Rondo should be Ashamed of Himself!

[EJPLAYA]

You can take that one and put it squarely on the shoulders of "superstar" Rajon Rondo. How on earth he can sit there and refuse to penetrate with the ball again and again running down the clock and having their half court offense end up with a late contested jumper is beyond me. That second quarter he, along with others, attacked the rim and they dropped 35 points on the Heat. They then proceeded to play right into Miami's hands and settled for garbage shots.

Yes it didn't help that Pierce and Allen were 6-25 combined, but this one is square on our floor generals head. Terrible passiveness from Rajon resulting in stagnant offense. How maddening can one player be. Is he that stupid that he doesn't realize that when he attacks the rim he is an all-star, and when he stands around and dribbles he is a scrub?! Doc gets blame too, because a coach should have pulled him from the game if he wasn't willing to go to the basket.

Man up Rondo and stop playing like a scrub or this series is over before it has begun.

TP

I COMPLETELY agree with you. It was so evident that the quarter where the Celtics scored the most (2nd quarter, 35 points) was the quarter that Rondo was not being passive and attacking the paint to create opportunities for his teammates

How can you not blame Rondo for how he performed in this game? And don't use those cupcake stats. Watch the game and see the initial reason and not the end result. Yes his teammates missed shots, but if Rondo dribbles the ball on the top of the key for 22 seconds, then passes it to his teammates, obviously its going to be a low percentage shots, which causes them to miss

I like Rondo, but sometimes  I...Cant...stand...him... lol this guy is ruining it for the Celtics wit his out of space ET dumb plays. The 2nd quarter Rondo was attacking the rim and getting everyone invovled. Then in the second half he decided to phone home and stop driving

TP. Thats what I saw as well. Not sure how it could have been viewed any other way. If Rondo hadn't done this a thousand times before in previous series and regular season games then it may not be such a big deal, however this is his M.O. He shows up huge when he wants to and then wilts away at times when he chooses not to.

[EJPLAYA]

Yeah the I watched the game, I am just not sure if you did.  Wade and LJ are ELITE defenders.  Do you understand that?  The two were matched up against him a LOT in the 2nd half.  Wade and Lebron are probably almost as quick as RR and have way better hops and strength.  You have to understand the context and who we are playing and who is being defended by who before you start calling out Rondo.  Get a clue.

STATS dont support that it was Rondo's fault we lost the game.
16 points
9 rebounds
7 assists

8-20 from the field.  He was driving to the hoop. 

I really don't think Rondo played that bad or passively.  The heat have elite defenders that aren't very easy to take advantage of.  He did take the ball to the rim a number of times.  We just need to get better shots.  The heat's D is tough, and we need to find ways to get easier shots.

I think the 6-25 from PP/RA is the big problem from this game.  As well as the weak start / low energy of the start of the game.
I don't think you lay this loss on Rondo.  The stats certainly don't support it.

The stats don't support it?! He made one shot from outside the paint all game. He sat outside the three point line dribbling most of the 1st, third, and 4th quarters. He made no attempt to drive at Lebron and use his speed to create the mismatch and at least force them to adjust. That 2nd quarter where we played great he was going to the rim almost every time down the floor creating open shots for others or layups for himself. Did you not even watch the game?!

Thats right because Wade AND Lebron were guarding him at the same time... Rondo had the second worst +/- in the game barely behind PP. There's a reason for that. Sure he got a few long rebounds off of the outside jumpers everyone had to shoot since he was once again often dribbling out the shot clock. He was very good in the 2nd quarter at attacking and look at the results. After that he wasn't at all. Not sure why we can't acknowledge the fact that he once again took most of the game off. Yes Lebron is a good defender, however Rondo is a lot faster with better handles and forces defenders to help. This opens up shooters for OPEN jumpers which they knock down well vs. shooting with their man's hand in their face. (which we don't knock down well)

Either you are Rondo blind, Rondo himself, or maybe his mother?!

I don't care how faster he is than LeBron. Everytime he gets to the lane he gets trapped. There's always a defender waiting. Like I said, clearly it's his fault that Miami played great  against him. Ita his fault that even when he drives the lane he gets smothered by white jerseys. Its his fault that we he passes to someone who is open, they dont make em. Yep, blame it all on him. Not sure why you can't acknowledge te fact that Miami adjusted their defense in the 2nd half to clearly stop that Rondo drive.

DING DING DING!!!! We have a winner. You are right. There is a defender waiting for him because he has rotated off of his man. This allows Rondo to pass the ball to that guys man who then has a wide open shot. If someone rotates to him then he swings to the next guy who for sure is open. Really simple that strategy! If Lebron were actually preventing him from driving then that is one thing. Rondo just didn't want to attempt it. There were way too many open opportunities he passed up to have that be the answer. 

It's not to easy when he's SURROUNDED and has no passing vision now is it? Also,  sme of the open shots he feed, wasn't falling.

How are you SURROUNDED when you are sitting at the top of the key outside the three point line dribbling the ball?!

[indeedproceed]

Locking the thread. If you have questions, PM me, I'll be up for a little while yet.