The Celts won't win the title if Doc rides Rondo right into the ground

[Celtics4ever]

Pros use tons of ice these days anyways.  After the games they sometimes even take baths in the stuff.

[greenpride32]

I'm not necessarily concerned about the minutes Rondo is logging, but I am about his hamstring injury.  If you recall this is the same injury he had during the 2010 playoffs.  Just hope it's not a lingering issue.

The half court style the C's usually play is not exactly taxing for professional athletes.

[MBunge]

So Rondo played big minutes. Its what 24 year old superstar players do in this league people. Check your history and check what other players his age with his ability and importance to his team play for minutes.

Doc is doing nothing wrong.

Rondo is tied for 5th most minutes per game this season, playing more than Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Russel Westbrook or Chris Paul.  And by the way, Ray Allen is at 19th most minutes per game, more than LeBron James, Dirk Nowitski, Stephen Jackson, Lamar Odom or Brandon Jennings.  And Paul Pierce clocks in tied for 27th most minutes per game, more than Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Dwyane Wade or Carmello Anthony.

You're right.  Nothing to be worried about there.

Mike

[StartOrien]

So Rondo played big minutes. Its what 24 year old superstar players do in this league people. Check your history and check what other players his age with his ability and importance to his team play for minutes.

Basketball-reference doesn't have a section for 24 year old superstars with a tweaked hamstring and admitted foot pain.

I think based off his importance it's a legit concern, not throughout the season but over the course of the next month or two.

[kozlodoev]

So Rondo played big minutes. Its what 24 year old superstar players do in this league people. Check your history and check what other players his age with his ability and importance to his team play for minutes.

Doc is doing nothing wrong.

Rondo is tied for 5th most minutes per game this season, playing more than Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Russel Westbrook or Chris Paul.  And by the way, Ray Allen is at 19th most minutes per game, more than LeBron James, Dirk Nowitski, Stephen Jackson, Lamar Odom or Brandon Jennings.  And Paul Pierce clocks in tied for 27th most minutes per game, more than Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Dwyane Wade or Carmello Anthony.

You're right.  Nothing to be worried about there.

Mike

Rondo is playing 39 minutes per contest after 18 games in December. The playoffs are lost! I'm telling you!

Not to mention that minutes per game are misleading, given that Rondo has played 3 games less.

[blake]

Let's rack up the wins now while LA is reeling, get homecourt, and then worry about him resting.  He can limit his minutes during the allstar game.  I'm sure LeBron will be demanding to take the ball down the court anyways.  Aside:  I just realized how horrible the east's starting lineup will be from the charity stripe.

Interesting to note the fact that Rajon Rondo barely lost to Kevin Durant in the NBA horse contest last-season. Also, the Celtics and the Thunder finished last year's regular season with identical records; however the Thunder lost in the first round and the Celtics barely lost in the finals. I'm hoping that guys like Robinson, West, Von Wafer and Avery Bradley can step in for Rondo just to keep his legs fresh so he is feeling less strain once the playoffs start.

The Thunder played in a much harder division, and both the Thunder and the C's lost to the same team in the playoffs.  I don't think that is a fair comparison that you laid out.

[Fafnir]

The idea that the Thunder and Celtics playoff accomplishments are on par because the Lakers eliminated both team is laughable.

The Thunder won 50 games while having every single starter healthy for the entire year. The C's won 50 games with major injury issues to 5 of their rotation players, those five including two of the team's top 3 players. Then you have to consider that the C's defeated three other teams in playoff series before playing the Lakers. Including the two teams with the best records in the league.

[Fafnir]

I'm worried about Rondo and his hamstring, I'd prefer he play shorter minutes but I'm not worried enough that I'd be willing to sacrfice winning to keep him down in the low 30's minute wise.

I'd prefer if we could scale back Ray's minutes, but again I think right now I don't see good options behind him with Delonte's injury. Hopefully the team will have some more blow out wins and that will lower his average minutes.

[MBunge]

So Rondo played big minutes. Its what 24 year old superstar players do in this league people. Check your history and check what other players his age with his ability and importance to his team play for minutes.

Doc is doing nothing wrong.

