Cautious approach continues with top pick
LAS VEGAS — As expected, Romeo Langford will not be available when the Celtics open their summer league season today against Philadelphia.
The talented wing scorer, taken by the Celtics with the 14th pick of this year’s draft, is recovering from thumb surgery on his (right) shooting hand after playing with the injury for most of the season. Langford has been working on his shot with assistant coach Joe Mazzulla, but may not get much beyond this point by the time summer league ends.
Caution is far more important, especially in summer league, said Scott Morrison.
“I’m hoping that he does more,” said the Celtics assistant and summer league coach. “It’s not really my decision. I’m just doing what I’ve been told, but he has been getting in more reps in the non-contact stuff and he continues to work on his shooting and his skill work.
“I’m guessing the plan is to take it slow with him and make sure he’s as strong as he can be by the time the real stuff gets going. Not that this isn’t important, but it wouldn’t be worth it to risk a further injury to play two games of summer league, ya know?”
A balancing act
Morrison will be relatively democratic in the short term, but players like Robert Williams, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards and Tacko Fall will eventually get most of the attention and action.
“I guess the first goal will be to try to get everyone a little bit of a taste out on the court, and try to get everyone involved early on, give them a chance to show what they can do when the ball goes up,” Morrison said. “But at the end of the day, obviously we have some guys that have a little higher priority to get their minutes, make sure they get the right amount of reps and just like the regular season, it’s a balancing act between getting as many reps as they can at a high pace and not overdoing it to risk injury.
“So I would expect to see the Celtics picks and the returning guys get a little more opportunity to play, but everyone here has been working hard and deserves a chance to show what they can do to the NBA and the scouting world that’s watching.”
Run you offense
Grant Williams has expressed an appreciation for Al Horford’s game, including the former Celtic’s ability to run the offense and facilitate.
Facilitation is one Williams talent the Celtics coaches get to evaluate this week.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be exactly Al, but I know I can do whatever the coach needs me to do to perform at that level,” he said. “I kind of play in a different type of way with this team as of right now, but doing whatever I can and whatever I’m asked is what I try to be best at.
“If coach needs me to be more on-ball and be able to screen and catch in the seam and be able to make the plays off of that, I can, or just line up in the corner as well,” Williams said. “It’s a little bit of understanding whatever the coach needs and that’s what you perform well.”
Morrison has run some offense through Williams this week.
“A bit. I feel like we have a lot of guys who have offense that we can run through,” he said. “It’s going to be a matter of if it’s your day, really. Whether we understand the matchups and also how a guy is feeling. You never know, Carsen might go out there and hit four 3’s in a row. It’d be nice to play through me, but when he’s hitting four 3’s in a row, you have to go through him. For us, it’s a matter of not only the day, but also understanding we have a system in place where everyone can go and succeed.”