Preseason: Celtics AT Nets - Tuesday, October 13th

[Ben-N1ce]

Rondo is still horrific at free throws. That can cost you a few wins a year shooting that bad or even worse some playoff games. No damn excuse for a point guard. He should be 70+ percent without question. For the amount of times he will go to the line it's embarrassing.

[GuyClinch]

Rondo was pretty mediocre till we got till the Nets third and second string. Harris was outplaying him, IMHO. I thought Harris was making smart passes and playing excellent D. Rafer Alston stinks though.

[BillessuR6]

Rondo took over in the fourth. With Hudson, Giddens, Scal and Baby on the floor he played like a go-to guy should play...And it wasn`t against 2nd or 3rd stringers...NJ had their best lineup on the floor sans Harris...

He just needs to shoot the free throws better. That was abysmal!

[Kefa461]

3rd unit seems very good.........

[GuyClinch]

LMAO. NJ's "best" lineup - Harris is pretty sad. I'd say less then 30 games for that team.

[Kids Are Alright]

thought Davis did a better job on Lopez than Perk....he mans up better, keeps him out of the paint almost entirely.

Baby's offense is pretty junky, but he moves well without the ball, his D seems better this year, I see him playing a role this year

all of the people that say that baby would start on other NBA teams forget that nobody opted for Davis during the summer

'Sheed's ankle at his age could always be worse than we suspect. God I hope not

[return2glory]

I don't get one thing. Doc said that Daniels was one of our best defenders, but CDR had his way with him in the 1st half. Giddens comes in and you don't hear from CDR again. Is Doc underestimatiing JR's defense?

Giddens had a decent offensive game. But he rebounded great, leading the team with 13. His defensive was good too.

Doc wanted to win this game despite PGA not playing. Rondo played 41 minutes and looked bad in the 1st half. Rondo picked it up in the 2nd. Overall, Rajon didn't play too well and still almost had a triple double with 18, 13 assists and 9 rebounds. The kid has so much talent. I want to see him make his FT's because he was 6-14 from the line. I thought he was working with Mark Price on his shooting.

[return2glory]

Forgot to mention, Shelden didn't look too good. I wish he had a healthy Powe, but we got Sheed. BBD looked good.

For the next game, I would like to sit out Rondo and play Hudson about 30 minutes. He didn't look too good, we need to see what he can do. We know Rondo can play and he played 41 minutes this game.

Also I want to see Sweetney play. I think Ainge may have jumped the jump on the William's signing.

[ParticleMan]

it seemed like Daniels was a step slow. i think his stomach or whatever was really bothering him. pierce has said that JR is the best defender in practice, so not surprising about his D on CDR.

rondo looked great against the nets 2nd string. not so good against Devin Harris, who kind of had his way with him. but still a nice job by rajon. he definitely fills up the boxscore but it's still an issue of consistency with him.

i think rondo will get the night off tonight. he earned it.

[ryaningf]

Rondo was pretty mediocre till we got till the Nets third and second string. Harris was outplaying him, IMHO. I thought Harris was making smart passes and playing excellent D. Rafer Alston stinks though.

Rondo dominated the game in the first quarter (6 assists), and from the middle of the 3rd quarter onwards, single-handedly bringing the team back from a 14 point deficit. Hell, he had his hand in pretty much every point scored in the 4th quarter, either personally or with an assist. Point guard play is more than hitting jumpers.

Listen to Doc:

“He really wants it,’’ Rivers said of Rondo. “We knew that before. But the difference this year is he is doing it all the right way. He’s leading, he’s not gambling on defense, he’s executing offensively.

Harris outplayed Rondo until he got injured again? Look at their lines in the first quarter: Harris 2 points, 3 assists, 1 turnover, Rondo 1 point, 6 assists, 1 turnover. In the 2nd quarter when they were playing against each other (only 4 minutes), Harris hit 4 free throws, got an assist, and had a turnover. Rondo had an assist.

Harris played decently--he was the recipient of some bail-out calls as usual, and had a few nice passes--but once again he got injured. Rondo is by far the younger, healthier, better player right now. Harris scores better--because he's on a bad team and gets to do what he wants. If Rondo was on the Nets he'd be dropping triple-doubles left and right.

[ryaningf]

it seemed like Daniels was a step slow. i think his stomach or whatever was really bothering him. pierce has said that JR is the best defender in practice, so not surprising about his D on CDR.

If you remember back to predraft 2008, Ainge had CDR and Giddens in to work out against each other--apparently, and JR dominated CDR one-on-one, leading the Cs to pass up CDR and take JR in the draft. Of course, now that they're NBA careers are under way, it's pretty clear that Giddens does have the superior one-on-one skills, but also that CDR is by far the better scorer, better offensive player, and way more comfortable in the 5 on 5 game. Giddens has the quickness advantage, but CDR can simply get where he needs to get, and hit midrange shots at will, while working squarely in the team concept. Giddens is all iso and often out of control, while CDR always seems to be in control and working in the team flow. CDR has also improved his defense since he got in the NBA.