Love the steal, but...

[bostonman1]

From Doc Rivers -

"I wish (Rondo) had went down the middle of the floor, I think you should ALWAYS go down the middle of the floor, especially when have a big on you. Listen, it’s a turnover, it’s a fast break -- we were just trying to go. I thought Kevin set a nice step-up pick; I was hoping he would attack the basket

I am sure Doc has the team practice these type of end game situations where the C's have no timeouts left and need a basket.  Rondo for some reason didn't go towards the middle.  It's reasonable to wonder if him not wanting to get fouled and be at the free throw line was in his mind...

[KGs Knee]

First off, yeah it was a bad idea for Rondo to dribble into the corner.  You just should never do that.  Rondo could have passed to KG but it would have had to have been a long two or a three atte.OT for KG.  Smith might have deflected the pass though.

Ultimately, I can't blame Rondo too much though.  It was just a tough spot, especially for a guy who rarely ever has the ball in thy type of situation.

As a side note though.  The refs actually screwed up the call though.  It probably makes zero difference, but Rondo actually lost th ball out of bounds with about 1.5 seconds left on the clock.  Maybe a miracle happens.

Oh well, put them away Thursday, and it's water under the bridge.

[Dunn]

I wonder if fans just think our pathetic front court rebounding just doesn't factor into loses. Let our fans get on Rondo but whether it's this series or one against a now rested Pacers' front court, you should not win when you rebound that bad.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I wonder if fans just think our pathetic front court rebounding just doesn't factor into loses. Let our fans get on Rondo but whether it's this series or one against a now rested Pacers' front court, you should not win when you rebound that bad.

Can't take you seriously if you don't even know who we may face if we get to the next round! Sixers lost tonight, they wont be any more rested than we will be unless they win on Thursday and we lose! Pacers face whoever wins out of Mia and NYK! Also, we get out-rebounded mostly every game we win (we are one of the worst rebounding teams), so yea, the problem is execution of (sometimes)offense and defense (tonight PP was horrible on defense, it really killed us... blame his injury but it really hurt us)!

[Moranis]

Not sure how this became a Rondo sucks thread.  I was actually blaming Doc not Rondo as the whole team seemed lost.  It was like they didn't plan on a steal and had no idea what to do if that happened.  Pierce was no where near the ball and he should have been the one to take that shot.  KG was the only person that seemed to know what to do.  The whole team was totally lost, including of course Rondo.

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

You guys are overreacting over a last second broken play and are after Rondo's head for no reason..

What about the HUGE shots we were making down the stretch to even get it close?  Rondo made some big baskets, Ray hit a clutch 3, so did Pierce..

We had a chance to win it after an unexpected steal on an inbounds play with 10 seconds to get it up the floor and score.  The only mistake Rondo made was dribbling it towards the baseline instead of heading str8 up the middle where he would have had more options to either drive to the basket and score or pass it to Ray, Pierce, Pietrus or KG.. 

He dribbled to the left side which took Ray, Pierce and Pietrus out of the play..  You could actually blame them for not moving to give Rondo better passing lanes.. But this stuff happens.. Especially on plays as unexpected as this..

And for those of you saying Rondo is scared to take last second shots.. He hit a buzzer beating 3 at the end of the half.. so he's definitely capable..

This was just a broken play that had very little chance of success anyway.. Shiz happens.. Get over it.. Game 6 in BOSTON.  C's will be ready.

[wdleehi]

This shows Rondo's inexperience in having the ball in his hand with under 10 seconds at the end of the game without a set play. 



Normally, the Celtics would have gotten the ball in Pierce's hands, but let's be honest, offensively last night, Pierce was a shell of himself. 


Rondo still should have at worst gotten his shot blocked. 

[Roy H.]

I'm going to continue to contend that Rondo got stuck with the worst set of circumstances imaginable after his steal. He had to make it across the court in 6 seconds with one of the best defenders in the NBA blanketing him, then ran into the worst possible player on the court when he finally found some daylight.

