a weak point on defense.  That's a positive piece to have, but as Lowe points out, pretty disappointing for a lottery pick.

Danny went for upside but unfortunately he either underestimated just how raw Romeo was or he overestimated how quickly Romeo would develop. 

As to the latter point, Romeo has been injured a lot in his first couple of seasons, which has put a damper on his development.  But of course, being in physical shape to avoid frequent nagging injuries is part of being "ready" for the NBA.

Seems kind of silly, doesn't it? The Celtics have been rebuilding for a while, had TONS of draft picks and in recent years ... yet have never just handed the team over to a bunch of young guys á la OKC. To the Cs' credit, they've always tried to remain competitive via trades and FA signings, but none of those really worked out, and because they were trying to win, many of the young guys didn't get the playing time they needed. So the Cs ended up with kind of a "worst of both worlds" situation. Which maybe was a direct result of Danny's two-pronged approach—trying to "win now" and "build for the future" at the same time?

[Neurotic Guy]

The respect given to Grant Williams lately is pretty amazing considering where most were on him only a few months ago.   Who predicted this kind of player analysis:

"For the Celtics to hit their ceiling -- and that has very much not happened -- one backup would have to step into somewhat of a void at power forward: someone who could break up the Al Horford/Robert Williams III duo if it proved clunky, and spare Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown some bruising.

Grant Williams has become that player. "...

I am really baffled as I look individually at how many players have met or exceeded expectations this year and how poorly this team is functioning overall.   DS, Al, Grant, Josh all exceeding what expected.  One could argue that Rob and Marcus have exceeded expectations.  Romeo is about where I would have expected, same with Freedom.   

It's not like individually players have bombed.  That is, with the notable exception of the 2 players who are expected to lead the way -- who were hoped to leap to superstardom and lead this team to contention.  Jayson had an awful start to the season and Jaylen has played 13 of 26 games.

I don't know what to make of it all.  But... I like starting Grant and I really like the idea of Jaylen as 6th man. 

[Somebody]

The respect given to Grant Williams lately is pretty amazing considering where most were on him only a few months ago.   Who predicted this kind of player analysis:

"For the Celtics to hit their ceiling -- and that has very much not happened -- one backup would have to step into somewhat of a void at power forward: someone who could break up the Al Horford/Robert Williams III duo if it proved clunky, and spare Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown some bruising.

Grant Williams has become that player. "...

I am really baffled as I look individually at how many players have met or exceeded expectations this year and how poorly this team is functioning overall.   DS, Al, Grant, Josh all exceeding what expected.  One could argue that Rob and Marcus have exceeded expectations.  Romeo is about where I would have expected, same with Freedom.   

It's not like individually players have bombed.  That is, with the notable exception of the 2 players who are expected to lead the way -- who were hoped to leap to superstardom and lead this team to contention.  Jayson had an awful start to the season and Jaylen has played 13 of 26 games.

I don't know what to make of it all.  But... I like starting Grant and I really like the idea of Jaylen as 6th man.

Or maybe it's the person responsible for putting the players in positions to succeed? The players who've been exceeding expectations have made qualitative improvements (even the veterans like Al/Dennis/Richardson look sharper as players) while the ones who have not seem to be thrust into roles/schemes that aren't maximising their talent (e.g. Tatum isolating/posting up much more frequently than he ever has at the expense of his highly effective PnR possessions, Brown still being used as a glorified Bruce Bowen despite there being no Kyrie Irving/Kemba Walker/Gordon Hayward to justifiably bump him down to that role anymore).

[PhoSita]

Ok PS, but what was his most NBA ready skill coming in? Slashing to the basket, right?

I think the idea was that he would instantly have NBA level athleticism.  Problem is you can't utilize that athleticism if you're

(a) frequently injured
(b) can't dribble
(c) have no space because you can't shoot

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Ok PS, but what was his most NBA ready skill coming in? Slashing to the basket, right?

I think the idea was that he would instantly have NBA level athleticism.  Problem is you can't utilize that athleticism if you're

(a) frequently injured
(b) can't dribble
(c) have no space because you can't shoot

That scouting report is outdated now. He's shooting the ball with a lot more consistency and confidence now.

He seems like he really lacks confidence when dribbling now, which is weird because playmaking was one of his greatest abilities in high school and college.

[PhoSita]

Ok PS, but what was his most NBA ready skill coming in? Slashing to the basket, right?

I think the idea was that he would instantly have NBA level athleticism.  Problem is you can't utilize that athleticism if you're

(a) frequently injured
(b) can't dribble
(c) have no space because you can't shoot

That scouting report is outdated now. He's shooting the ball with a lot more consistency and confidence now.

He seems like he really lacks confidence when dribbling now, which is weird because playmaking was one of his greatest abilities in high school and college.

I was talking about his limitations when he entered the league

[#1P4P]

Romeo missed a lot of time his first two years in the NBA, few game time and even fewer practice time, and didn't look great during Summer League. He had confidence issues that reflected in his offense, movement, and team defense. He looked like a guy that didn't know what to do, where to go, when to go, etc. Like Stevens denied him the playbook.

My expectations were low for him coming into this season and I thought Nesmith would leapfrog him on the depth chart.

Romeo's gone from being a solid defensive player and a negative offensive player to having the makings of a 3&D player that can attack closeouts. This season, he's looked confident (his body language is different), defense is solid, he's shooting with confidence, and is a good offensive rebounder. Seeing him this season convinced me that he can be a good player and part of a solid playoff rotation.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Ironic. Same people bagging on grant now bagging on Romeo.