Don't Worry Tankers, Rondo is Coming Back

[nickagneta]

Couple things:

Ainge says he is still limping but never says when or how much. Could he be limping only after going through a 3 hr, near full contact practice until he gets iced down and massaged or is he limping all the time? Very important piece of information.

Also, he said he is no where near ready to come back in the next couple weeks. Again,missing information is that he isn't coming back until his doctor clears him and his appointment isn't for a couple weeks. So of course he is no where near ready to come back over the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, Rajon has been very coy about things and the team is extremely hesitant to let any reporter see Rondo practice. Why? It could be because he is so bad off they dont want anyone to know? I doubt that, if he had a setback the team would be saying so. No, they are hesitatnt letting people see him practice because he is doing great and the C's don't want to be accused of purposely tanking by holding a player out that can play. That makes a whole lot more sense.

This is the way I see things. The C's held him out of the tough November schedule. The rest of the schedule is much better spaced out. He's coming back real soon.

[BballTim]

Rondo is definitely going to play this year as Ainge will want to get his value up for a potential trade this summer.  You can't trade him for anything more than peanuts if he doesn't suit up at all.  I suspect he will come back towards the end of January.  That way he will be on the court at the trade deadline (though I don't think he gets moved this year) and if by some chance he looks like his old self right out of the gate Boston will still have time to acquire pieces around him for a playoff push (if they go that route).  If he takes awhile to get back into shape that will give him a couple of months to get his sea legs under him in an otherwise lost season.

   I doubt Danny's looking to do anything short term. If they make the playoffs, they make the playoffs. That isn't likely to affect any moves that he'll make, which would be geared towards the future or towards better financial flexibility.

If Boston is still lingering around the Atlantic lead and if Rondo comes back like he hasn't lost a step I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Ainge make all in type moves.  I mean he isn't going to be trading for old men, but I could certainly see him giving up a number of picks and young players to go for a shot this year.

 They've claimed multiple times that they're not going over the threshold this season. What all in type of moves are available this year that would give us a good chance of getting past Indy and Miami?

  This isn't a team like the last few years that needs to accomplish as much as possible before KG/PP got too old. None of the players that would be instrumental in our making the playoffs are 30 yet. He can build up properly over the next couple of years, he doesn't need to put all his eggs in this year's basket.

[TwinTower14]

Couple things:

Ainge says he is still limping but never says when or how much. Could he be limping only after going through a 3 hr, near full contact practice until he gets iced down and massaged or is he limping all the time? Very important piece of information.

Also, he said he is no where near ready to come back in the next couple weeks. Again,missing information is that he isn't coming back until his doctor clears him and his appointment isn't for a couple weeks. So of course he is no where near ready to come back over the next couple of weeks.

Lastly, Rajon has been very coy about things and the team is extremely hesitant to let any reporter see Rondo practice. Why? It could be because he is so bad off they dont want anyone to know? I doubt that, if he had a setback the team would be saying so. No, they are hesitatnt letting people see him practice because he is doing great and the C's don't want to be accused of purposely tanking by holding a player out that can play. That makes a whole lot more sense.

This is the way I see things. The C's held him out of the tough November schedule. The rest of the schedule is much better spaced out. He's coming back real soon.

Ainge said - Limping, needs to get stronger, hasn't seen Andrews yet and won't for two weeks.  I would say he is out at least a month probably closer to 6 weeks...

[mmmmm]

The 'limping' bit doesn't provide any information at all.

If you go and watch a  lot of professional athletes - especially after they've been through a few years of bumps, bruises and injuries - in their everyday lives, off the court/field, you would see that a LOT of them limp when they walk and move at 'normal' speed.

Limps sometimes become habitual after an injury and may or may not have anything to do with health status.   They may or may not have any impact at all on the athlete when in 'competitive motion'.   Physical therapy often tries to correct for limps but it's harder to correct casual mechanics than deterministic ones.  Thus, an athlete will often get his running, jumping & other decisive mechanics corrected sooner and more permanently than he/she will with more casual motion such as walking, which is often done without thinking too much about it.

I.E. - an athlete will know that he should walk without the limp, but catches himself doing it all the time. 

