Rondo needs to play better D in a hurry

[EJPLAYA]

I was sitting there last night watching that game and listening to Tommy say that the REAL Rondo was finally back, there towards the end of the 3rd quarter. Then Rondo proceeded to let his man blow past him (with usual attempted reach from behind) that resulted in 4 straight layups. He also mixed 4 straight turnovers into that stretch into the 4th quarter. Fortunately he was attacking the rim on offense in that third quarter and guys were knocking down shots which allowed us to stretch the lead, but we aren't going to be that fortunate against high end teams. His lack of defensive effort is appalling and creates a domino effect out there when guys have to rotate to pick up his man. WHY isn't Doc ripping the kid to shreds over it?! He has the physical tools to be one of if not the best defensive PG in the league. He just has to give the effort. If he doesn't we become much less of a dominant defensive squad. I just can't stand watching a guy who just got paid 55 million giving partial and sloppy effort. Either start playing both ends of the court or we need to seriously look at packaging him for someone who will.

[Chris]

Honestly, I really believe what you see is what you get with Rondo on defense.  He is just like 90% of all PG defenders who get the reputation as a good defender.  He gets steals, causes havoc every once in a while, but ultimately, he gets beat more than he should.

And if he can actually play at the pace that he played in the second half last night, I can live with it.  That was the first time since the first couple games of the season that he was not playing like a 35 year old.  He was actually controlling the pace of the game, attacking, and taking what the defense was giving him, rather than just sitting back, and slinging the ball around to covered guys on the perimeter. 

If the C's are going to win games against these young, athletic teams, they are going to need Rondo to play like the young, athletic guy he is.  They can grind it out against teams like the Cavs or Spurs, but they can't do that against these other teams.  They need to push the pace, and get the defenses retreating, or else they are just not going to be able to keep up.  And that all starts with Rondo.

[EJPLAYA]

Honestly, I really believe what you see is what you get with Rondo on defense.  He is just like 90% of all PG defenders who get the reputation as a good defender.  He gets steals, causes havoc every once in a while, but ultimately, he gets beat more than he should.

And if he can actually play at the pace that he played in the second half last night, I can live with it.  That was the first time since the first couple games of the season that he was not playing like a 35 year old.  He was actually controlling the pace of the game, attacking, and taking what the defense was giving him, rather than just sitting back, and slinging the ball around to covered guys on the perimeter. 

If the C's are going to win games against these young, athletic teams, they are going to need Rondo to play like the young, athletic guy he is.  They can grind it out against teams like the Cavs or Spurs, but they can't do that against these other teams.  They need to push the pace, and get the defenses retreating, or else they are just not going to be able to keep up.  And that all starts with Rondo.

That's all well and good on the offensive side of the ball, when he actually does it. He is very up and down still and we can't depend on that yet. He CAN however give full effort on defense every night. Look at how Curry was bodying him up and often keeping him out of the paint when he switched on him at times. Rondo is lazy defensively. Plain and simple. There is no excuse for that out of your supposed leaders that is going to be one of your stars for years to come. THAT is why he isn't an all-star. THAT is why he isn't one of the best 5 pg's in the league right now. I just don't understand why he doesn't get it.

[Kwhit10]

Yea I could have sworn he used to stay infront of his man a lot more than he is now.  He just gambles for the steal when his man blows right by him to the hoop.

[Fafnir]

The big men didn't help him out much many times though.

When Rondo goes for the steal and they get a good look I'm mad at him. When Rondo gets picked off by a screener and our big lets him turn the corner, that's on them.

Too often I think people throw all of the drives into the paint by PGs on Rondo.

[kozlodoev]

The big men didn't help him out much many times though.

When Rondo goes for the steal and they get a good look I'm mad at him. When Rondo gets picked off by a screener and our big lets him turn the corner, that's on them.

Too often I think people throw all of the drives into the paint by PGs on Rondo.

And who is it on when Rondo wanders to the strong side and lets Ray Allen guard both his man and the open shooter in the weakside corner?

[ManUp]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense. It's like EJ has said, it's not that he can't stay with his man he just doesn't really try to.  When the balls not in his mans hands he wanders far off leaving his man open for a wide open 3 or a head start at the basket. . He plays lazy defense, the type of defense you play when you feel you can recover from whatever move your man makes. When he plays his man one on one he tend to give up the first step (plays him to the side). He loves to switch so that he remains at the top of the key on defense aka where the steals are easist to pick up. He doesn't always fight through picks, and sometimes gets stuck with a big man down low. Most of this is on him for not putting in the effort.

