Rondo's recent lack of lateral quickness on D

[BballTim]

I don't know why everyone says Rondo is a great defensive player. And I don't care what stats some moderator is going to post. I see Rondo gamble for steals every game, lets his man blow right by him, and he gets caught up on picks and does not even fight to get over them. But probably worst of all, is that for more than half the game rondo is not even in his defensive stance.

Can we have a little dose of reality on this Forum? Rajon Rondo is quick, but he is not a great defender. I would be fooling myself if I even called him a good defender. He is an average defensive player with a terrible jump shot.

  Rondo's a very good defender. How many PGs are better? If you want a dose of reality, consider how often Rondo gets to the rim. Not just when he shoots, not just when he passes, but how often he dribbles across the lane near the hoop. How many PGs that we play against do a better job of keeping Rondo out of the lane than he does keeping them out of the lane? How many do as good a job?

  A lot of people on this board wacth the Celts often enough to see all of the flaws of our players and assume that other players on other teams don't have either the same or different weaknesses. If you compare Rondo's game to the average (or even above average) player instead of to an ideal player you see things differently. You don't like stats but if you compare Rondo to most other good PGs you'll find that opposing PGs don't take a lot of shots, don't make a lot of shots, don't take an unreasonable amount of FTs, don't take a lot of inside shots or get a lot of assists but do have a lot of turnovers. Aside from his stats, or the fact that he's a good transition and perimeter defender, I think it's generally true that, whether they're making their shots or not, the longer Rondo's out the more in sync the other team's offense becomes.

[Jaycelt]

 

Rondo's a very good defender. How many PGs are better? If you want a dose of reality, consider how often Rondo gets to the rim. Not just when he shoots, not just when he passes, but how often he dribbles across the lane near the hoop. How many PGs that we play against do a better job of keeping Rondo out of the lane than he does keeping them out of the lane? How many do as good a job?

  A lot of people on this board wacth the Celts often enough to see all of the flaws of our players and assume that other players on other teams don't have either the same or different weaknesses. If you compare Rondo's game to the average (or even above average) player instead of to an ideal player you see things differently. You don't like stats but if you compare Rondo to most other good PGs you'll find that opposing PGs don't take a lot of shots, don't make a lot of shots, don't take an unreasonable amount of FTs, don't take a lot of inside shots or get a lot of assists but do have a lot of turnovers. Aside from his stats, or the fact that he's a good transition and perimeter defender, I think it's generally true that, whether they're making their shots or not, the longer Rondo's out the more in sync the other team's offense becomes.

Excuse me, but what does any of this have to do with the thread subject.....Rondo's defense?

[LB3533]

Rondo has been so bad at on the ball defense he has been practicing a ton on the "wrap around poke" steal. (He does this a lot and gets called for a foul or two each game).

I think, instead, he should practice keeping his man between his knees, just like Tommy says.

[moiso]

It looked like he didn't take Ukic seriously.

[EJPLAYA]

Rondo all year has been gambling and trying to steal the ball from behind. It isn't just recently. These plays last night were just a little more visible and a little more important because they could have cost us the game. There is no reason at all that with his quickness he should have anyone EVER blow past him. If it happens it is because he was being lazy on D. Thib should be reaming the guy about it. If he does it much longer it will become a habit.

[cordobes]

Yeah, I kinda feel like if Ukic was such a fantastic penetrator and defender he wouldn't be third string for a sub .500 team.

Why not? He can't do anything else. He can't run an offense to save his life, he can't make jump-shots, he can't create for his teammates - like is frequently required from a point-guard. He's a one trick pony on the offensive end and those kind of players are easy to control in the NBA.

He's not quick at all, has a decent jumper i guess, and has average to below handles at best.  He's borderline garbage.

I'm far from being an Ukic fan. But he's extremely quick with the ball on his hands and has great handling - although he's frequently clueless about how to use those skills to the benefit of his team.

On the other hand, I believe than Ukic is one of the few guards in the league whose jumper is even worse than Rondo's - so very far from being "decent". Just out of curiosity, how many times have you watched Ukic playing?

[cordobes]

Point-guards in the NBA blow by the opponent lots of time. "Keep him between the knees" is easier to be said than done.

Point-guard defense at the NBA level is a lot about delaying the first pass on the offense, take away the middle on the penetration (forcing baseline, for example), control the passing hand, deny the easy passing lane to the post, etc, not exactly about "staying in front" all the time. That's basically impossible, at least since the hand-checking was prohibited.

[cornbreadsmart]

i think rondo get's a little lazy on d certain games. lazy may be a strong word. he's not alone . i don't worry about this with rondo though.he's young. he has the quickness. 95 percent of the time he brings it. i would expect more consistency the more important the game.

[cornbreadsmart]

off topic but i did'nt think it worth it's own thread. someone mentioned will solomon. i say toronto would be better off handing him the ball over calderon next year. rate my hatred for jose! how out there am i on this one?

[ManUp]

Point-guards in the NBA blow by the opponent lots of time. "Keep him between the knees" is easier to be said than done.

Point-guard defense at the NBA level is a lot about delaying the first pass on the offense, take away the middle on the penetration (forcing baseline, for example), control the passing hand, deny the easy passing lane to the post, etc, not exactly about "staying in front" all the time. That's basically impossible, at least since the hand-checking was prohibited.

Yup, the no handing checking rule benefits point guards more than any other position. With that said I have to agree with the OP in that Rondo looked slower than usual when moving laterally. Roko didn't really use his ball handling that much it seemed more like he picked a direction and beat Rondo  to the spot.

[Jaycelt]

Rondo all year has been gambling and trying to steal the ball from behind. It isn't just recently. These plays last night were just a little more visible and a little more important because they could have cost us the game. There is no reason at all that with his quickness he should have anyone EVER blow past him. If it happens it is because he was being lazy on D. Thib should be reaming the guy about it. If he does it much longer it will become a habit.

They were more visible because he was on his own.  The Raptors spread the floor with shooters and the Celtics played straight up man to man so as not to give up any easy three point shots.
What was so annoying is that there were no screens or anything else involved.  It was just Rondo and Ukic one on one and Rondo got burnt straight up three times in a row.  There is just no excuse for that.

[Toine43]

Yeah, I kinda feel like if Ukic was such a fantastic penetrator and defender he wouldn't be third string for a sub .500 team.

You know who else is a fantastic penetrator? Marcus Banks.


There's always a reason why every player is in the league. Every guy has to be good at something. I don't know too much about Ukic, but it seems like he's a fantastic penetrator and he just can't do anything else.


I would say I agree with what most people are saying about Rondo's on ball defense. It's average. But then again, how many point guards can actually consistently stay in front of opposing point guards? Maybe they're all too fast for each other, because it seems to me that point guard on ball defense in general around the league isn't very good.