Add to that that his teammates weren't looking for the ball on the way up court, and that nobody seemed to get open once the ball crossed half court.

[pearljammer10]

Jeez. No one else on The Celtics did anything that could even be construed as productive on that final possession. No screen, no proper spacing.

And tie game or not everyone's savior, CP3, did the exact same thing in the Clips/Griz game.

PP missed a layup and airballed a J.

Give me a break with scapegoating Rondo.

It is a broken record and a bad one at that. It reveals far more about personal bias than it does about what occured on the court.

Rondo, a right hand dominant point guard, with 3 guys standing on the right side of the court, goes left into a trap by a bigger defender and doesnt pass the ball to an open garnett off the first screen. Why go left?! Oye.

[MBz]

Does anyone else think Ray Allen should have been on the floor at this point just because they had no time outs?  Not that it would have mattered, but I just feel like with no time outs if you do get a steal you obviously want him out there over Bradley who looked very uncomfortable out there.

[wdleehi]

Does anyone else think Ray Allen should have been on the floor at this point just because they had no time outs?  Not that it would have mattered, but I just feel like with no time outs if you do get a steal you obviously want him out there over Bradley who looked very uncomfortable out there.

No.  Bradley gave you the better chance to get the steal.

[slamtheking]

This shows Rondo's inexperience in having the ball in his hand with under 10 seconds at the end of the game without a set play. 



Normally, the Celtics would have gotten the ball in Pierce's hands, but let's be honest, offensively last night, Pierce was a shell of himself. 


Rondo still should have at worst gotten his shot blocked. 

what it actually shows is that the whole 'experienced' team was too dumb to immediately foul the Hawks on their next to last possession and let 8 seconds off the clock thereby screwing themselves on that last steal

[nyceltsfan]

When it comes down to it, I can pinpoint 2 major things (aside from the rebounding) that cost the Celts the game - Ray Allen's free throw shooting and uncontested dunks allowed.  There was an article by Hollinger this morning wondering why Bass was a -22, when his offense showed up.  Well, all one has to do is look at the endless number of jams Horford had while Bass was in the game.  Every time Garnett left the paint to guard the outside, no one rotated inside to cover the rolling big man.  It was fundamentals that killed us last night.  It's hard to fault a team for defense when they only gave up 87 points, but those jams (and Pierce's laziness/knee problems on the 3 pointers at the end of the first half) were killers.

[wdleehi]

This shows Rondo's inexperience in having the ball in his hand with under 10 seconds at the end of the game without a set play. 



Normally, the Celtics would have gotten the ball in Pierce's hands, but let's be honest, offensively last night, Pierce was a shell of himself. 


Rondo still should have at worst gotten his shot blocked. 

what it actually shows is that the whole 'experienced' team was too dumb to immediately foul the Hawks on their next to last possession and let 8 seconds off the clock thereby screwing themselves on that last steal

Also true.

[mgent]

This shows Rondo's inexperience in having the ball in his hand with under 10 seconds at the end of the game without a set play. 



Normally, the Celtics would have gotten the ball in Pierce's hands, but let's be honest, offensively last night, Pierce was a shell of himself. 


Rondo still should have at worst gotten his shot blocked. 

Pierce could have been 0-17, you still give him the ball, or worst case let Ray take a contested shot.  At least then we get a chance.  Even if they've missed the last 5 shots in a row, they're so good they still think that next one is going in.  Especially after an airball, I definitely wouldn't have minded a redemption shot.  Rondo has proven to be one of the least efficient (scoring-wise) players in the league during crunch time, and until he proves otherwise there are AT LEAST 3 better options to go to.  It is thoroughly embarrassing to not even get a shot off in a playoff game down 1, I'm not sure I've ever seen it before.

I'm 100% with Doc on this one.  I don't know what makes Rondo so scared of attacking the rim in the 4th quarter.  I'd love to know what was going through his head dribbling into the corner with Horford on him.  Doc seemed to like the KG screen, but I would've preferred Rondo just going at Smith one on one.  Or a 1-3 with Pierce to avoid the trap.