Am I the only who thinks that Rondo is really not playing well?

[BballTim]

I'd like to see you tear your ACL and then try and get back to you're day job or whatever it is that you do for a living and be the best that you can be 100%....

That's all.

I think sometimes we forget that these Athletes are human too..

you are a true homer fan. Because you see guys like Westbrook after two surgeries , still coming back and playing almost as he was never injured. 

It's the lack of effort that is a problem with me.  It's the not playing 2 games in a row by now that is a problem. He has stated he is close 100 percent himself, yet he still doesn't play back to back games. And its his choice, its been already said by Stevens and Ainge.

  Just curious, when did Danny say it was Rondo's choice to skip back to backs? Danny said a while ago that Rondo wouldn't be playing any back to backs this season, which doesn't sound at all like "he'll decide whether he wants to play in them or not when the time comes".

[bobbyv]

I haven't watched many games this season, but the ones I've seen of him, he's doing alright. Not the player he was last year obviously, but he's doing decent. I expect to see a much better Rondo next year.

[Donoghus]

I thought the game he played on Friday night was real good.  I think he's coming along nicely since returning from the injury. 

I've said it since day one; I don't think we'll really know what we'll have with post-injury Rondo til early '15.

Eager to seem them get some real talent around him, though.  This is a pretty crap roster he's playing with right now.

[timobusa]

I'd like to see you tear your ACL and then try and get back to you're day job or whatever it is that you do for a living and be the best that you can be 100%....

That's all.

I think sometimes we forget that these Athletes are human too..

you are a true homer fan. Because you see guys like Westbrook after two surgeries , still coming back and playing almost as he was never injured. 

It's the lack of effort that is a problem with me.  It's the not playing 2 games in a row by now that is a problem. He has stated he is close 100 percent himself, yet he still doesn't play back to back games. And its his choice, its been already said by Stevens and Ainge.

His defense is astrocious and causes everyone else to look bad, bc they have to try to cover for his mistake and get burnt by their man.  He also rarely goes end to end to get that transition basket that you need a few times a game to help the team out

Again i'm not asking for him to try to reinjure himself. But he seems to play like a guy who has won it all, who is considered a star and doesn't need to do the small things anymore. A guy who is playing for a contract instead of the well being of the team. A guy who select passes the ball instead of letting other guys also pass the ball and let the offense flow.  Maybe bc he is a poor shooter and now can't drive and finish, he has to hold onto something and needs to pad his stats somehow

Overall, since the start of last season, he has helped the team lose.  He has to play better , thats the bottom line. Starting next season, i hope fans here don't write in anymore excuses bc it's tiring to hear. Just do it and help/put the team in the best position to win.

This whole novel you wrote is laughable.

Not playing back to back games were announced way before there was talks of him coming back.

Every injury is different for every player. Westbrook is a far more superior athlete than Rondo, and last time I checked he didn't tear his ACL. He had a slight tear in his right Meniscus.

OKC are contenders the Celtics are not.

His defense is a part of the defensive scheme. And guess what, when you play defense you need your lateral movement, and that's hard to do if you are recovering from a torn ACL.

Your assumptions about Rondo is quite hilarious. "A guy that has won it all and is playing for a contract"

That's far from what his personality is. This guy hates losing more than he loves winning. Heck, he's obsessed with Connect 4 and does not like losing at that either.

You're just one of those guys that are trying to blame this wash of a season on Rondo.

And you're right I'm a homer. I'm a Celtics Fan. Period.

[SHAQATTACK]

I think Rondo had made amazing progress.  He'll get better.....he is just testing himself for spurts here and there...he wanted that game against the Heat ...you could tell it.

Rondo know what is going on......what is on the line.....he knows .

I wish he stay on the bench though and let us loose so we can give him a better teammate next year.

[CoachBo]

I'd like to see you tear your ACL and then try and get back to you're day job or whatever it is that you do for a living and be the best that you can be 100%....

That's all.

I think sometimes we forget that these Athletes are human too..

you are a true homer fan. Because you see guys like Westbrook after two surgeries , still coming back and playing almost as he was never injured. 

