Doc concerned with opposing PG's production

[Drucci]

It's funny how Ray takes all the blame for being a "liability" on defense. Yet Rondo has been very lazy for the past few games, not fighting through picks, gambling 95% of the time for a steal instead of defending his opponent straight up...

At least, Doc has noticed it, although he doesn't blame Rondo directly :

The fact the Celtics have been scorched by point guards in the past four games is not lost on coach Doc Rivers or Rajon Rondo.

The consensus is there needs to be major improvement on defending point guards if the Celtics expect to make a push for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. And a two-day respite allowed the Celtics to focus more on help defense, especially with physical and gifted Baron Davis of the Los Angeles Clippers coming to TD Garden tonight.

In the past four games, opposing point guards have averaged 21.2 points, 8.7 assists, and 7.7 rebounds, shooting 50 percent from the field.

Derrick Rose was the catalyst of the Bulls’ stunning win at Boston Jan. 14, providing 17 points and eight rebounds. Jason Kidd piled up 17 assists, to go with 13 points, in Dallas’s win over the Celtics Jan. 18. Rodney Stuckey totaled 27 points with 11 rebounds in Detroit’s victory Jan. 20. The only guard who didn’t lead his team to victory was Portland’s Andre Miller, who tallied 28 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds in an overtime loss Friday night.

The commonality in those four guards is their strength and size advantage over Rondo. He simply can’t check those players one-on-one, and Rivers said the help hasn’t been there.

“I’m concerned with any one position that gets that many points in a game,’’ Rivers said yesterday. “And the assists as well. I can live with one or the other, but I can’t live with both. We have to do a better job when there’s bigger guys, just like when we play teams that have slower guards and Rondo takes advantage of that with his speed.

“It’s up to the team to help that guy out. And I don’t think we did a good enough job.’’

Rivers added that Rondo needs to improve in defending bigger guards.

“This will be a big game for Rondo,’’ he said. “It starts with the individual. You’ve got to take the responsibility of keeping them square, making them shoot over you. Don’t gamble because if you gamble on a bigger guy, now his body won’t let you back in front. And the team has to understand it’s a tough spot for us and we have to help early and then have better weakside help.’’

Rondo said he tries to use speed and technique to overcome his size disadvantage against guards such as Davis.

“They’re bigger with their height, weight, and strength, but I’m faster than all those guys so I just try to attack at the other end,’’ he said. “Just let them make their own mistakes. They have to make shots over me. If they are making shots over me, and I am not gambling, then that’s what we’re going to live with.’’

[Bankshot]

Why doesn't Doc talk about Ray's defense?  That's been killing them too.  He's quick to talk publicly about young players, but he won't mention the lack of defense, etc. by one of the vets.  Wasn't it Ray that was guarding Miller a lot in the Portland game?

That being said, Rondo needs to be better defensively.

[Who]

The Celtics team defense has been all over the place while Garnett was out. They were there for the taking against dribble penetration.

Kevin Garnett's return will fix this.

[wdleehi]

I think this is more of a message to Ainge.

"I need a big PG off the bench"

[Andy Jick]

Um, maybe it's because the opposing point guards are pretty good players and they are near impossible to stop.  In all fairness to Rondo, this team has been so bad offensively as of late (with all the injuries) that he's practically had to carry this team on his back.  Even Pierce, though playing, hasn't been 100% (knee). 

The NBA is a point guard driven league today, where they dominate the ball and take more shots than they did years ago.  Part of Rondo's ability to fight through picks is having centers & power forwards that hedge the pick and allow him to slide under and get through...that's not always happening out there.  And of course, Rondo becomes the scapegoat...

[PLamb]

Jason Kidd 6'4" 210 lbs

Andre Miller 6'2" 200 lbs

Baron Davis 6'3" 215 lbs

Rodney Stuckey 6'5" 205 lbs

Derrick Rose 6'3" 190 lbs


Rajon Rondo  6'1" 171 lbs (maybe)

I think Mr. wdleehi is correct, so I will be hitting the giveth one "Tommy Point" button on his behalf

These other PGs are taller and much larger and more muscular and more bulky than Rondo outweighing him from between 20-45 lbs and can muscle him all over the place

Miller and Stuckey have always had success versus Rondo and I don't think it is very surprising to see outstanding talents like Kidd and Davis play great versus Rondo

But as much as those players are bigger and stronger and in three instances much more experienced than Rondo what the article doesn't mention is Rondo's stats against those players

