Rondo's Post Game

[Fafnir]

I wouldn't be concerned about the Lakers. The Celtics have their number.

LA can't beat a Boston team that has Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Their offense simply isn't good enough to beat a top notch team who's post defense is strong as the Celtics will be this season.

If Ray doesn't take advantage of Steve Blake or Fisher guarding him we can be beaten. We've seen that sadly.

You're right though I'd be more worried about a healthy Portland team out of the West, and Orlando/Miami/Chicago than LA per se.

[SalmonAndMashedPotatoes]

I'm not huge on Rondo posting up, a nice wrinkle sometimes sure. But I'd rather see him become more involved in offense in a way that better utilizes his strengths.

What are you talking about?  Rondo has the footwork in the post of a 6'1" version of Hakeem Olajuwon, and posting opposing guards up will be staple of his game for years to come.  Kudos for Doc to recognizing it and implementing it into the offense.  

[Fafnir]

Are you messing with me?

What are you talking about?  Rondo has the footwork in the post of a 6'1" version of Hakeem Olajuwon

Where in the world do you think he has this?

I'll also add that Hakeem also had a killer hook shot and turn around jump shot. A hook shot from a 6' 1" player is a whole different thing than from a 6' 9" player. And we know he doesn't have a jumper.

[BballTim]

I wouldn't be concerned about the Lakers. The Celtics have their number.

LA can't beat a Boston team that has Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Their offense simply isn't good enough to beat a top notch team who's post defense is strong as the Celtics will be this season.

If Ray doesn't take advantage of Steve Blake or Fisher guarding him we can be beaten. We've seen that sadly.

  That was with Perk injured and Sheed with a sore back.Not quite the Perk/Shaq/JO grouping he was talking about.

[Fafnir]

I wouldn't be concerned about the Lakers. The Celtics have their number.

LA can't beat a Boston team that has Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Their offense simply isn't good enough to beat a top notch team who's post defense is strong as the Celtics will be this season.

If Ray doesn't take advantage of Steve Blake or Fisher guarding him we can be beaten. We've seen that sadly.

  That was with Perk injured and Sheed with a sore back.Not quite the Perk/Shaq/JO grouping he was talking about.

But they beat us in Games 1, 3, 6 with a healthy Perkins. I know they didn't blow us out till Perkins went down in 6 but they were still beating us.

[Evantime34]

I wouldn't be concerned about the Lakers. The Celtics have their number.

LA can't beat a Boston team that has Kendrick Perkins, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Their offense simply isn't good enough to beat a top notch team who's post defense is strong as the Celtics will be this season.

If Ray doesn't take advantage of Steve Blake or Fisher guarding him we can be beaten. We've seen that sadly.

  That was with Perk injured and Sheed with a sore back.Not quite the Perk/Shaq/JO grouping he was talking about.

But they beat us in Games 1, 3, 6 with a healthy Perkins. I know they didn't blow us out till Perkins went down in 6 but they were still beating us.

FAF take off your giant foam Lakers figure and be reasonable!

But seriously Faf is right I think it would be inaccurate to say we have there number.

[Thruthelookingglass]

Won't happen against Kobe or Wade. But the fact that he is always expanding his game is very smart on his part. And it gives Celtics more option which is always a +PLUS. I always say Rondo has no ceiling. The game comes easy to him, a natural. He is truly a Joy to watch.

Wouldn't Rondo taking the ball into the post force Kobe to play him more honestly?  One of our problems playing the Lakers is that Kobe would sag off Rondo to play a little more help defense.  Rondo's offense would be neutralized, but so would Kobe's ability to help off of Rondo.  I just don't see Kobe sagging off Rondo close to the basket.  Isn't this just more of the chess game that Doc can employ or am I off base here?

This.  Rondo going into the post on Kobe means Kobe can't roam, which means the spacing is better on the floor.  If Kobe plays him to shoot, Rondo passes (which we all agree he does pretty well), if he plays him to pass, Rondo is fast enough to get past him, forcing a rotation, which leads to a pass to a big for a lay-in.  

It certainly should not be a mainstay of the offense, but it's a way to shake things up if his defender is playing too far off him.  I'd love to see them do it 3-4 times a game, especially because it will create a higher percentage shot than Rondo unguarded 15 feet from the basket.  

Once they start forcing rotations, the C's are very likely to find the open man, but that can only be effective if the other team has to cover all 5 guys.  This would force their hand.

Thanks for the discussion everyone!

[Witch-King]

Are you messing with me?

What are you talking about?  Rondo has the footwork in the post of a 6'1" version of Hakeem Olajuwon

Where in the world do you think he has this?

I'll also add that Hakeem also had a killer hook shot and turn around jump shot. A hook shot from a 6' 1" player is a whole different thing than from a 6' 9" player. And we know he doesn't have a jumper.

Hakeem is actually 7 feet tall, unless you're talking about Hakim Warrick, who is actually 6'9"; I thought Rajon was 6 ft 3 inches until I checked basketballreference.com -- Rondo is however the same height as Akeem Jordan, the NFL linebacker, if that's any sort of consolation. Must be the Olde English, lols...

[LilRip]

TP for the Arnold poster. lol!

but yeah, i don't want Rondo posting up against LA. Kobe is a very good defender and posting up Fisher actually gives Fisher a CHANCE at defending Rondo.

Chalmers, i can see Rondo posting up against. Wade's not quite the defender that Kobe is but Wade can play pretty good D himself. So i don't want Rondo posting up against Wade or (Mike Miller) either.

what i want Rondo to do is shoot those 15-18 foot jumpers! if he makes wide open mid-range jumpers close to a 50% clip, i'll take it. And before you say a guy like Allen shoots worse than 50%, understand that his shots often come contested or off the dribble because defenders are playing him so tight for the shot. But i'm pretty sure if defenders left him and he routinely got wide open 15 ft set jumpers, Ray Allen will make 90% of those. of course, no team is stupid enough to test that theory.