Rajon Rondo shows Boston

[ViolentGhandi]

you don't need a bunch of HoF for Rondo to make him good

he needs a reason to compete - Dallas does that

why should he risk getting injured in Boston while taking the ball to the rim several times each night - I still remember the many times he got hammered in the past - so why taking that risk on a team without the mindset to win each and every night and without the talent to do so

I don't blame him - all the guys who wanted to tank and dump Rondo are now pointing at him saying he was coasting - make up your minds

you can argue that he didnt fit the team - but how is that his fault - he was the best player on a weak team - its on Ainge to change that and since he couldnt it was right to put him on a team that fits him better

Rondo causes bad spacing in Dallas? I Boston the team was causing bad spacing for Rondo - its much easier for him to score inside if his defender doesnt get help as the help does have o stay with Dirk, Monte or Chandler

Pretty sure some ppl even blame Rondo for the extinction of dinosaurs, the 2nd WW, AIDS and global warming - if its helping them go thru their sorry lives by all means they should continue to but stop to trying to convince everyone of it

[Jonny CC]

you don't need a bunch of HoF for Rondo to make him good

he needs a reason to compete - Dallas does that

why should he risk getting injured in Boston while taking the ball to the rim several times each night - I still remember the many times he got hammered in the past - so why taking that risk on a team without the mindset to win each and every night and without the talent to do so

I don't blame him - all the guys who wanted to tank and dump Rondo are now pointing at him saying he was coasting - make up your minds

you can argue that he didnt fit the team - but how is that his fault - he was the best player on a weak team - its on Ainge to change that and since he couldnt it was right to put him on a team that fits him better

Rondo causes bad spacing in Dallas? I Boston the team was causing bad spacing for Rondo - its much easier for him to score inside if his defender doesnt get help as the help does have o stay with Dirk, Monte or Chandler

Pretty sure some ppl even blame Rondo for the extinction of dinosaurs, the 2nd WW, AIDS and global warming - if its helping them go thru their sorry lives by all means they should continue to but stop to convince trying to convince everyone of it

He needs a reason to compete? The reason is that it's his JOB and that's what he is paid to do.  If anyone else in the working world only gave a decent effort when they felt like it, they would be fired.  As a PROFESSIONAL, he is expected to give his best EVERY NIGHT. 

Why should he risk being injured taking the ball to the rim?  Same answer....it's his JOB. 

Stop making excuses for Rondo and his lack of heart.  Tonight's game was a perfect example of Rondo's (lack of) dedication to his profession, his team, and the fans.  He only plays hard when HE thinks it's worthy of his extra effort...and that is a kick in the balls to every fan who ever paid a penny to watch him play. 

[Casperian]

The only thing the Diva showed me is precisely the reason why I'm so, so...sooo happy he's finally gone. Thank the heavens "I only play hard when I feel like it, give me more money"-guy is another team's problem.

I'd rather build around Vince Carter than "Mr 50%".

[blink]

you don't need a bunch of HoF for Rondo to make him good

he needs a reason to compete - Dallas does that

why should he risk getting injured in Boston while taking the ball to the rim several times each night - I still remember the many times he got hammered in the past - so why taking that risk on a team without the mindset to win each and every night and without the talent to do so

I don't blame him - all the guys who wanted to tank and dump Rondo are now pointing at him saying he was coasting - make up your minds

you can argue that he didnt fit the team - but how is that his fault - he was the best player on a weak team - its on Ainge to change that and since he couldnt it was right to put him on a team that fits him better

Rondo causes bad spacing in Dallas? I Boston the team was causing bad spacing for Rondo - its much easier for him to score inside if his defender doesnt get help as the help does have o stay with Dirk, Monte or Chandler

Pretty sure some ppl even blame Rondo for the extinction of dinosaurs, the 2nd WW, AIDS and global warming - if its helping them go thru their sorry lives by all means they should continue to but stop to convince trying to convince everyone of it

He needs a reason to compete? The reason is that it's his JOB and that's what he is paid to do.  If anyone else in the working world only gave a decent effort when they felt like it, they would be fired.  As a PROFESSIONAL, he is expected to give his best EVERY NIGHT. 

Why should he risk being injured taking the ball to the rim?  Same answer....it's his JOB. 

Stop making excuses for Rondo and his lack of heart.  Tonight's game was a perfect example of Rondo's (lack of) dedication to his profession, his team, and the fans.  He only plays hard when HE thinks it's worthy of his extra effort...and that is a kick in the balls to every fan who ever paid a penny to watch him play.

