Hate to say it, but Rondo, I feel, hurting Celtics' offensive options, bigtime.

[mr. dee]

Yeah right... This hyperbole is getting old. You can say the same with Pierce. Every one wants the captain to get traded when he is not playing well. I bet that if Pierce played horrible again for a few days and Rajon took over, people will say "Hey! Rondo is the future! Let's trade the captain!"

[garz]

Yeah right... This hyperbole is getting old. You can say the same with Pierce. Every one wants the captain to get traded when he is not playing well. I bet that if Pierce played horrible again for a few days and Rajon took over, people will say "Hey! Rondo is the future! Let's trade the captain!"

I don't see any hyperbole in what the OP said..

You can't say the same with Pierce because the problem being talked about is specific to Rondo.

It is an old criticism, but you're also saying it's a knee-jerk reaction, so which is it? To me it looks like the OP has thought it through.

I hope Rondo does change some things because I hate the way he pounds the ball and throws silly passes.

[JOMVP]

I honestly believe with this current Celtics roster, Rondo would be better used in trade bait to get a legit center. Going forward, Rondo is not a centerpiece for an organization but a decent piece to a puzzle. If somehow Orlando would accept a trade for Dwight Howard centered around Rondo, I'd definitely do it. (Orlando management is pretty lame, so they might do it to.)

the last thing we need is a center. we need  roster built to beat the heat, not orlando or the lakers. stacking up at the forwards is the way to go.

Have you been watching the games?

Tyson Chandler had 20 points tonight againts us. Thats a guy that has been struggling to make it to 10 points most nights, and most of it was off offensive boards.

A couple games ago, Anderson Varejao went for 20 and 20. He's a nice player, but we made him look like a stud.

This entire year this team has struggled on two things mostly. Defensive rebounding, and having a scoring punch down near the basket who can also stick down there for offensive boards (its also been the same problem for the past 3 seasons.) Rondo brings neither. He also doesn't bring perimeter scoring which makes our offense considerably worse.

Avery Bradley may not be shooting lights out, but atleast he's confident in his shot and he shoots when he's got it open. It keeps defenses honest against him just a little, and when they lose focus of him, he's been cutting nicely to the basket. Rondo only shoots when the shotclock is down to like 4 or 3 and has to, and thats mostly after he has been dribbling the ball for the entire shotclock looking to make something happen.


Edit: I'm not saying Avery Bradley should be the starter going forward if Rondo was traded, they would definitely need to get a PG back somehow along the way. I'm just giving examples.

[Eddie20]

It's not about Rondo finding a rhythm, because he's a better offensive player than Bradley is regardless if he's out of sync or not. The problem is our style of play when he's there. Bradley gives up the ball early and the ball starts moving, players are cutting, and it becomes a nice motion offense. We struggle when we have Rondo dribbling at the top of the key and the first pass is made with 10-12 seconds left on the shot clock.

[satch]

When one player takes 21 shots most of them forced don't know if you can blame Rondo. The C's were fortunate to win last night.

[SHAQATTACK]

The offense does seem to move into gear quicker with Rondo off the court. Slowing the C's down is killing their energy. His injury seems to have exposed a bad flaw that kills the offensive flow to the game. He handles the ball erratic and out of control .

[BudweiserCeltic]

When one player takes 21 shots most of them forced don't know if you can blame Rondo. The C's were fortunate to win last night.

Shall we ignore also 12 trips to the free-throw line? Or that he played 43 minutes?

[satch]

I agree don't know he will go to the line 12 times on the road. I also agree with the 42 minutes. Be ready to except in defeat what you except in victory.

[Celtics4ever]

I don't we shot over .40% some of those Bradley games weren't we in the .30's?  Rondo is coming off an injury.

It was a no brainer he start.  That was not an issue with Doc.  Not once did we hear we play better with Avery ( a one assist a game guy).  Shumpert was turning the tables on  Avery and giving him a taste of his own medicine.  I think Shumpert has more upside than Avery.  Avery was good last night but he is playing what he is supposed to do a backup PG.

Rondo has some bad passes but he had some good ones that people were not ready for.   It is both on the passer and the catcher when a pass fails.  I saw Wilcox bobble one and Avery bobble one on the break and there were more but they were not bad passes peeps were not ready.

