Rondo closing out the Cavs.... good or bad?

[kozlodoev]

(What was up with that iso where he let the shot clock wind down, and fired up a desperation three?)

I wasn't an isolation -- they were trying to run Allen off screens, and it failed spectacularly as the Cavs kept overplaying him.

The problem I have with this possession is that everyone else stood and watch. At one point you got to recognize the play is broken, and look for another option.

[jasail]

he played poor pick and roll defense in the first half against mo williams.  good adjustment in the second half when they ran TA at him to make the switch.  

poor floor leadership at times in the third quarter with davis, wallace, allen, and allen out there.  i got that the cavs had their better pick and roll line up in there, with AV, so the high pick and roll was stifled as well and there was only one scorer on the floor.  so i get why they were trying to free up ray, but the cavs were keyed up on it and the C's weren't making any adjustment adjustment.  

that is going to happen to this team when two if the big 3 are on the bench. but if teams key up on the high pick and roll the offense gets lethargic.  i suspect this will be a problem in the next round too if Dwight is on Sheed b/c that takes the post option away.  lets just hope that we are not in foul trouble by the second quarter every game.  

all that said he was the second highest scorer, found his teammates on the break, got the C's out to a quick start and led the run that deflated the cavs.  so he played a good game tonight, but a flawed one.  he was still the most entertaining player to watch last night. 

[Greenbean]

I didnt mind Rondo's game tonight. He did many things very well and controlled the pace of the game.

In the first half however what is unacceptable is rondo's turnovers. I think at one point there were 4 straight possessions where he had a bad turnover. We could have blown the doors off Cleveland and been up by 15 to 20 by halftime if it werent for that.

In the 2nd half he really limited his turnovers and maximized his defense. There were also philosophical adjustments at halftime to slow Mo Williams down. Rondo was helping off of Mo quite a bit in the first half.

As far as the bad half court sets, I just think it was a case of the sets taking too long to develop. Give cleveland credit for cutting off the passing lanes to Ray Allen. In the future, Rondo should recognize the play isnt working and call something for a pick and roll or something way earlier in the shot clock.

All in all, a shaky first half and a really good second half.

[Fan from VT]

Good to very good. Shows how spoiled we are by his play to nitpick it any lower than that!

1. After a 7-10 first half, Mo Williams shot 1-8 the rest of the way.

2. After 4 TO's in the first half, Rondo finished with 4 TO's. Closed us out taking care of the ball.

3. Don't lose sight of the big picture. Step back and say "in a game to win a series, would you take a 9-15 shooting, 21 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 turnovers from your point guard?"

4. I give him credit for getting to the line down the stretch even though he's a poor free throw shooter. He was the only one really attacking to draw a foul. Even though he stank, 1-4 on free throws is still better than 0-2 from the field, and when you are milking a lead trying to bleed the clock, you've got to just get points however you can.


Now, I say good-very good because for the whole game you couldn't just say very good or excellent. That play Roy pointed out was very peculiar. To me it looked like the strategy was to milk 18 seconds off the shot clock, by which time Ray would be open for a hopefully decent jump shot look. Of course, he couldn't quite get open, so Rondo was stuck at the top of the key with 5 seconds to shoot. Bad play, but I think that's the risk when you're playing "use all 24 seconds." Now I don't know if that was Rondo or the coach, but it was not a good play.

But if we used this lens for everyone on the Celtics, I think Rondo comes out very good. Should we give the 2-8 Ray and 4-13 Pierce the same scrutiny?

[Brendan]

Good to very good. Shows how spoiled we are by his play to nitpick it any lower than that!

1. After a 7-10 first half, Mo Williams shot 1-8 the rest of the way.

2. After 4 TO's in the first half, Rondo finished with 4 TO's. Closed us out taking care of the ball.

3. Don't lose sight of the big picture. Step back and say "in a game to win a series, would you take a 9-15 shooting, 21 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 turnovers from your point guard?"

4. I give him credit for getting to the line down the stretch even though he's a poor free throw shooter. He was the only one really attacking to draw a foul. Even though he stank, 1-4 on free throws is still better than 0-2 from the field, and when you are milking a lead trying to bleed the clock, you've got to just get points however you can.


Now, I say good-very good because for the whole game you couldn't just say very good or excellent. That play Roy pointed out was very peculiar. To me it looked like the strategy was to milk 18 seconds off the shot clock, by which time Ray would be open for a hopefully decent jump shot look. Of course, he couldn't quite get open, so Rondo was stuck at the top of the key with 5 seconds to shoot. Bad play, but I think that's the risk when you're playing "use all 24 seconds." Now I don't know if that was Rondo or the coach, but it was not a good play.

But if we used this lens for everyone on the Celtics, I think Rondo comes out very good. Should we give the 2-8 Ray and 4-13 Pierce the same scrutiny?

Wasn't he in foul trouble in the first half too?

[BudweiserCeltic]

(What was up with that iso where he let the shot clock wind down, and fired up a desperation three?)