1st - lighten up.  Rondo having a 6th gear to his game shouldn't be a personal affront to you and all these "fans" that you claim are so freaking ball sore.  I am so sick of all the high horse moaning about this.  Rondo has been doing this his whole career.  So all of the sudden now it is a criminal offense.  It shouldn't be a surprise that sometimes good players have really good games and sometimes really bad games.  And yes, sometimes that impacts motivation and effort.  Literally every pro player goes through it during a long season.  God forbid someone should follow you around at your job and nitpick every word that ever came out of your mouth that wasn't 100% positive and completely unselfish and every time you took a 5 min too long coffee break.  I doubt a lot of us would come out looking perfect either.

2nd - a lot of people have a pretty short memory about how much 'heart' Rondo showed over his career with the C's.  Just check out the video tribute if you need a refresher.  It seems like literally thousands of fans at the game tonight didn't feel like they got kicked in the balls by Rondo.  I know I didn't.

[bobbyv]

If he played like that every night we wouldn't have.

But we would have had arguments about whether he was worth a max contract.

Maybe give him actual NBA players for teammates and he would have.

Yeah, because other great point guards (Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, etc.) showed that they needed star teammates to thrive, too.

Um. Yeah.

2008 Chris Paul

Did he lead a team to a ring or something that year? Did he lead the league in assists and his position at rebs?

No, he just almost single-handedly carried them into the Western semi-finals with not much help. You know, the stuff that superstar players do.

Oh kinda like Rondo in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals with a declining, poor shooting Ray Allen and a hobbled Paul Pierce?

Like I said, three Hall-of-Famers.

The only one who was at a consistent HOF level was KG

[kozlodoev]

2nd - a lot of people have a pretty short memory about how much 'heart' Rondo showed over his career with the C's.  Just check out the video tribute if you need a refresher.  It seems like literally thousands of fans at the game tonight didn't feel like they got kicked in the balls by Rondo.  I know I didn't.

I get it. "Heart" is something that you show only when you feel like it. Like when your team is good. Otherwise, it's ok to loaf around and pad some stats.

[blink]

2nd - a lot of people have a pretty short memory about how much 'heart' Rondo showed over his career with the C's.  Just check out the video tribute if you need a refresher.  It seems like literally thousands of fans at the game tonight didn't feel like they got kicked in the balls by Rondo.  I know I didn't.

I get it. "Heart" is something that you show only when you feel like it. Like when your team is good. Otherwise, it's ok to loaf around and pad some stats.

So now you are the sole judge and jury of heart and effort?  Great!  You can lead the ball-busted in a great parade of Rondo hate for all the lives of all the Celtic's fans around the world that Rondo personally ruined.

[ViolentGhandi]

ohh and as a PRO he has not only to give his best every night

he has to be able to do his job for another couple of years

his goals as a player go beyond the next couple of game - saving 10% energy on a team that is not planning to keep him anyways didnt even conflict with Ainge'S plan to tank this season.

He was giving everthing to reach the goal the Celtics have this year and still was entertaining and at the same time was able to save energy for when it really matters. Thats what coaches do in garbage time as well and nobody asks for refund because of that.

one can even make a case the helping his young teammates to score by delivering more passes instead of scoring himself might even have helped them beyond the point he was traded in building their confidence

[BballTim]

If he played like that every night we wouldn't have.

But we would have had arguments about whether he was worth a max contract.

Maybe give him actual NBA players for teammates and he would have.

Yeah, because other great point guards (Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, etc.) showed that they needed star teammates to thrive, too.

Um. Yeah.

2008 Chris Paul

Did he lead a team to a ring or something that year? Did he lead the league in assists and his position at rebs?

No, he just almost single-handedly carried them into the Western semi-finals with not much help. You know, the stuff that superstar players do.

OMG. Wow. Almost. Almost carried them to the semi finals. Wow. And with not much help. Wow. Well maybe we should have traded Rondo and all those picks for him so he could almost lead this team to the east semi finals.

Show me one thing Rondo has done (besides take defense off for two years) without a future Hall of Famer next to him. Go on, I'll wait.

  In general you hear comments like this from people who don't pay enough attention to the games to know how long it's been since PP/KG/RA played at a HOF level. Did you watch the 2012 playoffs and tell yourself that the big three were all playing like HOFers? One would assume so. Did you ever see those guys play in their primes?

[LarBrd33]

Heh... if I were the GM of the Mavs, I'd shop Rondo at the trade deadline just for kicks... seeing as he's a loyal Celtic who is going to sign here this summer, they'd be smart to get some value for him before he flees in a few months.

