Sports Radio Interviews

Rajon Rondo on Celtics’ Agendas: “Everyone Wants to Do it for Themselves.”

In 2005, when I was finishing up grad school, I wrote my thesis on mathematically modeling the NBA. One of the most fascinating pieces of the analysis was that, with the exception of one player – Steve Nash, for whom a system was built – point guards in the league were irrelevant. To a degree that is still true, but that analysis came before players like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Derrick Rose entered the league and took the position to a new level.

Add Rajon Rondo to the list of relevant young point guards in the NBA. Rondo came into the league as a bit of an erratic player who couldn’t shoot and has blossomed into one of the more versatile and efficient players in the league over the last two seasons.

In addition to his growth on the court, Rondo has become an off-court leader for the Celtics. He coaches their summer league team and has been out-spoken about his team’s play of late.

Rajon Rondo joined Dale and Holley on WEEI in Boston to discuss Celtics playing with their own agendas, losing to the Nets, trash talking, staying fresh, and what stats are important.

On his comments about Celtics playing with agendas:

“Everyone wants to do it for themselves, but we need to do it for the team. At times, including myself, guys wanted to do it for the team themselves. Everyone wanted to do it ourselves. To sort of explain it, say we are down seven, I may try to take a guy one-on-one myself.”

On thoughts about losing to the New Jersey Nets:

“It can’t get any lower than this at this point. We lost to the best team in the league the night before and to follow it up, we lost to the worst team in the league. We gave the team confidence. They were more aggressive. We let our guard down. It was hard to turn those guys off once they got going. We can only get better and go up from there. We just try to get over it as quick as possible.”

On trash talking:

“I try to just do my job. I always try to have an even keel on the court – never too high, never too low. At times you get into it with guys because of the competition level. I try to be the same for my teammates night in and night out. I don’t think I play as well when I go get frustrated and get into it with someone else. Because I am the point guard, I can’t go after a guy trying to score buckets on him. You still need to lead the team and lead the show and get guys involved.”

On what he and the team do to keep him fresh:

“I am able to adjust now and absorb those hits that I am taking instead of the past couple years when I get hit and I am all over the floor. This year, that is a key for me to have longevity in my career, not to hit the floor as much. As a young player, you just want to play as much as possible to help the team. But, the last couple of games playing 45-46+ minutes, I haven’t had my legs in the fourth quarter. I haven’t been shooting well in the fourth because of fatigue. My floaters are a little short. My jumpshot’s short. In order to have that presence in the fourth quarter, I need to have my legs… That (bringing in Nate Robinson) is definitely going to knock down minutes of mine, which is good for the team and will definitely help us in the playoffs. If we go deep in the playoffs, I don’t have to play 40-45 minutes. A guy like Nate can definitely come in and pick up the tempo.”

And on what stats he thinks are important for him:

“Assist-turnover ratio is the most important stat for me. Taking care of the ball and not giving up the ball. It’s always been like that. That’s the stat I always looked at that in my career and college and high school as well.”

Listen to Rajon Rondo with Dale and Holley on WEEI in Boston

Tags: Boston Celtics, Cedric Maxwell, Doc Rivers, Nate Robinson, NBA, NBA Eastern Conference, Rajon Rondo, WEEI