Sunday Thoughts

Scattered thoughts on last night, and the upcoming series with Miami:

1. I'm a little surprised at how unimpressed the NBA world seems to be with Rajon Rondo in the aftermath of Game 7. If you asked people how Boston would win a Game 7 with Paul Pierce on the bench for the final four minutes, Rondo hitting 50 feet worth of jumpers and going 4-for-4 from the foul line would be pretty far down the list. I suppose that in essence, all Rondo did was knock down a couple of open jumpers, but this was a most improbable way to close out a playoff series. And I'm guessing that if, say, Jrue Holiday had hit some similar shots to propel Philly to victory, we'd be hearing a lot more about him individually. As it stands, most of what I've read has framed everything in the context of the Celtics grinding out a series win, with less of a focus on Rondo's jumpers.

2. Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I think this was a big step forward for Rondo. As I've said before, while he's had plenty of big-time performances in crucial games in his career, he rarely has stepped up in big *moments*. A big part of that, of course, has to do with the fact that he has three Hall of Fame teammates who naturally get the ball in those moments, so he hasn't had a lot of opportunity. But coming through in the clutch -- in a Game 7, no less -- is big step, particularly since he did via the shakiest parts of his game (his jumper and his free throw stroke).

3. One last note here about Rondo: I thought he took a disproportionate amount of the blame for the Game 6 loss (he was bad, but so was everybody else) and in reading some stuff today, people weren't really in love with his Game 7 performance until the final few minutes, either. I agree that he wasn't spectacular Saturday night, but I really think that people are underestimating just how extraordinarily much Rondo is being asked to do. He is in charge of running an offense which has two of its biggest weapons significantly hobbled by injury. There is no one else to create offense for others, and maybe one other guy who can create his own shot. Boston's offense is, at this point, little more than a bunch of jump shots, which means Rondo is encouraged to push the tempo in order to get some easy early offense -- only there's no one to run with him. Everyone expects him to know exactly when he should abandon his struggling teammates and look for his own shot, even though he's never had to do that before and it goes against all his instincts. He's a table-setter, not a high-volume scorer, and of all the point guards in the NBA, the only one I can think of who shifts as effortlessly between the two roles as we seem to expect Rondo to is the Clippers' Chris Paul. The dude deserves a little slack if he doesn't always do the right thing.

4. Jackie MacMullan touched on it a bit in her column for ESPN, but Boston's defense didn't get enough credit for winning Game 7 -- or the whole series, really. Last night's telecast really annoyed me because Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy kept talking about Philly's defense and how it was keeping them in the game despite a poor shooting night, while making almost no mention of the fact that Boston was shooting nearly as poorly and actually leading the game.

5. I didn't get a chance to mention this last night's recap column, but Keyon Dooling had a key steal late, reaching in from behind and knocking the ball off of Holiday's leg with Boston up eight and 53 seconds left. Holiday had a clear path to the basket and a bucket there certainly would have tightened the Celtics up a bit; we probably still would have won, but there's no doubt the basket would have gotten a little bit smaller on Boston's ensuing free throws had it been just a two-possession game.

6. Miami's next, and the big question has to be how we're gonna guard Dwyane Wade. Without Avery Bradley, the primary responsibility for Wade will fall on Ray Allen. Wade is a tough cover for Allen even when Allen is healthy, and we all know that Allen isn't healthy.

7. In reality, stopping Wade and Lebron James will be a team effort, and Boston has been pretty good in the past at taking away the pair's opportunities at the rim, turning them (and the rest of the Heat) into jump shooters. We'll have to do that again, and the possible absence of Chris Bosh would help. Bosh missed most of the Indiana series with a strained abdominal muscle, and his status for the Boston series in unclear. Bosh is not the toughest of customers, and so I have to think that even if he does return, he won't be quite as dangerous as he normally is. However, his mere presence on the court would require Kevin Garnett to pay attention to him in a way that he wouldn't have to worry about his replacement in the lineup, whether it be Rony Turiaf or Joel Anthony.

8. As good as LeBron James is, I think I'd rather have that he, and not Wade, have the mismatch. Wade will exploit a mismatch the entire game if you let him, while James' unselfish nature occasionally prevents him from taking full advantage of the opportunities he gets on the court. I don't think doing something crazy like switching Pierce on to Wade is a good idea -- this is just an observation.

9. Offensively, option number one has to be Garnett. He's been pretty much unstoppable in the playoffs, and we need him to be even better against a Heat team that isn't going to make scoring any easier than it was against Philadelphia. Similarly, we're going to need Brandon Bass to step up the way he did at times against Philadelphia.

10. Allen's obviously hurting, but one way to limit Wade's effectiveness is to make him work on defense. As hard as it is going to be one Ray's bone-spur-afflicted ankles, I think we need to run him off of and around screens as much as we typically do, to try and tire Wade out. Wade also hates getting hit and has shown a tendency to lose his cool, so this could have some added benefits, as well. I'm not talking about anything dirty; just making life as physically taxing as possible.

11. As much as I hate to say it, especially after my opening few paragraphs of this post, we absolutely need a monster series from Rondo if we're going to win. He needs to be careful with the ball, because Miami is deadly in transition. He needs to be in attack mode from the get-go, recognizing that James can neutralize Pierce to an extent and that Ray isn't himself. And on the other end, he needs to not lose track of Mario Chalmers, Miami's third-most dangerous offensive player if Bosh is out. It's a huge ask, but I'm afraid I just don't see another way around.