The Celtics enjoyed their best stretch of games when Rajon Rondo was out with an injury. Pierce picked up more of the distribution load and everyone stepped up their game to make up for the missing point guard. Last night the offense looked kind of discombobulated in the first half. You might be tempted to draw the conclusion that the offense might be better off without him. Let's put that thought to bed right now. Take it away Captain. (via WEEI)
"Rondo really takes us to another level when you add him to the mix," Pierce said. "I said this to somebody earlier, ‘We are a playoff team without Rondo, but with Rondo we become a contender.'"
Chris Wilcox agrees:
Celtics coach Rivers welcomes back healthy Rondo - The Boston Globe
"It was just good to have Rondo on the floor,'' forward Chris Wilcox said. "We've been going through a good stretch of games and we've been winning and things like that and then to bring him back only helps our team. Tonight he was kind of timid, didn't want to get his hand hurt, but he worked through it, he played hard and we came out with a W.''
Besides, Rivers makes a good point. He's rusty and still a little banged up. Give the guy some time.
"I thought he played well,’’ coach Doc Rivers said. "I mean, he was rusty, obviously. And I thought he played a little gingerly with his hand at times. You know, we’ll assess it tomorrow and see how he feels and keep going. You don’t miss that amount of games and then don’t practice at all and then walk into an NBA game and play well. That’s just hard to do.’’
Perhaps this is a bit of an overreaction to some comments made in the post game thread, but I get super defensive when someone questions my point guard. So shoot me.
0 recs | 21 comments
After some of the ridiculous comments during the post game thread, I'm happy to see how the team feels about having him back.
There are too many naysayers on this blog and elsewhere who look for any excuse to knock a player, any of our players, who’s not at the top of his game- every game.
As I posted in the post game thread, RR’s been out for 8 games; give the man some respect and time to get back to his playing condition, particularly since he’s still sporting a sore wrist.
lygafe - February 4, 2012
I concur.
Pierce is absolutely right.
Folks who think we don’t need Rondo are fooling themselves.
We can’t get by running a third of our offense. Rondo opens up a ton more in the playbook.
The problem is that we haven’t really had all our pieces healthy long enough to wring out the bugs in everything.
mmmmm - February 4, 2012
+1
and enough talk about trading the Big Three, Especially Truth. Even when we were struggling that talk made my stomach turn.
DJKAHN - February 4, 2012
I haven’t really checked, but what was up with Rondo’s eye yesterday?
muckduck - February 4, 2012
Early in the game he got wacked by Shumpert.
’Shoulda been a foul call, but the refs blew that one.
So in addition to being rusty and probably still with a sore wrist, Rondo also played with a puffed up swollen eye.
mmmmm - February 4, 2012
Jeff- I just got through reading " Comments from the other side "- hilarious.
Perhaps that can be added in as a feature on Celtics Blog- it’s a laugh riot. Some of the comments are absolute gems.
lygafe - February 4, 2012
yeah but
Many of those comments can’t be printed on celtics log!
Jeff Clark - February 4, 2012 via iPhone app
The cleaner and funnier ones can, however. We can pick and choose the best. LOL.
lygafe - February 4, 2012
Rondo can dominate
….an entire playoff series. He’s done it series’ that included the past two MVP’s. For this team to contend for a title this season he is going to have to dominate at least two series and that might not even be enough. IMO. He gives them a shot because of what he can do when he is healthy and on top of his game.
I’m not saying I am sold that even if he does that we can win it all but to have any chance Rondo needs to be the best player on the floor consistently because when he is playing at that level he makes everyone on the Celtics more efficient and therefore better. He’s cranked it up in the post season in recent season’s fora series or two but this time we need an entire playoff run of great basketball from Rondo to have any shot.
CelticsFanNC - February 4, 2012
Love that last paragraph Jeff
I can’t wait til Rondo gets fully healthy, a clear indication he wasn’t was how little he attacked NY. He destroyed them in the first game this year and in the playofffs
OFWG1554 - February 4, 2012 via iPhone app
Bet they didn't love what he did last night
Rondo was pretty rusty. He will improve, obviously. Hopefully to his best level yet. Meanwhile, the notion of trading RR for a big, etc., is a non-starter for me. This team is not going anywhere without an elite point guard.
JR99 - February 4, 2012
Where are we going then?
Nowhere? I don’t think Rondo is an elite point guard. He is very, very, very good. But not elite. You can also make the statement that we are not going anywhere without a legit big which we don’t have currently.
celty86 - February 4, 2012
Over the course of his career, the top 4 PGs by accumulated win shares
are Chris Paul, way up at the top, and then Rondo, Deron Williams and Nash all bunched together.
