Posts tagged Rajonrondo at FanHouse

Rajon Rondo's status among the great young NBA point guards will be discussed fully this summer, I suspect. It's a hard argument to make because no point guard in the league derives so much of his talent from the defensive end, and few are as well-rounded (21 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 6 steals -- who let Andrei Kirilenko circa 2004 in this thing?!). As we've found out over the past couple years, defense -- on the individual level -- is really hard to measure.

It seems worth noting today that Rondo is youngest starter on an NBA champion since Tony Parker in 2003. Parker turned 21 during the Spurs' playoff run that season, and had Speedy Claxton to buoy him in the backcourt. This year, 22-year-old Rondo shared the point with Sam Cassell and Eddie House in the Finals, but still played over 30 minutes per game.

Myriad teams passed over Rondo in the 2006 draft for guys like Quincy Douby, Patrick O'Bryant, Mouhamed Sene, Cedric Simmons, and Oleksiy Pecherov. Rarely do guards or swingmen get drafted based on their defensive potential; when they do (Tayshaun Prince), the choices are criticized. And to be fair, it's dangerous for an exec with a tenuous hold on employment to pick a perimeter defender in the draft: if the team defense is no good (Knicks), then your potential defensive wiz kid (Renaldo Balkman) will have no chance to look alive. Gunners can score no matter how bad the team offense is. Disruptors require community help.

What players would Rondo's success endorse this draft season? Russell Westbrook would be the first name I'd find -- like Rajon, Westbrook's jumper has been questioned, but no one denies the brilliant athleticism and focused defense he offers. Lower-valued guards like Chris Douglas-Roberts and DeMarcus Nelson should be included in this conversation, as well. We'll find out next week if anyone thinks Rondo has greater implications.

In the long-form tradition of The Rotation, Tom Ziller considers the action the morning after each game of the NBA Finals.

Proper perspective for the absurdity of Game 6 does not exist. The NBA can call this one weird season on infinite counts, but the sum of all other nonsensical haps in the league really cannot compare to what the Celtics franchise provoked on its way to the championship.

Boston's series win isn't a surprise: as Brett Edwards wrote last night, everyone knew it was coming after that mystical Game 4 win in L.A. But this? A complete blowout from the start of the second quarter? Garbage time?! Eddie House alley-oops to a 180in' Tony Allen?!? GATORADE ON THE HARDWOOD!!!!

Simply and utterly absurd ... but just real enough to change the entire face of the league.

From the AP comes news that both Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo will go tonight in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Boston. What does this mean?

Well, Perkins is nursing a shoulder injury, which is not a best-case injury scenario when you're talking about a guy that's on the floor to provide a physical presence. Perkins' absence was noticeable in Game 5 as the Laker repeatedly, and finally, built an advantage on the offensive glass with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Perkins is playing to try and erase that deficit, but with Gasol's height advantage over, well, everyone, having a bum shoulder could cause issues.

Conversely, Rondo's suffering with a bum ankle, and that's equally as unfortunate for his skill set. His big advantage over Derek Fisher is his speed and athleticism, and if that's limited, he's just an awkward young point guard who has trouble shooting.

However, the gamble is definitely worth it if the two are really healthy enough to play, obviously. The real question comes if they aren't. Doc Rivers is notorious for his rotation issues, and will often leave guys in too long before making the necessary adjustment. Will he be able to pull the plug tonight if he needs to? Will he have to?

Rajon Rondo has been a revelation of sorts in the postseason. Sure, he's simply doing what he's been doing all year, but now it's all happening on a national scale.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, though, he wasn't able to do much of anything after spraining his ankle last night. He finished the game playing just 22 minutes, his fewest of the postseason. After the game, he wrote about the injury on his Yardbarker blog:

It's a different feeling than I've ever had. I've injured my ankle before but this one is unlike the others. The pain is on the inside of my foot. All the other ankle sprains have been on the outside. I will be getting a lot of treatment tonight, tomorrow, Thursday to try to get it ready to go for game 4. I did try to go again in the fourth quarter, but I really couldn't make any hard cuts. No one is 100% at this point, but I was probably 50%.

Celtics fans have to be extremely concerned about Rondo's status for Game 4 -- Sam Cassel is decrepit and Eddie House is a gunner, and neither are half the defender that Rondo is. Can a guy really go from being 50% to ready to play in two days? Considering Paul Pierce went from being crippled to clutch in the span of five minutes in Game 1, anything is possible, but this will be something to keep an eye on.

In the long-form tradition of The Rotation, Tom Ziller considers the action the morning after each game of the NBA Finals.

If there's a fitting conclusion to the international mystery Paul Pierce: Wounded Knee, 28 points and 8 assists is it. Pierce came out excellent from the opening seconds -- with six points in the first four minutes -- and kept the game alive until the closing bell (ending L.A.'s hopes with a block of Sasha Vujacic's trey with 14 seconds left). And there was plenty of Pierce in between.

That Pierce came out so strong after talking/blogging heads wasted so much energy arguing about the injury seems like a big ol' joke on all of us (a joke the Lakers were in on.) We have witnessed a miracle, or Pierce is a big fat liar.

So far, this series has been as exciting and drama-filled as we could ask for. Game 2 is tonight in Boston, let's get a little roundtable action going again. Your panelists are Matt Moore, Brett Edwards, and Tom Ziller.

In the long-form tradition of The Rotation, Tom Ziller considers the action the morning after each game of the NBA Finals.

Tempo is a funky thing in organized basketball. Most associate high-speed offensive attacks with energy and intensity. Meanwhile, slow defensive stalwarts are assumed to be boringly consistent and Spursian. (Yech.)

But Boston -- with an incredibly stolid system, and an attack slower than Eddy Curry in zero-gravity -- has a defense that's exciting. Where San Antonio and Detroit plod and push and prod, Boston bites and gnashes and fights. This defense is bloodthirsty, and that's something the Lakers haven't faced before.

Team NBA FanHouse got together to discuss the series ahead. Be sure to join Brett Edwards' Game 1 live blog tonight shortly before the 9 p.m. Eastern tip.

Matt Moore: Thank you, Basketball Jesus, the day has finally arrived. What's crazy is that with all the hype, this isn't just a single game, nay, we've got possibly seven of these things. Let's start off with some nuts and bolts. What's the one matchup on either side you see as the biggest mismatch?

NBA Frankenstein pays a special visit to the NBA Finals. Introducing: the franchise which made the phrase "Kelly Green" acceptable for New England hard-asses, the Boston Celtics.



Liner notes: the 1991 NIE on French Guyana; a pirated copy of Scot Pollard Presents: Yoga for Stoners; Alec Baldwin's tirade against his daughter; FanHouse's NBA Endgame compilation; grainy footage of Ray Allen's 5th grade talent show.

Photos by Getty Images. Assemblage by Ziller.

Rajon Rondo has spent all season making his case to belong with the Big Three, and while he has done a good job on the court and been a vital part of Boston's success, I might call his most recent commercial ventures the highlight of his season. I know, strong words. But these things are freaking awesome. You have the phrase: Rondo'd, you have the stars: JoJo White, Dee Brown, Vince Wilfork and you have the dope beats.

Kudos to Reebok for a sick ad set and Odenized for the tip.

1. Rondo (v): To smoothly move between large objects with dexterity and purpose.



Two more after the jump.