Maybe Danny will talk to Doc about changing the offense to add in the uptempo play we've been seeing when Rondo comes back, and maybe he'll also make smartly pointed comments to the rest of the team that they should play hard all the time, not just when Rondo's out.
Or are we now labeling trying harder when you have a bigger role in the offense and handle the ball more "team oriented"?
I just can't agree with your assesment of adding "uptempo" play. I find it absolutely false. This is the style of play he wanted to play with Rondo, yet for some reason it didn't happen... no use in pointing fingers now, but it simply didn't, despite it being completely in Rondo's power to make it happen.
What I do want to see though is a change in how our ball moves, and how much Rondo dominates the ball in our half-court sets, and how quickly he starts our offense. And it's not solely on him, Pierce has a hand in that aspect too.
And I'm one of the few out there that actually like Rondo off the ball, so would like to see more of that. I think his style of play could be more dangerous from those positions, particularly since he's a bit averse at taking players off the dribble for some reason despite it being an option for him in pretty much every single play.
Good points. This got me thinking on rondo dominating the ball, seemingly more this year at least to me.
What would happen if the celtics passed the ball more as they do now, even with rondo on the floor? What if the offense did not run through him so much? if rondo is not handling the ball, what role would he have? He isn't a reliable shooter who can make shots when contested. He doesn't have a varied offensive skill set to make his own shot consistently. He certainly would not spread the floor and make defenses lay off other celtics.
What would be his role in an offense where he isn't dominating the ball handling? about the only thing I can think of is him running to the basket (ala Bradley cutting) to receive passes from others and get lay ups.
How would the celtics integrate rondo into an offense differently?
These are real questions I am posing to the board.
Nothing different. He'd still be the PG, the team's best distributor and league's best passer. The question to ask is how much easier things might be and how much more quickly the Celts might demoralize opposing defenses.
It's very similar to the situation with Paul Pierce. Sometimes he scores the hard way and sometimes he scores the easy way. Most of us like it better when he scores easy, which in Tommy-speak means he gave up the ball, got it back and made his move to the hoop, instead of the epic isolation play, for example.
If you want to think of it that way, the Rondo "holding and pounding" the ball (very expected behavior of most star PG's) can be looked at as akin to the Pierce iso (though the Pierce iso is by definition more stagnant in terms of players moving off the ball than any PG holding that occurs), just that with Pierce the end result is a shot and with Rondo it's a pass.
The Celtics were playing default playoff-style basketball on offense long before the playoffs, necessary against great playoff defense (Chicago, Miami) that always results in holding, pounding and isolation offense, certainly as the game tightens and teams get tired. Probably they were doing it out of habit. The alternative would have been to rest Rondo more often, not rush him back from injuries, play the whole squad and preach ball movement despite that the game will tighten up in late May against the Heat. Easier said than done I guess.
Final comment. The Celtics should figure out who the purest PG of their 4 guards is, for those horrible moments that always occur in the playoffs when an opposing defense imposes its will for a stretch and it seems impossible to get the ball over half court. Is it Barbosa? Terry? Who can break pressure best, because that's how we'll be attacked by Chicago and Miami.