Rondo is tied for 5th most minutes per game this season, playing more than Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Russel Westbrook or Chris Paul.  And by the way, Ray Allen is at 19th most minutes per game, more than LeBron James, Dirk Nowitski, Stephen Jackson, Lamar Odom or Brandon Jennings.  And Paul Pierce clocks in tied for 27th most minutes per game, more than Joe Johnson, Zach Randolph, Dwyane Wade or Carmello Anthony.

You're right.  Nothing to be worried about there.

Mike

Rondo is playing 39 minutes per contest after 18 games in December. The playoffs are lost! I'm telling you!

Not to mention that minutes per game are misleading, given that Rondo has played 3 games less.

It's obviously not a huge deal right now.  But if you play just one extra minute a game, that's almost two extra games by the end of the season.  Two extra minutes, almost 4 extra games.  Rondo is currently playing 5 more minutes a game than Wade.  That's nearly 10 extra games over the course of a full season.

And I think pointing out Rondo's injury problems sort of underscores the worry about playing him too many minutes.

Mike

[More Banners]

I'm guessing that most folks on the blog these days are too young to remember how many minutes JoJo White played...

[Fafnir]

It's obviously not a huge deal right now.  But if you play just one extra minute a game, that's almost two extra games by the end of the season.  Two extra minutes, almost 4 extra games.  Rondo is currently playing 5 more minutes a game than Wade.  That's nearly 10 extra games over the course of a full season.

But is marginal wear and tear of one additional minute per game the same as the stress of two additional game at a lower minute total? I don't think that it is.

Minutes certainly have a cumulative effect, but they aren't all the same.

[BballTim]

It's obviously not a huge deal right now.  But if you play just one extra minute a game, that's almost two extra games by the end of the season.  Two extra minutes, almost 4 extra games.  Rondo is currently playing 5 more minutes a game than Wade.  That's nearly 10 extra games over the course of a full season.

But is marginal wear and tear of one additional minute per game the same as the stress of two additional game at a lower minute total? I don't think that it is.

Minutes certainly have a cumulative effect, but they aren't all the same.

  Not to mention things like one extra minute probably has less of an effect than things like pace.

[CelticsWhat35]

I think the bigger concern shouldn't be the amount of minutes that Rondo is playing, but whether or not he should be playing at all.  Hamstring injuries can be tricky, if Rondo tries pushing himself when he's not 100%, he could end up out for a long time.

But if he's deemed good enough to go, I don't really see a problem with him playing a bunch of minutes.  He's more susecptible to tightening up on the bench.  Granted, 45 minutes would catch up to you night after night, and he can probably ride a stationary bike or something while he's out to stay loose, but as I said, I think the bigger question is whether he should be playing at all, not the # of minutes.  But I have no idea the extent of Rondo's condition.

[kozlodoev]

It's obviously not a huge deal right now.  But if you play just one extra minute a game, that's almost two extra games by the end of the season.  Two extra minutes, almost 4 extra games.  Rondo is currently playing 5 more minutes a game than Wade.  That's nearly 10 extra games over the course of a full season.

And I think pointing out Rondo's injury problems sort of underscores the worry about playing him too many minutes.

Mike

It may be more dangerous to let him sit for prolonged periods of times within games: the chance to re-injure himself entering the game after he's cooled down from sitting down a long stretch may be bigger.

So the way I see it, either hold him out of the game completely, or try to not have him sit for long stretches. But that's just me, I'm no expert.

[MBunge]

It's obviously not a huge deal right now.  But if you play just one extra minute a game, that's almost two extra games by the end of the season.  Two extra minutes, almost 4 extra games.  Rondo is currently playing 5 more minutes a game than Wade.  That's nearly 10 extra games over the course of a full season.

And I think pointing out Rondo's injury problems sort of underscores the worry about playing him too many minutes.

Mike

It may be more dangerous to let him sit for prolonged periods of times within games: the chance to re-injure himself entering the game after he's cooled down from sitting down a long stretch may be bigger.

So the way I see it, either hold him out of the game completely, or try to not have him sit for long stretches. But that's just me, I'm no expert.

The real reason I brought this up was that Cavs game.  It was a blowout from the 2nd quarter on, yet Rondo still racked up 38 minutes and Avery got on the court for one whole minute.  That had nothing to do with hamstrings or game situations.  It was just Doc being Doc.  Weirdly, he's been really good at managing KG's minutes every since he got to Boston, but he doesn't show the same care for either Ray or Rondo.

Mike