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

[Clench123]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=osEGSZb5m98

There you have it at 4:42

[kozlodoev]

Nobody on the Celtics outside Avery has played defense in 3 years. Neither have the 76ers lately.

I hope you're trolling us, because this might be the most asinine comment I've ever read on this blog lol  Smart routinely plays the best defense on our team. He is EXCELLENT at fighting through screens, court awareness, help D, and staying in front of his man. What team have you been watching?

I don't think Bradley has played much defense over the past couple of seasons either. But that's just me.

[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.

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.

I said absolutely nothing about anything being taken out of Context. For more information:
http://bit.ly/1Dc5Z79

My point, is, mostly, that the tweet (which, by nature, functions as a bit of a pull quote insofar as it can only be 140 characters) would lead to more hot take action than the full quote, which is essentially Rondo copping to the same defensive deficiences that avail Tony Parker, who doesn't play defense because they have Kawhi, or Damian Lillard, who doesn't play defense because the Blazers have Wes Matthews and Batum. In other words, it's fairly uncontroversial statement and not worth anyone's time and/or panty twisting.

[Eja117]

Nobody on the Celtics outside Avery has played defense in 3 years. Neither have the 76ers lately.

I hope you're trolling us, because this might be the most asinine comment I've ever read on this blog lol  Smart routinely plays the best defense on our team. He is EXCELLENT at fighting through screens, court awareness, help D, and staying in front of his man. What team have you been watching?

I didn't mean this year so much. Smart puts out effort. That's about it. Where are the rebounds? Where are the blocks? .1 blks per game. 1 whole steal per game. Whoop de doo.

[D.o.s.]

I also think it's worth reiterating that it's possible to play good defense without looking like Corey Brewer -- a player who looks like a much better defender than he actually is -- which seems to get lost on many who post here.

Which is not to say anything about Rondo's defense or lackthereof in particular, just that 'visible effort' is often something that we subjectively assign to one player or another.

[Neurotic Guy]

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.

I think you are correct. 

When I first heard about the quote (not in Rondo's voice), I was sure that this was Rondo doing a dead-pan, sarcastic, "Yeah, I played no defense for the last 2 years".  His MO has been to frequently use straight-faced sarcasm.   However, after hearing the quote from Rondo's mouth, I don't think it was sarcasm.  On the other hand, to think that he meant literally that he hasn't played defense in two years, is absurd.  You watched -- he played defense. 

What Rondo seemed to mean is that over the last 2 years he did not play defense at the same intensity level as he had in the past, or as his "younger" teammates are doing in the present.  I took it to mean that his focus was on running the offense and preserving some energy on the defensive end.  It does protray a changed and less assertive approach to defense than in previous years.  And it does indicate a purposeful let-down in defensive intensity -- reduced effort by design.    However, in the context of recovering from his surgery, and in the context of maximizing his more essential role on the team, he decided to let the young guys provide the bulk of the defensive intensity.

This doesn't absolve him as I do think he IS saying that he let up defensively for the last 2 years.  And in the context of asserting that he is now defending at a higher level with Dallas, we are left to conclude that he could have been defending at a higher level when he was here.   BUT, let's not blow this out of proportion by taking a literal interpretation of his words.  He said he didn't play defense for 2 years and we all know that this comment is not literally true.

Unless you're employing the Sacramento owner's style of 4-on-5, you're playing defense. Even if Rondo is in the halfcourt just standing there between the opponent and the basket, he's playing "defense." I don't think anyone is taking it as literally as you're suggesting. What we are suggesting, though, is that if he's getting paid millions of dollars every year TO PLAY A FREAKING GAME then he can at least be motivated and not let his younger teammates play all of the defense. It's not like he's KD out there scoring thirty points a game and literally has no energy to play defense. Out of respect for the game and being a professional, we're making a normative claim that he should have been playing harder on defense.

Probably no one is taking it as literally as I suggested, but it's a matter of degree.  Many star players (especially as they age) take plays off and let the TA's, Bruce Bowen's and Marcus Smart's of the world play fierce defense.  Many players pour it on down the home stretch in games, and with greater consistency in the playoffs.  I guess I am suggesting that Rondo played a little more intensively than some are suggesting, yet less intensively than he could have. 

[KeepRondo]

This may have already been pointed out but Stevens is seeming more and more like a pushover. The fact that Rondo can come out and say this like it's no big deal, makes me wonder if Stevens ever demands anything from his players.

I know we don't have the best defenders but there is a consistent lack of effort on the defensive end. I don't think this is a Rondo thing as much as it is the coach not getting his players to go to battle for him.

We basically have the ultimate Mr nice guy coaching the Celtics. Does anyone else think this is not going to work with Stevens?

[BballTim]

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%.

  His rebounds are down, his assists are down, the percentage of his shots that are assisted is up about 50% and unless something radically different happened the last game or so he's spending less time with the ball in his hands. The number of assist opportunities he's creating is way down, but the percentage of his assist opportunities that are converted are way up.

And yet, he's taking 1.5 more unassisted shots per game in Dallas.

  Sure, but balance that against the rest of what I wrote.

