Should Delonte start for Rondo?

[KungPoweChicken]

Should Delonte start for Rondo?

[yupitsme]

I love Rondo as much as anybody but he needs a reality check. Start West until Rondo decides he wants to play every night.

[Megatron]

Yes.

[Kiorrik]

Are you guys daft?

Hehe, I disagree chaps. Totally. Rondo is our starter. He needs to get a slap in the face though. A real one. By a hand. Possibly Shaq's. Or maybe KG should do it.

Whatever; he needs to get his act together.

(disclaimer: forget about this post if we find out he's injured, because that kind of turns the whole thing around :p)

[ejk3489]

Like for the rest of the season? No.

If it's to give Rondo a few games off, sure why not.

[chambers]

I can't beleive i'm reading this on celtics blog.
I mean it's okay to point out his flaws and discuss things if he's having a bad stretch but putting delonte into the starting 5 because rondo has had 5 bad games?
I can't think of any team that would sit the league leader in assists and steals and bringh him off the bench.
wake up people.

[CelticSooner]

I read that Doc said Rondo isn't hurt and is just playing poorly right now. If so he needs a kick in the butt then. The C's offense is average at best if he isn't running the show like he can.

If it takes West eating some of his minutes so be it. The C's aren't winning a championship with West as the starting point guard though. Rondo has got to get it together.

[Roy H.]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

[winsomme]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

Our starting unit is a very emotional unit. It's why the ubuntu concept became so big for them.

For whatever reason, when the season started Shaq seemed to fit with these guys and we played really well.

Danny took this to mean that he could trade Perk because clearly he was replaceable...at least by Shaq.

The question remains whether or not Shaq can re-ignite the magic, but clearly our starting unit is not playing with confidence...

[Roy H.]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

Our starting unit is a very emotional unit. It's why the ubuntu concept became so big for them.

For whatever reason, when the season started Shaq seemed to fit with these guys and we played really well.

Danny took this to mean that he could trade Perk because clearly he was replaceable...at least by Shaq.

The question remains whether or not Shaq can re-ignite the magic, but clearly our starting unit is not playing with confidence...

I think there's something to that, and it was the basis for a front page article I wrote about "Danny's Folly".  I stand by my concerns related to chemistry, cohesion, and integrating lots of new players into the lineup in a limited amount of time.

That said, I wonder if that's the sole reason for Rondo's struggles.  He's had some pretty big games since the trade, and if anything, he seems to be getting worse, not better.  If the trade of Perk was gnawing at him, you would expect him to be dealing with it more and more as time went by.

However, I do agree with your basic point:  we had something special, and rather than supplementing that special core, Danny gambled and decided to change it.  I don't think that was a good decision, but I'd be very happy to be wrong.  The outcome of this trade won't be decided by a handful of games in mid-March, and there hopefully is time for this team to get its swagger and intimidation back.

[JBcat]

Rondo ran into the huge pick in the 1st quarter and seemed a little wobbly after.  Then he rolled his ankle slighty in the second half. 

He just seems seems a little banged up and can't get out of his own way.  Once West comes back I'm all for sitting Rondo a couple games to get himself right.

I mean the guy has been playing a ton of 40 minute games lately and might need a mini vacation. 

[winsomme]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

Our starting unit is a very emotional unit. It's why the ubuntu concept became so big for them.

For whatever reason, when the season started Shaq seemed to fit with these guys and we played really well.

Danny took this to mean that he could trade Perk because clearly he was replaceable...at least by Shaq.

The question remains whether or not Shaq can re-ignite the magic, but clearly our starting unit is not playing with confidence...

I think there's something to that, and it was the basis for a front page article I wrote about "Danny's Folly".  I stand by my concerns related to chemistry, cohesion, and integrating lots of new players into the lineup in a limited amount of time.

That said, I wonder if that's the sole reason for Rondo's struggles.  He's had some pretty big games since the trade, and if anything, he seems to be getting worse, not better.  If the trade of Perk was gnawing at him, you would expect him to be dealing with it more and more as time went by.

However, I do agree with your basic point:  we had something special, and rather than supplementing that special core, Danny gambled and decided to change it.  I don't think that was a good decision, but I'd be very happy to be wrong.  The outcome of this trade won't be decided by a handful of games in mid-March, and there hopefully is time for this team to get its swagger and intimidation back.

I've never wanted to be more wrong about something.

as for Rondo, I don't think it's just that the trade is gnawing at him, I think it has also disrupted a funtional aspect of the starting unit.

yeah, each of the starters have had good games since the trade, but as a unit they aren't playing with that same level of intimidation. The MIL game had it some but honestly that team was low hanging fruit.

We've got some tough games coming up here and I think we'll start to see how deep this problem is.

honestly, though, I'd rather just have Shaq come back and just get our starting unit for the playoffs playing together rather than try and test to see how dysfunctional we can get without a strong center.

[Chris]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

Yeah, I definitely think there is some fatigue going on there.  Rondo played a ton of minutes over the last month or so, and it was bound to catch up with him.

Combine that with the fact that I really don't think Rondo cares much about these individual games in the middle of the season, and you have this. 

I think we have been seeing the combination of his classic sloppy play, midseason somewhat meaningless (at least to him) game, where he almost seems bored, and tired legs.  It means the floaters and erratic layups from 10 feet away that he normally takes in these games have even less lift, and therefore have even less of a chance to go in. 

I should say though, this isn't all on Rondo.  The team offense in general has been very scattered over the last few games.  The movement off the ball has been very questionable, and they have not been moving the ball as well as they do when they are locked in.  And that isn't even mentioning the shooting, which has been less than stellar.

Basically, I just think this is another midseason slump. 

[winsomme]

This current stretch of play by Rondo is unprecedented.  The past two games are both his lowest scoring output and worst shooting nights of any games this season.  He's been held to single digit assists four games in a row; he hadn't gone more than two games previously, and only did that once.

In other words, something isn't right.  I'm not sure if it's fatigue or injury or lack of confidence, but it's something.  Toward that end, I'd support giving Rondo some time off, but certainly not as "punishment".  I absolutely do not believe that Delonte, Carlos Arroyo, or any other point guard in recent Celtics history is a better starter than Rondo when he's playing right.  However, if there's a legit issue that is bothering him, he needs to rest.

Yeah, I definitely think there is some fatigue going on there.  Rondo played a ton of minutes over the last month or so, and it was bound to catch up with him.

Combine that with the fact that I really don't think Rondo cares much about these individual games in the middle of the season, and you have this. 

I think we have been seeing the combination of his classic sloppy play, midseason somewhat meaningless (at least to him) game, where he almost seems bored, and tired legs.  It means the floaters and erratic layups from 10 feet away that he normally takes in these games have even less lift, and therefore have even less of a chance to go in. 

I should say though, this isn't all on Rondo.  The team offense in general has been very scattered over the last few games.  The movement off the ball has been very questionable, and they have not been moving the ball as well as they do when they are locked in.  And that isn't even mentioning the shooting, which has been less than stellar.

Basically, I just think this is another midseason slump. 

this feels like more than a slump to me. I think we are close enough to the playoffs where we need to know who our starting unit is going to be and that question still seems totally unresolved to me. and I think that is unsettling for a team looking to win a Title.

honestly, we need Shaq back by next Wednesday in order to have time for them to play together and then also time for them to rest before the playoffs start.

[GrandTheftRondo]

No. His minutes should be limited though.