Lebron guarding Rondo?

[Fafnir]

The only thing that worries me of LeBron on Rondo are the possible cross-matchups.

Yeah that bothers me too.

LeBron is quick enough to get back in transition with Rondo most of the time, Rondo is quick enough to do the same with LeBron.

Rondo guarding LeBron though will require a quick double in the post.

[Eja117]

The only thing that worries me of LeBron on Rondo are the possible cross-matchups.

Yeah that bothers me too.

LeBron is quick enough to get back in transition with Rondo most of the time, Rondo is quick enough to do the same with LeBron.

Rondo guarding LeBron though will require a quick double in the post.

The thing that worries me is that Joey Crawford is officiating and Lebron doesn't get called for fouls.

[RAcker]

What should be encouraging to everyone is the fact that this move smacks of desperation. 

This is a huge strategical move to be making this late in a series.  Plus, it sounds like Doc has been planning on it all along.

[angryguy77]

The only thing that worries me of LeBron on Rondo are the possible cross-matchups.

Yeah that bothers me too.

LeBron is quick enough to get back in transition with Rondo most of the time, Rondo is quick enough to do the same with LeBron.

Rondo guarding LeBron though will require a quick double in the post.

The thing that worries me is that Joey Crawford is officiating and Lebron doesn't get called for fouls.

Dan Patrick said Lebron should guard him for that very same reason. He said Leroid should body him because he won't get fouls called on him at home.

[heyvik]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

Edit: also on offense if Perk is in the game and LeBron is sagging off of Rondo, you might as well call it a 5 on 4 game. (the 4 is Pierce, Allen, KG and 1/2 of Rondo due to shooting and 1/2 of Perk due to stone hands.)
Cleveland will try to limit touches for KG, Pierce and Allen and force either Rondo to shoot or Perk's offense in the paint.

[Who]

LeBron has tried to take Rondo off the dribble on most of the occasions that Rondo has been forced to switch onto him. I'm not sure the cross-matchups will be that difficult for the Celtics.

Against a guy like Kobe Bryant, sure, but Kobe is an active player in the post. Always looking to get down there and get an advantage against a smaller player. LeBron doesn't have the same recognition. He may do it once in awhile but I think most of the time he'll look to play his usual game even if he has Rondo on him.

[angryguy77]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

If it were that easy they would have been doing it all series long. They can give him all the space tehy want, that will just give him more room to see the floor and hit the open man.
This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

Edit: also on offense if Perk is in the game and LeBron is sagging off of Rondo, you might as well call it a 5 on 4 game. (the 4 is Pierce, Allen, KG and 1/2 of Rondo due to shooting and 1/2 of Perk due to stone hands.)
Cleveland will try to limit touches for KG, Pierce and Allen and force either Rondo to shoot or Perk's offense in the paint.

[BballTim]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

  Hasn't this been their gameplan the entire series?

[fairweatherfan]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

  Hasn't this been their gameplan the entire series?

Mostly, but Parker can spot Rondo a step and it doesn't really matter, because Rondo is about 2 1/2 steps faster than Parker and can still get by him with ease.  Much lower speed differential with LeBron.

This'll be interesting to see how it affects our wing guys...if we can take advantage of those matchups the driving lanes will open back up for Rondo.  Hopefully Rondo is smart enough to not start chucking jumpers like he did early in Game 3...just take enough to keep em honest.

[BballTim]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

  Hasn't this been their gameplan the entire series?

Mostly, but Parker can spot Rondo a step and it doesn't really matter, because Rondo is about 2 1/2 steps faster than Parker and can still get by him with ease.  Much lower speed differential with LeBron.

This'll be interesting to see how it affects our wing guys...if we can take advantage of those matchups the driving lanes will open back up for Rondo.  Hopefully Rondo is smart enough to not start chucking jumpers like he did early in Game 3...just take enough to keep em honest.

  I think that LeBron's speed is great when he's moving forward but I don't think he'd be able to keep up with Rondo if he's backing up or changing directions.

[fairweatherfan]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

  Hasn't this been their gameplan the entire series?

Mostly, but Parker can spot Rondo a step and it doesn't really matter, because Rondo is about 2 1/2 steps faster than Parker and can still get by him with ease.  Much lower speed differential with LeBron.

