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RETRIEVING CONTENT...PLEASE WAIT
Expect (Too) Much?
Saturday, May 8, 2010
by bballee 10:02 PM
There were a number of media comments following the Friday game that seemed to imply that Rondo had fallen by the wayside in his efforts to lead the Celtics’ charge against LeBron and the Cavaliers. No question, the Celtics laid a real stinker—but Rajon was one of the few bright spots. I just don’t understand the conclusion that Rondo had a sub par game, unless par for him has become supernova. The following quote from ESPN seemed typical of the damning with faint praise.
Chris Forsberg for ESPN
”Rondo finished 9-of-17 shooting, but, unlike Game 2 where he tied a playoff record with 19 assists, he wasn't able to generate easy points for teammates -- or himself -- like he had in previous games.”
True, Rajon’s assist total was down; but those passes don’t become assists unless your teammates make the shots. In the disastrous first quarter, his fellow starters fired a whole cloud of bricks. For the game Rajon’s All-Star swingmen went a combined 6 of 24. Rondo’s “off” game included leading the team in offensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists, tied for steals, and on 50+% shooting was one point shy of Garnett’s 19 for leading scorer. The big-damage scorers for the Cavs were their starting front line, none of which is the defensive assignment of Rajon. Unless he is going to throw the touchdown pass and then catch it too, I don’t know just how much more he can do. Add to that the fact that most of the night he was taking the inbounds pass after a Cleveland score and that Parker often picked him up in the back court to slow the assault.
No, Rondo did not have a super game, but other than he and Garnett, only Perkins played even as well as “o.k.” The whole team has to play better, and together, but let’s drop this line that Rajon let us down.
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