Rondo's Potential Impact?

The time has finally come.

Rondo emerges back from his ACL injury, ready to play Friday night vs LAL. I think we all speculated when he might be coming back, and as it turns out, I don't think anyone was particularly far off.

Rondo's presence has been missed, both his play and leadership on the court. Yes, he played alongside some Hall of Famers, but Rondo was the glue holding things together. It was HIS team.

I'm excited to see what he can do with a much younger team. Everyone stands to gain from his return. There are four in particular that I think will gain the most.


1. Avery Bradley: He and Rondo already have previous experience. Together, they certainly form a formidable backcourt. Bradley's offense has been impressive thus far, becoming the team's #1 offensive threat, and having Rondo in the game will take some of the pressure off of him.

2. Jeff Green: His year has been up and down. Jeff has had some great moments, and also some rather forgettable ones. He hasn't been able to live up to the responsibility of being the main guy. In my personal opinion, that just isn't his game. In his defense, the offense hasn't been consistent at all this year, often vacillating between degrees of explosiveness and stagnant. Rondo's superior PG skills should allow Green to be freer and more productive. He can get the ball to Green in easy positions for him to score. Getting Green going early is huge as he will feel more in tune with the game.

3. Brandon Bass: His game has improved significantly since last year, both offensive and defensively. His mid-range shot is consistent. Rondo will be able to help Bass get easier shots to avoid the risk of him getting into trouble as a result of his marginal ballhandling skills.

4. Kelly Olynyk: Kelly, despite his shortcomings (and arms), he is a very intelligent player. I believe he and Rondo can develop some chemistry. Kelly knows how to move around and Rondo can easily find the open man. Olynyk averages 6.2 PPG and 4.4 REB. His point total can increase (given the minutes) with some much easier shots. Kelly has demonstrated the ability to hit mid range jumpers (when he's in the correct posture and shoots with a fluid motion). If Kelly works on his shooting mechanics, perhaps he can become another viable scoring option.

I'm pretty psyched to see Rondo back. Should be fun to watch.


KJ

I'm hoping Rondo will come back with a bang and we can see how things shake down as far as the most affected areas and teammates. But we should also not be disappointed if it takes him a while to get his game rhythm and maybe even presses too much in the process. One thing I'll be looking for won't show up on the stat sheet—Rondo's success rate in making the pass before the pass to guys like Sully and Olynyk who are good passers. It was obvious in the Raptors game that the more the Celtics moved the ball around the better their offense was. One key to swinging the ball effectively is lack of hesitancy on the parts of all the involved players. Perk was one of the worst I've seen at swinging the ball because he almost always waited for a one-count (and sometimes even made one needless dribble) when it was his turn to swing the ball.

Sam