[BballTim]

2nd - a lot of people have a pretty short memory about how much 'heart' Rondo showed over his career with the C's.  Just check out the video tribute if you need a refresher.  It seems like literally thousands of fans at the game tonight didn't feel like they got kicked in the balls by Rondo.  I know I didn't.

I get it. "Heart" is something that you show only when you feel like it. Like when your team is good. Otherwise, it's ok to loaf around and pad some stats.

  Padding stats generally means a player that you don't like is putting up numbers that don't really fit your narrative.

[GreenFaith1819]

Heh... if I were the GM of the Mavs, I'd shop Rondo at the trade deadline just for kicks... seeing as he's a loyal Celtic who is going to sign here this summer, they'd be smart to get some value for him before he flees in a few months.

But the GM of the Mavs isn't like Danny.

The GM of DAL won't create a climate where ANYONE can be traded - like Danny did with Ray AND Rondo.

Didn't Danny Ainge even at one time question why the Celtics Organization didn't trade LARRY??

WOW.

The entire structure, from Cuban on down to Coach Carlylse - in DAL - is geared and focused on winning. They are sound. They are content in just adding pieces - San Antonio Style - around Dirk.

Dirk - for all of his faults - is a piece to build around, like Duncan. Dirk can be that piece for another 2-3 years or so.

Rondo, apparently - SHOULD HAVE BEEN that piece to build around.

TBH - Danny Ainge should've sold The Minnesota Timberwolves the farm in trying to get KLove. Does ANYONE here have any idea of just what Danny offered?

Was it enough?

Evidently, Danny missed this one, big time.

No - Rondo will NOT hit that many threes again very often. No - he won't shoot THAT well again very often.

BUT - he is a LOT better than some here give him credit.

Rondo is showing that now.

He is in a better place.

[Granath]

Over/under 8 pages for this thread.

Might be the over on this one. 

As expected, Rondo had a great game against the Cs. As expected, the narrative has split into two camps:

"See, Rondo is awesome and we were foolish to trade him"
"See, Rondo was dogging it in Boston and we had to trade him"

Frankly, both sides are somewhat correct. Rondo does have that 6th gear. He can elevate his game almost at will. He can easily be the best player on both sides of the court. When he does he is almost magical to watch.

At the same time, that Rondo hasn't been seen in Boston since the injury. The 19 attempts Rondo put up were the most since the Miami playoff series. That's not just another statistic, that's an astounding statement about his level of effort. Rondo's own admission that he hasn't played defense in two years doesn't help matters either. You certainly cannot say that he was giving his best on the court.

It boils down to this: Last night showed the best of Rondo and proved the worst.

If that Rondo was on the court every night for the Celtics, he wouldn't have been traded. But he wasn't. Instead, we got to see 3/4th speed Rondo who wasn't exactly inspiring anyone and who quite possibly would have left this offseason.

If Danny could have put the pieces around him (and guys like Asik aren't it) to help motivate him to elevate his play, he wouldn't have been traded. But Danny couldn't and I have yet to see a plausible scenario where this could have happened.

The Rondo we watched the last two years wasn't the guy we saw last night and was not a piece worthy of building around even if he would have stayed (of which there is no guarantee). Doc couldn't get him to compete at that level every night and neither could Brad. So it's not the coaches' fault. It's Rondo being Rondo.

Maybe, just maybe, everyone is better off for the trade. The Cs aren't going to spend max money on a guy who doesn't perform at his highest level most nights and acquired some future assets. Rondo goes to a contender and gets a much-needed change of scenery. Dallas gets that missing piece to contend for the title.

[obnoxiousmime]

TP for you Granath.

Another point I'd like to raise: Did anyone ever stop to consider that Rondo would have made Ainge's "shopping for superstars to surround Rondo" mission a whole lot easier if he had been playing harder every night? The Rondo we saw post-injury was not a guy the league at large was exactly clamoring to play with. That's one of the reasons his value was lower. In fact, if you're going to complain about how little Ainge got in the deal, you really should be putting at least some of the blame on Rondo himself for his non-aggressive play.

[Eja117]

2nd - a lot of people have a pretty short memory about how much 'heart' Rondo showed over his career with the C's.  Just check out the video tribute if you need a refresher.  It seems like literally thousands of fans at the game tonight didn't feel like they got kicked in the balls by Rondo.  I know I didn't.

I get it. "Heart" is something that you show only when you feel like it. Like when your team is good. Otherwise, it's ok to loaf around and pad some stats.

If you think KG, Ray, Sheed, and PP always showed "heart" you are very mistaken. They just didn't get roasted for it all the time.
Duncan, Shaq, Larry Bird, Maxwell, Kobe all take/took night off.