Yahoo! Woj Article on Rondo

[GKC]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-rondoceltics102209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Some good things. For all the Rondo haters, and for some reason, there seems to be more and more, it shows his maturity. He might not always do the right things, but he has the best intentions when he does them. Team and winning comes first.

It also affirms my idea that Danny only shopped Rondo to shake Rondo up and not to actually trade him.

[Roy Hobbs]

Interesting:

Rondo appeared to want his teammates to air out complaints in the early evening of April 14, but it rapidly deteriorated into a grievance session that had the uncomfortable vibe of the young guys against the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes). For some Celtics, there was a sense that Rondo had prodded the younger teammates to speak out on the tough-love tactics of the vets.

Rondo never vented, but one teammate who had challenged K.G. later confessed privately that he wished he had never spoken up, that he didn’t even believe the whiny words tumbling out of his mouth. Rondo insists he had the best of intentions, and yet there’s no mistaking the fact the meeting served to widen a gulf between him and his older teammates.

It sounds like this is exactly the type of stuff Doc was talking about when he said some of the younger guys lost site of ubuntu last season.

In other words, Rondo's ego got the best of him, and it affected team chemistry.  No wonder Doc and Danny called him out on it.

I don't think this article was all that much of a positive for Rondo.  I guess I'm skeptical that a young player is really going to do a complete 180 in terms of attitude in one season.  If anything, this article just reaffirmed for me the things that Doc and Danny were complaining about.

[Drucci]

Very interesting article, thanks for sharing.

The news about this players meeting after the humiliating loss to Cleveland was really surprising to me, I didn't feel that the team was "divided" (at the time at least). I knew it looked different than the Ubuntu team but still...

Fortunately, Rondo seems to have mature a bit since then. Also, the fact that he is in a contract year and wants to sign a maximum deal will make him progress even more, and become a better leader. All things are good for us going in this season.

[GKC]

Interesting:

Rondo appeared to want his teammates to air out complaints in the early evening of April 14, but it rapidly deteriorated into a grievance session that had the uncomfortable vibe of the young guys against the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes). For some Celtics, there was a sense that Rondo had prodded the younger teammates to speak out on the tough-love tactics of the vets.

Rondo never vented, but one teammate who had challenged K.G. later confessed privately that he wished he had never spoken up, that he didn’t even believe the whiny words tumbling out of his mouth. Rondo insists he had the best of intentions, and yet there’s no mistaking the fact the meeting served to widen a gulf between him and his older teammates.

It sounds like this is exactly the type of stuff Doc was talking about when he said some of the younger guys lost site of ubuntu last season.

In other words, Rondo's ego got the best of him, and it affected team chemistry.  No wonder Doc and Danny called him out on it.

I don't think this article was all that much of a positive for Rondo.  I guess I'm skeptical that a young player is really going to do a complete 180 in terms of attitude in one season.  If anything, this article just reaffirmed for me the things that Doc and Danny were complaining about.

I don't think it was Rondo's ego. He believed it was something that could help the team. He may have been wrong about it, but he wasn't simply doing it for selfish reasons.

And hell, Doc did say he's changed from mistakes. He's young, and it's not as if his attitude was terrible last season. Has everyone forgotten the playoffs already?

[Roy Hobbs]

Interesting:

Rondo appeared to want his teammates to air out complaints in the early evening of April 14, but it rapidly deteriorated into a grievance session that had the uncomfortable vibe of the young guys against the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce(notes) and Ray Allen(notes). For some Celtics, there was a sense that Rondo had prodded the younger teammates to speak out on the tough-love tactics of the vets.

Rondo never vented, but one teammate who had challenged K.G. later confessed privately that he wished he had never spoken up, that he didn’t even believe the whiny words tumbling out of his mouth. Rondo insists he had the best of intentions, and yet there’s no mistaking the fact the meeting served to widen a gulf between him and his older teammates.

It sounds like this is exactly the type of stuff Doc was talking about when he said some of the younger guys lost site of ubuntu last season.

In other words, Rondo's ego got the best of him, and it affected team chemistry.  No wonder Doc and Danny called him out on it.

I don't think this article was all that much of a positive for Rondo.  I guess I'm skeptical that a young player is really going to do a complete 180 in terms of attitude in one season.  If anything, this article just reaffirmed for me the things that Doc and Danny were complaining about.

I don't think it was Rondo's ego. He believed it was something that could help the team. He may have been wrong about it, but he wasn't simply doing it for selfish reasons.

