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[TheGreatGatsby]

WHAT CAN RAJON RONDO DO NEXT? LEAD THE LEAGUE IN TRIPLE - 02.25.13 - SI Vault

He just played Connect Four, against anybody who dared, usually two grids at a time and sometimes three. "This has been going on for six years," Matt Meyersohn, the Celtics' director of community relations, said on Dec. 22 during an event at the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester, Mass. "He's played hundreds of Connect Four games, maybe a thousand. And he's never lost."

Later that day Rondo sat behind a table and three grids. Across from him were more than 100 children he had showered with bikes, Razor scooters and iPod Touches that he bought at Target and distributed from the back of a U-Haul. "I thought he might let us win," said a 12-year-old named Olisa. "But he was so serious." Rondo wore the requisite Santa hat with jolly red shoes, but through 22 consecutive victories he barely uttered a word or cracked a smile. He held each disk aloft for a solid 10 seconds before depositing it in his chosen column. He stared the kids down as if they were Knicks.

Olisa was the last challenger. He stared back at Rondo through wire-rimmed glasses. He clenched teeth covered with braces. He initiated what he called a trap, forcing Rondo to the right side of the grid, putting him on the defensive. When Olisa dropped the winning disk, Celtics officials started to shout. Meyersohn grabbed the microphone. "This has never happened!" he bellowed. Olisa rushed around the table to take a picture with the shell-shocked champion, who tried to curl up a corner of his mouth for the camera but instead bowed his head, resulting in a snapshot of his scalp.

Two hours later, hopped up on grenadine over lunch at a sushi restaurant in Boston's Back Bay, Rondo looked as if he were still digesting a piece of bad shrimp tempura. "I can't believe it," he said. "But did you notice I played the guy five more times and won them all? I had to show him, 'You beat me, but I'll beat the s--- out of you.'"

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

WHAT CAN RAJON RONDO DO NEXT? LEAD THE LEAGUE IN TRIPLE - 02.25.13 - SI Vault

"There's no one in the history of our game like him," says former forward Brian Scalabrine, who spent four seasons with Rondo in Boston. "He's the most interesting player I've ever known. How does someone who is 6'1" get 18 rebounds? How does someone who doesn't run fast break get 20 assists? How does someone who never shoots get everybody open? We cannot begin to understand how he does it."

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

WHAT CAN RAJON RONDO DO NEXT? LEAD THE LEAGUE IN TRIPLE - 02.25.13 - SI Vault

"His hands," the obstetrician gushed, "are humongous."

Twenty years later, when Rondo was coming out of Kentucky after two seasons, the Celtics prepared a scouting report on him that referred to what Ainge called "freak factors." Rondo's hands, 9½ inches long and 10 inches wide, are the size of a 7-footer's. His wingspan is 6'9", common for a power forward. If built proportionally, he says, "I'd be like Magic or Oscar Robertson." In peripheral vision tests Rondo beats everybody except Ainge, and on road trips he can recall exact directions to places he visited once. Ainge has seen him throw a football 80 yards, hit a softball 380 feet and beat 33-year-old assistant general manager Ryan McDonough in a 40-yard dash with a tire strapped to his waist. In college Rondo stole the ball from his man 16% of the time; no one else in the 2006 draft swiped it more than 5%.

 

[High_Gravity]

WHAT CAN RAJON RONDO DO NEXT? LEAD THE LEAGUE IN TRIPLE - 02.25.13 - SI Vault

"His hands," the obstetrician gushed, "are humongous."

Twenty years later, when Rondo was coming out of Kentucky after two seasons, the Celtics prepared a scouting report on him that referred to what Ainge called "freak factors." Rondo's hands, 9½ inches long and 10 inches wide, are the size of a 7-footer's. His wingspan is 6'9", common for a power forward. If built proportionally, he says, "I'd be like Magic or Oscar Robertson." In peripheral vision tests Rondo beats everybody except Ainge, and on road trips he can recall exact directions to places he visited once. Ainge has seen him throw a football 80 yards, hit a softball 380 feet and beat 33-year-old assistant general manager Ryan McDonough in a 40-yard dash with a tire strapped to his waist. In college Rondo stole the ball from his man 16% of the time; no one else in the 2006 draft swiped it more than 5%.

Rondo has meat hooks for hands, I honestly think if he was the same height as Lebron James or even Kobe Bryant he could be a top 5 player in this league, point blank period.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

So the Bucks won the JJ Reddick sweepstakes. That's rather anti-climactic. But if the Bucks leapfrog the C's then a Heat-C's match-up is possible in the first round. That's all I want is a chance to beat those a-holes.

 

[High_Gravity]

So the Bucks won the JJ Reddick sweepstakes. That's rather anti-climactic. But if the Bucks leapfrog the C's then a Heat-C's match-up is possible in the first round. That's all I want is a chance to beat those a-holes.

