Every
morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as
satisfying a good morning dump.
“Clearly their game plan was that they weren’t going to guard him,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
“They were going to give him shots and he took them and that’s what we
tell him. Once it’s your shot, it’s your shot. There’s no more passing
and being a point guard. When it’s time to shoot, it’s time to shoot
and you’re a shooter. I thought he did that tonight.”
Challenge, Rondo makes the Wizards pay
The number that jumps out of the box score last night is Rondo’s 20 shots. TWENTY. Which is awesome.
How many times have we said the kid needs to step up and shoot when it’s given to him?
It’s entirely possible that we’re seeing the “turn the corner” moment when it comes to his jumper and the confidence to take it. And THAT’S really the issue. The confidence to TAKE the shot.
Rondo will have bad shooting nights. It might even cost the Celtics a game. But he NEEDS to keep taking those shots. Last night, he was the best player out there… especially in the clutch. It starts with him knocking down the shots. And THAT starts with not worrying about whether he should shoot… and just taking the shot that’s given to him.
I’m giddy just thinking about what we might be witnessing here.
Up Next… Page 2, where the Wiz proved Doc right
Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images
“When I say we’re not a 48-minute team, that’s proof right there,’’ Rivers said.
Paul Pierce, who scored 12 points to eclipse 19,000 in his career, agreed.
“I
thought we just played down to the level of our competition in the
second half and that’s something we want to keep building on,’’ Pierce
said. “We played one half of basketball tonight and we have to continue
to get better.’’
It was beyond frustrating to see the Celtics waltz out of the locker room and get blasted in the first few minutes of the 3rd quarter. They were outscored 52-40 in the second half. If it wasn’t for Rajon Rondo, we would have pissed that game away.
The Celtics have a very annoying mindset that they can just coast through certain parts of the game. The reason that’s so damn frustrating is it leads to more minutes for everyone. 39 minutes for Ray? Should never have come to that.
The Celtics should have stormed out of the locker room, hung a 15-3 run on the Wiz and then let all the starters sit out the 4th quarter after Washington rolled over like they wanted to. They ended that second half standing around… a lot. It wouldn’t have taken much in the 3rd quarter to make them quit.
The good news is (a) we won and (b) it’s still only December. Plenty of time to correct it. But it DOES need to be corrected.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Allen, Pierce hit milestones | Early returns positive on Tony Allen’s work | Globe: Allen notches his 20,000th | Photos: Allen through the years | ESPN Boston: TA making an immediate impact | On the rebound | CelticsBlog: Give a gift, get thanks from Ray | WEEI: Camerato – The Three Pointer: Rondo took his shot | Gino’s Jungle: Strut and Saunter: How much swagger does Boston need? | North Station Sports: Where does Rondo stand with the legends? | Kevin McHale is a golden god, won’t stand for LeBron’s hijinx
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