I don't think Rajon is a franchise guy either.   

[celtics2]

Yeah right... This hyperbole is getting old. You can say the same with Pierce. Every one wants the captain to get traded when he is not playing well. I bet that if Pierce played horrible again for a few days and Rajon took over, people will say "Hey! Rondo is the future! Let's trade the captain!"

I don't see any hyperbole in what the OP said..

You can't say the same with Pierce because the problem being talked about is specific to Rondo.

It is an old criticism, but you're also saying it's a knee-jerk reaction, so which is it? To me it looks like the OP has thought it through.

I hope Rondo does change some things because I hate the way he pounds the ball and throws silly passes.

LOL Rondo is only 10% of PP's worth. He is his own worst enemy. He doesn't think team anymore. His consistency doesn't show that. A just over average point guard would make this team dangerous. He's become a liability. To amend he needs to tone down his wildness about 40%. Dennis Johnson comes to mind leading an aging team year after year. Yeah teams collapsed on him too but he could hit a jumper when needed or make a defensive play with astuteness. Rondo pays on instincts. His speed is his asset. He wouldn't be in the NBA if it weren't for it. Such speed on an older team is like oil mixing with water.

[Eja117]

He hasn't played in weeks, lets allow him to get back in the flow of things. Before he went out the others weren't playing well (e.g. Pierce) and now they are ok. Lets be patient.

Agreed, but while he's getting back into it lets give him lots less minutes and Avery a lot more....everyone happy? He gets more time and so does a young guy? Can't we all get along? 

[dysgenic]

I agree with the premise and I would love to see the C's move Rondo for a center.  Maybe a 3 team deal that would bring Verajo an above average poing guard?  Anyway that could get done?

dys

[European NBA fan]

He hasn't played in weeks, lets allow him to get back in the flow of things. Before he went out the others weren't playing well (e.g. Pierce) and now they are ok. Lets be patient.

Agreed, but while he's getting back into it lets give him lots less minutes and Avery a lot more....everyone happy? He gets more time and so does a young guy? Can't we all get along?  

Rondo in the 1st half and Rondo in the 2nd half was two different players. So let's just give him the playing time he needs to become his usual self. And no, his usual doesnt hurt us: That's an all star, all defensive 1st team pg.

From Paul Flannery:

“Rondo really takes us to another level when you add him to the mix,” Pierce said. “I said this to somebody earlier, ‘We are a playoff team without Rondo, but with Rondo we become a contender.’”

[SHAQATTACK]

What I'm seeing now , I'd like to see us trade Rondo for Cavs Andy V. .  We, could use a good center .  Andy , could put us in contention for sure.

I hope DA is looking into this. But keep JJ and Moore.

[Tgro]

He hasn't played in weeks, lets allow him to get back in the flow of things. Before he went out the others weren't playing well (e.g. Pierce) and now they are ok. Lets be patient.

Agreed, but while he's getting back into it lets give him lots less minutes and Avery a lot more....everyone happy? He gets more time and so does a young guy? Can't we all get along? 

Yeah, I agree with this. Rondo has his strengths but he needs to work on his weaknesses. He did a couple of crazy layups last night that had absolutely no chance of going in but I don't know how many times I've seen him attempt the same stupid shot. I never want to see him throwing up a three and I did last night. And then to miss 2 free throws when it was getting to be crunchtime was just maddening. Maybe even pathetic. Plus he was choking the offensive flow at times. Its funny as old as this team is, it seems to play better with an uptempo. When Rondo goes into sets, we stagnate.

That being said, Rondo has plenty of upside and he still can be a great quarterback for the team for periods of time. But I think he needs to be spelled more to keep the other teams honest and on their toes. We can't take Rondo out just because he needs to take a breather. We need to take him out more because its good for the game plan of keeping the other team honest and a change up of styles benefits us. We need to keep developing Bradley. He can be another weapon come playoff time. Mixing him with Rondo and getting the best out of both would be a great arsenal for our team. We can't make him go back to playing 3-5 minutes a game. It'll stunt his and the team's growth. Rondo is a piece of the puzzle. But so isn't everybody else. We play better when these other guys get their minutes. Rondo needs to sit more.