I am not saying Rondo is ready to return any time soon.  Thats up to Rondo and his doctors.   I have no expectations about when he will be back.

But Danny's observation that he saw that Rondo still had a limp really isn't useful for drawing any conclusions about Rondo's return schedule.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Rondo probably NOT returning in 2014

Excerpts from Jay King's reporting:

Despite several optimistic reports lately, injured Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is "not close" to a return, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub Thursday morning.

"I don't think he's close, meaning I don't think it's going to happen for the next few weeks," Ainge said during an appearance on Toucher & Rich.

"We're not on pins and needles about it. We're being very cautious with Rondo, and I think he still has a little bit of a limp. His strength is still not quite there. He is making progress but we're not close."

"He's just not himself yet, but he's getting there and he's pushing himself to get there," Ainge said. "Listen, we're going to be very cautious with him and make sure he's right before he comes back. There's just a little bit of a limp still, and he's got to get that strength in his knee back to 100 percent before we'll let him back out on the court."

Rondo WILL be back in 2014.

for sure, in october. 

[colincb]

It's unlikely that Rondo comes back from an ACL at 100% on in the near future AND that his return transforms the Cs into a contender. Without such a transformatiom, it's difficult to imagine Ainge going over the cap.

[BudweiserCeltic]

It's unlikely that Rondo comes back from an ACL at 100% on in the near future AND that his return transforms the Cs into a contender. Without such a transformatiom, it's difficult to imagine Ainge going over the cap.

Ainge is not going over the cap this season whether Rondo transforms this team into an uber contender or not, and it doesn't have anything to do with paying tax this year, but avoiding becoming a team with a repeater tax penalty which is quite steep.

[D.o.s.]

It's unlikely that Rondo comes back from an ACL at 100% on in the near future AND that his return transforms the Cs into a contender. Without such a transformatiom, it's difficult to imagine Ainge going over the cap.

Ainge is not going over the cap this season whether Rondo transforms this team into an uber contender or not, and it doesn't have anything to do with paying tax this year, but avoiding becoming a team with a repeater tax penalty which is quite steep.

I think that if this team turns into a real contender the ownership might sign off on starting the timer on the repeater penalty.

I don't see us becoming a team that could legitimately make it to the Finals, though.

[aporel#18]

He's probably coming back in January, and my guess is 1/13 against the Rockets. First home game after a West road trip, and just before a stretch of games against Lakers, Heat... on time to be ready for the Nets visit, and to get a little exposure just before the trade deadline.

By then, we'll probably have Stoudamire waiting for Rondo to play 2-man game in Celtic Green...

[manl_lui]

He's probably coming back in January, and my guess is 1/13 against the Rockets. First home game after a West road trip, and just before a stretch of games against Lakers, Heat... on time to be ready for the Nets visit, and to get a little exposure just before the trade deadline.

By then, we'll probably have Stoudamire waiting for Rondo to play 2-man game in Celtic Green...

If we're swapping Hump or Wallace I am all up for it

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I figure he'll come back about 10-20 games before the trade deadline.  Where does that put his return?

Edit:  Jan 8-26

Enough time to showcase and ship.

soooooooooooooooooo, Jcraw will be our new star PG? 

[Onslaught]

"He's just not himself yet"-
Danny Ainge

"I just don't think he's close yet"-
Danny Ainge

On 98.5 the sports hub.

Thoughts?

I like Danny Ainge a good amount. But I don't trust him at all. Has he given us much reason to trust anything he's said over the last few years?

[indeedproceed]

"He's just not himself yet"-
Danny Ainge

"I just don't think he's close yet"-
Danny Ainge

On 98.5 the sports hub.

Thoughts?

I like Danny Ainge a good amount. But I don't trust him at all. Has he given us much reason to trust anything he's said over the last few years?

I agree in most instances, for me this basically just means, 'He's not playing for a while, a good while.'

It doesn't mean he can't play, it doesn't mean it's Rondo's intention to voluntarily not play, but it does mean Jordan Crawford has a little job security for at least a month.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Tanking? A one-armed Rondo has dominated on the biggest stage.

[Bankshot]

Tanking? A one-armed Rondo has dominated on the biggest stage.

But with one arm, he can still run up and down the court pretty easily.  Not so easy with this injury.