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I wrote an OP a couple of weeks back that our only chances of going anywhere in this post season revolved around running. The passt two weeks have done nothing to change my mind about that. This team is an uptempo squad when it plays its best ball, and that was true even when K.G. was still suiting up. It is even more obvious now, that he can't play.

The guy who makes this all possible is Rondo. His enormous influence on a game is just now being understood by the pundits. He doesn't just "get stats", he alters the way a game is played at a fundamental level. He gets the other 9 guys on the court to play HIS game. by doing this he tilts the playing field distinctly towards his own team's advantage, because no one is better at Rondo's game than the man himself. Only one team can have him. Jason Kidd was A LOT like this when he was at his peak.

The Celtics chances of winning it all are not good, but at least Rondo gives us a punchers chance. Take Scalabrine, for example. It isn't as if Veal has morphed himself into a useful player overnight. He is still pretty much teh same guy we have always had. The difference is that he is playing with Rondo in a system controlled by Rondo. Rondo knows how to bring out the best in Scal, and Brian also knows how to help Rondo do just that. Why/ Well, he played with Jason Kidd. Getting teh ball in quickly off made baskets, running the break, keeping himself open on the perimeter, and judicious cuts are all things which help Rondo help Brian and ultimately the team. He did it with Jason, and is doing it now with us.... now that we have our own top point guard running the show. If this team was being run through Ray and Paul, brian would be useless. They wouldn't know how to get the most out of him. Let's be clear about this: Rondo did not have control of the offense last season, the Big Three did. He has it now.

I look at the players surrounding Rondo in very much teh same way that he probably looks at them. They are "buttons". Want a three "push the Ray button". Need to get a post score "push the Perk button". Want to attack the rim "push the Paul button". They are weapons to deployed, and Rondo likes to use all of his weapons. That is why a guy like Veal flourishes with him (check out the 82games.com' player pairs, Veal and Rondo are like peaches and cream). The same goes with anyone else out there who has something to offer. Whereas Paul would look over Brian in the past, Rondo sees Veal in teh corner in a completely different light.... and always has. He si always willing to give you a chance to do something which you can be effective at. A guy like Rondo is a force multiplier, because he can get so much more out of his teammates.

It has been this way for a while now. Why is it that the team goes as Rondo goes? Simple, he's our most influential player. He's teh guy who decides, more than anyone else, whether we win or lose. He is not solely responsible for this, but he has the largest share. Well, in this, or any sport, what do you call the guy who has that influence? Why, you call him your best player.... because that is exactly what Rondo is. He's the best player on the Celtics, and has been for a while now. it is just becoming REALLY obvious now. This isn't to poo poo Paul and Ray. They are great players. To say that one guy is the best does not mean that others have to be "bad".

considering the above, though, it makes me question the sanity of the people who think that Marbury over Rondo would be a good idea. That they EVER thought that is kind of bizzare to me. I have said this before, and I'll say it again: Stephon was never, at ANY point of his career, as good as Rondo is right now. Was a he a better scorer? A little better. Was he as good, or better in ANYTHING esle? No. I like having him here. He isn't terrible, and we needed a vet backup for Rondo. He fits the bill nicely. I like that he's actually trying.

Rondo is a game changer.

Ya, as I mentioned in another thread Rondo is probably the MVP of the playoffs thus far when you look at what each player means to their respective team. Lebron is the only person who can challenge Rondo in this regard. Rondo is clearly the leader of the team and is often the team's best player. Ray and Paul will have nights where they're better but those have been pretty few and far between and even on those nights they are largely reliant on Rondo finding them in their kill zones offensively.

Right now I'd have to say that Rondo is probably a Top 5 player in the League based on Playoff performance. I think he tends to battle some immaturity from time to time (the Hinrich altercation, the late arrival and spicy burrito in Game 1 Orlando series) but he's the aggressor for the Celtics on both ends. He truly dominates the game from endline to endline with his speed, gathering lose balls/rebounds, attacking the rim, and setting up teammates. Sometimes in a game, especially in the Chicago series, I would watch Rondo exclusively for several minute stretches and it was Astounding how active he was. It was almost like there was two Rondo's out there... he was like Ray Lewis in football, in on EVERY play. Always contesting, poking, battling, scraping, etc. It was Amazing.

