It's been a roller coaster ride in the playoffs for Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. In one game he puts up 20 points, then in the next game he only can manage two.
Of course, he's only 22 years old, so some inconsistency is expected. But now that its the Eastern Conference Finals, Rondo will have to buckle down and start playing well in every game. He is one of the big keys for the Celtic's championship chances, and when he plays well, the Celtics play well. Conversely, when Rajon plays poorly, Boston tends to lose.
Now, what is at the root of this inconsistency problem, you may ask? It's very simple, but sometimes hard to fix: confidence.
Rondo has all the talent in the world, but if he doesn't think he can make the shot, or defend Chauncey Billups, then he won't.
In Game 2 of the Celtics-Pistons series, Detroit was leaving Rondo open to double either Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett. This left Rondo open, but more than a few times he caught the ball either not ready or not willing to shoot.
This handicaps the Celtics offense, in effect making them play four against five at times. In Game 3, Rondo will need to step up and take those shots with confidence.
Even if he misses one or two, he can't stop taking them. I've seen Rajon hit these shots all year long, and he sure as hell can knock them down now. He just has to believe.
What's more, when Rondo is making some long range shots, it opens up the other parts of his game. All he has to do is hit one or two jump-shots to get Detroit to close out harder on him. Then he can blow by them and work his magic in the lane.
In Game 5 against Cleveland, Rondo hit two big threes towards the end of the second quarter that swung the momentum in the Celtic's favor. He took those shots with confidence and poise, even though he had only hit five threepointers in the regular season.
Now that Rondo had hit those outside shots, Cleveland had to respect his jumper and in the second half, Rajon absolutely killed the Cavs in the lane.
That game was Rondo's twenty point, thirteen assist putout that made many go "Woah, whose this guy?"
If the Celtics want to get past Detroit, he's going to have to get that type of exclamation out of people a few more times. There's no question in my mind that he's capable of playing effectively against this Pistons team. But its the questions in his mind that matter.
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4 months ago
i think yell gone win yell have the three best players in the lead
4 months ago
I think Rondo is getting a tough rap in these playoffs. He's excpected to be a facilitator and not a scorer but this teammates often have been unagressive on offensive which has lead to them just giving the ball back to Rondo (the team's primary ballhandler) and getting no earily offensive. Now Rondo is put in a postion where he's not clear if his role should be to distrubute or to score. It seems like Doc and the media has been really hard on him which has lead to more indecesion but the root of the problem isn't Rondo its the Celtics not playing good enough offensive. This kid isn't Chris Paul or Deron Williams and shouldn't have the ball in his hands that much. If you ask Rondo to play a game where his team takes 15 plus seconds off the shot clock every possession and he holding the ball the majority of the time he's going to make mistakes.
from 4 months ago
Its true what you say about the Celtics offense when Pierce or Garnett defer back to Rondo with the shot clock winding down and taking the Celtics out of their offenseive flow. That happened too much in Game 4. That being said, when Rondo's got it going, you want the ball in his hands. Look at the second half of game 5 against Cleveland. In that critical thrid quarter, almost every single play ran through Rondo. The problem is he's still young, so he's going to be inconsistent. In this Detroit series is that it seems Rondo has lost some of his decision making processes that made him so good in the regular season. Once again, that goes back to confidence. But when Rondo has it going, when he's getting into the lane and hitting the floater or making a great pass to Garnett down low or Ray Allen for three, he can be very, very dangerous to the other team. If he can get back to knowing when to shoot and when to pass, watch out Detroit.
4 months ago
I like Rondo alot. Always have. I just think the Celtics are asking a bit too much of him at times in the post season and he's taking the heat. At this stage of his career I think he's best on D and in the open court. He's not Chris Paul and I don't think he's a pointgaurd that can always have the ball in his hands which is what his team is making him do alot. Also it seems like Doc has been super hard on the kid everytime he misses a shot. Rondo has an althletic advantage in most match up I think you have to let the kid try to take advantage of it sometimes even if he might make a mistake. I actually think the kid as played fairly well in his first post season and could be doing even more for the team if asked alittle less ball handling and decesion making in the 1/2 court. If they attacked more in general and let their other skill players (PP and Ray) share in some ball handling responsibilities
from 4 months ago
I agree with you there. It would be nice if Rondo and Boston would run more in this Game 5. That would not only utilize Rondo's ability to break down the defense in the open court, but Ray Ray would get more open shots. And in the half court, definitely use Paul and Kevin more often than not.
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