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“This year it’s every night,” Rondo said yesterday of how frequently
he faces opponents in his own mold. “Last year it was a lot, too, but
now it’s even more.”
Newcomers like Minnesota’s Jonny Flynn and Denver’s Ty Lawson are merely filling out the ranks.
“Teams are running a lot of offense through their point guards –
they’re going with maybe 40 or 50 pick-and-rolls per game,” Rondo said.
“That’s what we’ve faced a lot more of lately.
Herald – Point is to make plays
Chris Paul… Derrick Rose… Steve Nash… and tonight it's Deron Williams (or, maybe not). It's game 9 of the season tonight and Rajon Rondo has already had to run a gauntlet of the top point guards in the league. And here's how his numbers look so far compared to his career averages:
2009-10 10.6 pts 9 ast 4 reb 3.1 stl 2.0 to
Career 9.7 pts 5.8 ast 4.4 reb 1.8 stl 2.1 to
The assist and steals numbers are up, although Rondo has acknowledged that steals aren't always what they seem. Sometimes, like in New Jersey, you just pick off a bad pass. It's kinda like holding a net over the water and bragging how you "caught" the fish that jumped into your net.
But regardless, Rondo has pretty much stepped up every night (despite the occasional lapse). Point guard competition in the NBA is MUCH better than it has been in the past. Even the bad teams like Memphis have good young point guards. For Rondo to succeed in this era makes what he's doing out there more impressive.
After the jump, Page 2, Where the Jazz aren't fooling Rasheed Wallace
“They’re a good team,” Wallace said. “Everyone is sleeping on them
coming out of the West. I think they have the talent to beat the
Lakers, talent to beat the Spurs. Can’t sleep on them, in my opinion.
You can’t sleep on them at all. They have a good point guard, good big
men, good swing men and good coach. It’s definitely going to be a
challenge for us.”
WEEI: Sheed-Don't sleep on the Jazz
Sheed is pretty effusive in his praise of Jerry Sloan. And while you can look at Sheed's comments and say "but Sheed knows what's coming… so we can stop it." Everyone knew the pick-and-roll was coming with Stockton and Malone too… and there weren't many people who stopped that. Williams to Boozer isn't exactly Stockton to Malone… but it's still not bad. If they run it right… they're tough.
Did you miss last night's episode of The Two Man Game with the Globe's Frank Dell'Apa? Go to our show page to download it.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Jazz at Celtics scouting report | NESN: Time for Rondo, Williams to step out of the shadows | CSN: C's revived, ready to go | Celtics by the numbers | Scal out indefinitely | Deseret News: Jazz have a problem at point | CelticsBlog: Mark Price: Rondo's shot will improve | Hasheem Thabet suffers broken jaw | Dwight Howard fined for criticizing refs
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