In his first game back since joining the Lakers inside the Orlando campus, Rajon Rondo had an inconsistent showing in Friday’s Game 1 Western Conference semifinals blowout loss to the Rockets.
The former All-Star totaled eight points, four assists, and three rebounds, but the Lakers seemed overmatched with him on the court. Coming off a thumb fracture in July, it’s fair to expect some rust from Rondo, but the timing is far from ideal, as the Lakers face a seven-game postseason series against a dangerous Houston squad.
Yet, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel feels the NBA-champion point guard will be a factor for L.A. throughout the series, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes.
“Rajon is one of the smartest players in the league, and obviously our guys’ IQ raises when he’s on the court, so he’s definitely going to help us this series,” Vogel said.
Rondo’s inclusion is just one of several roster crunches to watch as the small-ball Rockets lineup wreaked havoc on the bigger Lakers team, which has prompted reports of Anthony Davis increasing willingness to play center.
Rondo and Kuzma to start the game？
In the previous post you called Kuzma trash. Are you consistent on anything?
He just makes things up as he goes along.
So start Rondo and send KCP to the 2nd unit?
I could definitely see them starting Kuzma, but not Rondo.
Wouldn’t it be more logical to let rondo work the bench unit for now until he settled in? Tho I’m only a giraffe
Narrator: “He didn’t”
He threw the whole offence off yo yo-ing the ball and playing 90’s iso –
This team plays much better with Caruso and Lebron on the court where the ball moves and people are in motion –
Bad coaching call putting Rondo in early and often-
Move Brow to center have Lebron at point and shuffle a hard mix of Green Kcp Kuzma Crauso in as 3 point defenders
I cat believe at this point we’d want to see MOre Rondo??!! Let it go Vogel
They need him against Rockets guards. It’s true they need his leadership. His PG skills too. With their small lineup. It’s best for him to play point and Bron attack the rim more. Rondo not only smart player. But he has plenty of big gm experience. Rockets shoot well they are tough to beat. So you got to pressure their guards. Full court half court. This looks like a fun series.
Rondo is a good basketball player. He always has been. His game has mega flaws, but he makes up for them. Vogel is just doing what anyone would do in his situation. It isn’t like the Lakers have anyone better to throw out there.
That’s true. No one thought the Lakers would miss Avery Bradley when he opted out, but obviously they could really use their best perimeter right now. Both Waiters and JR Smith were completely useless in round 1, and Markieff Morris hasn’t been much better.
* perimeter defender
Both Waiters and JR Smith are usueless in general.
As a Rockets fan I’m assuming you didn’t really watch a lot of Laker games which is understandable. But any Laker fan knew once he opted out that was going to greatly hurt their perimeter defense. It showed in the Portland series and it’s showing even more now. I know it’s only one game and I’m sure they’ll make adjustments but not having him really hurts.
Actually I have seen just as many Lakers games as most others have seen Rockets games. I’ve been saying since the restart how much LA was going to miss Bradley, but all I’ve heard from everyone around here is how useless he was to them and how the Lakers can beat anyone with just LeBron and AD.
Yea those people don’t know basketball then. It’s pretty obvious how much he meant to the team this year and how much it’s affected them negatively since he didn’t return
“Everyone”, right. Useless. You’re so biased and exaggerating it can be hard to take you seriously.
Bradley and Rondo definitely hurt against Blazers. They lucked out that they lost players too. But like you said it is showing against Rockets. Definitely miss him. I still likeRondo playing more mins. He should be around 30 mins. Kuzma was a no show lols. He is not battle tested. He needs to get with it. He and Bron can put pressure on their wings by scoring. It’s Rockets guards against Laker bigs. Lakers need a PG who can help Bron run team and use their strengths. They can’t get into a shoot out with Rockets. Plus Lakers need to use all their guards to slow down Rockets guards. GM 2 coming
Starting Rondo makes no sense. He’s their only facilitator apart from LBJ. This was always the major flaw in the Lakers’ roster. It’s not a secret. They knew it from the start. They tried to rectify it at the trade deadline.
It might make sense to limit the minutes of the Centers, in favor of Davis-Kuzma 4/5 combination (Morris too maybe). But being short of facilitators is just sort of their identity.
Rondo wants the game fast. LJ does not. AD is fine with speed but it only makes sense when he’s the center, which he wasn’t, starting. LJ & Rondo ideally should not be on the court at the same time. So far all Rondo has done is confuse Caruso about his role, but he likes fast too.
Caruso has an amazing playoff on/off of 22 and the second-highest PER to LJ in the RS, but got cut back vs Houston. Maybe he is thought too sknny for defense but Rondo isn’t large. Next game he should see more PT.
Lakers went for 2Gs for replacements. Waiters must be fritzing… he did look like he was a little spazzy in his PT, though that is not always bad for a BBer.