[kozlodoev]

This may have already been pointed out but Stevens is seeming more and more like a pushover. The fact that Rondo can come out and say this like it's no big deal, makes me wonder if Stevens ever demands anything from his players.

Well, Stevens will apparently never pull a player for taking bad shots or missed assignments on defense (not that I have seen, at least). Instead, he can pull a player randomly for no apparent reason at just about any time, and give the minutes to his backup.

[Celtics18]

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.

Apparently, though, most responders seem to be completely ignoring the full context.

Again, shocking stuff.

Sure, it's not as bad with the context added, but it's still pretty ridiculous. He's basically saying he didn't put effort into that side of the ball because Bradley was there to cover for him.

Yeah, I actually think the context makes it worse.  When the context was unclear, you could think of reasons why not playing D could be acceptable.  For instance, he could have been coached that way, similar to how Avery was coached to tone down his D a bit.

But, that's not what the quote says.  Rather, it says that Rondo just wasn't playing D, because he could hide behind Avery.  That's not good.

Yep, I don't understand how people want to give him a pass on this when it wouldn't fly in any other circumstance.  Basically, he was saying he didn't play defense because he didn't have to, which just shows laziness, lack of leadership, and a lack of motivation.

That's not how I understood it.  My understanding was that he was asked about his defensive impact in Dallas, and he then compared it to his last couple of seasons in Boston, basically saying that he has more responsibility being asked to guard the opposing teams' primary ball handlers on a nightly basis for the Mavs.  In Boston, on the other hand, that responsibility was given to Avery Bradley, making his own job an easier one. 

He may not have worded it well, but I don't think he was coping to laziness, lack of leadership, and lack of motivation. 

[jpotter33]

Nobody on the Celtics outside Avery has played defense in 3 years. Neither have the 76ers lately.

I hope you're trolling us, because this might be the most asinine comment I've ever read on this blog lol  Smart routinely plays the best defense on our team. He is EXCELLENT at fighting through screens, court awareness, help D, and staying in front of his man. What team have you been watching?

I didn't mean this year so much. Smart puts out effort. That's about it. Where are the rebounds? Where are the blocks? .1 blks per game. 1 whole steal per game. Whoop de doo.

He's a guard.... And those types of defensive stats are misleading... So because Rondo has better rebounding and block numbers he's a better defender than SMart? Get out of here...

[KeepRondo]

This may have already been pointed out but Stevens is seeming more and more like a pushover. The fact that Rondo can come out and say this like it's no big deal, makes me wonder if Stevens ever demands anything from his players.

Well, Stevens will apparently never pull a player for taking bad shots or missed assignments on defense (not that I have seen, at least). Instead, he can pull a player randomly for no apparent reason at just about any time, and give the minutes to his backup.

exactly because he's more concerned that everyone gets their minutes. He wants to make everyone happy.

[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%.

  His rebounds are down, his assists are down, the percentage of his shots that are assisted is up about 50% and unless something radically different happened the last game or so he's spending less time with the ball in his hands. The number of assist opportunities he's creating is way down, but the percentage of his assist opportunities that are converted are way up.

And yet, he's taking 1.5 more unassisted shots per game in Dallas.

  Sure, but balance that against the rest of what I wrote.

I'm unsure how this is conclusive evidence that he doesn't have to put in as much on the offensive end. He's taking  A TON more shots (a lot of them of the unassisted variety), and he's grabbing more offensive rebounds. It's not unusual that his assists numbers will suffer -- but overall, he's got 2 more shots + assists in Dallas than in Boston.

I'd say that, at worst, his offensive load is about the same in Dallas.

[the_Bird]

This may have already been pointed out but Stevens is seeming more and more like a pushover. The fact that Rondo can come out and say this like it's no big deal, makes me wonder if Stevens ever demands anything from his players.

I know we don't have the best defenders but there is a consistent lack of effort on the defensive end. I don't think this is a Rondo thing as much as it is the coach not getting his players to go to battle for him.

We basically have the ultimate Mr nice guy coaching the Celtics. Does anyone else think this is not going to work with Stevens?

I think it's still early to make any pronouncements about Brad Stevens, but it *is* another example of a veteran player who doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for his coach.  We saw this with Gerald Wallace and Courtney Lee (and someone else...  drawing a blank) last season.  Really odd that Rondo singled out Doc Rivers as being an exceptional coach and never threw Stevens a bone. 

My personal, unsubstantiated opinion is that Stevens has pretty much walked on eggshells around Rondo.  But, Stevens needs to assert himself somehow; he doesn't need to be a Scott Skiles-type Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline., but he's got to show he can lead the veterans as well as the kids.  Could well be that Stevens proves to be an excellent coach...  when he's on his second or third job and has a little bit more experience.  Or as least some Van Gundy-esque bags under his eyes.

[fairweatherfan]

They sometimes say a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth.  This is kind of a basketball gaffe; lots of players coast heavily on D in the regular season, including guys better than Rondo.  And I have no doubt in some cases it's because coaches are telling them their role is primarily offensive (no idea if that's the case here).  But just like a political gaffe, it's a pretty dumb thing to come out and say, given how fans and the media tend to react.