Stevens: Rondo still needs clearance,but looking good for Wed

[mgent]

I have to say I'm surprised that he might play in the opener.

With the timetable in place, I thought there was no way in heck he would be out there. 

I just hope its not a rush job to get him out there.  Would hate to seem him reaggravate things because he came back too soon.

He's had over a month.  You mean people took the 8-10 week timetable for a broken hand seriously?  It wasn't run over by a car, he didn't land on it after an acrobatic play, he just fell in his house and braced himself.  Rondo is a quick healer, look how fast he came back from ACL.  He'll be in pain, but he's one of the guys that play through it.

When Rondo said he'd be back opening night if he was cleared, that should have been a clue.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I just hope its not a rush job to get him out there.  Would hate to seem him reaggravate things because he came back too soon.

It's a high-level tanking strategy designed to have Rondo play at less than 100% and to eventually get injured, while decreasing his market value next summer by giving him an "injury-prone" label so the Celtics can re-sign him for less.

I think it's more that someone's giant ego can't miss the spotlight of opening day....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ApTwWRQNw

[kozlodoev]

He'll be in pain, but he's one of the guys that play through it.

He won't be "in pain" from coming back early from a broken hand, he just stands a higher risk of reinjuring it.

[Clench123]

RONDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[Donoghus]

I have to say I'm surprised that he might play in the opener.

With the timetable in place, I thought there was no way in heck he would be out there. 

I just hope its not a rush job to get him out there.  Would hate to seem him reaggravate things because he came back too soon.

He's had over a month.  You mean people took the 8-10 week timetable for a broken hand seriously?  It wasn't run over by a car, he didn't land on it after an acrobatic play, he just fell in his house and braced himself.  Rondo is a quick healer, look how fast he came back from ACL.  He'll be in pain, but he's one of the guys that play through it.

When Rondo said he'd be back opening night if he was cleared, that should have been a clue.

I thought the original was 6-8 weeks. 

Sure, guys say they'll be backer sooner than the expected timetable is all the time.  That doesn't surprise me.  It's in their nature.  It's another thing to actually have it happen, though. 

[footey]

Rondo said there is "79%" chance he'll play on opening night.

Wish he could give us the same chance at the foul line.

[mgent]

I have to say I'm surprised that he might play in the opener.

With the timetable in place, I thought there was no way in heck he would be out there. 

I just hope its not a rush job to get him out there.  Would hate to seem him reaggravate things because he came back too soon.

He's had over a month.  You mean people took the 8-10 week timetable for a broken hand seriously?  It wasn't run over by a car, he didn't land on it after an acrobatic play, he just fell in his house and braced himself.  Rondo is a quick healer, look how fast he came back from ACL.  He'll be in pain, but he's one of the guys that play through it.

When Rondo said he'd be back opening night if he was cleared, that should have been a clue.

I thought the original was 6-8 weeks. 

Sure, guys say they'll be backer sooner than the expected timetable is all the time.  That doesn't surprise me.  It's in their nature.  It's another thing to actually have it happen, though.

Eh, I'm not sure players give definitive dates "all the time," they say stuff like hopefully I'll make it back sooner.  And then there are plenty of guys like Tony Allen who came back MONTHS early from his ACL.

But like Rondo said, it's a minor finger injury, not your usual injury that actually takes recovery time to rebuild strength/game shape.  It's a matter of the trainer tells them when it's safe to play without padding, and then the player decides how much pain they want to go away before they start playing again and possibly messing up their stats.  Rondo decided that would be the same day.

There's tons of players who would wait and actually go through a practice first.  Guys who don't want to play through the pain, or who care about their stats, or just don't want to rush it, and they usually don't come out days after surgery and say they're coming back early on a specific date weeks ahead of time.  They say stuff like, you know, they don't want to rush it, or even more commonly "I'll be back once it feels good and I know I'm 100%."  Apparently, Rondo feels he's good enough to not care about any of that, including practice.  Someone posted a list of recent players who recovered from the injury, and yeah some came back in 5-6 weeks, others came back in 3-4 weeks.

