Rondo should sit tonight

tombattor · Post #1 » by **tombattor** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:11 pm

From all accounts, Rondo's ankle's not 100%. Which means his greatest asset, speed and quickness, will be greatly compromised. And since Rondo's not a good shooter and relies so heavily on his athleticism, he won't be very effective.

Not only that, I would love. I mean LOVE to see TA get some burn out there. During the regular season, he did a pretty good job in staying with Kobe. I just don't understand why he never got the call at all this postseason, except his 4 second stretches, which Doc loves to play his backup guards, except Sam, who gets a ton of unwarranted minutes.

TA is athletic and big enough to make Kobe work for his offense and the Celtics won't have to be forced to have Rondo guard Kobe in transition, since the Lakers cross-match and put Kobe on Rondo on D, and give Lakers a huge advantage with Kobe being guarded by much smaller Rondo.

If Rondo's not close to 100% tonight, I rather see Rondo rest up and be ready for game 5 than hobble tonight and hobble again in game 5. Besides, I think this is the best chance to see what TA can do because if not today, who knows if Doc will ever go to him. I think TA can be a very important piece to this series and if he gets the start, he'll show us what we've been missing.

Post #2 » by **canman1971** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:15 pm

If Rondo can go, he plays. If he is ineffective, than I don't think Doc will hesitate to sit him. Nobody is 100%, this team needs Rondo to win. This is the finals.

tombattor · Post #3 » by **tombattor** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:24 pm

canman1971 wrote:If Rondo can go, he plays. If he is ineffective, than I don't think Doc will hesitate to sit him. Nobody is 100%, this team needs Rondo to win. This is the finals.

Yes, we do need him, but not if his speed is being compromised by his injury. If he doesn't have his speed, he's pretty much useless on offense and defense.

Post #4 » by **canman1971** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:28 pm

tombattor wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Yes, we do need him, but not if his speed is being compromised by his injury. If he doesn't have his speed, he's pretty much useless on offense and defense.

I agree with that, but you really won't know until he goes out there. If he is getting killed, he'll end up sitting. Doc will know pretty quickly.

Post #5 » by **Celtics_Champs** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:30 pm

Yeah, like said, this is the finals. You give him the shot, and if he is struggling, Doc will sit him.

CelticsWhat! · Post #6 » by **CelticsWhat!** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:45 pm

It all depends on how he's feeling, but you don't want to make it worse than it is. If it's something that a bit of rest will make him close to 100%, well game 5 isn't until Sunday, so he'd have another 3 days to rest it.

But at the same time, this is the Finals, so if he can go, and be effective, you should play him.

I wouldn't mind seeing TA get some run, but only if he's going to get some decent minutes. He doesn't respond well to spot minutes. He needs a chance to get into the flow of the game. But if he does play, he needs to be aggressive going to the basket when the Lakers undoubtedly double off him.

tombattor · Post #7 » by **tombattor** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:56 pm

CelticsWhat! wrote:It all depends on how he's feeling, but you don't want to make it worse than it is. If it's something that a bit of rest will make him close to 100%, well game 5 isn't until Sunday, so he'd have another 3 days to rest it.

But at the same time, this is the Finals, so if he can go, and be effective, you should play him.

I wouldn't mind seeing TA get some run, but only if he's going to get some decent minutes. He doesn't respond well to spot minutes. He needs a chance to get into the flow of the game. But if he does play, he needs to be aggressive going to the basket when the Lakers undoubtedly double off him.

I agree. With the game 5 on Sunday, Rondo can potentially have a decent time off. If he's going to be iffy, I rather he rest up and come back strong for game 5.

I also agree about TA needing some real minutes, not those 4 second stints Doc loves putting TA and House into. Doc has done a decent job so far, but definitely some head scratcher moments with his rotations too.

MyInsatiableOne · Post #8 » by **MyInsatiableOne** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:13 pm

tombattor wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Yes, we do need him, but not if his speed is being compromised by his injury. If he doesn't have his speed, he's pretty much useless on offense and defense.

And then we should see extended minutes from House. AND NO CASSELL!

I'd rather see Scal run the point than Sam...

Kefa461 · Post #9 » by **Kefa461** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:18 pm

You guys are just asking for it.......Sam is gonna have to come in and save the day.......Sam I Am..........ET........Sudden Sam..........

tombattor · Post #10 » by **tombattor** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:31 pm

MyInsatiableOne wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I'd rather see Scal run the point than Sam...

although he probably would.

daveisceltics · Post #11 » by **daveisceltics** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 6:00 pm

Yeah, Rondo will probably start, if he can't perform well we will see someone else step in.

P2 · Post #12 » by P2 » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:07 pm

Kefa461 wrote:You guys are just asking for it.......Sam is gonna have to come in and save the day.......Sam I Am..........ET........Sudden Sam..........

Please, oh lord, don't let him shoot 10 times of his 15 ball possesions.

eitanr · Post #13 » by **eitanr** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:16 pm

If TA got burn last game, the C's may have had a chance to win. Boston can't afford to have Kobe go crazy again like he did the other not, not to mention the C's luckying out with LA's missed free throws.

TA can at least limit Kobe. If that is the case and KG and PP can remain on the court and hit some shots, the C's could easily command game 4.