The blame of Rondo is getting ridiculous..

[BballTim]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

  I'd say in general that's true, but you'd have a much better case if he'd gone 9-27 than 15-27. It's hard to fault him for shooting a lot when he makes most of his shots.

  On the other hand, though, it really highlights Rondo's value to the team and his value as a player when he can score a fairly efficient 35 points and have 6 assists and only 2 turnovers and people are basically complaining that he didn't make enough of a contribution. It puts his typical contribution into perspective. Rondo has had games where he scored 6-8 points (or less) and had 12 or so assists and had more of an impact on the offense than he did with his 35/6. All of the people who claim that all of our problems would be solved if we could trade Rondo for a better shooting pg that gets 5 points a game or so more than Rondo are sadly mistaken.

[BballTim]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

I'm not going to get on rondo for last nights cause who knows what would have happened if he played out the other way. I think there does have to be a balance though. 27 shots is a lot for.anyone.

People are appluading Rondo for his statline last night, but it still lost the game.  If Carmelo goes for 40+ and his team loses everyone calls him a ball hog that only scores and doesn't win.  I see no difference between that and the "star" of the game last night. 

  I have no trouble imagining some of the posters here sitting at home, watching the Pistons scoring 10 more points a game than they average at well above their usual efficiency and blaming the loss on Rondo.

This team was only winning and beating quality teams when Pierce was the go to guy.  Because I don't care how old he is now, he's still the only true All Star caliber player on the C's roster today.

  This is a patently ridiculous claim.

[Fafnir]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

I'm not going to get on rondo for last nights cause who knows what would have happened if he played out the other way. I think there does have to be a balance though. 27 shots is a lot for.anyone.

People are appluading Rondo for his statline last night, but it still lost the game.  If Carmelo goes for 40+ and his team loses everyone calls him a ball hog that only scores and doesn't win.  I see no difference between that and the "star" of the game last night. 

This team was only winning and beating quality teams when Pierce was the go to guy.  Because I don't care how old he is now, he's still the only true All Star caliber player on the C's roster today.

When the supporting cast around him is struggling and shooting a poor percentage, what exactly is Rondo supposed to do?  Sit around and twiddle this thumbs while guys like Pierce & Allen are struggling? It's called stepping up and someone has to do it.  They lost but I'm glad that Rondo was attempting it.

Pierce sure as heck wasn't an All Star caliber player last night.  All Stars don't shoot 27%.

Plus we were in the game while Rondo was playing that way, when the C's got down 7 in the fourth and he was back in the game he didn't try hero ball by any means. He played like the C's usually do, but tonight Pierce/Ray and the team defense didn't come through.

[IrishGreen]

Last nights loss was due in large to missing KG and his influence  in the defensive end. Not on Rondo. Anyone that thinks otherwise is clutching at straws. Monroe in the low post destroyed us.

[Celtics4ever]

PP was 3-11 and RA was 1-5.  So they had some shots and they blew them.  Rondo played well last night it was not him.

[CelticG1]

I do have to say that I hated the up and.down the court offense we were playing. I know people have been clamoring for players to run with Rondo and how much more effective wed be on offense but our defense suffered drastically.

I think we are best as a team with half court style methodical offense even though that doesn't cater to Rondos game it still gives us the best chance to win every night. Thats why I think people think a solid reliable scoring pg would help us because it would spread the offense more, open it up a little since we arent.a fantastic.1 v 1 team.

[Capricious]

They gave up 98 points to the fricken pistons.  Theres your problem.  Also rebounding - as much as a love triple J, he looks bad against bigger guys (at least he tries to box out, but fails).

Ray can't dribble and he can't break free on screens.  His defense is also looking bad too.  They need to stop spending so much time trying to run plays for him.

Pierce looks like he was sulking when his shot wasn't falling and he wasn't getting the ball.  He did not look engaged at all.

[edwardjkasche]

Fans/Critics aren't 'blaming' Rondo so much as they are...

1) Questioning whether Rondo is the right PG to lead this season's Celtics squad...

2) Questioning whether Rondo has the attributes and characteristics of a leader (incl. consistency) to lead the Celtics into the next era (post-Big-3)...

Since the team is 'probably' not going to win the title this season, the answer to question #2 becomes that much more important.