This'll be interesting to see how it affects our wing guys...if we can take advantage of those matchups the driving lanes will open back up for Rondo.  Hopefully Rondo is smart enough to not start chucking jumpers like he did early in Game 3...just take enough to keep em honest.

  I think that LeBron's speed is great when he's moving forward but I don't think he'd be able to keep up with Rondo if he's backing up or changing directions.

Yeah, he can't keep up with Rondo, but he's a lot closer to Rondo's speed than Parker or even Mo Williams is.

[jpd985]

Like everybody else has said, hopefully Pierce would step up. One thing that's scary about this, though, is Rondo isn't a good enough shooter to force Lebron to stay with him. Because of this Lebron could cheat off of Rondo and play "free safety" like Kobe has in the past. This would allow Lebron to double Pierce or get head starts on the fast break.

He can body Rondo more and get away it. If Rondo gets by him Lebron can give him a bump to throw him off and since he is Lebron he will get away with it.

This is the real issue here. Lebron will NOT be guarding Rondo, he'll be sagging off of Rondo - HUGE DIFFERENCE! Cleveland's game plan will be to dare Rondo to shoot a low percentage shot 15-20 foot shot. Even when Boston will try to do a pick and roll, the defender will almost always go under the screen to dare Rondo to shoot.
I'm sure that's their gameplan. What will we do then?

  Hasn't this been their gameplan the entire series?

Mostly, but Parker can spot Rondo a step and it doesn't really matter, because Rondo is about 2 1/2 steps faster than Parker and can still get by him with ease.  Much lower speed differential with LeBron.

This'll be interesting to see how it affects our wing guys...if we can take advantage of those matchups the driving lanes will open back up for Rondo.  Hopefully Rondo is smart enough to not start chucking jumpers like he did early in Game 3...just take enough to keep em honest.

  I think that LeBron's speed is great when he's moving forward but I don't think he'd be able to keep up with Rondo if he's backing up or changing directions.

Yeah, he can't keep up with Rondo, but he's a lot closer to Rondo's speed than Parker or even Mo Williams is.

[MMacOH]

They aren't putting Lebron on Rondo so he can cheat off of him, they are putting Lebron on Rondo to eliminate all the help defense that Parker requires while covering him.  This will allow the Cavs to keep position on the other Celtics and eliminate Rondo's ability to distribute.

The Cavs are going to make someone else beat them.  The reason this wasn't done sooner is because Mike Brown is very slow in making changes during a series.

Why would Doc be banking on this change?  Maybe Pierce will pick up his game now?  Rondo was responsible for about 60% of Boston's points on Sunday.  Pierce is going to pick up all that slack.

On the other end of the floor, if Rondo guards Lebron, Lebron is going to be posting him up on every play.

[BballTim]

They aren't putting Lebron on Rondo so he can cheat off of him, they are putting Lebron on Rondo to eliminate all the help defense that Parker requires while covering him.  This will allow the Cavs to keep position on the other Celtics and eliminate Rondo's ability to distribute.

The Cavs are going to make someone else beat them.  The reason this wasn't done sooner is because Mike Brown is very slow in making changes during a series.

Why would Doc be banking on this change?  Maybe Pierce will pick up his game now?  Rondo was responsible for about 60% of Boston's points on Sunday.  Pierce is going to pick up all that slack.

On the other end of the floor, if Rondo guards Lebron, Lebron is going to be posting him up on every play.

  I'll have to see LeBron shut down Rondo before I believe it. How much time has LeBron spent guarding the quickest point guards in the league? And Rondo's covered LeBron on a number of possessions over the last 4 games. He hasn't been posted up much and it's not an automatic bucket when LeBron gets the ball and Rondo's on him.

[Ersatz]

They aren't putting Lebron on Rondo so he can cheat off of him, they are putting Lebron on Rondo to eliminate all the help defense that Parker requires while covering him.  This will allow the Cavs to keep position on the other Celtics and eliminate Rondo's ability to distribute.

Exactly. There'll be no sagging off. That would be completely illogical. Why not just have Williams or Parker play off Rondo then? The point of doing this is to stop Rondo from penetrating and distributing, not to make him a jump shooter. The Cavs can the latter without putting LeBron on him. That strategy doesn't work anymore.