Rondo needs to come off the bench

[MyInsatiableOne]

Two weeks ago Rondo was an All Star, now he shouldn't be starting??? Come on now. Rondo is what makes this team go. When he's aggressive and attacking the basket and flying around the court, the C's play well. When he is passive and settles for jumpers or standing off in the corner, we struggle. We NEED Rondo to start and NEED him to play his game. If he doesn't, it trickles down and effects the rest of the team. Hopefully Rondo gets back to playing his game (and cuts down on the turnovers) these kind of posts will stop.

FWIW, I would love to see Pruitt get more minutes as the backup PG, 10-15 mins a night would be nice, but we need his shooting ability on the 2nd unit.

^^Thank you. The guy is in a slump (it happens to EVERYONE, even the greats) and people want to dump him now...

[Red2]

Rondo is a funny guy to figure out. He appears very confident, even cocky at times but at other times it seems his confidence is lacking as it has been for the past several games. I wonder if all the Marbury talk has gotten to him? I also wonder if maybe he hasn't taken some games off becuase he was getting beat up too much. He hits the floor a lot and takes a lot of punishment so perhaps he has stopped being aggressive because he's tired of being hit. What I do know is that he is the main reason we won 19 in a row. When he's on our offense is great and when's he's off we are an average team at best since we have no bench. Danny is going to have to come up with a solutuion for those nights when Rondo is not gettng the job done. BTW benching him is not the answer but I would not hesitate to sit him more during the game if he's not getting it done. against the rockets the other night he constantly allowed brooks to beat him off the dribble including that critical drive and kick to Von Wafer. Pierce was forced to cover the middle leaving Wafer ( is that name for real?) open because Rondo was lazy and was playing his " from behind" defense. As crapplily as we were playing there if Rondo had played solid D on brooks we might have won that game.

[SuigintouEV]

Two weeks ago Rondo was an All Star, now he shouldn't be starting??? Come on now. Rondo is what makes this team go. When he's aggressive and attacking the basket and flying around the court, the C's play well.

He wasn't an all-star 2 weeks ago, though. He was still shooting like 25% on jump shots. He was just not looking like a liability out there, so the team was performing. Now teams are playing him better and making him look like a liability

Rondo doesn't make this team go. Rondo holds this team back from going, and when he doesn't, the team plays to its potential. Look at last year's 1st two rounds, how terrible rondo was. Those should not have been 76-75 grind it out affairs with the cavs, they should have been high scoring games because no one on the cavs could guard KG at all, and pierce was lighting it up. Instead Ray Allen was barely getting open for anything and rondo was bogging down the offense.

If Rondo didn't have the athleticism, he'd be looked at as a Devin Brown, Eric Snow, Jacque Vaughne type player. A pass first, defensive backup PG who can't stick the open jumper. That's not a player that makes a team go. Like those guys, when he's playing well, the team is unstoppable because it no longer has a huge liability. To rondo's credit, he plays good offense a lotmore than those guys do, he's not on thier level of failure. But that's not the same thing as being the key to the team's success - that's the big 3. Rondo's role in the offense is very similar. The celtics offense would look very different if they had a great balanced PG (like Stephon, who unfortunately won't ever be looked at as a starter). It would have more successful KG post-ups because of better spacing, and still comparable penetration because teams would have to guard him up close.

That said Rondo should continue to start because Gabe Pruitt has shot 32% this season and hasn't earned **** in garbage time, and because the celtics have no one better, which is depressing. Rondo is still the Celtic's best Point Guard unless Gabe Pruitt starts playing like Gabert Prenas.

[return2glory]

Having Rondo go to the bench is a minor tweak. You still keep 80% of the starting lineup the same. And you play Rondo 25-30 minutes off the bench instead of 35 minutes as a starter. That's not a drastic move.

Ray, PP, and KG get a lot of leeway because they are proven players. Rondo should not be given the same leeway. This should be a temparary move and maybe it will make Rondo and the team better in the long run.