On his best days, when he's focused and energized, the answer to both is Yes.  During his inconsistent streaks, of which there are many, the answer to both is No.  Due to Rondo's inconsistency, Ainge (and fans) has to consider the fact that the answer to both questions is No.

With every other player on this team (at least the top-6 guys), you know pretty much what you're getting night-in, night-out; taking into account that all players have off nights.  With Rondo, it's almost a nightly crap shoot.

To be fair and honest, the Celtics don't need Rondo to score 30+ points in order to win, so let's not blow his current scoring prowess out of proportion.  On offense, Rondo needs to be focused as a distributor and an attacker, and confident to take the open shot when he has it, but he doesn't need to take 25+ shots per game (he's not MJ and we're not the 90s Bulls). 

Watching the Detroit game last night, I could tell that the longer the team went with Rondo scoring and Allen and Pierce not being involved, the higher the chance the team would lose.  And, in the end, Rondo stopped attacking the basket, stopped hitting his open jump shots, and Allen and Pierce were cold-as-ice from a night of combining to take 16 shots.  There is no reason Rondo should take 27 shots and Allen and Pierce should combine for 16, double-teams or no.  This is not Rondo's fault at all.  This lies on Doc.  He should have tweaked the game plan as the game progressed.

It was nice to see Rondo hitting jump shots, but until he can do that consistently (and that means for more than a handful of games), let's not blow anything out of proportion.

When the team loses, the team is to blame.  When the team wins, the team is the reason.  Every fan knows this.

[PosImpos]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

I'm not going to get on rondo for last nights cause who knows what would have happened if he played out the other way. I think there does have to be a balance though. 27 shots is a lot for.anyone.

People are appluading Rondo for his statline last night, but it still lost the game.  If Carmelo goes for 40+ and his team loses everyone calls him a ball hog that only scores and doesn't win.  I see no difference between that and the "star" of the game last night. 

  I have no trouble imagining some of the posters here sitting at home, watching the Pistons scoring 10 more points a game than they average at well above their usual efficiency and blaming the loss on Rondo.

This team was only winning and beating quality teams when Pierce was the go to guy.  Because I don't care how old he is now, he's still the only true All Star caliber player on the C's roster today.

  This is a patently ridiculous claim.

I didn't watch the game, but I'll jump on board with what I think you're implying here, which is that the reason we lost the game was a breakdown in defense (allowing the opponent to score 98 points) rather than on offense. 

Worth pointing out, though, that Rondo scored almost all of his points in the first 3 quarters, and like the rest of the team basically went totally cold in the 4th.

That's on the team as a whole, though, not Rondo.  But since Rondo had such an easy time scoring earlier in the game, you have to wonder why he suddenly couldn't score in the fourth, or at least use the threat of his scoring to create opportunities for others.

[BballTim]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

I'm not going to get on rondo for last nights cause who knows what would have happened if he played out the other way. I think there does have to be a balance though. 27 shots is a lot for.anyone.

People are appluading Rondo for his statline last night, but it still lost the game.  If Carmelo goes for 40+ and his team loses everyone calls him a ball hog that only scores and doesn't win.  I see no difference between that and the "star" of the game last night. 

  I have no trouble imagining some of the posters here sitting at home, watching the Pistons scoring 10 more points a game than they average at well above their usual efficiency and blaming the loss on Rondo.

This team was only winning and beating quality teams when Pierce was the go to guy.  Because I don't care how old he is now, he's still the only true All Star caliber player on the C's roster today.

  This is a patently ridiculous claim.

I didn't watch the game, but I'll jump on board with what I think you're implying here, which is that the reason we lost the game was a breakdown in defense (allowing the opponent to score 98 points) rather than on offense. 

Worth pointing out, though, that Rondo scored almost all of his points in the first 3 quarters, and like the rest of the team basically went totally cold in the 4th.

That's on the team as a whole, though, not Rondo.  But since Rondo had such an easy time scoring earlier in the game, you have to wonder why he suddenly couldn't score in the fourth, or at least use the threat of his scoring to create opportunities for others.

  I honestly didn't see enough of the 4th quarter to comment on what happened.

