Jinx
Hopefully Rondo is pointing to better performances
So here we are… just a couple days removed from me blogging about the Celtics upcoming laughter stretch. Yet here I am scratching my head! So we lost to the Clippers by 5… hey, ya know what Mo Williams and DeAndre Jordan had the best games of their season, that’s fine it happens. THEN we go to the “City of brotherly love,” except there was no love from the 76ers as they beat the Celtics by 3, despite a late charge by the green. Again, you think to yourself, ‘damn, we lost two close ones in a row, to two pretty bad teams, its ok it happens, Pierce still had another nasty dunk‘ Following that loss the team responds with a statement, blowing the Bucks out by 31 and only allowing Milwaukee to 56 points. I started feeling good again hoping the team realized they shouldn’t be losing to crappy teams. Then the Green laid a stinker last night against the Nets (who have been playing better of late) as Deron Williams killed us down the stretch, and the whole game really.
So I’m sitting here scratching my head… playing with my stubbly chin hair… staring at my Celtics poster wondering WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG! Ok that was really dramatic, I’m really not that worried, YET. Last nights loss to New Jersey could be the product of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Jeff Green combining to shoot 6 for 31, in case your not a math major thats 19%. I don’t care what you say, when three of your most important players combine to shoot that poorly, your never going to win. Also when Glen Davis is your leader in shots attempted that usually doesn’t seem like a recipe for success.
Over this last stretch people have began to question Rondo’s performances. I touched on this in my last post also, but it seems to becoming a significant story. Coach Doc Rivers said Rondo is healthy and is just going through a tough stretch similar to what Paul, Ray and Kevin have gone through. My opinion on the whole Rondo slump is this. The guy is playing near 40 minutes a game and all the extra minutes have caused him to sustain a few minor injuries. Those minor injuries add up, especially when you consider that he is about 180 pounds taking contact from bigger guys over the course of an 82 game season. The team really needs Delonte West to return and stay healthy because I feel we need to reduce Rondo’s minutes and keep him fresh for playoff time. West is supposed to return tomorrow night against the Pacer, making only his 9th appearance of the year.
Also, Carlos Arroyo has played well in the minutes he has received and if I were Doc I would give Rondo a couple nights off. The team has an off day Thursday, then I would sit him against Houston on Friday and New Orleans Saturday before the team has another off day Sunday. This would give RR a nice four day break to rest and try to recover a little more because I’m sure Doc plans on resting some of the starters down the final stretch. The only catch with this is that Rondo makes the team go, and since Rondo isn’t playing well the team isn’t playing well. If we sit young Rajon and lose a couple games it is not going to bode well for the Green as the Chicago Bulls have now pulled even with the Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, with the Heat only trailing by 2 games. The Celtics are going to need to pull together here before people start questioning this team and the trade Danny pulled off. They play a some beatable teams (Indiana, Houston, and New Orleans), with the best being Houston (their 7-3 over their last 10). So they will need a couple of wins and hopefully they can do it in convincing fashion to prove they are still the team to beat in the East and NBA because the last thing they need is another monkey on their back.
Rondo’s Growth
If in 2006 you told me that Rajon Rondo would be an all-star I probably would have laughed in your face. To be honest, I like most people didn’t know much about Rondo when he was first coming out. That’s when my inner nerd kicked in and I started doing my research on a kid that Danny Ainge was taking a chance on. I was pleasantly surprised by what I first saw in some mixtapes on youtube. I never thought he would blossom into the point guard that he is today. It’s incredible the way he reads the game, knowing who is going to be where and when. His vision is uncanny and his speed and defensive tenacity is also very advanced.
When the Celtics made the moves to acquire Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, Rondo was the piece of the puzzle that was questioned. Can he shoot? How can he keep them all happy? Can he lead a championship caliber team? All these questions were tossed on the thin shoulders of a second year point guard. Rondo was the perfect guy for the position. His cockiness and arrogance led him to becoming the best true point guard in the league today. He has slowly improved his shooting (though I’m sure his free throws haunt him in his sleep), whether it be his form or his confidence. Rondo has worked with numerous people during the summer to help improve his jumper. I think he needs to spend the summer with Ray Allen, what better way to get better at shooting then learning from arguably the best shooter of all time.
Some will argue against Rondo that Derrick Rose is a better point guard. I disagree. I think Rose is a better scorer but that’s because he has to be. Rondo doesn’t need to score, his job is to get the ball in the hands of the open guys that are very accustom to scoring (aka KG, Ray-Ray, Pierce, Shaq… the list goes on and on). Yeah Rondo has a career average of 10.7 points per game but his impact is way more significant than that. This year he is averaging an insane 12.5 assists a game compared to Rose’s 8.2 (though Rose is scoring 24.6 points per game). Rose has more of the physical advantages as he is listed at 6’3 190 pounds, while Rondo is 6’1 186 pounds (186 is a stretch considering he weighed 171 last year and he doesn’t look that much bigger), though Rondo is no physical slouch himself.
If I were starting a franchise today and I needed a point guard I would start with Rondo, no hesitation. He might not be a true scoring threat but he provides a lot of intangibles that you need. This generation of NBA points guards seem to be one of the best. Guys like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, Brandon Jennings, Steve Nash… the list is a pretty long one. To be honest I could make a case for each guy as to why I would pick him, but Rondo just has this nact for stepping up on the big stage and his basketball IQ is through the roof.
All in all, Rondo went from the weak link to the key that makes the engine run. Without Rondo the Celtics aren’t nearly the same team, they can’t apply the same defensive pressure with Nate Rob at point and the offense doesn’t run nearly as smoothly with Rajon out. The former Kentucky Wildcat was named to his second all-star game this year with the rest of the “Big Three” and if he continues to improve every year like he has… god knows just how good he will be.
wildandrondoful 