Why make such a "temporary" move? I can see how playing Pruitt more at the backup PG position can help us, but what's the point of starting Pruitt for a few games with the intention of putting Rondo back in the lineup? Is this some sort of punishment? IMO, if such move was to be made, Pruitt has to beat Rondo out. Not just for the sake of punishing Rondo for a poor stretch.

It's a temporary move. If Pruitt plays well and Rondo continues to pass up open 10-12 footers and forces his teammates to be put in tough positions, then it should continue.

And yes it is a punishment. Rondo shouldn't get a free ride. He is still a young player that is very inconsisant. He has played well in maybe 60% of the games. He hasn't improved his offensive game much. In the last two weeks he and House have hurt this team.

[tombattor]

It's a temporary move. If Pruitt plays well and Rondo continues to pass up open 10-12 footers and forces his teammates to be put in tough positions, then it should continue.

And yes it is a punishment. Rondo shouldn't get a free ride. He is still a young player that is very inconsisant. He has played well in maybe 60% of the games. He hasn't improved his offensive game much. In the last two weeks he and House have hurt this team.

I understand your point and agree about his passing up jumpers and being inconsistent. However, I don't agree with inserting Pruitt into the starting lineup because Rondo's been playing poorly. It should be because Pruitt beats Rondo out, not because we need some kind of change. That's what you do when your team is below .500 and need to shake things up, not when your team is 20 games over .500 less than half way into the season.

[return2glory]

Two weeks ago Rondo was an All Star, now he shouldn't be starting??? Come on now. Rondo is what makes this team go. When he's aggressive and attacking the basket and flying around the court, the C's play well. When he is passive and settles for jumpers or standing off in the corner, we struggle. We NEED Rondo to start and NEED him to play his game. If he doesn't, it trickles down and effects the rest of the team. Hopefully Rondo gets back to playing his game (and cuts down on the turnovers) these kind of posts will stop.

FWIW, I would love to see Pruitt get more minutes as the backup PG, 10-15 mins a night would be nice, but we need his shooting ability on the 2nd unit.

^^Thank you. The guy is in a slump (it happens to EVERYONE, even the greats) and people want to dump him now...

Who is talking about dumping him? I'm talking about reducing his minutes by about 5 minutes a game. Are you that stupid or you can't read? And when the **** was Rondo an all-star? A guy averaging 11 points and 7 assists and shooting 60% from the line is an all star now? Maybe in the eyes of homers like you. Rondo is a very good player when he is on and he is no all-star, not yet.

[return2glory]

It's a temporary move. If Pruitt plays well and Rondo continues to pass up open 10-12 footers and forces his teammates to be put in tough positions, then it should continue.

And yes it is a punishment. Rondo shouldn't get a free ride. He is still a young player that is very inconsisant. He has played well in maybe 60% of the games. He hasn't improved his offensive game much. In the last two weeks he and House have hurt this team.

I understand your point and agree about his passing up jumpers and being inconsistent. However, I don't agree with inserting Pruitt into the starting lineup because Rondo's been playing poorly. It should be because Pruitt beats Rondo out, not because we need some kind of change. That's what you do when your team is below .500 and need to shake things up, not when your team is 20 games over .500 less than half way into the season.

The team is now 2-7 in the last 9. Yeah I'm counting the Cavs lose today. Sorry, just don't see a win against the best team in the league when we can't even beat average teams right now. That is a 22% winning. Not expectable for a championship team. I don't think a little change is going to hurt us. He can still play 30 minutes coming off the bench.

[PPAW4Life]

Moving Rondo to the bench is not the right move.

If anyone goes to the bench it's Ray Allen.

Maybe start BBD at the SF and move PP to SG.

[PP34RA10]

Ray allen is the one who needs to come off the bench not rondo

[tombattor]

Ray allen is the one who needs to come off the bench not rondo

Why? So we could have lost to the Raptors too?

The greatest thing about the Big 3 is the fact that there are 3 of them. If 1 or 2 of them go cold, we have the 3rd one to help carry us through, as we've seen from each of the Big 3. We don't **** with that.