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

[D.o.s.]

Don't follow the rationalizations about context. The full quote is every bit as annoying as the tweet. Why defend something as childish as this?

I get that Rondo may have had tongue-in-cheek -- whether he did or he didn't, it's still annoying.

Not defending anything, except that sensationalist pull quotes are just that -- sensationalist pull quotes. Beyond that,  the Rondo Rorschach test continues, even after he's left the team. If you were convinced he was slacking, this is confirmation. If you're giving him the benefit of the doubt in terms of his vocal delivery, then you're giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I. Am. Riveted.

[LarBrd33]

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

[Eddie20]

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.

Somehow you knew the Rondo crowd was going to spin it in a way that makes Rondo look good. Something like, "Oh, look how smart Rondo is, he's pacing himself for the betterment of the team".

Defense Attorney Tim in 3...2...1...

[puskas54_10]

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.

The point is the same. He did not give effort on D.
And please never ever compare Rondo to Lebron James, the face of the NBA, the best player in the the last 6-7 years. Lebron could "chilling" the rest of his career and even then he gave many many more to his teams and the NBA then Rondo ever could.

Noone is comparing Lebron to Rondo.

I refered to the bolded part.

[Fafnir]

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?

1. I was commenting on the full context of the "I didn't play d" quote, I was disagreeing with Roy that it made it worse. I don't think it changes much about his statement.

2. Not playing D is clearly a bad thing, but Rondo wasn't going full ball watching sieve mode. He still played solid enough defense to be a net positive on that end most of the time.

The worst part of the statement is that he wasn't giving his full effort the past few years. But that's something we've seen with this entire team the past few years. Losing teams don't play hard, not consistently. One of the reason watching bad teams isn't any fun.

[Fafnir]

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.

[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.

Somehow you knew the Rondo crowd was going to spin it in a way that makes Rondo look good. Something like, "Oh, look how smart Rondo is, he's pacing himself for the betterment of the team".

Yeah, I don't understand how this could be taken as a positive or even satirical in any way. He legitimately said he didn't play defense the last several years, and he gave his reasons why, i.e. not being forced to because Bradley is good defensively. There was no sense of sarcasm, satire, or it being said in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I was a big Rondo fan, but I knew his limitations and one main one was his lack of motivation on many nights, especially defensively.

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

[Tr1boy]

Rondo should take over the lead role from Kevin Spacey and start in The Usual Suspects part 2 . He doesn't even have to act

[D.o.s.]

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.

[Sixth Man]

Don't follow the rationalizations about context. The full quote is every bit as annoying as the tweet. Why defend something as childish as this?

I get that Rondo may have had tongue-in-cheek -- whether he did or he didn't, it's still annoying.

Not defending anything, except that sensationalist pull quotes are just that -- sensationalist pull quotes. Beyond that,  the Rondo Rorschach test continues, even after he's left the team. If you were convinced he was slacking, this is confirmation. If you're giving him the benefit of the doubt in terms of his vocal delivery, then you're giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I. Am. Riveted.

I read the entire article and interview, and I see nothing that would suggest that his quote was taken out of context and therefore doesn't really mean what it seems to denote.  Perhaps you could quote the other surrounding parts of the interview which bolster your claim, D.o.s.  I would greatly appreciate this.

[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.

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...

[Tr1boy]

Mavs press conference:

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"

[BballTim]

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?

[Sixth Man]

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. 

[TheFlex]

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