Dude I don't see it, we almost did it last year but we had a much better squad last year than we do now, last year we at least had Stiesma and Ryan Hollins up front now we have absolutely no center and Kevin Garnett working overtime on the blocks. We have taken a huge step backwards since last year but the Heat have gotten better if you look at the additions of Chris Andersen, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen, barring a miracle we will be lucky if we even win 1 game against those assholes.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

So the Bucks won the JJ Reddick sweepstakes. That's rather anti-climactic. But if the Bucks leapfrog the C's then a Heat-C's match-up is possible in the first round. That's all I want is a chance to beat those a-holes.

Dude I don't see it, we almost did it last year but we had a much better squad last year than we do now, last year we at least had Stiesma and Ryan Hollins up front now we have absolutely no center and Kevin Garnett working overtime on the blocks. We have taken a huge step backwards since last year but the Heat have gotten better if you look at the additions of Chris Andersen, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen, barring a miracle we will be lucky if we even win 1 game against those assholes.

We'd have to play great d and shoot well and be in four or five games at the end. Pierce can still close out games too. It may not be a great chance, but I want it.

 

[High_Gravity]

So the Bucks won the JJ Reddick sweepstakes. That's rather anti-climactic. But if the Bucks leapfrog the C's then a Heat-C's match-up is possible in the first round. That's all I want is a chance to beat those a-holes.

Dude I don't see it, we almost did it last year but we had a much better squad last year than we do now, last year we at least had Stiesma and Ryan Hollins up front now we have absolutely no center and Kevin Garnett working overtime on the blocks. We have taken a huge step backwards since last year but the Heat have gotten better if you look at the additions of Chris Andersen, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen, barring a miracle we will be lucky if we even win 1 game against those assholes.

We'd have to play great d and shoot well and be in four or five games at the end. Pierce can still close out games too. It may not be a great chance, but I want it.

If Rondo, Sully, and Barbosa weren't out it could be a good series but the last thing I want is to see the Celtics embarassed. By the time we get to the playoffs Kevin Garnett and Pierce will be running on fumes.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

Dude I don't see it, we almost did it last year but we had a much better squad last year than we do now, last year we at least had Stiesma and Ryan Hollins up front now we have absolutely no center and Kevin Garnett working overtime on the blocks. We have taken a huge step backwards since last year but the Heat have gotten better if you look at the additions of Chris Andersen, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen, barring a miracle we will be lucky if we even win 1 game against those assholes.

We'd have to play great d and shoot well and be in four or five games at the end. Pierce can still close out games too. It may not be a great chance, but I want it.

If Rondo, Sully, and Barbosa weren't out it could be a good series but the last thing I want is to see the Celtics embarassed. By the time we get to the playoffs Kevin Garnett and Pierce will be running on fumes.

Even if we lose, it's the measuring stick that we need. Barbosa and Sully aren't huge losses. Rondo is though. Bradley, Pierce, KG, Lee, Terry, Bass and Green would all have to have a great series. But it's possible.

I also have long believed that minus a hot shooting series from Bosh, the Heat are very beatable if team's keep LBJ out of the paint.

 

[High_Gravity]

We'd have to play great d and shoot well and be in four or five games at the end. Pierce can still close out games too. It may not be a great chance, but I want it.

If Rondo, Sully, and Barbosa weren't out it could be a good series but the last thing I want is to see the Celtics embarassed. By the time we get to the playoffs Kevin Garnett and Pierce will be running on fumes.

Even if we lose, it's the measuring stick that we need. Barbosa and Sully aren't huge losses. Rondo is though. Bradley, Pierce, KG, Lee, Terry, Bass and Green would all have to have a great series. But it's possible.

I also have long believed that minus a hot shooting series from Bosh, the Heat are very beatable if team's keep LBJ out of the paint.

I don't like the editions of Andersen, Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen to the Heat. Andersen gives the Heat even more of an edge over us in the rebounding and size department, and Ray Allen can still hit clutch shots, he has the potential to finish off a playoff game against us, he will be well rested with Wade playing the majority of the minutes. This is a nightmare match up any way you look at it, the Heat probably won't even need the help of the refs this time around.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

 

[High_Gravity]

If we had Perkins last year we would have beaten Miami.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

If we had Perkins last year we would have beaten Miami.

Probably. I think Green is playing great though. I actually hope Doc plays the front line of KG-Green-Pierce more often. Take Bass out of the starting line-up already.

 

[High_Gravity]

If we had Perkins last year we would have beaten Miami.

Probably. I think Green is playing great though. I actually hope Doc plays the front line of KG-Green-Pierce more often. Take Bass out of the starting line-up already.

What if we had Green, Bradley, Wilcox and Jermaine O'neal healthy for the series against Miami? think we could have taken it?

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

If we had Perkins last year we would have beaten Miami.

Probably. I think Green is playing great though. I actually hope Doc plays the front line of KG-Green-Pierce more often. Take Bass out of the starting line-up already.

What if we had Green, Bradley, Wilcox and Jermaine O'neal healthy for the series against Miami? think we could have taken it?

Green had the heart thing; so I just never considered it, but yea. I think Bradley would have been enough just by himself. We had to give Ray Allen all kind of minutes and he was at about 70 percent.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

 

[High_Gravity]