Rondo is going to have more on his back than his tattoo in the Cleveland Series. According to Doc, he's going to have his team on there too.
"I think Rondo is the key to the series," said Rivers, who, over the past two days, has also pointed to rebounding, defending the 3-point shot, limiting the Cavaliers' bench, and keeping James in check as other 'key' factors.
"His speed has to be a factor. He has to be disruptive defensively with his speed and ball pressure. They are going to help off him and he's got to handle that well. Really how well he handles them dropping off him and not guarding him will be the key to us winning. When he's effective, our whole team is effective."
No pressure kid.
Everyone knows what's coming with the Cavs. They're going to sag off Rondo and dare him to take jumpers.
I'm fine with that. Sag off him. (A) He'll still take it to the hole. And if you work the ball around enough, that idiot who is sagging off Rondo will get so lost we'll essentially be playing 5 on 4. And (B) Rondo's jumper from 15 feet and in isn't as bad as people would lead you to believe. He shot 47% from that range (not counting the "at the rim" shots) this season (51 of 108). People don't realize that. Once you get past 15 feet, you have some problems.
But they're not looking to force him to shoot 3's. They're going to play off him and give him a ton of space to make a decision. And if he gets in that 15 foot range and they're still off him, fine, he can pull up and that's not a bad shot. If they decide to play up on him, then they'll be looking at the back of his jersey.