Why didn't they play off Rondo?

[Celtics/Run]

The French team gave him too much respect and too many driving lanes.

[cons]

possibly it was just an exhibition and they hadn't really scouted him that much?

[Fafnir]

possibly it was just an exhibition and they hadn't really scouted him that much?

I think since it was an exhibition they probably just wanted their base defense.

[pengaloo]

I think they were playing off Rondo for the most part. He was nearly always alone standing above the three point line. They gave him all the time/space in the world to throw those passes to Chauncey for threes and to the bigs for dunks. They also had terrible help defense (either that or they got faked out) so Rondo can get to the hoop at will. I remember Rondo saying to the media once that he never looks at his man - he looks at who's next (i.e., the bigs). It's probably pretty difficult to play off Rondo though. You can't force him to shoot the ball because he's gotten to the point where he refuses to shoot...

[Snakehead]

I think they were playing off Rondo for the most part. He was nearly always alone standing above the three point line. They gave him all the time/space in the world to throw those passes to Chauncey for threes and to the bigs for dunks. They also had terrible help defense (either that or they got faked out) so Rondo can get to the hoop at will. I remember Rondo saying to the media once that he never looks at his man - he looks at who's next (i.e., the bigs). It's probably pretty difficult to play off Rondo though. You can't force him to shoot the ball because he's gotten to the point where he refuses to shoot...

That's where I at least have to be happy with Rondo's shot selection, even if his shot gets no better.  At least he is not Baron Davis, who jacks up 3's despite being a poor shooter.  And sagging off Rondo can give him better passing lanes.  Another factor is the physical play allowed on the perimeter in FIBA play.  Although I think Rondo can hang, he is skinnier than some of the guards so they probably will try to handcheck him to slow him down instead of sagging off as much.

It might be something we see evolve over the course of the FIBA play this summer.

[manl_lui]

doesn't matter as long as our rondo can perform well against any country, itll just make the celtics look that much better when he returns =)