Rondo's Game 1

[pengaloo]

Rondo didn't shoot well, but no one's talking about KG's 5-14 or Paul's 6-16. His defense during his game-high 43 minutes was great, and Chauncey shot only 3-11. Not to mention Rondo had 9 rebounds... second only to KG's 13.

[missyP]

If you think Rondo is in the upper echelon PGs in the NBA, a game like today leaves you underwhelmed but not necessarily bad. If you are one of the "he is in the top 10 PGs and not top 5' then you take tonight's performance and run with it.

Myself I can't objectively place Rondo against his fellow elite PGs but i think his play today in the first half could have been more stellar. I am usually quick to ignore his box score and rather  focus on the impression he left me with since that is how Rose, CP3, D Williams, Westbrook are always evaluated by the media in my view. In that regard Rondo didn't dazzle tonight but he did alright.

[csfansince60s]

Plus, the box score only credits him with 1 TO... Really?

+1 to you and Carhole for both noticing the questionable boxscore of 1turnover when we all witnessed those horrendous decisions to try the home-run passes to RA and PP.

Maybe the statisticians gave the TOs to RA and PP. Stupid, if so!

[Carhole]

Rondo didn't shoot well, but no one's talking about KG's 5-14 or Paul's 6-16. His defense during his game-high 43 minutes was great, and Chauncey shot only 3-11. Not to mention Rondo had 9 rebounds... second only to KG's 13.

No one talks about them because 1 - they still produce more points with their field goal attempts and 2 - the knicks do not stay 10 feet of PP or KG and dare them to shoot using their man to help clog up the celtics off ball movement

[Carhole]

The two passes in the last two minutes of the game were bad - but overall though, it's the 5-14 that's more concerning. Additionally, not getting to the line (and missing the two free throws he did get when he got there) is killer.

The next game - the Knicks will barely factor in Rondo on the defensive end. Will they need to? Rondo will seriously need to take advantage of that.

I absolutely agree, but i just do not know how you fix it - short of constantly fast breaking. But that is not really feasible.

He doesnt want contact when he goes in to the paint, after he missed his 2 fts and the Celts got the board he got the ball back and instead of going into turiaf's body he tried to do an awkward fall away angle layup then ended up being blocked an outlet-ed for a lay up.

I hope he does not get the yips from the line like he did in last years finals because i think the only way to make them truly pay is find angles to attack the paint and cause fouls. Do not know if he is willing to do it.....should be interesting

[snively]

I thought his first half was poor.  He allowed NY to take him out of the game as a creator. 

His second half was very effective.  Great work on the boards, unleashed the C's transition attack, played very energetic and effective defense. 

I didn't have a problem with his homerun transition passes.  Lack of aggression (and a sharp decline in the quality of shots obtained) in late games has been a Celtic Achilles' heel in the past and Rondo's willingness to play free and fast is key to future success.

[SHAQATTACK]

In Rhondos defense about driving to the paint. I would ask that KG, Krstic and the rest of the Bigs have to WORK HARD and move in the paint and ACTUALLY call for the ball inside alot more. There is nobody willing to take an inside pass but BIG BABY , and he is too short to follow though /score.

KG ands Green need to BE THERE waiting and wanting the ball inside .... MAkes me mad to see the guards drving into the paint and NO FREAKIN offensive help???

[Dunn]

Nit pick all you want haters, but I refuse to go back to whoever and whatever we had at point guard before Rondo. Downgrade his near triple double all you want but he was everywhere on that court when his team needed him. Maybe we should start Delonte, Carlos, or the rookie to please some you....pardon me I had to laugh at that.

[PosImpos]

Nit pick all you want haters, but I refuse to go back to whoever and whatever we had at point guard before Rondo. Downgrade his near triple double all you want but he was everywhere on that court when his team needed him. Maybe we should start Delonte, Carlos, or the rookie to please some you....pardon me I had to laugh at that.

Just because our backup point guards are worse than Rondo doesn't mean he can't play badly . . . .

[CelticSooner]

Nit pick all you want haters, but I refuse to go back to whoever and whatever we had at point guard before Rondo. Downgrade his near triple double all you want but he was everywhere on that court when his team needed him. Maybe we should start Delonte, Carlos, or the rookie to please some you....pardon me I had to laugh at that.

I wouldn't call it nit picking. People have pretty high expectations of Rondo with his play the last couple of years. If he's standing around being resigned to a jump shooter he's isn't very effective.

He seemed to play off the ball a few times and slash to the basket tonight though. I would like to see much more of that. If NY is going to play off him he needs to make them pay with the ball in his hands instead of settling for the jumper most of the time.

[Dybdal]

Rondo could do what rose did and be absolutly relentless and fearless going straight into the heart of the defense until they ajust enough for it, looking at what everyone writes that seems not to be the case.

Starting to wonder why that isnt the case.

[Celtics18]

I thought that was a fantastic game by Rondo.  He brought that defensive and loose ball, disruptor energy that I've been missing from him over the last quarter of the regular season. 

The long pass to Pierce must have been credited as a turnover for Paul.  Not a great pass, but the captain should have caught that one and kept it in bounds. 

[Senninsage]

He made some truly bad plays, especially those crazy late bomb passes, but I will absolutely not call him awful.

The guy hit jump shots for us when we literally could not put any points on the board. The points rondo scored tonight with some of his jump shots contributed greatly to the team's victory tonight.

Let's try to improve on the decision making in late game situations, but we got the win, and that's all that matters. Ray also def needs to take more shots early in games. It's extremely important for Ray to really be looking for his offense.

I really loved how Ray, in a key moment, created his own shot tonight. That's something he can do far more than he does. Either way, I love those guys for fighting the way they did.

Jermaine is a **** champion in my eyes, even if he doesn't have a ring yet.

[RJ87]

I thought he was solid. People are probably going to overreact on the last two bad passes he made, but I thought he was aggressive all night. Really active on the glass and was good defensively.

For the most part I thought he was taking advantage of what the defense gave him and was knocking down the jumper early on. Couldn't finish on some of his lay ups, but that should get better.

Overall, pretty nice game from him. Would like to see him attack the rim more going foward though.

Agreed. The funny thing is, he was hitting the jumpers but had trouble finishing in the paint. In game 2, he's gonna have to take better care of the ball though. Aside from the 2 TO's at the end of the game, there was a few times he fumbled the ball.

With that said, if he doesn't hit the glass the way he did - we probably lose this game.

[Atzar]

I just don't understand Rondo.  Somebody get some tapes of his play during the 2009 playoffs against Chicago and Orlando, sit him down, and make him watch them.  He was more active on defense and on the boards tonight, but until I see the '09 Rondo fearlessly attacking the basket like he can, I won't use the word 'aggressive' to describe his game. 

He has an awesome ability to draw fouls when he decides that he wants to do so.  Even if he only shoots 65 percent from the line, he creates huge problems for the opposing team when he does it.  There are any number of reasons why he isn't finishing at the rim, but the truth is that as long as he isn't attacking the hole strong, our team isn't as good as it could be.  These how-did-he-do-that spinning flip shots look cool on SportsCenter, but I'd much rather he try to go up and finish through contact like he's able.

He played okay tonight, but he's not a top 5 point guard in this league until he starts attacking again.