This was mainly a result of a problem I have with him from time to time. At times he seems to get a bit of tunnel vision running a play and only looking at the first option, mostly when it's about Ray getting himself open, so if Ray can't get himself open Rondo at times doesn't try anything else until is too late. It's becoming less and less of a problem, but it still happens.

[Fan from VT]

(What was up with that iso where he let the shot clock wind down, and fired up a desperation three?)

This was mainly a result of a problem I have with him from time to time. At times he seems to get a bit of tunnel vision running a play and only looking at the first option, mostly when it's about Ray getting himself open, so if Ray can't get himself open Rondo at times doesn't try anything else until is too late. It's becoming less and less of a problem, but it still happens.

agree. its a little less of a problem when he is setting it up from 18 feet and thus can try a shorter jumper or is 2 steps from a floater if the play fails. but out at 24 feet,not so good

[Bankshot]

When we started giving the ball to PP in the fourth quarter, I thought a squandered lead was in the offing. Mo Williams scored a bunch in transition - and credit to him for his effort. But Rondo brings so much more to the table than he takes off it.

My problem was that what Rondo was doing enabled the Cavs to get back into the game in the 1st half, when we should've had a comfortable lead. And once the Cavs are in play, then the damage has already been done and anything can happen.

It was just an inopportune time to have one of his worst stretches this playoffs, and just a bunch of bad consecutive plays. If the plays would've been spread throughout the game, then it doesn't matter much.

I thought the reason we didn't have a comfortable lead was Ray not hitting his shots.  We could have buried Cleveland had Ray hit his shots.  He had a bunch of 3's that would have been timely had he knocked them down.

[Fafnir]

When we started giving the ball to PP in the fourth quarter, I thought a squandered lead was in the offing. Mo Williams scored a bunch in transition - and credit to him for his effort. But Rondo brings so much more to the table than he takes off it.

My problem was that what Rondo was doing enabled the Cavs to get back into the game in the 1st half, when we should've had a comfortable lead. And once the Cavs are in play, then the damage has already been done and anything can happen.

It was just an inopportune time to have one of his worst stretches this playoffs, and just a bunch of bad consecutive plays. If the plays would've been spread throughout the game, then it doesn't matter much.

I thought the reason we didn't have a comfortable lead was Ray not hitting his shots.  We could have buried Cleveland had Ray hit his shots.  He had a bunch of 3's that would have been timely had he knocked them down.

Yup, we missed a lot of threes that could have blown the game open earlier.

Fortunately the Captain and Sheed hit them in the fourth!

[BudweiserCeltic]

Good to very good. Shows how spoiled we are by his play to nitpick it any lower than that!

Nothing about being spoiled. I've said it a million times that stats are meaningless to me in an assesment of a good game, particularly with Rondo. His decision making, his defense (mainly stopping penetration, pick and roll defense, fighting through screens, and ball pressure), and running the offense (including pace) are more important to me to evaluate what he's been doing.

As mentioned above, his poor play through a distinctive stretch gave Cav life, and that already could've ended up being too costly. Thankfully, he did a lot of other good things throughout the game, but the damage was already done and it was a close game until the end.

It reminds me of game 2 with the Heat. Everyone was in love with what Baby did in that game, and for all measures he did have a good game... but, it was his play in the first half that let the Heat who should've been dead from the start gain some life because he wasn't moving the ball, and making poor decisions with the ball... going to the basket when he shouldn't be doing it, getting blocked like 8 times or some exaggeration like that. And it all came in span of time quite consecutively, and the damage is exponential when that happens. Though he had a great 2nd half, in all I don't think I can honestly say that he had a great game. We did end up killing them in that game, but giving a team life when they should be DOA can be very very dangerous, and a single player who for the most part allows this is a bit unforgivable. And it's not about missing shots, etc. It's about poor decision making and just bad basketball plays.

When we started giving the ball to PP in the fourth quarter, I thought a squandered lead was in the offing. Mo Williams scored a bunch in transition - and credit to him for his effort. But Rondo brings so much more to the table than he takes off it.

My problem was that what Rondo was doing enabled the Cavs to get back into the game in the 1st half, when we should've had a comfortable lead. And once the Cavs are in play, then the damage has already been done and anything can happen.

It was just an inopportune time to have one of his worst stretches this playoffs, and just a bunch of bad consecutive plays. If the plays would've been spread throughout the game, then it doesn't matter much.

I thought the reason we didn't have a comfortable lead was Ray not hitting his shots.  We could have buried Cleveland had Ray hit his shots.  He had a bunch of 3's that would have been timely had he knocked them down.

I just can't put blame on guys for missing shots, particularly long range ones.I put blame on poor decision making, and for quite a stretch in the first half Rondo was just horrendous doing lazy passes, doing long weak entry passes, etc. It was just a horrible display in a game 6 at home against a dangerous Cleveland team who was looking like a wounded animal and suddenly gained some life.