Where are all the Rondo haters?

[AidaCelt]

Every year, every pre-season, the Rondo haters come out saying they want him traded. He pounds the ball until the end of the shot clock, they say. He hogs the ball, they say. He has no range, they say.

For a guy coming off a serious ACL injury and more recently a broken hand which has meant no pre-season games for quite a while, he looked good. Some classic Rondo plays to Oly inside that only a couple of other players in the league could make. Most of his assists were with 11-12 secs left on the shot clock. He shot well. He looked to be back at the pace we expect of fully fit players.

It's only one game so I'm not going to declare him totally back and ready to carry this team... but it is [dang] good to have him back out on the floor. Welcome back Rajon!

[Kadin]

Yep. I suspect that Rondo is going to make the haters look real stupid this season.

[Rhyso]

Well said!

I love it when people say Rondo is past his prime, and he will never get his quickness back. He looked pretty quick tonight!. He's back to the Rondo of old using his speed, playing great defense, and setting up an efficient offense with smart passes. Granted the Nets look terrible defensively, but eye test says Rondo is far improved from last year.

Sidenote: I think Rondo is a big chance to be an All-Star this year. It will be tight between Rose, Irving, Wall and Rondo, but if he doesn't miss games he will no doubt be assist leader in the league and that should play well for him.

[GreenWarrior]

I don't understand why someone has to be considered a "Rondo hater" if they want to see him traded. I love Rondo, I love watching him play but I think we should move on. And it has nothing to do directly with Rondo. I just think by the time we might be able to get some players around 'em, he's not going to be in a condition to consistently contribute at a top level.

soooo.....I kinda feel it's a waste of time and we should just move on.

[makaveli]

you can't deny that after got hurt, the celtics were better of without him ,that's a fact. i would want to trade him in a situation where he doesn't adapt his game to this team(move the ball around), but yesterday was a perfect example of ball movement, and some good D(and that was the biggest question mark for me regarding Rondo).

[Granath]

I don't understand why someone has to be considered a "Rondo hater" if they want to see him traded. I love Rondo, I love watching him play but I think we should move on. And it has nothing to do directly with Rondo. I just think by the time we might be able to get some players around 'em, he's not going to be in a condition to consistently contribute at a top level.

soooo.....I kinda feel it's a waste of time and we should just move on.

This. I have always liked RR but I'm not sure he's a great fit for this team going forward and I'm not sure he's worth the max contract he's seeking (of course, I'm not sure he's not either). When we traded PP and KG, I was in favor of those moves and no one can accuse me of being a PP or KG hater. So why is anyone who thinks we should trade Rondo for the right deal a "hater"?

Hell, I'm glad he looked good last night. I hope he looks good every night. He'll either justify the max contract or will net a bigger trade return while leading the team to more victories. Win-Win-Win.