People everywhere from Las Vegas to Portland to Salt Lake to West Palm Beach to Knoxville, Tennessee are saying – without hesitation or reservation – that the one team that can derail the Los Angeles Lakers’ track to a shot at the NBA Championship this year is the Portland Trailblazers.
One of the biggest hole’s in Los Angeles’ offense is the point guard position, one that’s been hardly filled with Rajon Rondo out with an injury not once but twice this season, including L.A.’s 3-5 jaunt through the NBA’s eight game seeding schedule in Orlando, Florida.
They have tried to patch it throughout the season, playing the position by committee with a combination of Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, Dion Waiters, and of course, their All-Star point forward, LeBron James.
But none of them, save James, have the skill sets, defense, or veteran savvy that Rondo has. In his career, ‘Johnny Swag’ has averaged 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists in his 14 seasons with Boston, Dallas, Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans and L.A.
However, it’s been his defensive prowess that has earned him just as much acclaim as his ability to feed scorers. Though he might tell reporters he hasn’t ‘played real defense in a couple of years,’ his tenacity has helped to average 2.3 steals a game and is a great isolation defender.
Which is great for L.A. when he is activated to play, because he’d be going up against one of the best isolation players in the league in Damian Lillard.
Lillard lives around the perimeter, where Rondo has been known to be a ruthless defender. It’s a damn shame that Rondo is inactive for tonight’s opener against Portland, because with no home court advantage, Portland’s momentum from their last three games may carry over into a game against a team with a virtual void at the point defensively.
He’s a four time All Defensive Team player and, until a guy named Kawhi Leonard came onto the NBA scene, it was all Rondo, especially in his Boston years.
I remember when he was at the University of Kentucky and sitting in the Phoenix Suns’ draft room in 2006 and hearing them call his name. Then the air went out of the room when they traded him to Boston for Brian Grant’s contract and announced Amar’e Stoudemire (returning from successful knee surgery) as their ‘draft pick.’
I was looking forward to seeing Rondo try and shut down the wunderkind that put up 154 points in his last three games, powering and willing the Trailblazers to their last three wins and into the NBA Playoffs. Lillard is averaging 30.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 8.0 assists going into tonight’s game.
Might as well be asking the 14 year veteran to stop a freight train at this point.
We’ll have to wait until Rondo is cleared to play to see if he can do what I believe he can.
Problem is, Portland may be up a game or two by then.
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