If you drop Rondo’s rookie year, then he is in clear 2nd place behind CP and well ahead of Nash & D-Will.
The guy in 5th place is way back – I can’t remember who it was, though I could go check.
Win shares are not a perfect stat by any stretch, but over time they are a reasonable proxy for productivity and work well for PGs.
If being in that elite company doesn’t make one ‘elite’, then I don’t understand your definition of ‘elite’.
mmmmm - February 4, 2012
Both
Celty and mmm have good points. Rondo is important to the team, but he is not the same as Paul, Williams, and Rose because he is an offensive liability that allows teams (especially in the last 3-5 minutes) to completely ignore him as a perimeter threat. There is no denying that this is a consistent problem (for a few years)- and i think it points to Rondo. In the Knick game (last possession) Rondo’s man let him go when pierce was going isolation— thus a 1 on 2 that resulted in a predictable outcome. Could we be better at point overall by trade? Probably not. Could we be better as a team if we gave up our PG to get a more defensive/rebounder/shotblocker/presence? I think so. But that big guy must be a Howard/Chandler type- not just a garden variety big. Its a tough call, but those PGs above will exploit our interior defense- and still have the ability to score if you sag off of them. Sadly, Rondo cant- and won’t at crunch time. Overall- its not that Rondo isn’t elite, its that his weaknesses (unless corrected) will consistently limit our ability to close games.
P stoff - February 4, 2012
dont think offensive liability is the best choice of words
because the stats say the offense is better when rondo is on the court so he cant really be considered a liability. specifically in the NY game, the issue is more about running an ISO play at the end instead of a regular set.
rm81 - February 4, 2012
exactly
It’s nice to watch PP close out games with ISOs when he’s in the right groove, but I’m pretty sure a number of us gets frustrated with the number of times the ISO play has really worked out. We’d all rather have a play that will get you a good shot, and most of the time, that needs a good PG.
paolost - February 5, 2012
Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't RRs stats shown improvement from year to year?
Until his injury, he was performing at a better rate than last year, and was almost single-handedly [ oops, shades of last years playoffs ] carrying the team while PP and KG were slowly shaping up?
lygafe - February 4, 2012
Liability
in the sense that he is more of a spectator in late game situations. Teams know he won’t shoot, and his low freethrow % makes him hesitant to try to get to the line. I love his game for 43 minutes— but alot of NBA games are decided in the final 5 minutes. I cite the Celtics’ CONSISTENT late game struggles over the years— and while Rondo is not solely responsible, he limits our options. A post option, versus what we do with Rondo now in late game situations, is a more viable option IMO. It is certainly a mixed bag… and there is no clear cut way to determine if my opinion is right or wrong—- time will tell.
P stoff - February 4, 2012
Late Game Options With Rondo
Rondo started the season with an emphasis on taking those shots he used to turn down. He’s been working on reading the defense and letting them make that determination. He’s a pass first pg, but he needs to have blinders once he decides the situation is right for him to shoot the ball. I think alot of his poor shooting goes to looking for a pass as opposed to looking for a shot and as a result, not concentrating fully on the shot.
Also, Rondo’s wrist injury has turned out to be a blessing. Avery Bradley and Etwan Moore both showed they can play. Even if we simplify the offense with them in there Pierce and Ray did a great job of running the offense. They both continually found the open man and both Bradley and Moore gained confidence because they were often the open guys. Also, at the end of the season we talk about the older guys being tired and unable to close out games. The same can really be said for Rondo. I think we need to rest Rondo just as much as the “Big Three”. Bradley and Moore have given Doc the confidence to do that. He just needs to have the right players on the floor with them.
A true test of where the C’s are will come when we play the Bulls again. In the last game here I thought the 2 teams switched uniforms. The Bulls played like the C’s are supposed to play. The Celtics have things much more together now so this will be a real test. Hope JO is OK>
TrueGreen - February 4, 2012
Good points.
I’m wondering though, about what we’ll say when Rondo does do the crunch-time shooting. I have a feeling that we’re not going to be happy about it either, especially when PP, Ray, and to some extent, KG is on the floor as well. I do think, however, that that game will come — Rajon will hit a game-winner for us.
paolost - February 5, 2012
i agree!!!
Rondo is the co captain of the ship, next to pierce…as of now but in the nxt year or two, rondo needs to assume the position as the primary captain of this team!!! GO CELTICS!!!!
true_celticsphilippines - February 4, 2012
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