After starting the U.S. Team’s first three games (including the close scrimmage vs. China), Rajon Rondo did not play on Sunday. We’ll have to see what the explanation is from Krzyzewski. Perhaps, he wanted to get a good look at Stephen Curry, Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook before he has to cut one of them. Or perhaps it was a little gamesmanship, not letting Spain get a feel for Rondo’s game.
Either way, it robbed us of our first opportunity to see a Rondo-Rubio matchup, a damn shame.
In our previous post, MSL says Rondo's DNP was something Coach K talked about earlier in the week. I cannot find any corroborating reports.
UPDATE (via Chris Forsberg on Twitter):Coach K on Rondo's DNP (and Granger's): "Those are two veterans and young guys haven’t had a chance to start... so before we select our 12 we needed to give everyone a look."
2nd UPDATE (via Schuhmann responding to my twitter question):
Sounds like he wanted to give the bubble guys a good look.
Mystery solved.