Woj on Rondo

[Eddie20]

HOUSTON – Josh Smith felt like a teenager again, ferocious and free and forever young. He had broken down Dallas' defense, a soft, vulnerable underbelly reduced to rubble. These were old times, tossing those lobs into the air, watching Dwight Howard slam through passes. Old AAU teammates in Atlanta, bringing a barrage to these Houston Rockets, bringing down the house.

"This was the Peach Jam, the Big Time tournament in Vegas," Smith told Yahoo Sports. He was remembering old AAU circuit stops for the Atlanta Celtics, laughing in the locker room now, awaiting to share a news conference podium with Howard. The fourth quarter belonged to Smith and Howard, the kind of rim runs that long ago sent these two past college and directly into millionaire NBA lives.

They had run him out of Atlanta and Detroit, and now Josh Smith had run the Dallas Mavericks out of Houston with a 2-0 series lead, with a deeper regret for failing to sign him in January.

"This is why I came here," Smith told Yahoo Sports.

Around Rondo, the energy is toxic. The Rockets' and Mavericks' interests intersect everywhere, including with the trade pursuit for Rondo in December. Rondo's agent never wanted Rondo in Houston, partly because it would've cost another client, Patrick Beverley, his job and payday to re-sign with the Rockets this summer. In the end, the Rockets kept bidding on Rondo to try to push the price higher for the Mavericks, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

When Rondo realized his run with the Celtics was over this year, he planned to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer, league sources told Yahoo Sports. He expected a maximum contract. Once Dallas made the trade, he was open to re-signing with the Mavericks – only there are no max contract offers for Rondo on the market. Not in Dallas, nor Los Angeles. He's played his way out of that payday – not just this year, but since that terrible ACL injury two years ago.

Everyone can insist that Rondo no longer cares, that he's stopped trying, and Game 2's debacle made a case for it. Rondo is the prince of moody, yes, but he's lost with these Mavericks – and they're lost with him. Nevertheless, Rondo hasn't given up on salvaging this season, nor his Mavericks career.

On Monday evening, Josh Smith stopped over to the Toyota Center to take extra shots. There was a ball bouncing inside the arena, and as he ducked inside, Smith found a familiar face getting up shots: Rajon Rondo.

Rondo always does the work, the preparation, but everyone could see again in Game 2 that his struggles with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle remain an immense hurdle. On the court, there were those who believed Rondo's eight-second violation for failing to cross the midcourt line was an act of protest on the coach's calling of plays. Rondo played 10 minutes, picking up fouls for slapping at James Harden, and finally a technical to start the third quarter for shoving Harden out of sheer frustration.

Carlisle banished him to the bench, choosing Raymond Felton over Rondo in the fourth quarter. Everything's pushing Rondo closer to his inevitable free-agent fleeing to the Lakers this summer. As long as the coach is back, Rondo's gone, sources told Yahoo Sports. The parting could be mutual.

When Rondo and Carlisle had it out on the bench and again in the locker room in February, teammates heard Rondo ask him: "Why the [bleep] did you bring me here?"

Of course, the Mavericks made the Rondo trade for the playoffs, and so far, the experiment is a bust. "It does look frustrating for him," Smith told Yahoo Sports. "And it's definitely not his fault."

Smith is a loyal friend, but he badly wants to advance in these playoffs, and if the Rondo dysfunction is paralyzing these Mavericks, so be it. Dallas is spiraling, losing Chandler Parsons to a knee injury that will make his return in this first-round series impossible, league sources told Yahoo Sports. For the Rockets, the moves they didn't make – matching Parsons' max offer sheet, pushing harder on a Rondo deal with Boston – turned out to be as important as the moves they did make: signing Smith and trading for Corey Brewer.

On a night when Harden could never get his rhythm, Howard was a monster with 28 points and 12 rebounds and Smith was his running partner with 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. These were the good old days, resurrected with the Rockets. Josh Smith will be a free agent this summer, but he doesn't want to leave here – nor does Rockets general manager Daryl Morey want to lose him.

The Rockets are desperate for Smith and Howard to deliver this kind of dominance in the playoffs, to unburden Harden and make these Rockets a force on several fronts. Houston had always wanted Josh Smith back to his Hawks days, and this was one of those nights that reminded everyone the reasons.

On his way out of the Toyota Center on Tuesday night, halfway to the Western Conference semifinals, Josh Smith felt like a teenager again. Old Atlanta Celtics teammates, old times on the AAU circuit. "Throw the ball up to the big fella, and reward him," Smith said, and this had been his way of making everyone see that they could be dangerous together, that they've got Harden's back on this playoff push. As Howard howled and Rondo sulked on Tuesday night, Smith had defied his doubters and made one more proper choice about winning basketball.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/josh-smith-s-partnership-with-dwight-howard-flourishing-as-rajon-rondo-unravels-with-mavs-082337854.html

[The One]

The Rajon Rondo Max Contract Ship be sinking.

