Rondo Injury Update

Though Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo maintains he will be patient while returning from ACL surgery, he appears to be progressing well, as seen in the video above.

In the same gym where he tore his ACL in January, the Atlanta Hawks' Philips Arena, Rondo put himself through a spirited pregame workout Saturday. He beat MarShon Brooks in a race from end line to end line, and also played some one-on-one with Courtney Lee.

The most optimism should probably come from the way Rondo moved laterally during the one-on-one game. The short clip shown above features plenty of quick cuts from one side to the other and back again.

Rondo has done some half-court scrimmaging in practice, but still might not be too close to a return to the lineup.

“I’m anxious to get back out there, but I want to take my time, make sure this knee is healed 100 percent," the four-time All-Star said Thursday during a live chat on NBA.com. "I don’t want to rush back and have any second surgeries or get anything drained out of my knee. … I’m participating in some contact drills here and there, and as of now I’ve had no swelling, and I’m feeling pretty good.”

The same day, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub that Rondo is "doing well."

"I still don’t have a time when he’s coming back, but he’s making progress," said Ainge. "He’s been working hard on the road, playing 1-on-1 and mixing it up, light things -- I don’t think he’s gone full speed yet for very long. That’s the next stage, it's 5-on-5, a whole practice, and then it’ll probably be a week, two weeks after he starts that."



bob
MY NOTE:  Last night, Cowens said that the real key for Rondo is not whether he can run fast, but if he can stop fast.  That's when you really put the stress on the knee.  Also, notice that Ainge is saying that the next thing is for him to go full speed for long stretches, then 5-on-5, and then it will STILL be 1-2 weeks after that.  Using this as a yardstick, if Rondo was past the first two markers, which he is not, it would still be at least 12/4-12/7 before he'd be back.  I think we're realistically talking closer to the New Year.


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Rondo looks pretty good but I like the idea of taking it slow.

dboss

Before the season started, I thought Rondo would be back between late December and mid January. Seems like that's right around when he'll make his return.



KJ