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

[sed522002]

Jay King has the entire quote on his Twitter and Rondo was pretty much saying he was able to hide behind AB etc.

[Vermont Green]

"Haven't played defense in a couple of years"

"Here they expect me to play defense"

Who says these kinds of things?  Even a star like Carmelo Anthony who probably is "protected"  so he won't pick up fouls would never come out and say something this ludicrous.

I can't believe that Stevens or any other coach ever had a game plan where Rondo was not expected to play defense.  If this really is true in Rondo's mind, then he probably only heard what he wanted to hear and maybe misconstrued that because they used Bradley often to cover PGs, giving Rondo and easier (less energy) cover, that was somehow a message that he wasn't expected to play defense.

More likely, I think this is a very subtle way for Rondo to make excuses for not playing well this year in Boston.  By putting this out there, it suggests that "his bud" Stevens is not that good of a coach.  So the problem in Boston was never Rondo, it was the coach.

We will see if Rondo provides any clarification or retraction of this but if he lets this stand, this will actually diminish my opinion of Rondo as competitor.  As presented so far, this is really bush league talk and not at all what I would have expected from Rondo.

[GreenGoggles]

Jay King has the entire quote on his Twitter and Rondo was pretty much saying he was able to hide behind AB etc.

Wow. This completely changes my perception of Rondo as a player. Admitting to taking it easy on defense? Unprofessional. I thought he would thrive in a true leadership role, up his scoring and make a few more all-star teams. Instead he admits to slacking off on defense..

[Roy H.]

does anyone have an actual link to this?

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/551065387253891073

I'm curious what was said in between the ellipses, but it's not a quote you like hearing as a fan. 

[fantankerous]

This is more ammunition against BS's bs pro coaching skills.  The hoosierscant come calling soon enough.

[blink]

does anyone have an actual link to this?

https://twitter.com/ESPNForsberg/status/551065387253891073

I'm curious what was said in between the ellipses, but it's not a quote you like hearing as a fan.

Thanks Roy.  I just wanted to see the context.  Kind of important before we all grab for the pitchforks...

[Roy H.]

Here's the full quote:

What has it meant to Rondo to have such a defensive impact on Mavericks? Defensive numbers have been fantastic with him.

I haven’t played defense in a couple of years. I’ve been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He’s helped me out, the young guy. But here they expect me to play defense. And in the West, if you don’t play defense you’ll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position. I took it as a challenge (for) myself. It’s not just me. It’s my teammates. Our communication is getting a lot better and our coverages are getting better. So it’s the whole team concept, it’s not just me. Obviously people are going to look at the stats and say, ‘Since Rondo’s came there, they’re down seven or eight points or whatever defensively.’ But we still have a lot of room to improve and I believe we’ll still get better defensively.

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/01/rajon_rondo_discusses_return_t.html

That doesn't say a lot about Rondo's professionalism, or Stevens' ability to hold his players accountable.  Obviously, Rondo isn't the only one loafing, but if people kill Lebron for saying that he's in "chill mode", then Rondo deserves the same scorn.

[playdream]

Not suprised
If you ever watch him play you can see he is taking it easy and just padding his stats
And the Captain taking it easy was drastically hurting our team
that's why he annoyed me so much

[Quetzalcoatl]

In a roundabout way, this might help us recruit a big name player.  When is Harden's contract up?

[the_Bird]

Oh.  You haven't been giving full effort on the defensive end every night, Rondo?  Really?  Hadn't noticed.  Nope.  Not at all.

I mean...  Rondo on the rebuilding Celtics squad could have gone one of two ways.  He could have exerted true leadership, which I think is what the front office and coaching staff was hoping would happen.  Or, he'd get frustrated and check out, which seems to be exactly what happened.

I just don't understand why he'd ever SAY anything like this...

[Celtics18]

It doesn't sound great, but taken in context it is certainly less [dang]ing. 

[puskas54_10]

So Rondo is openly admits, that he did not put effort into the defensive side of the ball. Wow!
This guy must be dumb. I know "he's the smartest guy on the court" blabla. You can't say things like this, even if it is what happened. Where are the Rondo fans and what's their opinion?
What's next? He will say "They did not expect me to learn to shoot the ball."

[jpotter33]

We all knew this before he said it, but why in the world would you say that to the press?! I'm seriously flabbergasted that he actually admitted that. And it's even more surprising knowing how intelligent and aware of his surroundings Rondo usually is.

[the_Bird]

...  I've always though that it would be VERY interesting to hear things begin to trickle out about Rondo's time in Boston, after he was inevitably traded.  No doubt in my mind that he's been fiendishly difficult to handle.  Odd, though, that the first snippets are coming directly from Rondo, rather than being anonymous quotes from inside the organization.

[D.o.s.]

Here's the full quote:

What has it meant to Rondo to have such a defensive impact on Mavericks? Defensive numbers have been fantastic with him.

I haven’t played defense in a couple of years. I’ve been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He’s helped me out, the young guy. But here they expect me to play defense. And in the West, if you don’t play defense you’ll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position. I took it as a challenge (for) myself. It’s not just me. It’s my teammates. Our communication is getting a lot better and our coverages are getting better. So it’s the whole team concept, it’s not just me. Obviously people are going to look at the stats and say, ‘Since Rondo’s came there, they’re down seven or eight points or whatever defensively.’ But we still have a lot of room to improve and I believe we’ll still get better defensively.

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/01/rajon_rondo_discusses_return_t.html

That doesn't say a lot about Rondo's professionalism, or Stevens' ability to hold his players accountable.  Obviously, Rondo isn't the only one loafing, but if people kill Lebron for saying that he's in "chill mode", then Rondo deserves the same scorn.

To the surprise of nearly everyone involved, once you get the context the quote isn't nearly as agitational as the tweet would make it seem.

Shocking stuff.