In the PnR, even if your opponent goes under the screen and you do not get separation, you still have options.
(1) use the pick again. Tony Parker was a master of this. Teams didn't respect his jumper. Instead of taking what was low to medium efficiency shot for him. TP used the pick multiple times getting closer to the basket each time trying to set up his drive or to get a closer shot (18 footer instead of 23 footer) that he could make more of.
(2) Fake the pick, drive the other way. Harden is brilliant at this. You never know which way he is going off of a pick. Harden can shoot the 3 too which causes even more problems for his defender.
(3) Or if the team just switches the pick instead. Langford has had a lot of success in isolations. So him forcing a switch and getting a slower big man on him is a valuable action for Celtics too.
It is not like team's are going to be loading up on Langford either. He will be the 3rd, 4th, 5th option on offense when he is on the floor at the start of his NBA career. A lot of his PnRs will come out of situations where other offensive actions have already happened that opposing teams will be responding to.
1) That is called a screen, not a pick and roll. And you’re referring to one of the greatest at it. If you think that the offense will be screens for Langford, you’re mistaken.
I had to read this a few times.
A pick'n'roll is a screen-ball play. Pick = Screen. A pick'n'roll aka on-ball screen aka screen and roll is a screen attacked by the ball-handler with the screener rolling toward the basket.
So "this is a screen, not a pick'n'roll" is nonsensical. If you don't think the offense will set screens for Longford, then he won't be able to run pick'n'rolls, because there's no such thing without a pick/screen.
That said, I tend to agree Longford lack of shooting off the dribble will greatly hinder his pick'n'roll game. At least if he's running the play enough to make a difference and defenses tight up.
If one looks at the most efficient pick'n'roll ball-handlers in the league last season, only Giannis is a bad shooter - but he's supernatural on everything else. Looking at the top-30 with more than 50 PnR possessions, it'd seem only Trey Burke, Jimmy Butler (w/ Philly) and Ryan Arcidiacono weren't at least 37.5% 3pt shooters.
I see the potential with Langford because he's good size and good ball-handling, makes those changes of pace, finishes well, makes good decisions.
But there are too many weak-points:
1) very mediocre shooter
2) no burst - harder for him to just turn the corner going down
3) not a particularly creative or prolific passer on the move - which is a big reason why some guys who aren't great shooters, like Butler, can be efficient pick'n'roll ball-handlers
4) the Celtics don't really have any great screener in the roster. Grant Williams is a good screener, but he's a rookie. Good screeners can really lift a ball-handler production on the screenball game.
Especially for ballhandlers that lack burst and shooting and need stuff screen and rescreening plays, a quality screener really matters.
He did shoot 20% during pre-conference and 32% during conference games, plus had some sort of injury, plus he was an okay FT% at 73%, so that's a glimmer of hope - his shooting might be underrated and he might develop into a good shooter.