Harangody: “I’m off to a good start”
(That SURE IS ugly, but it’s been going down.)
I wasn’t at all sold on Harangody when the Celtics drafted him. You can talk until you’re out of breath about Danny Ainge’s track record with second-round picks, but I just couldn’t sell myself on a 6’8″, unathletic power forward who looks kinda like Buzz from Home Alone.
But he’s been turning heads in the summer league. Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony tweeted his surprise: “Really wish I could have seen Luke Harangody play in the Orlando Summer league BEFORE the draft. Damn, he looks great. He’s gonna be OK.”
Harangody, too, was happy with his week. But he wasn’t surprised. (Boston Globe)
“I thought it was a very positive week for myself,” Harangody said. “I felt like what I needed to do down here, I did.” [...]
“Everyone I talked to said they were surprised,” Harangody said. “I didn’t surprise myself. But that’s my goal coming down here – to prove the skeptics wrong. I still have a long way to go and there’s a lot of things I need to work on. But so far I think I’m off to a good start.”
I’m still not entirely sold on Harangody. I’m pretty sure the big man on my men’s league team could score on him in the post. But if he keeps shooting the long-ball like a rounder, whiter, goofier Ray Allen, Harangody will certainly find a spot in the NBA.
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Nice, looks like the guy isn’t a one hit wonder. If he can take these numbers into the NBA, the man might really be a poor man’s Larry Bird.
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Please don’t do it…don’t mention anyone’s name in the same sentence as Larry Birds..even if you say a “poor man’s” Larry Bird..A poor man’s Larry Bird would still be better then 80% of the players in this league. Besides, it’s the Larry Bird jinx…any time a white kid gets compared to Bird he ends up stinking real bad!! Let’s just hope this kid can play some good team defense and is stromg enough to keep bigs off their sweet spot down low. He looks strong, hopefully he can use his strength to play defense and box out…if he can do that is offense should be ok.
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I think a poor man’s Matt Bonner might be the better comparison.
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Hey – the dude dominated The Big East for four years. Track record shows that one should give him a pretty good chance for sticking in the league – you can’t be as accomplished in the Big East as he was without being able to play.
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Yeah, but look no further than Adam Morrison. College success doesn’t necessarily equate to NBA success.
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Agreed … I am not saying he’s going to dominate. But he knows how to get his shot off against tough competition. Morrison was a great college player, though in a far inferior league – also, as it turned out, Morrison is not a particularly good shooter.
Also, Harangody’s rebounding portends well – that is the one college stat that tends to carry over the best to the next level. And the two NBA skills he DOES have (position rebounding and shooting) tend to age pretty well.
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He’s got a chance, for sure. I wouldn’t put him in the Hall of Fame just because of a few nice summer league games though. I’m worried about how he’s going to play defense in the league.
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indeed. Obviously my hopes are higher for Avery Bradley – especially given how many guys with great reps who were held down in college by big time coaches (Jrue Holliday, Russell Westbrook, Rajon Rondo) have flourished at the next level. Bradley can play NBA caliber defense already – and has a Monta Ellis sort of skillset.
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Bradley has the potential to be very good. He probably won’t have much of an impact this season though.
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