Celts/Sixers 10/11

Beat,

Absolutely. I personally think Rondo's motivation will be sky high. In fact, it could be so high that he'll be lucky to have Brad to calm him down a bit.

It's a little difficult to figure out where the NBA is headed stylistically. On one hand, I'm seeing more of the uptempo game. On the other hand, I'm seeing more of the iso game. On the third hand ((makes me kind of a freak), I'm seeing more of the megastar-dominated game. Only in the cases of very few teams (San Antonio and ?) on which I'm seeing more of the team game.

So, although I'd naturally lean toward the up-tempo/team-fueled game, I can't be certain what the Celtics will evolve into. But, whatever it is, I believe Rondo has the tools to fit in very nicely as a leader and excellent complementary player. With him, I think it's mainly a question of what he feels comfortable with and (2) if it should become necessary, how much he's willing to deviate from his personal comfort zone for the good of the franchise.

Sam

Dboss,

If you really think I'm shallow enough to assume that Cousy's way was the only way, I guess I've wasted how many years—seven or eight?—communicating. How many times have I said on this and the BDC board that the point guard position is my favorite? One reason admittedly involves my introduction to the game by Cousy. The other involves my stature (or lack of it). Accordingly, I've focused my analytical attention rather intensely on the point guard position—whoever is playing it—than on any other position for the past 63 years.

I've taken account of the changes in conditions influencing point guards—for example, the advent of the 24-second rule, the fact that there's not as much need to thread the needle with;passes nowadays because the floor is much more widely spaced since the advent of the three-pointer; and the fact that today's point guards have to deal with more iso-happy teammates, whereas Cousy had exactly none. I've studied all the greats, including but certainly not limited to Cousy, Andy Phillip, K.C. Jones, Guy Rodgers, Lenny Wilkens, Magic Johnson,John Stockton, Steve Nash, and Chris Paul.

Each one had his own approach to the position, and—with few exceptions—the various approaches have worked well. But one thing all these greats had in common was that they (perhaps with the help of coaches) identified effective means of enabling teammates pretty consistently. In the halfcourt, I don't believe Rondo has accomplished this. Maybe I've been the only person in the world who has been frequently dismayed by the Celtics' inconsistent offensive performances in the past few seasons.

Now it's obvious that not all the fault should be piled on the point guard; there's plenty of blame to go around. But, in my estimation, the point guard position is more responsible than any other for making a well-functioning unit out of a sporadically malfunctioning unit. Note that I NEVER said he was the ONLY one with responsibilities; but he's #1 in my book. I just don't happen to think Rondo has responded as he should when it comes to the halfcourt game. Case in point is the walking the ball up and standing and pounding it on the perimeter while many, many precious seconds tick off the shot clock.

You may feel his strolling and standing has been due to lack of movement without the ball by his teammates. TJ may feel the root of the problem has involved Doc. All I know is that, every once in a while over the past few years, I've witnessed Rondo—motivated by anger, desperation, or whatever—turn into a whirling dervish who ignited not just a transition game but also a much smoother halfcourt game. Rondo didn't use Cousy's air dribble, nor do I think he should necessarily have done so. Rondo didn't go behind the back nearly as often as Cousy did, nor do I think he should necessarily have done so. Rondo didn't didn't use a windmill baseball 70-foot pass to propel the rock into the front court quickly like Cousy did, nor do I think he should necessarily have done so. Rondo didn't use reverse pivot over-the-shoulder passes like Cousy did, nor do I think he should necessarily done so. But, in his own way, Rondo found the means of galvanizing the team in the half court. It just happened too infrequently as far as I was concerned

I couldn't care less if Rondo can pass left-handed through a smoke ring at 50 years. Being able to pass the ball through the smoke ring at 50 yards is the important thing, even if he bounces it off his butt. Whether he passes left-handed more than Cousy did; whether he dunks the ball more than Cousy did; whether he runs faster than Cousy did, I couldn't care less. Those are skills. Being able to make a pinpoint pass from virtually anywhere on the floor; finishing in close whether by layup or dunk; advancing the ball whether by running like the wind or passing the ball; all that's irrelevant to me. Those are various tools. What I'm talking about is strategy, not some skills contest.

Rondo has his own set of great tools, just as the aforementioned list of great point guards had their respective sets of great tools. I just don't think that, over the years, he has used his tools to help make the halfcourt offense hum consistently so that it would have been a major weapon to rely on, not just a potential point of vulnerability that usually played second-fiddle in impact to the Celtics' defense.

Moreover, I don't think Rondo's personal bag of effective offensive tricks is so large and varied that it keeps him from becoming predictable at times. Just as one example, I believe other teams are falling less and less for his behind-the-back ball fake-and-recover. Perhaps, if he'd pass it more behind the back rather than almost always bringing it back, he would be more effective in setting opponents up for the fake—or vice versa. Opponents also are getting wise to the fact that he loves to drive left for the back-handed rightie layup, and I believe he's getting it blocked more often than when he first displayed it.

In addition, Rondo's game in the forecourt (and possibly in transition as well) has not been helped by the fact that his turnovers per game have been on a fairly consistent progression ever since he entered the league and since he became part of a fairly stable core; and he was at his worst in that regard last season. Look at how his turnovers in his first year compare with his turnovers per 36 minutes in his most recent (partial) season. And look at the corresponding set of figures for other major point guards since they started keeping the turnover stat:

Rondo: 1st year 2.7; most recent year 3.7

Stockton: 1st year 3.6; most recent year 2.9
Magic: 1st year 4.0; most recent year 3.2
Nash: 1st year 3.3; most recent year 2.8
Paul: 1st year 2.3; most recent year 2.5

Chris Paul was the only exception in the four-player comparison, and his turnovers remained about the same and extremely low.

So I'll close with that stat that—guess what—doesn't have to include Cousy to make my point.

Sam