It's the lack of effort that is a problem with me.  It's the not playing 2 games in a row by now that is a problem. He has stated he is close 100 percent himself, yet he still doesn't play back to back games. And its his choice, its been already said by Stevens and Ainge.

His defense is astrocious and causes everyone else to look bad, bc they have to try to cover for his mistake and get burnt by their man.  He also rarely goes end to end to get that transition basket that you need a few times a game to help the team out

Again i'm not asking for him to try to reinjure himself. But he seems to play like a guy who has won it all, who is considered a star and doesn't need to do the small things anymore. A guy who is playing for a contract instead of the well being of the team. A guy who select passes the ball instead of letting other guys also pass the ball and let the offense flow.  Maybe bc he is a poor shooter and now can't drive and finish, he has to hold onto something and needs to pad his stats somehow

Overall, since the start of last season, he has helped the team lose.  He has to play better , thats the bottom line. Starting next season, i hope fans here don't write in anymore excuses bc it's tiring to hear. Just do it and help/put the team in the best position to win.

This whole novel you wrote is laughable.

Not playing back to back games were announced way before there was talks of him coming back.

Every injury is different for every player. Westbrook is a far more superior athlete than Rondo, and last time I checked he didn't tear his ACL. He had a slight tear in his right Meniscus.

OKC are contenders the Celtics are not.

His defense is a part of the defensive scheme. And guess what, when you play defense you need your lateral movement, and that's hard to do if you are recovering from a torn ACL.

Your assumptions about Rondo is quite hilarious. "A guy that has won it all and is playing for a contract"

That's far from what his personality is. This guy hates losing more than he loves winning. Heck, he's obsessed with Connect 4 and does not like losing at that either.

You're just one of those guys that are trying to blame this wash of a season on Rondo.

And you're right I'm a homer. I'm a Celtics Fan. Period.

Couple of things. Westbrook is coming off an ACL tear - last year.

While I agree that the back-to-backs aren't a big deal, it's fascinating to see people adopt all the good things they've read about Rondo as fact and assume they're deeply inside his head, all the while dismissing every single negative thing they've ever read about him. If there's one overriding lesson you learn from this blog, it's that people truly do only find interest in the information that affirms what they want to believe. They disregard the rest.

Is Rondo playing well? No. It's been years since I thought his defensive effort was even remotely adequate. He is the most overblown "great defender" in the history of this franchise. He can still pass the basketball, and he can still create shots for others - when he's not busy stopping the basketball, a pre-injury trait that also erodes his value on the open market. His effectiveness attacking the rim isn't what it was; he's at best a slightly below average defender.

But the people on this board who love Rondo more than life itself should rejoice in that, especially in the middle of a terrible waste of a season. His trade value still isn't enough to make dealing him worthwhile. No GM who looks at film of the post-injury Rondo this year is going to give up significant assets to get him. They are professionals, not hero-worshipping fans claiming on a blog to know exactly how badly someone they've likely never met actually wants to win.

Is this season even remotely his fault? Not in the slightest. But he's not back to the point where he's an elite player. If anything, I'd say his recovery has fallen slightly short of what I would have expected at a minimum.

Some of it may well be physical; some of it may well be mental. But we haven't seen anything elite from Rondo this year. Not even close.

Next year is going to be huge for him. The post-injury Rondo is nowhere close to max contract status thus far. Until he gets to the point where he can break a defender down consistently off the dribble, attack with the basketball and play even average keep-your-man-in-front defense, the notion that he deserves a max contract is the vestige of his fans, not the professionals who make their money being right.

[D.o.s.]

The post-injury Rondo is nowhere close to max contract status thus far. Until he gets to the point where he can break a defender down consistently off the dribble, attack with the basketball and play even average keep-your-man-in-front defense, the notion that he deserves a max contract is the vestige of his fans, not the professionals who make their money being right.

I agree with this, but I'm not sure anyone doesn't.

[fairweatherfan]

Couple of things. Westbrook is coming off an ACL tear - last year.

While I agree that the back-to-backs aren't a big deal, it's fascinating to see people adopt all the good things they've read about Rondo as fact and assume they're deeply inside his head, all the while dismissing every single negative thing they've ever read about him. If there's one overriding lesson you learn from this blog, it's that people truly do only find interest in the information that affirms what they want to believe. They disregard the rest.