[kozlodoev]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense.

Erm, no, he was just about the same pre-contract. He gets stuck on picks (we have our own "velcro" now, Tommy), gambles for steals on D, and wanders off his man, which results in open jumpers and easy layups.

[EJPLAYA]

The big men didn't help him out much many times though.

When Rondo goes for the steal and they get a good look I'm mad at him. When Rondo gets picked off by a screener and our big lets him turn the corner, that's on them.

Too often I think people throw all of the drives into the paint by PGs on Rondo.

And who is it on when Rondo wanders to the strong side and lets Ray Allen guard both his man and the open shooter in the weakside corner?

TP for that thought as well. I didn't want to bring that part up or people would say I was just ripping Rondo. He wanders badly on defense and leaves someone, usually Ray, to guard two guys.

As far as the screens, Rondo makes absolutely no effort most of the time to fight through that screen. Lazy defense sums him up completely.

[EJPLAYA]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense. It's like EJ has said, it's not that he can't stay with his man he just doesn't really try to.  When the balls not in his mans hands he wanders far off leaving his man open for a wide open 3 or a head start at the basket. . He plays lazy defense, the type of defense you play when you feel you can recover from whatever move your man makes. When he plays his man one on one he tend to give up the first step (plays him to the side). He loves to switch so that he remains at the top of the key on defense aka where the steals are easist to pick up. He doesn't always fight through picks, and sometimes gets stuck with a big man down low. Most of this is on him for not putting in the effort.

Also well said. TP

[Chris]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense.

Erm, no, he was just about the same pre-contract. He gets stuck on picks (we have our own "velcro" now, Tommy), gambles for steals on D, and wanders off his man, which results in open jumpers and easy layups.

Exactly.  He is playing no different than he has in the past on defense.  I think people just were blinded a bit by his "upside".  Now that he is being paid like an elite player, the warts show up.

[Fafnir]

The big men didn't help him out much many times though.

When Rondo goes for the steal and they get a good look I'm mad at him. When Rondo gets picked off by a screener and our big lets him turn the corner, that's on them.

Too often I think people throw all of the drives into the paint by PGs on Rondo.

And who is it on when Rondo wanders to the strong side and lets Ray Allen guard both his man and the open shooter in the weakside corner?

Rondo, but in some cases that's a double we scheme to do. Our D is based on overloaded the strong side.

[ManUp]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense.

Erm, no, he was just about the same pre-contract. He gets stuck on picks (we have our own "velcro" now, Tommy), gambles for steals on D, and wanders off his man, which results in open jumpers and easy layups.

Exactly.  He is playing no different than he has in the past on defense.  I think people just were blinded a bit by his "upside".  Now that he is being paid like an elite player, the warts show up.

I honestly don't remember him wandering away from his man as much, and feel he wasn't gamble the way he is now. He did gamble the first few games, but now it's jut like he's ignoring his man completely on defense.

[Chris]

Sadly it seems like once the contract talks were finished and he was set he stopped caring so much about defense.

Erm, no, he was just about the same pre-contract. He gets stuck on picks (we have our own "velcro" now, Tommy), gambles for steals on D, and wanders off his man, which results in open jumpers and easy layups.

Exactly.  He is playing no different than he has in the past on defense.  I think people just were blinded a bit by his "upside".  Now that he is being paid like an elite player, the warts show up.

I honestly don't remember him wandering away from his man as much, and feel he wasn't gamble the way he is now. He did gamble the first few games, but now it's jut like he's ignoring his man completely on defense.

He may not have wandered around as much (although i think its close), but he absolutely got burned non-stop.  He has always been terrible at keeping his man in front of him, unless he is really focused on it (which is rare)...and even then, he always has gotten caught up on picks way too easily.

Put simply, Rondo never was anything close to a lockdown defender.  He always was an aggressive defender who could make plays on that side of the ball, but also made a ton of mistakes. 

[pengaloo]

I don't know. I think he has always played this way, but the lapses in these last couple of games look more obvious than usual because the bigs haven't been able to help him out. Doc and the team have been talking a lot about how communication on defense needs to improve.. so that might be one factor. Rondo would be much better on defense if his teammates tell him about picks ahead of time, whether they've got his back if his man slips through, etc.

Regarding his (not) fighting over picks, I sometimes wonder if he's hiding an injury of some sort. He's avoiding a lot of other contact too - he's not drawing fouls inside the paint, he's not going for rebounds as much.

I think Rondo wandering around is fine as long as he keeps his head in the game and there's a purpose to it. But sometimes he just wanders around looking lost.