[More Banners]

I just hope its not a rush job to get him out there.  Would hate to seem him reaggravate things because he came back too soon.

It's a high-level tanking strategy designed to have Rondo play at less than 100% and to eventually get injured, while decreasing his market value next summer by giving him an "injury-prone" label so the Celtics can re-sign him for less.

I think it's more that someone's giant ego can't miss the spotlight of opening day....

And wants to play every game in his biggest contract year, possibly the biggest of his career/life.

[mgent]

He'll be in pain, but he's one of the guys that play through it.

He won't be "in pain" from coming back early from a broken hand, he just stands a higher risk of reinjuring it.

What are you, his doctor?

You stand a risk of re-injuring a broken hand anytime you play basketball with it, maybe unless you wait 3-4 months like most non-athletes probably do.

They're not going to sit Rondo out an extra month if he says he's ready to play.  That's a move you make if you're tanking, or maybe if it's not a guy you're worried about resigning this off-season.

Obviously he doesn't stand a high chance of re-injuring it if he gets clearance from his trainers for full contact.  Apparently people don't understand that once a player has been cleared, teams don't sit him out just to be safe (unless you're tanking like Kobe or Pierce in 07).  There are injuries that take months of recovery after being cleared for contact and injuries that can take as zero time if a player is willing and tough enough, and everything in between (look no further than Dwight's labrum).  A lot players care about how they look on the court (look no further than Kobe last year) and don't rush immediately back before they're comfortable like Rondo's trying to do.

Also I don't think you know exactly what a hand goes through in an NBA game if you think he's not going to be in pain.  He might not be in pain sitting on his couch anymore, but i'm sure he still feels it depending on how much force applied.  He'll certainly be icing it after the game.

[Donoghus]

If he's cleared by the trainers, then I have absolutely no problem with him coming back.  He should come back if he's cleared.

My whole doubt reasonated from the initial timetable and his ability to come back for opening night because those two things didn't jive. I thought early Nov-mid Nov was a more reasonable expectation.   Since it doesn't appear that we have any actual doctors here (though plenty of armchair ones), all this is speculation.

If somehow the medical staff clears him after 4 weeks and he's fit to play on opening night then more the power to him.   It'd be awesome to see him out there. Personally,  I thought it'd be more on par with the lower end of the 6-8 weeks that was reported. 

[crimson_stallion]

This is one of the reasons why, despite his legitimate shortcomings, I always find it hard to support trading Rondo.

Yes, he likes to hog the ball sometimes.  Yes, he has an ego the size of the Empire State building.  Yes, people say he's hard to coach and play with.  Yes, he cheats too much on defence sometimes.

But there is one thing that Rondo has that is so [dang] rare in this league, and that is true competitiveness and desire to win.  I can only think of a handful of active star / former star players in this league (Kobe, Chris Paul, KG, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade) that are as tough and competitive and as tough as Rondo is. 

Rondo had tore an ACL - an within one full season he is back.  Breaks his hand, then within about 3 weeks he's back.  Dislocates an elbow, comes back in and plays with one arm.

If this was Derek Rose who broke his hand, he probably would have been out for three months...it took him more than two full seasons to return from an ACL.

Rondo is one of those guys who, when it comes down to the crunch, is not afraid to take a bullet for his team.  He will play through the most excruciating pain to give his team a fighting chance, and he'll worry about the recover after the season is over.  He's a winner. 

Boston had it's share of talent during the big 3 era, but that teams success was just as much due to the competitiveness of Rondo, Pierce and KG as it was due to their talents. 

When you have somebody as competitive and blunt as Kobe coming out and publically admitting that he'd love to play with Rondo, that says a hell of a lot about RR's passion and desire to win.