Is Rondo playing well? No. It's been years since I thought his defensive effort was even remotely adequate. He is the most overblown "great defender" in the history of this franchise. He can still pass the basketball, and he can still create shots for others - when he's not busy stopping the basketball, a pre-injury trait that also erodes his value on the open market. His effectiveness attacking the rim isn't what it was; he's at best a slightly below average defender.

But the people on this board who love Rondo more than life itself should rejoice in that, especially in the middle of a terrible waste of a season. His trade value still isn't enough to make dealing him worthwhile. No GM who looks at film of the post-injury Rondo this year is going to give up significant assets to get him. They are professionals, not hero-worshipping fans claiming on a blog to know exactly how badly someone they've likely never met actually wants to win.

Is this season even remotely his fault? Not in the slightest. But he's not back to the point where he's an elite player. If anything, I'd say his recovery has fallen slightly short of what I would have expected at a minimum.

Some of it may well be physical; some of it may well be mental. But we haven't seen anything elite from Rondo this year. Not even close.

Next year is going to be huge for him. The post-injury Rondo is nowhere close to max contract status thus far. Until he gets to the point where he can break a defender down consistently off the dribble, attack with the basketball and play even average keep-your-man-in-front defense, the notion that he deserves a max contract is the vestige of his fans, not the professionals who make their money being right.

If there's one overriding lesson I've learned from this blog, it's how often people will criticize a tendency in other posters and then immediately and without irony show the exact same tendency from their own perspective.

[BballTim]

I'd like to see you tear your ACL and then try and get back to you're day job or whatever it is that you do for a living and be the best that you can be 100%....

That's all.

I think sometimes we forget that these Athletes are human too..

you are a true homer fan. Because you see guys like Westbrook after two surgeries , still coming back and playing almost as he was never injured. 

It's the lack of effort that is a problem with me.  It's the not playing 2 games in a row by now that is a problem. He has stated he is close 100 percent himself, yet he still doesn't play back to back games. And its his choice, its been already said by Stevens and Ainge.

His defense is astrocious and causes everyone else to look bad, bc they have to try to cover for his mistake and get burnt by their man.  He also rarely goes end to end to get that transition basket that you need a few times a game to help the team out

Again i'm not asking for him to try to reinjure himself. But he seems to play like a guy who has won it all, who is considered a star and doesn't need to do the small things anymore. A guy who is playing for a contract instead of the well being of the team. A guy who select passes the ball instead of letting other guys also pass the ball and let the offense flow.  Maybe bc he is a poor shooter and now can't drive and finish, he has to hold onto something and needs to pad his stats somehow

Overall, since the start of last season, he has helped the team lose.  He has to play better , thats the bottom line. Starting next season, i hope fans here don't write in anymore excuses bc it's tiring to hear. Just do it and help/put the team in the best position to win.

This whole novel you wrote is laughable.

Not playing back to back games were announced way before there was talks of him coming back.

Every injury is different for every player. Westbrook is a far more superior athlete than Rondo, and last time I checked he didn't tear his ACL. He had a slight tear in his right Meniscus.

OKC are contenders the Celtics are not.

His defense is a part of the defensive scheme. And guess what, when you play defense you need your lateral movement, and that's hard to do if you are recovering from a torn ACL.

Your assumptions about Rondo is quite hilarious. "A guy that has won it all and is playing for a contract"

That's far from what his personality is. This guy hates losing more than he loves winning. Heck, he's obsessed with Connect 4 and does not like losing at that either.

You're just one of those guys that are trying to blame this wash of a season on Rondo.

And you're right I'm a homer. I'm a Celtics Fan. Period.

Couple of things. Westbrook is coming off an ACL tear - last year.

While I agree that the back-to-backs aren't a big deal, it's fascinating to see people adopt all the good things they've read about Rondo as fact and assume they're deeply inside his head, all the while dismissing every single negative thing they've ever read about him. If there's one overriding lesson you learn from this blog, it's that people truly do only find interest in the information that affirms what they want to believe. They disregard the rest.

