I thought they competed pretty well last year without KG. I never got the impression that they just weren't trying to win, like I get sometimes this year.
I guess you've missed the countless threads over the past seasons complaining about how Pierce doesn't look like he's playing hard at times. About Rondo's defensive problems and he doesn't push the ball as he should, etc., etc.
We went into a similar funk last year after Christmas for a period of two weeks. In fact, we lost 4 games in a row. But we came out of it quite fine until KG go injured.
This year has been quite longer though, but it's nothing new for the team. Our problems from the past are simply being accentuated at the moment. And just a week ago we were kinda coming out of that funk playing some pretty good basketball, but Pierce went down. Coincidentally, our funk has been during a period where we've been battling injuries and recently a flu that has plagued our team. For whatever it's worth...
I'll say again what I said some weeks ago. Most of our problems parallel what Rondo is doing on the floor. When he's on and playing as he should, our team looks pretty great on both sides of the floor. When he stops doing it, our team looks like crap. He's our point man, and he carries with him the tempo and rhythm of our team.
For some reason, he hasn't been showing up much during second halves after promising first halves. People started blaming Pierce for this because he was supposedly taking control of the offense instead of Rondo. Pierce is not here now, and yet Rondo still has been doing a bit of his disappearing act in the second halves of games, particularly in the 3rd quarter. At times he turns it up again during the 4th, but many times it's just a bit too late.
So, if anything, let's tell Rondo to keep up the tempo and energy in both sides of the ball, and the team follows suit quite well. When he fails at this, the results speak for themselves.
Let me just say this, I think Rondo has been very good for us this year, but it has been a rare sight to see him having great nights for a full game. This should be his next step in his development. At least he's been more consistent from game to game.
Kind of funny how when Magic was at the tail end of the year he would talk about how important it was to not waste energy, steps, or go too all out on every single play in order to be able to be effective when he needed to be. He basically kept saying he had to take plays off and not give 100% every play since he was older. No one took that as him being a lazy player. Sheed has an aloof personality and is smart enough to realize he can't run up and down the court at 100% like he could 10 years back. The only game that I felt like he was slacking and should have given a lot more effort was against Cleveland when Varejao and Hickson were getting every single offensive board and put back. On that same note they were doing it to BBD as well. I think he is pacing himself for good or bad and not trying to be lazy. His aloof personality just makes it seem that way. I definitely don't question his desire to win or whether or not he will bring it in the playoffs.
EJ, I rarely agree with you, but you're spot on with this. And the Lakers game... let's not forget about his Lakers game hehe.
Topic: Did Rasheed Infect the Team with "Lazy"? (Read 26992 times)