Phil Jackson exploited Rondo, rest of the league took notice...

[celticmaestro]

Phil Jackson did this in the Finals too. It's no surprise.

[dark_lord]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

[BrickJames]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

The refs don't allow him to be.

[dark_lord]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

The refs don't allow him to be.

as much as i dislike the officiating, rondo's inconsistency between home and away games are due to more than the officials. 

[housecall]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

The refs don't allow him to be.

as much as i dislike the officiating, rondo's inconsistency between home and away games are due to more than the officials. 

tp..agreed,ive said this in some other posts somewhere once upon a time.

[Jaycelt]

Comming into the season it's like teams forgot about what happened in the Finals, yes, I know we dominated ... but the defense against Rondo (or rather, lack of) was really hurting us and when Jackson did this again on X-mas it was one of the first times this season we've seen that type of D.

Now, I'm sure, every team that we face has watched tape of that L.A. game, or atleast their coaches have, and are trying to follow suit.  And guess what, it's working!


Hope Doc figures this one out. 

  Rondo played pretty well in the finals aside from that whole sprained ankle thing. How did that strategy work out in games 2 and 6 (or game 1 for that matter)?

  As for this year's game, and I'm not excusing Rondo, but we often play into the other team's hands when Paul and Ray bring the ball up the court and start the offense (as they were doing frequently against LA). In general I think this is ineffective, as I think Paul gets much better looks giving it to Rondo and getting it back than he does when he brings it up and then goes against a defense that's loaded up against him. But lately Paul or Ray bring the ball up and are in the middle with the ball. That seems to leave Rondo in one of the corners without the ball, which isn't effective for us.

Not true.  Against the Lakers Pierce hardly touched the ball in the 4th quarter when the game was lost.  In fact he only took one shot and it was a three.  Rondo had total control of the ball when he was on the court.

[BballTim]

Comming into the season it's like teams forgot about what happened in the Finals, yes, I know we dominated ... but the defense against Rondo (or rather, lack of) was really hurting us and when Jackson did this again on X-mas it was one of the first times this season we've seen that type of D.

Now, I'm sure, every team that we face has watched tape of that L.A. game, or atleast their coaches have, and are trying to follow suit.  And guess what, it's working!


Hope Doc figures this one out. 

  Rondo played pretty well in the finals aside from that whole sprained ankle thing. How did that strategy work out in games 2 and 6 (or game 1 for that matter)?

  As for this year's game, and I'm not excusing Rondo, but we often play into the other team's hands when Paul and Ray bring the ball up the court and start the offense (as they were doing frequently against LA). In general I think this is ineffective, as I think Paul gets much better looks giving it to Rondo and getting it back than he does when he brings it up and then goes against a defense that's loaded up against him. But lately Paul or Ray bring the ball up and are in the middle with the ball. That seems to leave Rondo in one of the corners without the ball, which isn't effective for us.

Not true.  Against the Lakers Pierce hardly touched the ball in the 4th quarter when the game was lost.  In fact he only took one shot and it was a three.  Rondo had total control of the ball when he was on the court.

  You're talking about 1 quarter of 1 game.

[kenmaine]

The only thing I've noticed is that teams have caught on to Rondo's little right-hand flip layup from the left side- obviously an easy shot to block if you play for it.
Other than that, I see no big difference. Poor Rondo can't win with some fans. If he shoots, he's in love with his jumper. If he doesn't shoot, he's hurting the team because the defense can lay off him.
I think he has a higher bb IQ than all of us and he'll figure it out. His outside shot is better this year, though still very inconsistent. He makes very very few mistakes, is a great ballhandler, fantastic passer, plays D, and rebounds.
It would be nice if he could keep improving his outside shot and maybe develop a little pullup or fadeaway shot off his drive(isn't Cassell supposed to be 'mentoring' him?), but he's pretty [dang] good as is.
Oh, and tp for Finkelskyhook for his opinion of Phil Jackson!!

[Chief]

Doc should go big if someone tries that. Let Chris Duhon guard Paul Pierce in the post for about 5 plays.

[BrickJames]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

The refs don't allow him to be.

as much as i dislike the officiating, rondo's inconsistency between home and away games are due to more than the officials. 

Agree to disagree.  I too have elaborated elsewhere and don't feel like giving the effort.

[KG_ended_Bias]

Im sold! I am keeping Rondo no matter what type of Don Nelson type schemes they throw at him. Who could we get back in return for him if we soured on him? Exactly! Chris Paul & Deron Williams is not walking through that door. I have him as a top 3 young point gaurd in the league behind those two named & Derek Rose quickly gaining on him. But I can except that! Nash & Kidd is not in the young discussion. Tony Parker is up there also.

[pearljammer10]

Dont give Phil more credit than he deserves. He copied the strategy used by other coaches. Rondo just needs to be as aggressive against the big men as he is against PG'S...Why hasn't Doc given the ball more to the mismatch or used the pick and roll more to get Rondo's defender changed?

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

This strategy has been used on players who arent good shooters/questionable shooters/streaky shooter for years and years, nothing Phil Jackson made up specifically for rondo

[cordobes]

It's ridiculous to give credit to Jackson for this.

In fact, the better team taking advantage of this was Cleveland with Delonte West.

[dark_lord]

Rondo just isn't the same player on the road. 

exactly!

The refs don't allow him to be.

as much as i dislike the officiating, rondo's inconsistency between home and away games are due to more than the officials. 

tp..agreed,ive said this in some other posts somewhere once upon a time.

thx for the TP....right back at u