With all of the (understandable) consternation about your first round pick, I should encourage you with the news that Dan Langhi will be a player in this league for a long time. I watched Dan grow up at Vanderbilt, and since his first day on campus, everyone said he was too thin, too cautious and too hesitant to play big time college basketball. Every single year, he proved them dead wrong. In addition to being one of the humblest and nicest people you'll ever meet, Dan was darned near unstoppable in the SEC this year. In a conference that saw several other SEC players drafted before him, Dan was the co-SEC Player of the Year (with #2 pick Stromile Swift), was the conference's #1 scorer, and saw every junk defense you could imagine. And still, not one team could stop him from shooting, driving, dunking and dropping in free throws at will. Dan may not look like much, but I guarantee you he will become your favorite player. Congrats, Houston. You guys got yourself a steal. ------------------
Welcome to Clutchcity.net Good to see we got someone that knows about him. I have some questions if you dont mind. Can Laghi shoot the ball? What is the range? How is his defense? What is his best move? ------------------ President of the Moochie Norris FAN CLUB
I am another who saw Langhi 5 or 6 times last year and the main thing is that he is a COMPETITOR. He hates to lose, plays extremely hard, and is emotional about the game. Enough about personal traits. He is an explosive score, scores in bunches. I think he scored over 30 twice against Tennessee this year and twice against Troy Murphy and Notre Dame over the last two years. This was all done against double teaming because Vandy really didn't have another offensive threat. To make you all feel better, just remember that he was SEC POY by the Coaches and Co-POY by the Press. The SEC is a very tough league which included Magloire, Mike Miller, Stromile Swift, Jabari Smith, Mamdou Ndjiaye, Vincent Yarbrough, etc. and he was considered to have the best year. This accolade does not come easily. In the end, I think you all will be very happy.
As a HUGE fan of college basketball, I am pretty happy to have Langhi on the roster. I know a bit about him, and the Bullard comparisons are a bit off. He is much much more versatile and mobile than Bullard. He has a great shot for a big guy. He definitely has a scorers mentality. One thing that stands out is his ability to play as a guard and stands 6'11". He can handle the ball fairly well, and can also pull up at a dead sprint and shoot a jumper - something I had thought was a dying art form. His post game is decent and he can play a little with his back to the basket, although this is not his strength. Overall, I like this pick and was happy to give Najera away for him.....sorry SooneRockStro. I was fine with having Najera, it just didn't work out that way. But I do live in Dallas, and will get to see Najera play often here!! ------------------ HOOP-T ------------------
If Langhi can play guard in the NBA, he would have been a top ten pick. There is no current roster spot for Langhi, unless we waive/retire Bryce Drew or Matt Bullard or we put Langhi on IR. Hey, I being way too negative here. Langhi WILL BE the next Magic Jognson!!! ------------------
Responding to your questions about Langhi's strengths: Dan is a basketball player, pure and simple. He is best known for his outside shot, but that's mostly because it's so unusual to be able to shoot as well as he does at 6'11". In many respects, I would compare him to Tony Kukoc. As was mentioned here, he is phenomenal on the secondary break, pulling up on a full sprint for a 15 foot jumper (or a three). While he does not have the body of a Shaquille, he is deceptively quick, and is not afraid to take the ball to the bucket. In fact, he was a deadly foul shooter, in part because he would drive on anyone. Basically, you had to foul him to stop him when he was on. What was most impressive this past year was that Dan was really the only go-to guy on Vanderbilt's team. By the middle of the season, every SEC team believed that if they could stop Dan, they could beat Vanderbilt. Even with every team double and sometimes triple teaming him — with their best players, many who were drafted ahead of him — Dan was the SEC's leading scorer. He had several games where he scored more than 30 points against some of the best teams in the country. It may take some time for Dan to adjust to the NBA game. His relatively disappointing performance at the Phoenix tryout was largely due to the fact that Dan was trying to demonstrate his passing ability, and thought that everyone else would get the drift and play team ball. When he realized that no one was going to pass up a shot at an NBA camp, he wised up and pretty much man-handled his competition at the other two camps he attended. After his third and final tryout, Marty Blake said there was no chance whatsoever that Dan would not be drafted, and predicted he would go late in the first round or early in the second. Anyway, hope this helps. Dan should prove to be a great contributor to your team. ------------------
Langhi can shoot lights out!! He is extremely dangerous in this regard. I saw him several times during the year, and was very impressed every time. Look for him to be a possible suitor for Bullard's spot. I remember last year as everyone was tenatively interested in Walt to start the year, and many were very quick to denounce Bullard even being placed on the injured reserve. Well turned out that Bullard performed on a much more consistent level than Wizard for half the price. Walt is no doubt now on the block, if any will take, and Langhi is here to ease that vacancy. He could definitely surprise. ------------------
Hey Ad_Man, How is he for consistency? Is he a streaky shooter or someone that you can count on his points almost every night? ------------------
So far Langhi's got my vote. I've heard a load of good info about this kid. ------------------ I AM SPARTACUS
If I remember right, nba.com's profile said he scored double digits in 29 of 30 games, so he's probably pretty consistent. ------------------ The more lefties on your team, the better. Collier is Seven Foot and Left Handed. How can you go wrong? Trade or bench Kenny Thomas.
I went back and looked at the stats for Vandy and GTech. The good stats are partly driven by good games against weaker teams. I am going to keep my optimism VERY cautious. Anyone see Langhi or Collier against a GOOD team? ------------------ GATER
