Rondo's defense is overrated

[EJPLAYA]

It was also interesting tonight that he actually played better D once he sprained that ankle. He had to rely on fundamentals instead of quickness and actually did a great job playing D the right way.

[CoachBo]

Yup. I agree. He played defense with his head and his heart tonight, instead of his ego.

When this kid finds consistency, he's going to be something. Great, heroic, intelligent effort tonight - if he'd put forth the same game Saturday this would be a 2-0 series.

And while we're at it, we can dispense with the idiotic notion that the Celtic defense called for him to release Rose Saturday. That ranks with the most absurd things I've read on this board.

[EJPLAYA]

Yup. I agree. He played defense with his head and his heart tonight, instead of his ego.

When this kid finds consistency, he's going to be something. Great, heroic, intelligent effort tonight - if he'd put forth the same game Saturday this would be a 2-0 series.

TP. Just what I was thinking. I LOVE Rondo. I just want the guy to play up to his level of ability. If he doesn't he is cheating us as fans, the C's, and most importantly himself.

[johnnyrondo]

Well I'd like point out that it's now clear Rondo's poor defense wasn't because of bad ankles, defensive designs, or that Rondo's defense was somehow actually good and we're all crazy for thinking it was bad last night (and a lot of the season)

Because in tonight's game, we once again saw what it's like when Rondo really tries hard to play good D. He completely nullified Rose, and cut him off at every angle. THAT'S D. It's all about effort for him... he's got the tools to work with, that's for sure.

TP yourweather sux. I read an article on ESPN today where Rondo even admitted he needed to do a better job and not reach so much. He made the adjustments this game.

p.s. Bleedinggreen, not a huge fan of the "johnny poker" joke (was it a joke?   ) , but after reading it I considered it for a future s/n, but dismissed the idea in favor of MikkiMooreFoul, which I think would be better.

[nickagneta]

Rondo not only didn't gamble but I noticed he played a step further back away from Rose and went under almost every pick as he refused to allow Rose to beat him off the dribble to the net and dared him to beat the C's by dumping it off or shooting from 20+ feet.

I seriously doubt that was something that Rondo decided to do and congratulate the coaching staff on a very effective strategy of limiting Rose and congratulate Rondo on executing it so well.

[CoachBo]

Gasp. I believe they call that an adjustment.

Rondo did a MUCH better job tonight on Rose, largely on one leg.

Now, if we just had a two or a three to rough up Gordon a little bit ...

[jambr380]

I guess I don't care if people have said all along that Rondo's defense is overrated or not- I think he proved last night that he is definitely an 'amazing' talent when playing to his ability. All the talk the past couple of days was about how dominant Rose was. Rondo has been the best player in this series and there is no reason to believe that won't continue.

I guess it is time to move on and talk about how horribly Ray played Gordon- if our new thing is to talk about a poor defensive effort by a Celtic every game.

I guess I never considered Rondo to be the BEST defensive PG in the league, just one of the best- and I still stand by that.

[Atzar]

I guess I don't care if people have said all along that Rondo's defense is overrated or not- I think he proved last night that he is definitely an 'amazing' talent when playing to his ability. All the talk the past couple of days was about how dominant Rose was. Rondo has been the best player in this series and there is no reason to believe that won't continue.

I guess it is time to move on and talk about how horribly Ray played Gordon- if our new thing is to talk about a poor defensive effort by a Celtic every game.

I guess I never considered Rondo to be the BEST defensive PG in the league, just one of the best- and I still stand by that.

lol.  Go back and watch Ben Gordon's shots, and pay attention to whether Ray was in his face for most of them.  I thought Ray played decent defense, but Gordon just played better offense.  As a Celtics fan it stings, but that really was a heck of a performance to see in person - he drilled contested shots time after time.  I'm just glad we won in the end.

[cordobes]

Gordon was just hitting heavily contested shots. He drilled some with two guys all over him. You can't blame the defence for this; the best barometer for good defence is the level of contentedness of the shot, not if the ball swishes through the basket or not.

[BudweiserCeltic]

The problem is that Gordon is one of those players that is great shooting off balance, and as such can draw fouls easily on his jumpshot while still shooting comfortably. We saw this in the first game whe Ray was on his face the whole night, and got called for quite a few BS fouls because Gordon throws his body and legs around.

But what really needs to happen is that once a screen is made, the other player, usually a big, needs to buy some time for Ray to recuperate and get to Gordon. We weren't doing that well throughout the game, until the 4th quarter or so when Baby started helping out, but even so Gordon was draining shoots from allover with 2 people on top of him.

He's really good when he's hot, and I give him the credit when it's due... especially in the 4th quarter, since I consider him to be one of the most clutch players in the NBA.

[jambr380]

Sorry I didn't put a smiley face next to my comment about Ray. Obviously it was not Ray's fault for how well Gordon played- just as it was not all Rondo's fault for Rose's performance. While I agree he (Rondo) could have played better D in game one, I don't think it's because he sucks.