[PosImpos]

I agree in general Rondo may get to much criticism...but last night was completely on him.  This team can't go without a point guard.  That's his responsibility

I'm not going to get on rondo for last nights cause who knows what would have happened if he played out the other way. I think there does have to be a balance though. 27 shots is a lot for.anyone.

People are appluading Rondo for his statline last night, but it still lost the game.  If Carmelo goes for 40+ and his team loses everyone calls him a ball hog that only scores and doesn't win.  I see no difference between that and the "star" of the game last night. 

  I have no trouble imagining some of the posters here sitting at home, watching the Pistons scoring 10 more points a game than they average at well above their usual efficiency and blaming the loss on Rondo.

This team was only winning and beating quality teams when Pierce was the go to guy.  Because I don't care how old he is now, he's still the only true All Star caliber player on the C's roster today.

  This is a patently ridiculous claim.

I didn't watch the game, but I'll jump on board with what I think you're implying here, which is that the reason we lost the game was a breakdown in defense (allowing the opponent to score 98 points) rather than on offense. 

Worth pointing out, though, that Rondo scored almost all of his points in the first 3 quarters, and like the rest of the team basically went totally cold in the 4th.

That's on the team as a whole, though, not Rondo.  But since Rondo had such an easy time scoring earlier in the game, you have to wonder why he suddenly couldn't score in the fourth, or at least use the threat of his scoring to create opportunities for others.

  I honestly didn't see enough of the 4th quarter to comment on what happened.

Well, I think we have both watched enough fourth quarter offensive ice-overs from this team over the past few years to more or less surmise what the fourth quarter probably looked like.

[Chris]

I was not thrilled with Rondo shooting as much as he did last night...but it wasn't his fault.  When your star wings don't get open, you need someone to score.  Ray and Pierce took last night off, and had Rondo not stepped up, they would have lost by 30.  

I am by no means the biggest Rondo fan here, but he is certainly not the problem right now (although that might make him, much like Antoine Walker, the most likely player to go).

[Marcus13]

They gave up 98 points to the fricken pistons.  Theres your problem.  Also rebounding - as much as a love triple J, he looks bad against bigger guys (at least he tries to box out, but fails).

Ray can't dribble and he can't break free on screens.  His defense is also looking bad too.  They need to stop spending so much time trying to run plays for him.

Pierce looks like he was sulking when his shot wasn't falling and he wasn't getting the ball.  He did not look engaged at all.

Is that a joke?  That's ALL Ray does.  He does it better than virtually anybody in the game.  Rondo simply wasnt giving him the ball last night

[Fafnir]

They gave up 98 points to the fricken pistons.  Theres your problem.  Also rebounding - as much as a love triple J, he looks bad against bigger guys (at least he tries to box out, but fails).

Ray can't dribble and he can't break free on screens.  His defense is also looking bad too.  They need to stop spending so much time trying to run plays for him.

Pierce looks like he was sulking when his shot wasn't falling and he wasn't getting the ball.  He did not look engaged at all.

Is that a joke?  That's ALL Ray does.  He does it better than virtually anybody in the game.  Rondo simply wasnt giving him the ball last night

Not anymore, Ray Allen is having more and more trouble getting separated from his man. He's become entirely reliant on either great picks or penetration to create shots for him.

[Greenbean]

They gave up 98 points to the fricken pistons.  Theres your problem.  Also rebounding - as much as a love triple J, he looks bad against bigger guys (at least he tries to box out, but fails).

Ray can't dribble and he can't break free on screens.  His defense is also looking bad too.  They need to stop spending so much time trying to run plays for him.

Pierce looks like he was sulking when his shot wasn't falling and he wasn't getting the ball.  He did not look engaged at all.

Is that a joke?  That's ALL Ray does.  He does it better than virtually anybody in the game.  Rondo simply wasnt giving him the ball last night

Ray hasnt been getting open for weeks now. When the play is called for him Rondo waits...and waits...and waits some more.

Im not saying it is Ray's fault either. He doesnt look slower or anything. I just think Doc needs to make an adjustment.


ALSO, KG and JO are the best screeners on the team. JJJ is atrocious and Wilcox isnt much better.

This also factors in.

I didnt see Rondo neglecting a wide open Ray Allen to instead create his own offense.