Rondo has to go

[GreenDreamer]

I guess I can dumb it down for you but it is pretty straight forward there is early, there is on time, and there is late, usually you pick this up in about the 2nd grade.

No actually without knowing the team rules its not straightforward at all. I imagine the players are expected to show up earlier then the game actually starts - how much earlier I couldn't tell you. But its pretty clear that Rondo shows up at the last minute before he violates team rules and i got the impression the team wasn't exactly in love with that..

So while he may (or may not be) technically late - he is showing the minimum effort and he absolutely gave the impression that he has something better to do in his interview. Did you listen to it?

Most of us amateurs are thinking OMG your getting paid milliions of dollars to play basketball and you can't even show up early and shoot around. We do that for free! Like I said it doesn't exactly create extreme loyalty..

The voluntary offseason workouts in football are quite similiar. Sure you don't have to show up at all - but its pretty much expected that you would if your really interested in helping the team. What kind of guy skips these - its always the guy with the contract dispute or the spoiled wide reciever. The Plaxico Buresses of the world.. You know the kind of guy with all the talent but thinks they are too big for practice..

Pete

Yeah, I listened to the interview. He specifically said that he spends half an hour sitting in his car, and that he usually calls Doc to let hiim know that he is out there. He simply feels that it is a distraction and a wate of time to go and sit around in the locker room.

I also find it interesting that you brought up the subject of voluntary team workouts, considering that Rajon was the one who got all of the Celtics to show up a couple of weeks early for training camp this season.. but what is that compared to the grave offense of sitting in your car until an hour before the game?

[tombattor]

Each player has a different pregame ritual. I don't think it really makes a difference whether he sits in his car for an hour to get ready or play video games in the locker room to get ready. IMO, that's not really the problem here. It's his on-court performance, that's causing the Celtics to shop him. I think all that stuff about his attitude and stubbornness is being leaked out to justify Rondo's being shopped. It's similar to how the Red Sox leaked all the Manny's locker room troubles just before trading him.

[GuyClinch]

Each player has a different pregame ritual. I don't think it really makes a difference whether he sits in his car for an hour to get ready or play video games in the locker room to get ready. IMO, that's not really the problem here. It's his on-court performance, that's causing the Celtics to shop him. I think all that stuff about his attitude and stubbornness is being leaked out to justify Rondo's being shopped. It's similar to how the Red Sox leaked all the Manny's locker room troubles just before trading him.

I agree for the most part. That being said having pre-game ritual that may be detrimental to your performance on court won't win you any awards. Maybe it's Rondo's "way" to eat spicy food and shut out his teamates before a big game. But the team doesn't have to like it.

I think another issue is that he is acting like a big star - when perhaps the team thinks he is not. Manny might have a quirky ritual but he was the best hitter I have ever seen - by far.

Pete

[wigglestrue]

He is resting the ball on his palm too much, instead of the finger pads, like you said. But look at his elbow. It's basically straight out.

Dude, if his torso were facing perpendicular to the basket you'd have a point, but it's at a comfortable small diagonal angle (maybe a wee bit too diagonal) so his cocked elbow and his arm, when extended, is totally in line with the basket.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Yeah, I listened to the interview. He specifically said that he spends half an hour sitting in his car, and that he usually calls Doc to let hiim know that he is out there. He simply feels that it is a distraction and a wate of time to go and sit around in the locker room.

I also find it interesting that you brought up the subject of voluntary team workouts, considering that Rajon was the one who got all of the Celtics to show up a couple of weeks early for training camp this season.. but what is that compared to the grave offense of sitting in your car until an hour before the game?

I'm going to speculate that Rondo sits in his car and probably listens to loud music to pump him up before a game. We all know KG's pre-game routine, which is to sit in his locker and just start getting angry with anyone who crosses his path. I heard that he and Ray almost got into it a few years ago because Ray was too close to his locker and was joking around with teammates. Maybe Rondo has to go to his car and do his pre-game ritual there in an effort to not disturb KG's pre-game ritual?

[recruiter]

The Rondo stuff has been entertaining, if for no other reason than all the hysteria it's caused over on CelticsBlog, Red's Army and here.

And the illustration that some people care more about their favorite player than winning team basketball.

No one's a bigger critic of Ainge than I am, but he gets an official pat on the back here for getting out his principal's paddle and smacking Rondo on the wallet. He's a good player, has great upside, but he's extremely flawed - jump shooting, foul shooting, effort, etc. He isn't close to max-level talent, and Ainge and Grousbeck aren't going to pay him accordingly until he cleans up the flaws in his game.

I suspect all this is management's last gasp at letting a little air out of the only max thing about Rondo - his ego.

In the meantime, watching all the "Rondo is my binky" folks has been hilarious. Thanks for the laughs, Danny.