Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“Part of this thing is, Rondo has developed bad habits from playing with Doc Rivers’ team. That was an experienced, elderly team. They weren’t pressing the issue. They executed plays to perfection.”
“This team has to go and find opportunities without plays. They’ve got to be aggressive without plays because they don’t execute that well yet.”
Heinsohn continued, “One of the things you do, and it’s tough to do with a guy like Rondo, is you pull him out and put someone else in. I don’t care [that he’s the captain]. That’s what you have to do. You’ve got to pull him aside and talk to him. It’s a bad habit that he has from playing with different types of players. He has to play the style that brings out the best in these current teammates.”
Not sure how I missed this scathing criticism from Tommy Heinsohn. Oh I know, I watch little of the games and even less of the post game analysis these days.
Generally Tommy goes overboard with his demands for more fast-break basketball. He expects the Celtics to “run” on baseline inbound plays after a timeout.
But he’s right in this case. Rondo needs to push the tempo whenever possible.
The benching talk is a bit much. Brad Stevens can continue to drill the message into Rondo’s head, but in the end, you have to trust Rondo’s feel for the game.
I always thought Paul Pierce settled for deep jumpers in the final seconds of games. Should Doc have benched him for not going to the hoop more?
Meanwhile, RR is looking forward to the summer:
“Next year will be fun, it will be a fresh start,” he said. “I’ll be able to go through training camp and my conditioning will be better than ever and I’ll have a full summer to train at full speed, at full strength. [Last] summer I wasn’t able to train. This summer will be a fun summer, probably the best summer of my career. I’m looking forward to it, something to take out of it. Not making the playoffs, I’ll have a lot more time to train and get better.”
“That’s how it is, you know?” Rondo said. “It’s not going to be perfect every year. It’s not going to be 60 wins every year. It’s part of the process. [Paul Pierce] went through a similar process, and I talked to ‘P’ a couple of times. I kind of knew what to expect and this is part of it.”
I’m really hoping for some fireworks this summer. I can’t take another lottery season.
Related: Herald – Rondo thinking big, local
On Page 2, Bill Russell has one question for gay athletes:
“It seems to me, a lot of questions about gay athletes, were the same questions they used to ask about us,” Russell said during a panel discussion at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, which is hosting a summit celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
Russell said he would have only one question about a gay teammate: Can he play?
Once an iconic civil rights leader, always an iconic civil rights leader.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – While we wait for fireworks | Rondo receives flop warning
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