  It's not that people disregard the rest, it's that they've followed the nba long enough to look at Rondo with perspective and not in a vacuum and don't act like they've never heard of a player with as bad an attitude as Rondo. Saying "Rondo can be a pain in the butt, so can LeBron and Kobe and KG and PP and others" isn't disregarding what he's done. It's understanding that it's not that out of the ordinary for star players.

But the people on this board who love Rondo more than life itself should rejoice in that, especially in the middle of a terrible waste of a season. His trade value still isn't enough to make dealing him worthwhile. No GM who looks at film of the post-injury Rondo this year is going to give up significant assets to get him. They are professionals, not hero-worshipping fans claiming on a blog to know exactly how badly someone they've likely never met actually wants to win.

  Truth be told, you don't have the slightest idea whether this is true or not. Before he came back there was a quote from another team's GM that Danny wouldn't trade Rondo without a great return *and he shouldn't*. He hasn't had a poor enough return to show that would be clearly false by any stretch of the imagination. You talk about other posters thinking they're in Rondo's head, you're doing the exact same thing here.

Next year is going to be huge for him. The post-injury Rondo is nowhere close to max contract status thus far. Until he gets to the point where he can break a defender down consistently off the dribble, attack with the basketball and play even average keep-your-man-in-front defense, the notion that he deserves a max contract is the vestige of his fans, not the professionals who make their money being right.

  First of all nobody said that Rondo should get a max contract if he doesn't play better next year. Also, if you check the player tracking data on nba.com, Rondo's 7th in the league in drives per game. He's 5th in the league in team points  per game from his drives. When you consider that the first 6 or so games back from his injury (when he was playing especially poorly) is over 20% of his games played it's likely he's been close to the best in the league since then.

[Celtics18]

. . . the people on this board who love Rondo more than life itself . . .

Guilty as charged.

[Donoghus]

If there's one overriding lesson I've learned from this blog, it's how often people will criticize a tendency in other posters and then immediately and without irony show the exact same tendency from their own perspective.

Definitely nailed that and pretty apt in this situation.

[Eja117]

I've been watching all of the games lately, and I just see a guy who is killing the team. Is he too good to give effort on defense? He puts up decent stats because he dominates the ball but I'd bet 85% of his assists are coming on outside jump shots.

He can't get to the hoop much anymore (which I'm hoping is part of the recovery process), the shot is not falling and he isn't pushing the tempo. So what's left? Rondo dribbling for 15 seconds dancing around waiting for a big man to get open for a jumper.

I was watching him last night thinking how bad he looked then low and behold I looked up and he had out up a triple double... HA! Stats don't tell the story with this guy. He is NOT playing well, he's not defensively responsible and the offense looks AWFUL right now.

You are probably the only one. If Rondo isn't playing well then who is? Kyrie and Chris Paul? Puh lease.

[Vermont Green]

If there's one overriding lesson I've learned from this blog, it's how often people will criticize a tendency in other posters and then immediately and without irony show the exact same tendency from their own perspective.

Definitely nailed that and pretty apt in this situation.

There is a name for it.  It is called "confirmation bias".  Look it up.  Everyone is guilty of it, it is programmed into human nature.  Everyone except me of course.

I joke about it but if you are aware of it, you can be more aware of how it is affecting your own judgment; at least if you want to that is.

[D.o.s.]

I've been watching all of the games lately, and I just see a guy who is killing the team. Is he too good to give effort on defense? He puts up decent stats because he dominates the ball but I'd bet 85% of his assists are coming on outside jump shots.

He can't get to the hoop much anymore (which I'm hoping is part of the recovery process), the shot is not falling and he isn't pushing the tempo. So what's left? Rondo dribbling for 15 seconds dancing around waiting for a big man to get open for a jumper.

I was watching him last night thinking how bad he looked then low and behold I looked up and he had out up a triple double... HA! Stats don't tell the story with this guy. He is NOT playing well, he's not defensively responsible and the offense looks AWFUL right now.

You are probably the only one. If Rondo isn't playing well then who is? Kyrie and Chris Paul? Puh lease.

Chris Paul has been playing well...

[Fafnir]

CoachBo Westbrook didn't tear his ACL. He tore his lateral meniscus, which is a far less severe injury than an ACL, though still a major one.