And hell, Doc did say he's changed from mistakes. He's young, and it's not as if his attitude was terrible last season. Has everyone forgotten the playoffs already?

Earlier this off-season, Doc said the young players had their own agendas that hurt the team.  This article suggests that Rondo organized a meeting -- including pressuring some guys against their will -- for the purpose of calling out the veterans.  Doc warned against this, but Rondo went forward with it.  This created a wedge in the team.  In hindsight -- even after Doc and Ray said it was a bad idea -- Rondo refuses to admit he made a mistake.

I don't see that as a positive.

[clover]

What's interesting is that this story is coming out now.

[Roy Hobbs]

What's interesting is that this story is coming out now.

Yeah, true.  Doc and Danny have been planting the seeds for it all off-season (calling out Rondo for his maturity and stubbornness, saying the young guys had their own agendas, etc.)  However, I'd be curious to see where this story leaked from, since the article suggests that neither Doc nor Rondo was eager to talk about it.

[GKC]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/9930/rajon-rondo-worried-try-fearless

Marc Stein did another article. I think the fact that Rondo doesn't really care that much about not getting a deal done shows some maturity no?

[pengaloo]

I'm kind of confused. Maybe I'm missing something, but Rondo organized a team grievance session and the Big 3 pretty much got mad because the younger teammates were speaking their feelings aloud? "Cohesion" and "Ubuntu" means you have to keep your feelings to yourself so that the Big 3 don't get offended? Can someone explain?

[KCattheStripe]

What's interesting is that this story is coming out now.

Yeah, true.  Doc and Danny have been planting the seeds for it all off-season (calling out Rondo for his maturity and stubbornness, saying the young guys had their own agendas, etc.)  However, I'd be curious to see where this story leaked from, since the article suggests that neither Doc nor Rondo was eager to talk about it.

Leon? Starbury?

[GKC]

What's interesting is that this story is coming out now.

Yeah, true.  Doc and Danny have been planting the seeds for it all off-season (calling out Rondo for his maturity and stubbornness, saying the young guys had their own agendas, etc.)  However, I'd be curious to see where this story leaked from, since the article suggests that neither Doc nor Rondo was eager to talk about it.

Leon? Starbury?

Mikki Moore?

[Change]

But isn't that life? He's maturing Just like any 20 something, Rondo is making the transition into a man and father. All I know is Rondo makes the Celtics train run. I don't know where we'd be without rondo.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm kind of confused. Maybe I'm missing something, but Rondo organized a team grievance session and the Big 3 pretty much got mad because the younger teammates were speaking their feelings aloud? "Cohesion" and "Ubuntu" means you have to keep your feelings to yourself so that the Big 3 don't get offended? Can someone explain?

I think the bigger issue that Doc had was that is was organized as "young guys vs. vets", and at least one of the young guys felt pressured to say something that he didn't feel.  That player described the session as "whining", and neither Doc nor the players saw it as overly productive.

For some Celtics, there was a sense that Rondo had prodded the younger teammates to speak out on the tough-love tactics of the vets.

... there's no mistaking the fact the meeting served to widen a gulf between him and his older teammates

[billysan]

The biggest ass...et will always get his way.

My question now is: Will the vet's let this go and move on this season? Will they take the team away from Rondo on the floor? Would they consider or threaten to throw their support behing a different PG as floor leader if the opportunity presents itself?

This is a losing battle for Rondo. Diplomacy is required if trust has been lost. Has it already been tried? Are fences being mended or were they ever broken?

To date, nothing I have seen on the floor has indicated that there is a lingering problem here. Has anyone else seen behaviour that would warrant worry now that we know this story?

Doc Rivers encouraged this leadership role for Rondo. Does that hurt Doc and Danny's relationship with the big three? Was it a mistake to support Rondo as a leader?

[Drucci]

You should watch Eddie House's interview with Celtics.com, published today :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWhBcAD_-Zg&feature=player_profilepage

At the end, we learn some interesting things that confirm the "guys not on the same page" problems of last year. Actually, Eddie explains that when Ben Gordon hit a 3 to tie the game in Chicago during the playoffs, Celtics players were not on the same page on the previous timeout, some saying they should switch, others saying they shouldn't : miscommunication that led to that tying 3 pointer, and Eddie - correctly - says that it wouldn't have happened the year before.

Anyway, I'm both surprised and "glad" to heart these reports about last year's chemistry problems since it seems obvious to me that it won't repeat this year.