Rondo: "I haven't played defense in a couple of years..."

[BballTim]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

So you don't have to play defense at all on the second best guard of the other team?

Apparently not. Like Roy said, he didn't play defense because he didn't have to. In Dallas, he has to because they expect him to. That's an indictment on his lack of effort/professionalism and Stevens' ability to hold players accountable. We'll see what happens with Stevens' once he's coaching "his" guys.

Thankfully, Rondo's gone. You can't have your "best player" playing with that mindset.

   I haven't seen Rondo play for Dallas yet, but if he's playing better defense then it would be no different than the significant uptick in defense that we saw from PP and RA after the big three came together in 2007.

[Sixth Man]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

So you don't have to play defense at all on the second best guard of the other team?

Apparently not. Like Roy said, he didn't play defense because he didn't have to. In Dallas, he has to because they expect him to. That's an indictment on his lack of effort/professionalism and Stevens' ability to hold players accountable. We'll see what happens with Stevens' once he's coaching "his" guys.

Thankfully, Rondo's gone. You can't have your "best player" playing with that mindset.

   I haven't seen Rondo play for Dallas yet, but if he's playing better defense then it would be no different than the significant uptick in defense that we saw from PP and RA after the big three came together in 2007.

Except that we have no such similar quotations from PP and RA about playing defense (at that time).

[jpotter33]

I think this obviously shows some tension between Stevens and Rondo. Looks like Rondo's departure was inevitable any way you look at it.

Tell me what you see.

D.o.s.: The passive-aggressive third-party post, because nothing says "I'm taking the high ground" more than judging the deliberations of the involved parties 

And I'm curious, D.o.s., you claim that I'm bending this quote to meet my Rondo narrative. But what particular Rondo narrative have I been positing? I think in my time at CB I've been more than fair to Rondo, but I don't just give him the benefit of the doubt on everything because I'm a fan. I criticize him when I think appropriate, but I also praise him when I think it's appropriate. There have been many, many times when I've criticized the Rondo-haters (Triboy and Chris22) for not being fair with Rondo. So what particular Rondo narrative am I rationalizing this quote to meet then?

[kozlodoev]

Enough is enough. We need to trade this clown.  I wonder if we can get Andre Drummond for him

  Andre Drummond, the next Shaq? Whatever happened to him?

He's only averaging 13 and 13 with a steal and 2 blocks in less than 30 mins during what is his age 21 season. Also, I don't believe anyone has ever confused Drummond, a defense-oriented big, for Shaq. Unless of course you mean his FT skills.

[KungPoweChicken]

"Couple years"? Last time I checked, it's been more like four, Rajon.

[jpotter33]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

So you don't have to play defense at all on the second best guard of the other team?

Apparently not. Like Roy said, he didn't play defense because he didn't have to. In Dallas, he has to because they expect him to. That's an indictment on his lack of effort/professionalism and Stevens' ability to hold players accountable. We'll see what happens with Stevens' once he's coaching "his" guys.

Thankfully, Rondo's gone. You can't have your "best player" playing with that mindset.

   I haven't seen Rondo play for Dallas yet, but if he's playing better defense then it would be no different than the significant uptick in defense that we saw from PP and RA after the big three came together in 2007.

It's not about defensive efficiency or how well he's defending; it's about his effort. I've watched four of his Dallas games so far, and it's night and day the amount of effort he's putting in on that end.

[Tr1boy]

I'm shocked there's anything to debate about here. The quote is discouraging, plain and simple.

Because some Rondo fans must be his relatives . There are no other answers

Rondo in a nutshell the past season "I played no defense,  let AB, Smart do the dirty work,  made KO , Sully look bad".

Then after the game those guys are behind him and state "we" have to play better as a team. 

Rondo you were lucky you had such great teammates. When Rondo is introduced tonight, i will stand up and clap for the guys that did your dirty work instead 

[jpotter33]

I think this obviously shows some tension between Stevens and Rondo. Looks like Rondo's departure was inevitable any way you look at it.

Tell me what you see.

We have direct quotation from RR, including surrounding context.  No need for an inkblot psychological assay here.  You're attempting to deflect criticism of RR by implying that this is, at its heart, an epistemological issue.

Exactly. It's not an ambiguous quote taken out of context; it's legitimately a discouraging quote that is validated by surrounding context. His deflection just shows the narrative that he's trying to have played out. This isn't a problem of interpretation like he's trying to make it.

[BballTim]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

So you don't have to play defense at all on the second best guard of the other team?

Apparently not. Like Roy said, he didn't play defense because he didn't have to. In Dallas, he has to because they expect him to. That's an indictment on his lack of effort/professionalism and Stevens' ability to hold players accountable. We'll see what happens with Stevens' once he's coaching "his" guys.

Thankfully, Rondo's gone. You can't have your "best player" playing with that mindset.

   I haven't seen Rondo play for Dallas yet, but if he's playing better defense then it would be no different than the significant uptick in defense that we saw from PP and RA after the big three came together in 2007.

It's not about defensive efficiency or how well he's defending; it's about his effort. I've watched four of his Dallas games so far, and it's night and day the amount of effort he's putting in on that end.

  I'm talking about effort too. People might not remember that far back but there were plenty of posts back then about how much more effort those guys were putting in on the defensive end. It wouldn't surprise me if you could find quotes from them about how they were playing better defense because they had to do so much less on offense.

