Rondo Takes Part in Celtics' Non-Contract Practice

http://www.csnne.com/blog/celtics-talk/rondo-takes-part-cs-non-contact-practice


Rondo takes part in C's non-contact practice
October 1, 2013, 9:00 pm



NEWPORT, R.I. — At the end of the Boston Celtics' first Day of training camp, Rajon Rondo was leading the team's stretching drill from the center of a circle comprised of his teammates.

Yes, even when everyone knows he won't be playing anytime soon while recovering from a torn right ACL injury, Rondo is still - literally - the center of attention.

But on this first day of Training Camp, Rondo did more than just stretch with the Celtics - he was an actual participant during the team's morning practice which was 50 minutes of non-contact, offensive skill work.

"He went through the morning workout, and he's probably going to do one workout a day," Stevens said. "And then he took the afternoon off, but he was very active in the afternoon."

The C's did more work defensively in the afternoon as well as some three-minute scrimmaging, all under the watchful eye of Stevens and the always-attentive Rondo.

"He was in the huddles," Stevens said. "He's in the drills as far as communicating. You saw him leading our stretching at the end. He was really active today."

But for those hoping this signals a quicker-than-expected return ... don't hold your breath.

Rondo's timetable to return to the C's lineup remains very much up in the air, although he sounded like a man who anticipates he might miss some time even after his knee is fully healed and he's cleared to resume playing.

"This injury ... it isn't easy," Rondo said on Monday at the Celtics' Media Day. "It's more mental when you come back. When you get around 10 or 11 months, it's just feeling confident. You want to feel confident ... you need that mental aspect to go up and come down without thinking about your leg again. It's just being mentally ready. When I get there, I'll play."



bob
MY NOTE:  Offense in the morning, defense in the afternoon.  Makes sense to me.  I'm a bit surprised, though, that I'm not reading about suicides and other conditioning drills.  These were skeletons they were practicing.


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I suspect Brad knows what he's doing. Seems as though he was doing exactly what was needed in the team's first on-court introduction to one another. Toe in the water rather than a shocking bucket of icewater in the face. See how they handle the walk-through, what the level and speed of comprehension seems to be. Feel them out. Makes sense to me.

Sam