Pierce: Rondo can be the face of the franchise

[wdleehi]

I want Brooklyn to be an absolutely crushing, bruising, dominating team that just "hands it" to Miami in the playoffs - and I mean ugly.

I want that more than I want the Nets to crash and burn so we get a good pick. We're going to be just fin on our rebuild.

I want Lopez, KG, Evans & Blatche to beat the crap out of Miami in the paint. I want to see Pierce and Kirilenko give LeBron fits. And I';d like to see Joe Johnson beat up on Wade in the post.

I just don't want to watch another Miami championship. I think San Antonio had it and just gave it away in game 6. I dont' want a repeat and I think if everything clicks in Brooklyn and they stay healthy, they can stick to Miami very nicely indeed.

The mental and physical toughness that Pierce and KG will bring to that team will make a lot of difference.


Aren't our picks from them after this year's draft anyway?

Let the downward spiral happen sooner vs. later.

[j804]

Nice to see rondo getting the credit he deserves especially from a talented legend like Pierce who had several underrated years of his own.

well he was his ex teammate for years what do folks expect him to say he can't lead he has attitude problems but yeah i miss p double already man

[vinnie]

I want Brooklyn to be an absolutely crushing, bruising, dominating team that just "hands it" to Miami in the playoffs - and I mean ugly.

I want that more than I want the Nets to crash and burn so we get a good pick. We're going to be just fin on our rebuild.

I want Lopez, KG, Evans & Blatche to beat the crap out of Miami in the paint. I want to see Pierce and Kirilenko give LeBron fits. And I';d like to see Joe Johnson beat up on Wade in the post.

I just don't want to watch another Miami championship. I think San Antonio had it and just gave it away in game 6. I dont' want a repeat and I think if everything clicks in Brooklyn and they stay healthy, they can stick to Miami very nicely indeed.

The mental and physical toughness that Pierce and KG will bring to that team will make a lot of difference.


Aren't our picks from them after this year's draft anyway?

A thousand times this

[aporel#18]

Pierce is right. I miss him already, and I hope he can sign with the Cs when his Nets contract is over.

Pierce and KG are Celtics in my mind. I'll root for them when the Celtics are out of the playoffs. And I hope they do well this year, if the Cs don't win the Championship I want KG, Pierce and the Jet to win their second ring and crush Pat Riley's Big Three Stooges. One of the good things about Doc leaving is not having coaching staff links to Riley.

I'm ok with a pick in the 20s in the next Draft, I think 2016, 2017 and 2018 can be the big prize for sending our vets to Brooklyn.

It's too soon for that, but nbadraft.net has McAdoo at #21 and Isiah Austin at #32. Either one could be a great Bass replacement for the future, and looking at what happened with Fab or JJJ, a decent backup PF could be great value in the 20s.

The Cs will have a lottery pick of their own, and with a bit of luck they could draft a star player, so I'm willing to wait for lottery picks coming from Brooklyn.

[crimson_stallion]

Part of me really hopes that the Nets just fall apart and have a terrible season, and that PP signs a 2 year contract at a discounted rate to be JG's backup.  I know that is far fetched...but still.

Is it OK with that same part of you that wants the Nets to fall apart that the cHeat have an easier path to the title, because that is what'll happen should that part of you get its wish.

Just askin', cause every part of me will route forever for Pierce and KG over the likes of Judas, thug Wade and LeBroid...but that's just me.

imo the Nets aren't stopping the heat.  it will need to be some other team, probably from the west.

and no, I don't hate the heat more than I would want PP back on the C's.  just sayin'

Any reason why you say Brooklyn aren't stopping Miami?

1) Ray was the first of Boston's big three to decline, and that downhill spiral will only get wosrse

2) Wade has struggled with injuries and looked like a shadow of himself at times in the past year

3) Bosh has proven time and time again that he dissapears on the big stage (i.e. Playoffs) more often than not

4) Miami has struggled against bigger teams in the past, and Brooklyn's twin 7-footers now gives them the biggest (and possibly the best) frontcourt in the NBA.  Miami's plan of attack against this is a 7 footer who hasn't played more than 30 games in about 5 years.

Brooklyn right now is team that you absolutely cannot afford to make mistakes against.  Defensively your rotations need to be perfect - they have 5 guys on the court who are outstanding scorers, and not one of those guys can be left alone.  With single coverage Garnett and Lopez will give Miami's frontcourt fits in the low post.  Double-team those guys and Deron, Johnson and Pierce will kill you from the perimeter.  Wade will be forced to defend either Pierce or Johnson, both of whom have about 3-4" and 20 pounds on him, and both of whom are elite post up players at their position.  Chalmers will need to try to contain Deron, who has a similar size / post up advantage over him as well.  All 5 of those guys are above average defensive players, so it won't be easy to score against them either.

KG has not averaged averaged under 14 PPG / 50% FG since joining Boston in 2008 and has given Miami fits every time he played them - he's the 5th best scorer in Brooklyn's starting 5.

Miami's only hope against Brooklyn is that Greg Oden finally proves healthy and becomes an impact big, and even then they will struggle.   

[sed522002]

Nice to see rondo getting the credit he deserves especially from a talented legend like Pierce who had several underrated years of his own.

well he was his ex teammate for years what do folks expect him to say he can't lead he has attitude problems but yeah i miss p double already man

I wouldn't expect PP to throw him under the bus, but Pierce seems like a straight shooter and if he didn't feel like Rondo was capable, he wouldn't have gone in depth about Rondo. Probably a "I think he can do it, we'll have to see" type comment. Because we really don't know what's going to happen this season..the suspense.

[BballTim]

Pierce said he relayed some strong messages about how Rondo should conduct himself as team leader.

“Without question [he can be the man in Boston],” Pierce said. “I’ve already talked to Rajon; Rajon’s mature. People talk about the relationship with Doc [Rivers], and they probably had their best years over the last two years. So I don’t think that was a reason for Doc leaving. I’ve heard that, but that wasn’t a reason for Doc not coming back.

“Rondo is one of the best players in the league. He’s a guy who can be the face of a franchise. He’s won a championship, he’s been an All-Star. There’s a lot of organizations who don’t even have a face of that caliber.

“I definitely think he’s matured and can handle a lot. I talked to him and he’s ready for the challenge. He knows that it’s his team. He knows he has to be a leader, and from being around me and Kevin [Garnett] and seeing how we work.”

With Pierce and Garnett gone, Rondo will take on much of the responsibility of keeping the Celtics respectable. But Pierce said Rondo needs assistance from teammates such as Jeff Green, who may capitalize on Pierce and Garnett not being there.

“Rondo’s got to understand he’s got to put responsibility on some of the other guys,” Pierce said. “Maybe like a Brandon Bass or some of the older players. It’s hard when it comes from just one guy. There’s got to be other guys who command respect on the team, that help out with that role.”

  I don't think anyone who's followed what the players and management have been saying about Rondo over the past few years would be surprised to hear PP say that.