A new low for Rondo.

[manl_lui]

wow...just wow...looks like Rondo is gone after this season...and also looks like Danny robbed another team once again

[jonaslopes]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

[fairweatherfan]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

Believing 4 guys you've never met are functionally illiterate explains a lot too.



It's a shame Rondo is having such a rough time of it in Dallas, it was clearly time for us to move on but I wish him well just like most ex-Celts.  Hope he finds a better situation, unless he goes to the Lakers, in which case I hope the decline continues.

[Eddie20]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

I didn't write the article and placed it in the "around the nba" section. Is Rondo not in the NBA? Or are you suggesting we ignore all articles, unless positive of course, associated to him simply because he played for us?

[Granath]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

Until the recent success, there were many sentiments on this board that could be summarized as "woe is me, we traded Rondo" and "Danny got robbed in the trade". So the fact that the guy is performing poorly has some relevance. After all, some of us were right in that the Cs would probably improve without him. I'm not relishing in his struggles, but I am [dang] happy Danny fleeced the Mavs.

And your second paragraph at the very least is judgmental and uninformed - you have no idea if these young men are "dumb" and "functionally illiterate".

[Eddie20]

Windhorst on Mike and Mike said the following:

(Paraphrase)

It's one of the worst kept secrets in the NBA, but even after he was traded to Dallas, Rondo has been talking to Lakers players, not just Kobe, about playing in LA. He desperately wants to play for the Lakers, but at this point it remains to be seen if they still want him. He definitely won't be getting the max contract he once wanted.

[Tr1boy]

Apr 13

if Bryant wants Rondo to join the Lakers so much once he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, why is the Lakers’ star standing up his friend? “I don’t know,” Rondo said. “I called and left a couple of voice mails. But he didn’t respond.”

[Vox_Populi]

I know there are obviously some fans who may enjoy the Rondo torpedo sinking the Mavericks....but I just feel bad. Didn't want to see his career head this direction. Guy used to be my favorite player. His talent can longer make up for his stubborness and eccentricities and it's like he's barely matured. You can't act the way he does and be a sub 50% FT shooter as a guard. Ainge got good value for him.

The only thing I wonder is that, at times early in the season, Rondo didn't look so bad. He's shot better in Dallas, but his characteristic all-round contributions have been lacking.

[Roy H.]

....but I just feel bad. Didn't want to see his career head this direction.

Same here.  Rondo had a lot of great moments here, and it's sad to see a former Celtic diminished.

[MBunge]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

There are actually a lot of great lessons to learn from The Fall of Rondo.

1.  Nothing in guaranteed in this life.  It is very likely that Rondo would have gotten max money from Boston or someone else if his knee injury and horrible attitude didn't get in the way.

2.  The grass is not always greener.  Instead of seeing it as a chance to be "The Man" in Boston, Rondo decided he was too good to go through a rebuilding process.  Now, he might end up having to sign with some team that's even worse off than the Celtics if he wants a huge contract.

3.  The importance of playing well with others.  You don't have to be Fred Friendly all the time, but being "difficult" with other people usually comes back to bite you in the butt.

Mike

[saltlover]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

While we're talking about illiteracy, "functional" is an adjective.  In your sentence, it's modifying "illiterate", which is also an adjective.  That's not proper grammar.  You should have instead written "functionally illiterate", since you need an adverb, in this case "functionally", to modify your adjective, in this case "illiterate."

Anyway, jut a tip: When questioning the literacy of people you've never met (and really have little idea about -- did you know Willie Cauley-Stein likes writing poetry and reading it at open mic nights?) it's a good idea to be dead-on perfect with you grammar.  Because, you know what they say about glass houses and all.

[Roy H.]

The guy is gone. Why so hateful? Let him go. Stop bashing. Just forget him.

Oh wait! Who cares about an idol? We can have an athletic big, oh-my-god-he-can-dunk, as dumb as a doorknob, functional illiterate like WCS, McGee, Sanders or Upshaw. They are beloved around here, not Rajon. That explains a lot about some people.

While we're talking about illiteracy, "functional" is an adjective.  In your sentence, it's modifying "illiterate", which is also an adjective.  That's not proper grammar.  You should have instead written "functionally illiterate", since you need an adverb, in this case "functionally", to modify your adjective, in this case "illiterate."

Anyway, jut a tip: When questioning the literacy of people you've never met (and really have little idea about -- did you know Willie Cauley-Stein likes writing poetry and reading it at open mic nights?) it's a good idea to be dead-on perfect with you grammar.  Because, you know what they say about glass houses and all.

Speaking of glass houses, "illiterate" is being used as a noun above.

That's why we ask members not to chastise each other for their grammar / use of English. It's just an unnecessary and often disrespectful way of putting others down.

[Bosstown]

Rondo is going to get the most money from a desperate team like Sacramento. LA won't give him much money and I have to believe the market has dried up for him, we should of traded him back in 2010 for Steph Curry....oh well.