Like many star players, defensive consistency slowly drops off when asked to carry more offensive burden. Still capable of turning up the heat and being a dominant defensive PG when he feels like it.
When exactly did we start asking him to carry "more offensive burden", because I can't detect any major differences in his contribution over the last 3-4 years or so.
Agreed. I don't think his defense has anything to do with the offensive burden he's carrying... OK, maybe slightly, but it's a meaningless excuse on my book.
KG and Pierce still carry the bulk of our offensive burden, yet they at least play something that resembles defense, while KG excels at it.
I'd have more sympathy for Rondo if he was actually pushing up the tempo, running the floor constantly, being aggressive offensively, but he can't do even that much. He loves to walk the ball up the floor, pound the basketball milking the shot clock, then pass it to KG/Pierce and let them go to work. Oversimplification, I know, but I really think the offensive burden excuse is way overused.