Rondo is truly the type of player who dominates a game at EVERY level. Those types of players are few and far between and those are the players who's names everyone remembers Duncan, Kidd, Jordan, Magic, Lebron, Wade... I truly feel that Rondo is on the verge of entering that category. He has his work cut out for him and it will take more than 9 games of playoff dominance to reach that status but he can make further strides by continuing this performance against Orlando and then Cleveland. The Sky is the Limit for Rondo.

and then, some nights, it looks like he's not interested in being Rondo, walks the ball up, dribbles a bit, passes it off to Ray or Paul coming off a pick (or hanging around the perimeter)
is that the immaturity?

considering the above, though, it makes me question the sanity of the people who think that Marbury over Rondo would be a good idea. That they EVER thought that is kind of bizzare to me. I have said this before, and I'll say it again: Stephon was never, at ANY point of his career, as good as Rondo is right now. Was a he a better scorer? A little better. Was he as good, or better in ANYTHING esle? No. I like having him here. He isn't terrible, and we needed a vet backup for Rondo. He fits the bill nicely. I like that he's actually trying.

I agree with 90% of your post and thought it was very well written. However, I do have a bit of a problem with this. When Rondo isn't doing the things you mentioned above, he is next to useless. He can't make open jumpers and when he decides not to attack he might as well be off the court. People were calling for Marbury the other day because he was finally in a groove and it was worth the investment in minutes to keep it going. I don't think anyone would suggest that Marbury should be starting over Rondo, but Doc needs to know how to push the right buttons, which he didn't do on Monday night.

A key to get the Rondo Effect going is solid defense. Rondo even said it himself that he can't be the best player he is when the other team is making shots and they have to inbound the ball.

Kids Are Alright wrote:and then, some nights, it looks like he's not interested in being Rondo, walks the ball up, dribbles a bit, passes it off to Ray or Paul coming off a pick (or hanging around the perimeter)
is that the immaturity?

Dunno, maybe. He killed us in Game 1 doing that...

JCizzle wrote:

considering the above, though, it makes me question the sanity of the people who think that Marbury over Rondo would be a good idea. That they EVER thought that is kind of bizzare to me. I have said this before, and I'll say it again: Stephon was never, at ANY point of his career, as good as Rondo is right now. Was a he a better scorer? A little better. Was he as good, or better in ANYTHING esle? No. I like having him here. He isn't terrible, and we needed a vet backup for Rondo. He fits the bill nicely. I like that he's actually trying.

I agree with 90% of your post and thought it was very well written. However, I do have a bit of a problem with this. When Rondo isn't doing the things you mentioned above, he is next to useless. He can't make open jumpers and when he decides not to attack he might as well be off the court. People were calling for Marbury the other day because he was finally in a groove and it was worth the investment in minutes to keep it going. I don't think anyone would suggest that Marbury should be starting over Rondo, but Doc needs to know how to push the right buttons, which he didn't do on Monday night.

Rondo got off to a sluggish start. I think part of that was aided and abbetted by a game plan which emphasized "getting Ray and Paul going". I've long been against this as THE guy to get going for this team is Rondo, and to put that on the backburner is bad business as far as I'm concerned.

Still, he was bad in the first half. The problem was that the team wasn't doing much with Marbury in there, and Stephon certainly wasn't doing anything special to stop that. Did he hit some shots? That's nice. The team also got outscored by 7 points in his 9 minutes on the court. Is that a good thing? When Rondo finally got rolling, was Stephon going to keep that ball rolling? I think not. Rondo had already transformed the game into his kind of game by then, and that ends when he leaves teh court. If rondo was the one who was most responsible for digging the hole, he was also the one who was digging us back out of it again. Thinking otherwise is VERY myopic.

Marbury is trtying hard, and has been a good addition for this squad. He is not the persence that Rondo is on teh floor. Never has been. People see a few shots go in and say "Look at that!!!!". I look at the scoreboard and the whole game. Who is the guy making things happen. That was clearly Rondo, when he got going. Everyone, on both sides, said the same thing afterwards. Van gundy had a one word response when asked why they almost lost the game: "Rondo". I'm pretty sure that he would have been ecstatic to see the kid coming off of the court, and Doc did right by leaving him in there. People got huing up on teh turnovers, but missed out on the complete lack of compsure that the Magic were experiencing trtying to play at the wild pace that Rondo was forcing. On several of Rondo's turnovers the magic immediately, and I mean IMMEDIATELY turned the ball right back over to us. So did those turnovers actually hurt us? No.

Big picture.

It bothers me though because he could and should be doing even better. Last night for instance, he put up some ludicrous floaters and circus shots with time left in the shot clock. He has a tendency to showboat too much when he gets on a roll, and throw the ball away sometimes - like that critical stretch in game one when he tried that behind the back bounce pass to Ray that Ray didn't expect. And it's bugging me that his jumper has gone very cold again...

All just evidence that he can still get even better.

Rondo is just learning his trade.......

Rondo should be nickname "triple threat" every time he's on the court, he's capable of a triple double. what do you guys think?