How About That Luke Harangody?
Luke Harangody has been starting to show signs of what he could be. Sometimes you're reminded of Brian Sacalabrine with the three point shooting and the love he feels from the crowd. Sometimes you see a little bit more of Leon Powe with the hustle on the boards and the respect he seems to have already earned from his teammates. Before I go too deep into what Harangody could be, I'll do a quick recap on what we already know he is.
Harangody's College Career is filled with awards and honors. The list reads:
2007 Big East All-Rookie TeamDespite Luke's obvious talent at the college level, a lot of NBA Scouts and "experts" felt that Harangody didn't have what it takes to make it in the NBA game. In the NBA Draft Combine and team workouts leading up to the Draft, Luke would have to prove over and over that he's capable of shooting from deep and handling the ball on the perimeter. In this video from DraftExpress.com you can see some of the drills that Harangody worked on to improve.
2008 First Team All-Big East
2008 Big East Player of the Year
2008 NABC First Team All-American
2008 Associated Press Second Team All-American
2008 USBWA Second Team All-American
2008 Sporting News Second Team All-American
2009 First Team All-Big East
2009 State Farm/NABC Third Team All-American
2009 John R. Wooden All-American
2009 Dick Vitale All-American
2009 AP Second Team All-American
2009 USBWA Second Team All-American
Luke is the only player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds over an entire career in The Big East Conference.
After being selected by Danny Ainge and The Celtics, 'Gody would turn a few heads down at the NBA Summer League. Luke would shoot lights out and take over as one of the League's top players. The rookie forward would post 16 points, 7 boards, and one dime per game, while shooting 47% from the field, 50% from deep, and 76% from the line.
With all the Celtics injuries in the front court, Luke has been getting some time as of late and just like in college and the summer league, he's performing nicely. Harangody understands how to position himself in a way that he can effectively rebound. He also understands where to get his shots off. After really only showing up in spot minutes during blowouts, young Luke got to finally show the home crowd what he could do. On January 7th (just days after his birthday), with KG and Jermaine O'Neal both injured, 'Gody would have his coming out party in Boston against The Raptors. The Rookie went off to the tune of 8 for 11 shooting, with 17 points and 12 rebounds (4 offensive).
The 23 Year Old undersized power forward will never be an All-Star and he'll never lead the league in points or rebounds. In all likelihood he'll never be an NBA Starter, but the thing about Harangody is that he really doesn't care. He's a guy who will hustle for every ball like his life is on the line. He's the guy that'll dive to the floor and draw blood in a blowout. Luke is statistically the third best rebounder on the team, grabbing 14.5% of available rebounds (KG and Shaq are ahead). Despite his lackluster three point percentage (.125), everyone that knows him knows that his shots will start to fall once the minutes become consistent. What else can you ask of a role player? Luke Harangody will be in this league for a long time.
