He should have guard up
Rajon Rondo's Fortnight from Hell didn't start off too well. There was an on-court verbal exchange with Paul Pierce in the first quarter just before a timeout. He then had to watch Deron Williams slice and dice the Celtics for 32 points and eight assists in Boston's season-worst 110-92 loss to the Jazz.
Starting with last night's game and going through March 28, the Celtics' point guard will face the creme de la creme of the NBA at his position, something that can be seen both as ominous (because it is) as well as advantageous (because he can only learn from it). Tonight, he gets Milwaukee's Mo Williams, who is more than serviceable. Then comes the iron. On Monday, he'll see the Spurs' Tony Parker, followed the next night by the much-improved Rafer Alston of Houston. Then it's on to Jason Kidd of the Mavericks and Chris Paul of the Hornets to close out the trip. Upon returning to Boston, it's Philadelphia's Andre Miller, the Suns' Steve Nash, and Paul again, all in a span of five days.
"Rajon has some tough games ahead of him," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, listing the names of those aforementioned gents. "But it's good for him."
Williams was the first marquee point guard of the bunch to match up against Rondo - and based on what we saw it would be hard to make a case that anyone can do it a whole lot better than the Utah playmaker/scorer. Seventeen of Williams's points came from the free throw line as he used his size and strength to pretty much get what he wanted.
"We didn't do a good team job on Deron Williams," said Sam Cassell, who spectated for the full 48. "We let him dictate what he wanted to do. When he wanted to shoot, he shot. When he wanted to pass, he passed. We gave him way too many options."
Rondo only played 31 minutes - which is about his average - and didn't play at all in the fourth quarter until there was 3:51 left in the game and the Celtics were down by 9. But he quickly drove the lane and airballed a lefthanded flip shot from about 5 feet and then was flagged for an offensive foul. He had 12 points, but he was down in the areas where he usually thrives, assists (3) and rebounds (3).
"Not great. Not bad, either," Rivers said, when asked about his point guard's evening. "I thought he made some pretty good decisions with the ball. But that's what they want. The ball ended up in his hands a lot."
In other words, we didn't get the Full Rondo last night. Williams probably had something to do with that. "He's a great player," Rondo said. Rivers said Williams overpowered Rondo and Eddie House for much of the game.
Williams said he was merely being assertive, but to listen to the Jazz guard, it appears he doesn't particularly look forward to going against the pesty, gnat-like Rondo.
"Every game since he's been in the league, he has gotten a rip on me, a clean strip, and then he's gone in for a layup," Williams said. "He's got the tools to be one of the best defensive point guards in this league - the long arms, the big, quick hands, the great anticipation. And he's added a lot to his offensive game. You can't play off of him. I got caught in the first quarter doing that and he made us pay."
It will be on the defensive end, however, where Rondo will get his real workout these next two weeks. Theoretically, that should be fine with him, because on the offensive end, he's not exactly the No. 1 option. He's been known to go a little out of control on offense at times, but it's a byproduct of his approach. He is fearless.
But it's on the defensive end where he plays his best, whether it's pestering his man or coming out of nowhere to snatch a rebound. And he goes into each game these next two weeks knowing that most of the elite point guards he's facing have a lot more freedom than he does, which makes his task even tougher.
"It's different for Rajon because all those guys have the green light to do what they want to do," said Cassell, who has a pretty good read on the position in the Western Conference from his days with the Clippers. "But what I like about Rajon is that he understands that he doesn't have that same green light, but it's because he has so many weapons."
Rondo was pretty blasé when asked about the approaching trip and the many excellent players he will have to face. He's not exactly Mr. Emo anyway, but he stuck to the standard "No Bulletin Board Material" responses when queried about Parker, Nash, Paul, Kidd, and the rest.
"I just try to get excited for every game," he shrugged. "It's the NBA. I'm just fortunate to be in the league and I try to bring out my best each night."
He's going to need that each night - for a while. As his coach noted, "If I was him, I'd be very excited about it."
Peter May can be reached at pmay@globe.com. 