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

[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.

...  and he's trying to keep Danny Ainge happy, too.  Gotta keep playing guys if you're going to trade 'em, you know?  Time to pare the roster down and make guys earn their playing time.

I'm a little unsure: when he tried to start Nelson, was that about keeping Nelson happy, keeping Ainge happy, or field the best lineup? Because it's kind of hard to make the argument for either case.

I don't think he knows what to do.  Too many players who are just barely good enough (or think they are) to justify a spot in the rotation.  But, he's got about eight different things that he's trying to accomplish, or being told to accomplish.

Gotta give minutes to the young guys; they've got to play if they're going to improve

Gotta try and win some games; can't have credibility as a coach if you can't win any games

Gotta showcase some of the veterans so that maybe you can squeeze an extra conditional second-rounder out when you trade 'em

Gotta keep the players happy; gotta prevent a mutiny

Trying to serve too many masters.  The rotations need to be simplified, and the players who play the way they are expected to play need to get the minutes.  Consistent minutes and consistent roles.

You're points are valid but I still believe that Stevens needs to get an identity instead of just pleasing everyone.

I also think at this point that players like Bass, Green, Turner, and Thornton are who they are. Anyone who thinks we can increase their value at this point in their careers is wrong.

[Shamrocker]

His quote speaks for itself. I'm finding it thoroughly amusing to read so many Rondo apologists twist themselves into knots defending a player whose comments indicate he clearly didn't respect his coaches, his teammates, or the fans.

Yes, perhaps a number of marque players don't offer an honest defensive  effort every night. But very few have the gall to admit it. Shame on him. 

[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.

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...

Rebounds are one of the most important parts of defense.  Smart gets a lot less. I just don't buy at all this idea of Smart as the already elite nba defender. I suppose he might be the best on the team, might bring the best effort, and might have the best tools, but he has a ways to go and I want to see more before I give him a defense crown.

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck.... lol

I want to see stats like a duck. How many times flown. How many nests made. How many quacks.

[CelticSooner]

I'm shocked he actually admitted this. It was pretty obvious whether he did or not though. He became a very lazy defender.

[Tr1boy]

His quote speaks for itself. I'm finding it thoroughly amusing to read so many Rondo apologists twist themselves into knots defending a player whose comments indicate he clearly didn't respect his coaches, his teammates, or the fans.

Yes, perhaps a number of marque players don't offer an honest defensive  effort every night. But very few have the gall to admit it. Shame on him.

exactly.  It's over. Stop trying to apologize for Rondo

Thanks to Rondo , the Celts should be extra motivated tonight

[Chris22]

$12 million dollars a year and he doesn't play defense.

[Eja117]

$12 million dollars a year and he doesn't play defense.

At 12 mill he was one of the best deals in the league

[KeepRondo]

His quote speaks for itself. I'm finding it thoroughly amusing to read so many Rondo apologists twist themselves into knots defending a player whose comments indicate he clearly didn't respect his coaches, his teammates, or the fans.

Yes, perhaps a number of marque players don't offer an honest defensive  effort every night. But very few have the gall to admit it. Shame on him.

exactly.  It's over. Stop trying to apologize for Rondo

Thanks to Rondo , the Celts should be extra motivated tonight

Right no excuse. But look at the quote. He goes on to say but here they expect me to play defense. There's no way Stevens gets a free pass on this. Rondo is pretty much saying that Stevens doesn't demand anyone to play defense. He might coach it but for Rondo to say that, I have to believe that players are not held accountable for poor D.

[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.

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.

  Check out his passing and touches numbers on nba.com. He's creating 7 fewer assist opportunities a game and he's holding the ball a minute less.

[wiley]

I've just watched the whole interview and Rajon was highly respectful throughout the interview towards Boston fans, his former and new teammates, DA, the organization etc. I took this comment as being an "on-ball" defender. No disrespect to BS or Boston intended at all.

We love to look for things that sometimes just aren't there and I believe this is one of those times. Give the guy a break.

This.  Much ado about nothing.  Especially considering A:  coming off injury   B:  the state of the Celtics rebuild  C:  A & B combined with Rondo's career mileage (Am I the only one who wanted him to come back slowly and not re-injure himself?)

I do agree with those who call this a PR gaffe...on the list of things not to say in a crowd of literalists.

[GreenFaith1819]

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.

I like NG's comment, here.

In today's media, it is SO easy to take his comments and run with them.

The more ardent Rondo Haters on CelticsBlog are having an early Christmas with this, with Santa making a return trip.

The perennial Rondo haters smell blood, and have closed in for the kill, like buzzards circling overhead the hapless wounded in the desert.

For me? I just don't believe that what he said was meant to be a slap in BOS's face OR in Coach Steven's face, plain and simple.

Think about...the same media that called Wright a "Blossoming Big" in the trade package for Rondo is now running with Rondo's comments - on the day he is to return to BOS.

Rajon Rondo is STILL a future HOFer in my book, and I'll STILL have fond memories of him as a Celtic.

He obviously failed Media 101 a LONG time ago, like I probably would too, if in his shoes. I distrust the media, mostly.

[BballTim]

In Boston, on the other hand, that responsibility was given to Avery Bradley, making his own job an easier one.

The last time when Bradley guarded the primary ball-handlers while Rondo was on the floor must have been 2011 or 2012.

This is flatly false.

 Agreed.

[Rosco917]

This quote is disappointing, but not surprising to me.

I viewed Rondo more and more as selfish, and arrogant as time went by. I haven't been a fan of his for several years.

Doc Rivers tried to tell everyone what Rondo was like in an interview, the one about him not being an easy player to coach, and being thick headed. I alway felt he was being conservative with his analysis and true feelings. What I felt he wanted to say was, Rondo isn't really liked on the team, and is basically a pain in the axx.

He certainly fell into a nice situation though, being a rookie PG on the 08 team with the big three.

 

[Shamrocker]

His quote speaks for itself. I'm finding it thoroughly amusing to read so many Rondo apologists twist themselves into knots defending a player whose comments indicate he clearly didn't respect his coaches, his teammates, or the fans.

Yes, perhaps a number of marque players don't offer an honest defensive  effort every night. But very few have the gall to admit it. Shame on him.

exactly.  It's over. Stop trying to apologize for Rondo

Thanks to Rondo , the Celts should be extra motivated tonight

Right no excuse. But look at the quote. He goes on to say but here they expect me to play defense. There's no way Stevens gets a free pass on this. Rondo is pretty much saying that Stevens doesn't demand anyone to play defense. He might coach it but for Rondo to say that, I have to believe that players are not held accountable for poor D.

Shocker. Rondo didn't respect Boy Genius.

[BballTim]

In Boston, on the other hand, that responsibility was given to Avery Bradley, making his own job an easier one.

The last time when Bradley guarded the primary ball-handlers while Rondo was on the floor must have been 2011 or 2012.

I'm guessing Avery Bradley's response will be: "Wait, that's not true, I mean, I haven't played defense the last two years either"

Incidentally, neither 2011 nor 2012 were part of the last two years

  Since we're talking about the last two years, has anyone in the thread figured out that the last two years for Rondo has been nothing more than his recovery from knee surgery?