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Doc Rivers: ‘Silly’ to think Celtics might be better without Rajon Rondo 01.31.13 at 10:07 am ET
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Doc Rivers made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan Show Thursday, the morning after the Celtics beat the Kings, 99-81, at TD Garden for their second straight win after six consecutive losses.

“In spurts, last night, we played well,” Rivers said of the victory over the struggling Kings, who beat the Celtics handily on December 30.. “The second quarter was as well as you can play. When you win games you would have to say, yeah, it’s going well.”

The Celtics are now 2-0 since losing Rajon Rondo for the season with an ACL tear in his right knee. A vocal minority have speculated that perhaps this team might be better off without the services of the All-Star point guard, a notion the coach dismissed quickly on Thursday.

“That’s silly,” Rivers said. “The bottom line is that you’d rather have him. But we do have other guys that can do different things. Having Courtney Lee and Avery [Bradley] gives you size at the guard spot. They are more physical guards so in that way that helps. Everybody does different things and that’s basically who we are now.”

Rivers was asked if other players might view the loss of Rondo as a chance for a greater opportunity to contribute to the team for the rest of this season.

“I don’t know, I just think more minutes helps anybody,” Rivers said. “We lost six games in a row and I thought it was time to start playing better. We did play well against Chicago, we just didn’t win a game. We played well against Atlanta and then lost the game. I thought we were starting to play better anyway, and that was with Rondo.”

With the February 21 trade deadline looming, there have been rumors that the Celtics might make a major trade that would signifiy the start of a rebuilding process for this franchise. Rivers, though, is hopeful that Danny Ainge doesn’t feel the need to make such a deal.

“I think Danny likes our team, I think he thinks we can be good with what we have and I think Danny is Danny. He’s got to do his job, he has to keep looking and see if he can help the team. But there’s been no talk about pulling the plug or anything like that. … We’re not out there searching.”

To hear the interview click on the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page. For more Celtics news visit weei.com/celtics.

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  • AndyP

    Let’s hope Che Hsuan has long and successful major league career ahead of him.

  • Dpalm789

    so basically what doc is saying is this…”we were a below .500 team with rondo, so we are not going to be any better than that without him” that shows he has some real confidence in his team

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/QGDUXCJSOCS2AKGYF32MEJ27QI Ryan

      I think he did a good job with that question.  If he says the team can/should/will be better without Rondo, than he is essentially calling out his best player.  I was actually surprised with how little credit he did give Rondo, and that’s only because he can’t make it seem like they have no chance without him.  Doc more so stressed that different players bring different things to the table that can help the celtics win.  I think Doc was as honest and optimistic as you can be. 

  • Bruinman86

    Perhaps on paper, but you have to admit, Doc, that they are TRYING harder and Moving the ball in a more balanced fashion. 

  • Titletown1

    Games Rondo has missed: 2
    Number of Celtics wins in that time: 2

    Hmmm….but I’m just sayin’.

    • Baker

      Hey why don’t you post that same comment on every single article about the C’s. You are the biggest bummer on these pages.

    • Cmay295

      Rondo missed the game at Milwaukee and Golden State.
      Number of Celtics wins in that time: 0

      Hmmmmm. but I’m just sayin’.

  • Cfn

    Doc is silly, but has to be political.  If C’s continue to play good without Rondo, a light is going to on in DA head and he will trade him.  Rondo is OK, but he is overated and his role of moving the ball does not work as well now, like it use with the big three.  Time to get rid of Rondo and give Pierce less minutes; or 6th man next year.  Give Green more minutes.  Then we have a team.

  • Hogzilla

    Doc does a great job handling the media.  He manages gives out some info and real insight (unlike Belichick) but is always quite politic in his comments.  

    My feeling about Rondo is that come playoff time he is invaluable and he always plays well in the playoffs.   During the regular season though, he tends to let up at times.  This leads to him dominating the ball so much (while dribbling at the top of the key for an eternity and not actually doing anything) that other players HAVE to lose interest.  Therefore, I have no doubt that they will play some great games without him and that some players (i.e. Lee) will play better without Rondo.  That being said this injury really hurts them for the post-season and now we have to worry about Sullinger too.  

  • Mark Dent

    The celtics are better without Rondo. Rondo holds the ball too long and slows down the ball movement. Rondo is vastly overrated; just look at the fact that he has a negative plus/minus statistic! That is to say the Celtics do better with sitting on the bench! Numbers don’t lie. They should trade Rondo for a bug guy.

  • Cmay295

    I agree with Doc and Danny these conversations “are silly.” The Bulls, Knicks, and Clippers have all won games without their stars. Are they better without Derrick Rose, Melo, and CP3? Rondo has singlehandedly been the driving force on this team numerous occasions (i.e. the Bulls game). He has shot the ball more efficiently than anyone on this team. He leads league in assists, top 10 in steals, leads team in charges taken, was averaging 8 rebounds in the month of January as 6’1″ guard, and was top 5 in fg% among guards – lots of teams would kill to have a pg with these types of “nights off.” Remember this team without Rondo in Milwaukee when they gave up a 17 point lead. Remember this team without Rondo at Golden State when they lost by 20+ points. These conversations are just ridiculous.

    • Markdent50

      The bottom line is that rondo has a negative plus/minus stat. Numbers don’t lie. The FACT is the celts do better with him off the floor, as PROVEN by that stat!!!

      • Cmay295

        Plus/Minus does deceive though. Plus/Minus has everything to do with who is in the game with Rondo. You as a player could do nothing to put your team up by 20, but if the other four guys on the court go on a run your plus/minus will go up. Same is true in the opposite. Rondo, for much of the season, was in starting unit with PP, JET, and BB – all who have struggled scoring mightily this season. Therefore, even though he may be recording a triple double if the others are underperforming his plus/minus goes down. Numbers do not lie. Look at his stats from this year. Who on the team has played better?

  • Cmay295

    Everyone does realize that the Celtics lost the other three quarters to arguably the worst team in the Western Conference right? Kings 67-62. It took shooting 80% from the field in one quarter to win that game.

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