Why was Rondo on the bench at the end of the game?

[celtsrp33]

Why wouldn't you give him the ball on a drive or drive and dish?

[rondohondo]

Doc briefly fell into a coma. Eddie house was just jacking up 3 after 3 . That really killed the agressiveness. They shot like 7 3's in a row between House, Sheed and Pp. No one attacked the basket in the 4th

[MattG12]

Doc briefly fell into a coma. Eddie house was just jacking up 3 after 3 . That really killed the agressiveness. They shot like 7 3's in a row between House, Sheed and Pp. No one attacked the basket in the 4th

Eddie shot the 3 better than anybody else on the Celtics today.

Eddie: 2-4
Pierce: 3-7
Rasheed: 1-3
Ray: 0-6

[celticinorlando]

should have sent rondo right into the lane instead of letting ray throw up a prayer

[KCattheStripe]

He was trying to limit his minutes.

[Change]

Rondo killed the team by refusing to shoot. Doc was probably mad at time (I guess) The more important question, Why Draw up a 3 when you are down by 1? Doc had a brain fart in the possession.

[CoachBo]

For the record, I have no issue whatsoever with Doc sitting Rondo down. He was pounding the basketball and refusing to shoot, both significant factors in the offense bogging down in the second half of the fourth quarter.

[misterx2day]

Rajon Rondo's statline through three quarters: 21 pts, 11 assists

Rajon Rondo's statline in the fourth quarter: 1 assist

Was this the fault of Rondo? Hardly.

It was the fault of Doc Rivers or whoever made the decision to go away from the Rondo pick and roll in the fourth quarter. They probably ran that play only twice in the fourth, maybe less. Rondo was dominating the game with that play, the Lakers had still not found an answer for it. And all of a sudden, it was back the to the Paul Pierce show. I love Paul, but running the offense through him in the fourth is not cutting it anymore. And when Rondo is having a fantastic game, you do not make him stand in the corner and have Pierce make all the plays. GIVE THE BALL TO RAJON RONDO. Please. We didn't in the fourth, we lost the lead, and we lost the game. 

[jdpapa3]

I agree mister. And this is not just an issue today. It is a consistent issue with this team throughout. I think we'd all cringe if we saw the success rate of the Pierce iso/p&r show in the last 5 minutes of the game.

[Kiorrik]

I agree mister. And this is not just an issue today. It is a consistent issue with this team throughout. I think we'd all cringe if we saw the success rate of the Pierce iso/p&r show in the last 5 minutes of the game.

Rondo is our Steve Nash, our CP3. No denying it. He'll live up to the contract, and go far beyond, if we let him. He's the man.

[fanofgreen]

Think about how many issues would be solved in the way the C's play, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jump-shot.

Just think about it; Think about how our offensive execution would play out, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jumpshot.

What would our record be if Rondo could knock-down a mid-range jumper?

We certainly would have won tonight, Had Rondo not traveled late in the game, and instead took and hit a wide open jumpshot, its very likely the C's walk away with the W.

But its year 4 for Rondo, and he still is passing up shots, and driving into traffic and trying to create. He's improved at creating and making things happen, but how much better would he be, and the C's if Rondo could knock down a 15 footer.

I mean, Rondo is an All-Star now, there is no reason for him to still not be able to make a jumpshot.

Now, imagine if he had a jumper. we might be hearing conversations of the Celtics being on pace to get the 96' Bulls record, instead of, "their starting to get old, celtics need some help, etc. etc)

I believe that most of this teams issues as far as play on the court, would disappear if Rondo could hit a 15 footer.

I'm tired of it, Rondo should have a jumper by now!

[misterx2day]

For the record, I have no issue whatsoever with Doc sitting Rondo down. He was pounding the basketball and refusing to shoot, both significant factors in the offense bogging down in the second half of the fourth quarter.

Sorry but you are completely off. The problem was Rondo wasn't given the ball enough in the 4th quarter.Whoever decided the offensive plan for the quarter was as wrong as you. In a game where Rondo was dominant, the offensive plan in the fourth was to go to Paul Pierce and have Rondo stand in the corner. This was a huge mistake, because the pick and roll involving Rondo was killing the Lakers. Instead, Rondo was a non-factor in the fourth because the Celtics inexplicably went away from him and decided to give the ball to Pierce the majority of the time like it was 06-07 again.

I severely question your basketball IQ if you are blaming this loss on Rondo.

[More Banners]

I remember DJ hitting that 20ft jumper from the top of the key when they doubled Bird off of him.  That was all that was needed to keep the defense honest--not the long bomb 3pt shot, just a solid jumper from one spot that was money.

I miss DJ...

[ejk3489]

I don't think our rebounding issues would suddenly go away if Rondo could hit jumpshots...(which he can, just not consistently...yet).

[snively]

Rajon Rondo's statline through three quarters: 21 pts, 11 assists

Rajon Rondo's statline in the fourth quarter: 1 assist

Was this the fault of Rondo? Hardly.

It was the fault of Doc Rivers or whoever made the decision to go away from the Rondo pick and roll in the fourth quarter. They probably ran that play only twice in the fourth, maybe less. Rondo was dominating the game with that play, the Lakers had still not found an answer for it. And all of a sudden, it was back the to the Paul Pierce show. I love Paul, but running the offense through him in the fourth is not cutting it anymore. And when Rondo is having a fantastic game, you do not make him stand in the corner and have Pierce make all the plays. GIVE THE BALL TO RAJON RONDO. Please. We didn't in the fourth, we lost the lead, and we lost the game. 

I love Rondo.  I think he's the best player on the team.

But he was part of the problem in the 4th quarter.  He turned the ball over twice, got burned on a cut, missed an open J, and slowed down a bit too much, initiating a few plays too late in the clock.

He was by no means alone in this.  Pierce played in slo-mo, and had the biggest turnover of the night.  Ray missed several looks that were much better than Kobe's.  KG got burned by Ron Artest. 

But Rondo definitely disappointed in the final frame.  He definitely shouldn't be the goat for this one however.  The C's without question would have been blown off the floor if it hadn't been for his contributions.

He just failed to deliver the knockout punch.  In his defense, that's what Pierce, KG and Ray are paid to do.