16.4 PPG, 8.2 APG, 4.6 RPG, 2.6 SPG, 51.5% FG%

Yes, big strong PGs cause a problem for Rondo, some of these guys should they are physical mismatches for Rondo, but he at least still is getting his and helping to lead his team on offense even while trying to contain these much larger men with limited to poor help defense during the games he has played them

Rondo does however need to stop gambling, attempt to stay in front of these players, learn when to fight through the pick and when to go under it and learn how to draw more charges

His very consistent use of the tap from behind should become a once in a while weapon, not his most used one on when playing other PGs

[Steve Weinman]

This cannot be overstated:

Rondo does however need to stop gambling, attempt to stay in front of these players, learn when to fight through the pick and when to go under it and learn how to draw more charges

His very consistent use of the tap from behind should become a once in a while weapon, not his most used one on when playing other PGs

-sw

[SalmonAndMashedPotatoes]

I think this is more of a message to Ainge.

"I need a big PG off the bench"

And I wonder if Ainge is thinking back to himself, "just limit House's minutes when Daniels comes back and we won't have this problem.  Until then, just play TA more."

[wdleehi]

I think this is more of a message to Ainge.

"I need a big PG off the bench"

And I wonder if Ainge is thinking back to himself, "just limit House's minutes when Daniels comes back and we won't have this problem.  Until then, just play TA more."

Thus the message about needing a big PG.

[SalmonAndMashedPotatoes]

I think this is more of a message to Ainge.

"I need a big PG off the bench"

And I wonder if Ainge is thinking back to himself, "just limit House's minutes when Daniels comes back and we won't have this problem.  Until then, just play TA more."

Thus the message about needing a big PG.

If he's SO worried about defense, then the fact that TA's not a true point guard isn't such a big deal, right?  I mean, we'd rather be strong on defense and suspect on offense, as opposed to compromised on both ends, if those are our 2 alternatives, right?

Regardless, the point is that Daniels' recovery will solve this problem.  Until then, play TA more.  The only REAL way to solve this problem involves dealing Eddie House.  Until then (or until House stops playing regular minutes), we're going to be compromised one way or the other.

[Chris]

He should be.  After playing decent defense (at points anyways) early in the season, and actually fighting through a few picks, Rondo has sunk back into his habit of getting caught on every pick, and just letting his man get where he wants.  

What needs to happen is someone needs to light a fire under Rondo, and convince him that if he does not work harder on defense, then this team is not going to succeed.  Of course that is tough to do when you don't have a viable option off the bench.

The Celtics team defense has been all over the place while Garnett was out. They were there for the taking against dribble penetration.

Kevin Garnett's return will fix this.

I think this is a big part of it, and Garnett will help.  But it won't be fixed until Rondo learns that it is not OK to simply get caught up on every pick, and then switch.  I know I give Tony Allen a hard time, but Rondo could learn a lot from him about how to get through picks.  He put on a clinic on Friday fighting through screens, and was able to keep Andre Miller in check because of it.

[wdleehi]

I think this is more of a message to Ainge.

"I need a big PG off the bench"

And I wonder if Ainge is thinking back to himself, "just limit House's minutes when Daniels comes back and we won't have this problem.  Until then, just play TA more."

Thus the message about needing a big PG.

If he's SO worried about defense, then the fact that TA's not a true point guard isn't such a big deal, right?  I mean, we'd rather be strong on defense and suspect on offense, as opposed to compromised on both ends, if those are our 2 alternatives, right?

Regardless, the point is that Daniels' recovery will solve this problem.  Until then, play TA more.  The only REAL way to solve this problem involves dealing Eddie House.  Until then (or until House stops playing regular minutes), we're going to be compromised one way or the other.

Because until then, the Celtics still need someone to run the offense when Rondo is out. 

And, even though Daniels can run the offense, the Celtics could still upgrade the running of the 2nd team offense while allowing Daniels to be more of the SF that he excells at.

[Amonkey]

I have noticed Rondo getting burned on PG a lot lately.  Sometimes Perk or Sheed is there to help, but that may leave other players open as well.  I understand when PGs are bigger than Rondo, but a lot of plays is not based on the opposing PG overpowering Rondo or shooting over him, it's more like they run to the paint and Rondo gets burned trying to make a steal.  Once he gets burned, he waits for a rebound (from a miss) to start that fastbreak.  This is something I have noticed for a few games and I do agree that it can be a problem.  None of these opposing PGs should be able to outrun Rondo.

[housecall]

Could it be his lack of playing good defense has become more highlighted since KG's injuries? KG basically was picking up the slack(second layer) when Rondo's man went pass him.

[Kiorrik]

Rondo has trouble fighting over picks set by opposing bigs too. This is not something he can solve, for he has not the body to fight it. I think he should get better help.