Rajon Rondo Feels Positive Vibe

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/10/rajon_rondo_feels_positive_vibe




Rajon Rondo feels positive vibe
Lauds Brad Stevens’ work






Rajon Rondo participates in 'Read to Achieve' Celebration


Saturday, October 18, 2014 PrintEmailBe the first to comment
By:  Mark Murphy




Rajon Rondo has spent his second straight training camp as a kind of associate coach under Brad Stevens.

The Celtics point guard obviously has no choice. It’s either help teach the youngsters, or spend his time as a hermit in the trainer’s room waiting for his left hand to heal. That’s simply not in the nature of a player who envisions himself as a coach.

So Rondo, in his physically restricted capacity, takes part in skeleton drills and gets in the ear of rookie Marcus Smart. He discusses schemes with members of the staff.

But for the second straight year, and probably more this time, Rondo likes the message. Stevens’ mantra is positive and detail-heavy, and Rondo considers it infectious.

“He’s very positive — the most positive coach I’ve been around in my career, and it’s hard not to play for a guy like that,” Rondo said this week. “That’s every day — not just in the locker room. He’s that way off the court, with his family. He’s a role model. He has all of the characteristics of a great leader. He’s great at what he does. He’s all about the team.”

Any player worth his contract naturally believes that with the right amount of work and chemistry, any team he’s on is playoff-worthy. When Rondo looks at all of the C’s’ incongruous parts, and factors in the Stevens effect, he believes the postseason is a realistic goal for this team.

“I believe in Danny (Ainge) and I said it a month ago. I’ve been through it. One year we were the worst team in the league and the next we were the best,” he said of the wild swing between his rookie season and the 2008 Celtics championship team. “Anything can happen. Injuries are a big factor in your success. The trade deadline is a big factor. That’s what makes the NBA exciting.

“But if you give me four guys who are going to compete and play as hard as possible, then I feel like I can win every game.”

Even Rondo is impressed by some of the new tools — some of the new data — that Stevens and his staff has made available. He won’t divulge the nature of that data. That would mean leaking state secrets.

But he’s fascinated, if also a tad skeptical, of the value of analytics.

“It’s heightened my awareness,” said Rondo. “In the past you know your numbers and there’s a guy who has stats for you. Now it’s a team of guys who can bring it to you all the time. That’s different.”

Not all of the theory connects, either.

“The only thing I don’t like about those is that they don’t measure your heart,” he said, using a former teammate as an example. “They told me that Big Baby (Glen Davis) shot only 33 percent from the elbow, but I want Big Baby on my team in the playoffs and in crunch time, when I’m in the fight. You can’t tell me Big Baby is all about the shot he’s taking. He’ll take the charge. It’s also about the intangibles.

“Everything depends on how you look at it, who a person is on the court with all of those things. But you can’t measure heart.”

Rondo is more open, though also not sold yet, on the idea of quantifying group chemistry.

“With them, anything is possible,” he said of Stevens’ staff. “If you study teams from the past it varies. Last year you had San Antonio. They put up a stat about how many passes they threw and how many guys touched it. Or you have a team that runs the triangle. Every team varies. I don’t think we passed the ball as much when we were winning. We had great plays, but maybe it was one pass and shot, because you had the players. If not, maybe you have to have more ball movement. You have less talent, you probably have to pass the ball more. When you have a guy like KG (Kevin Garnett) or Paul Pierce, you let them make the plays. You just have to know what you can do as a coach.”

Rondo believes that this is the best part for the Celtics. Stevens has accomplished something that eludes many first-time NBA coaches. His team has bought in.

“The key for any successful team is for everyone to buy in, and he has everyone believing in his plan,” said Rondo. “If we continue to do that, we’re going to surprise a lot of people.”




bob




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I thought this was the most interesting excerpt:

“The only thing I don’t like about those is that they don’t measure your heart,” he said, using a former teammate as an example. “They told me that Big Baby (Glen Davis) shot only 33 percent from the elbow, but I want Big Baby on my team in the playoffs and in crunch time, when I’m in the fight. You can’t tell me Big Baby is all about the shot he’s taking. He’ll take the charge. It’s also about the intangibles.

“Everything depends on how you look at it, who a person is on the court with all of those things. But you can’t measure heart.”

He's absolutely right. I would be wary of relying too heavily on analytic data.



KJ