After spraining his ankle early in Friday night's win against the Cavaliers, Doc Rivers sat Rajon Rondo for today's game against the Orlando Magic, opting to put the newly acquired Stephon Marbury into the starting line up to face the Eastern Conference's third best team. To say the team suffered in his absence is an understatement. Although I didn't watch the game (out of market, boo hoo), there are several glaring indicators from the box score that show how much Rondo means to the Celtics. First of all, the Celtics had only ten assists on their 30 field goals today, while turning the ball over seventeen times (ouch). Paul Pierce was leader of the pack for the Celtics as usual, though not in his normal good way, coughing up the ball six times to punctuate a horrid all-around performance. If any of you read yesterday's post, or have watched the Celtics in the past, you know that turnovers are this team's achilles heel and have doomed them on many nights throughout the course of the last two years. Though Orlando scored only 13 points off of the Celtic miscues, the damage was still done and is simply indicative of how stagnant Boston's offense gets without its speedy little point guard from Kentucky.
While the assist:turnover ratio is perhaps the most glaring area of the game affected by Rondo's absence, the Celtics' shooting and specifically three-point shooting are also strong indicators of Rondo's value to his team. Confused as to how a team's shooting suffers because they're missing their starting point guard who can't shoot a lick? Don't worry, I'm about to explain it for you. The Boston Celtics are normally one of the league's best shooting teams (currently second in FG% at 48.8 and in a five way tie for first in three-point % at 39), largely because of Rajon Rondo's blazing speed and playmaking ability.
While all of the Celtics are committed (almost to a fault) of sharing the ball and making the extra pass to find the best possible shot for the team, Rajon Rondo is perhaps the best creator on the squad (it's probably not as close as I think, but the way Kevin Garnett can pass the ball down low, find cutters on the move and help move the ball around is preventing me from crowning Rondo outright). Rajon Rondo is constantly in the paint, either finding lay-ups for himself or a teammate on the perimeter once the opponent's defense is collapsed onto him. Since he is too quick for almost any NBA point guard to contain, help defenders are compelled to leave their assignments to prevent Rondo from getting an easy score at the rim, which leaves the likes of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and sometimes Eddie House open behind the three point line, and Kevin Garnett open at either the baseline or the elbow area for a 15-footer (can you say "easy money?"). Even when Rondo's first pass doesn't find a wide open shooter, his dribble penetration forces all but the stingiest of defenses onto their heels and to rotate as the Celtics continue to pass the ball.
A lot of what Rajon Rondo does reminds me of what Tony Parker does for the San Antonio Spurs. Parker is ahead of Rondo for now (though if Rajon can solidify the floater like Tony Parker has, look out!), but both speedsters affect their respective teams in similar ways. In addition to collapsing defenses in order to find teammates on the perimeter and getting high percentage shots in the paint for themselves, both players have a similar way of selectively pushing the tempo for their teams and distributing the ball to a cast of veteran and future hall of fame level teammates. And despite the greatness of their respective teammates, both players are, to quote the immortal Reggie Jackson, "the straw that stirs the drink." Though Reggie's self-absorbed epitaph is tainted with a special breed of arrogance and vanity that only the Prince of the Yankees can provide, I think it's actually a great analogy for both of these players (but this is a Celtics site, so wave goodbye to the praise for Mrs. Eva Longoria, it's going to be all Rondo from here on in).
Much like one of the fine Long Island ice teas from Tryon Creek Sports Bar & Grill, the Boston Celtics work best when all of the different parts are mixed together (unlike the Long Islands from Tryon, the Celtics, as far as I know, won't make you crash your car into a ditch in front of Blaine's house literally a block from the bar). Let's say that Paul Pierce is the Vodka; Kevin Garnett is the Gin; Ray Allen is the Rum; Kendrick Perkins is Triple Sec; and Eddie House, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Marbury and the rest are the mixers. Trust me, if you tried to drink one of those without using a straw to sip it or mix it, it wouldn't work. But if you add a straw to help everything blend together, then the drink becomes something that is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts (as one last aside, both Tryon Long Islands and the Boston Celtics may lead you to believe that "ANYTHING IS POSSSSSSSSSIBlE!!!!!!").
Rondo does this for the Celtics, and more than any other player, the club plays well when he plays well. With Rondo in the game, suddenly guys have space to move on the perimeter, defenders are being pulled out of position and forced to scramble in their rotations as the ball moves around from player to player, the Celtics run in transition and they shoot as well as anyone in the Association. Not everything that Rondo does shows up in a box score when he and the team are playing well, but his contributions to the team become glaringly obvious when he's out. Let's just hope that his injury is nothing serious, and that Boston can get healthy soon enough to come together for the playoffs.
In the meantime, this would be a great time for Stephon Marbury to get a crash course in running the Celtics' offense and learning to play with Pierce, Allen and the rest of the crew. Rivers said he questioned himself today for starting Marbury over house, but I think it's the right thing to do on all accounts. House is most effective as a spark off the bench and can still get the majority of the minutes, while Marbury can continue to knock off the rust and immerse himself in the system. It could be a blessing in disguise, but the Celtics cannot afford to drop more games down the stretch if they want to keep pace with Cleveland.
Had enough? Lord knows I have. I have a date with my mistress team tomorrow (Blazers v. Lakers), but I'll be back with some more Celtics related musings a bit later this week.
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