[RJ87]

I'm shocked there's anything to debate about here. The quote is discouraging, plain and simple.

Rondo in a nutshell the past season "I played no defense,  let AB, Smart do the dirty work,  made KO , Sully look bad".

Let's all be honest - it doesn't take much to make Sully and Oly look bad defensively. They do that just fine on their own because they're not very good defensive players. There's a reason there's a ton of trade ideas where we receive a defensive minded center to "pair" with either Sully or Oly.

As far as the original quote - I'm sure he'll be asked to further talk about what he meant/clarify at some point before the game or postgame. What I think he meant - and this is my opinion, I'm not declaring it as fact - is that he didn't play on ball defense at the point of attack very much. If you've watched any Dallas games since he's been there, they've basically asked him to play AB's role - applying full court pressure, being the main guy to defend opposing points and allowing Monta (a pretty solid steals guy) to basically play free safety.

[kozlodoev]

I'm talking about effort too. People might not remember that far back but there were plenty of posts back then about how much more effort those guys were putting in on the defensive end. It wouldn't surprise me if you could find quotes from them about how they were playing better defense because they had to do so much less on offense.

Right, except Rondo's usage rate in Dallas is a career-high 25% (for comparison, it was 18% with the Celtics this season, and 195 last season) so the "don't have to do as much on offense" theory doesn't seem to hold. Which pretty much passes the eye test, too -- Rondo wasn't doing all THAT much on offense here.

edit: For comparison, Ray Allen's usage dropped from 29% to 21% when he came to the Celtics, and Pierce's went from 30% to 25%.

[jpotter33]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

So you don't have to play defense at all on the second best guard of the other team?

Apparently not. Like Roy said, he didn't play defense because he didn't have to. In Dallas, he has to because they expect him to. That's an indictment on his lack of effort/professionalism and Stevens' ability to hold players accountable. We'll see what happens with Stevens' once he's coaching "his" guys.

Thankfully, Rondo's gone. You can't have your "best player" playing with that mindset.

   I haven't seen Rondo play for Dallas yet, but if he's playing better defense then it would be no different than the significant uptick in defense that we saw from PP and RA after the big three came together in 2007.

It's not about defensive efficiency or how well he's defending; it's about his effort. I've watched four of his Dallas games so far, and it's night and day the amount of effort he's putting in on that end.

  I'm talking about effort too. People might not remember that far back but there were plenty of posts back then about how much more effort those guys were putting in on the defensive end. It wouldn't surprise me if you could find quotes from them about how they were playing better defense because they had to do so much less on offense.

I can't really speak to PP and RA back then, because I wasn't around the blog then.

But is Rondo really doing anything less in Dallas than he was in Boston? In fact, I think the argument could be made that he's doing more. His assists and rebounds are down a bit, but his scoring is way up in Dallas. It's not clear-cut that he's doing less there.

[BballTim]

I don't think the full quote makes it worse, just highlights that the C's were hiding him on the weaker offensive threat at guard usually off the ball.

give it a rest Fafnir. The words came out his own mouth

One of biggest benefits of being confident in your own opinions, is not feeling the need to demand silence with those who see things another way.

Who are you going to believe, Fafnir or your lying eyes?  This is beyond ridiculous...

  Rondo's defense this year was bad for a while but it was fine the last 8-9 games he was on the Celts. If your eyes didn't tell you that, then you probably shouldn't believe them.

[jpotter33]

I'm talking about effort too. People might not remember that far back but there were plenty of posts back then about how much more effort those guys were putting in on the defensive end. It wouldn't surprise me if you could find quotes from them about how they were playing better defense because they had to do so much less on offense.

Right, except Rondo's usage rate in Dallas is a career-high 25% (for comparison, it was 18% with the Celtics this season, and 195 last season) so the "don't have to do as much on offense" theory doesn't seem to hold. Which pretty much passes the eye test, too -- Rondo wasn't doing all THAT much on offense here.

Yep, I was posting that at the same time lol He does seem to be doing more on the offensive end in Dallas.

[Tr1boy]

I'm shocked there's anything to debate about here. The quote is discouraging, plain and simple.

Rondo in a nutshell the past season "I played no defense,  let AB, Smart do the dirty work,  made KO , Sully look bad".

Let's all be honest - it doesn't take much to make Sully and Oly look bad defensively. They do that just fine on their own because they're not very good defensive players. There's a reason there's a ton of trade ideas where we receive a defensive minded center to "pair" with either Sully or Oly.

As far as the original quote - I'm sure he'll be asked to further talk about what he meant/clarify at some point before the game or postgame. What I think he meant - and this is my opinion, I'm not declaring it as fact - is that he didn't play on ball defense at the point of attack very much. If you've watched any Dallas games since he's been there, they've basically asked him to play AB's role - applying full court pressure, being the main guy to defend opposing points and allowing Monta (a pretty solid steals guy) to basically play free safety.

Rajon Rondo: "Well I haven't played defense in a couple of years, you know I've been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He's helping me out, the young guy. But here, they expect me to play defense. In the West, if you don't play defense you'll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position"

Previously right after being traded

Rondo on his legacy in Boston: "I believe it's a great legacy I left behind. I played extremely hard every night. I went out there and gave it all to my best for my organization and my fans"