Indiana Basketball: Romeo Langford gets high praise from Brad Stevens

The former Indiana basketball guard continues to impress Celtics head coach Brad Stevens with his play, development, and growth as a rookie.

While the Indiana basketball program is in the midst of a final stretch that will hopefully result in an NCAA Tournament berth, it is one former Hoosier that is turning heads within his NBA organization with his play.

Romeo Langford hasn’t spent a lot of time on the floor for the Boston Celtics this year, however, with each game that passes, the former Indiana guard continues to impress and earn more minutes every time out.

Langford’s recent play has even caught the eye of his head coach Brad Stevens, and it’s not even for his offensive production.

"“His defense is really good,” Stevens said. “I give a lot of credit to Romeo. I give a lot of credit to [assistant coach] Joe Mazzulla. They spend every pregame going through defensive technique work and everything the other team is going to do, every day. That just adds up.”"

Throughout college and early in his NBA career, Langford was known for his skilled shot-making ability, and while having great attributes to be a terrific defender, he didn’t show it consistently.

Romeo Langford has been on the court for 218 minutes vs 2487 minutes off, but the Celtics defensive rating is actually seven points worse without the former Indiana guard on the floor at 107.3.

Stevens’ trust of Langford was shown on Sunday when he was given the responsibility of guarding LeBron James for a few possessions and played great defense on the all-time great.

On the season, Langford has appeared in 20 games (1 start) and averages 3.1 points in 11.0 minutes per game.