Rajon Rondo Discussion: He's A Cleveland Cavalier

Discussion in 'NBA Discussion' started by therealdeal, Jul 2, 2018.

  1. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    But he's our "d***" now ....

    :Magic Brows:
     
  2. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    The only way to beat the Warriors, or at least try - is to be physical and try to punk them. Aside from Draymond and to some extent Klay, they are a finesse team with a ton of talent. They play good team D, but not bad-boys type defense. But I would not describe their leaders, Steph and Durant as physical. They can be beaten with the right approach. And believe me - that approach is not to out-shoot them. It's not happening. Whoever beats them will have to go Artest on them. Our approach right now will most likely be to develop that toughness and be the Bad Boys in this league. And considering how soft most of the NBA teams are these days, that should not be too difficult when you have Rondo & co around.
     
  3. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    For those without the Athletic (you should get it to support good writers!), it comes down to Oram basically saying the Lakers signed Rondo to shape Ball up. The Lakers had been fairly easy on Ball his rookie year through his ups and downs. Now they're going to give him a guy he'll see every day in practice that should sharpen Lonzo's mentality. The Lakers are letting "fun" go in favor of winning or at least competing.

    Interesting.
     
  4. SeasonVet24

    SeasonVet24 - Rookie -

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    Paul Pierce was saying on ESPN how the C Bags practice was super intense and competitive every time Rondo was out there.
     
  5. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    ^^

    OK, so I'm not crazy. :) :KobePoint:
     
  6. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I wonder how that affects our appeal to other FA types?

    We were building something more like the Warriors model: fun but competitive. Now it looks like we're trying to be the Western Conference Bulldog unit.
     
  7. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    That is exactly what I think is happening. There will be some nice dunks and full court passes, but for the most part, we'll grind people down.
     
  8. Doc Brown

    Doc Brown - Lakers Starter -

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    I don’t know if it’s been posted here but Lebron has talked about in the past how he loves and appreciates Rondo’s BBIQ and how cerebral of a player he is.

    I think it was The Red Mamba who told a story about a regular season game a team was calling out plays and Rondo looked at the head coach and said that’s not a real play. The coach had called a fake play.

    Lebron and Rondo are two of the best IQ/Cerebral players in the league. This will be good. Very good for the young kids.
     
  9. Jaguar

    Jaguar - Lakers 6th Man -

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    I’m fine with Rondo. Just takes off more pressure and responsibility for LeBron.
     
  10. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    Rondo opens up a lot of avenues too.

    Can you imagine a lineup of Rondo/Lonzo/Ingram/Kuzma/LeBron against Steph/Klay/Iguodala/Draymond/Durant?

    Damn this season is going to be fun.
     
  11. lakerfan2

    lakerfan2 - Lakers All Star -

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    Throw Stevenson in for Kuz for a more defensively aggressive lineup. I like the makeup of that. Almost going for a 2008 Boston type of physicality to the team.
     
  12. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    Sure. There's going to be tons of flexibility, but one thing is for sure: we're going to piss off a lot of teams this year. :D
     
  13. alam1108

    alam1108 - Lakers Legend -

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    I might be reading your first sentence wrong but I don't think we'll have a problem attracting free agents. The lebron/magic/la effect is huge. And by being the bulldogs, we'll attract the competetive guys.

    Plus you still have some young guys to lighten the mood.
     
  14. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    No you're reading it right.

    I'm not saying you're wrong, just curious that's all. I don't expect Lance, Rajon, or Pope to be long-term plans anyway, but that locker room is going to be vastly different than it was last year. Much more business-like which is rumored to be one of the reasons guys aren't liking the Spurs the way they used to.
     
  15. wallangong

    wallangong - Lakers 6th Man -

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    I think they'll find a middle ground. Lebron at one point was one of those guys goofing around. As long as the kids show up ready to put in work, I don't think them having fun sometimes will be a problem.
     
  16. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    I'd love to know if Magic and Rob and Luke together or individually randomly get Kobe's feedback on what we need to win. Boy he would know there from that first one with Boston kicking our a***s with the physicality. Didn't happen again. Artist happened and Lamar's pinching KG's a** mentality with the squad going forward. We have a bunch of rough a-holes now for the coming season and that helps answer hopefully the loss of Randle in that area ....mentally at least. Not in his infliction of pain and rough competition wearing opponents down over the course of a game. Hate that we lost that.

    Why we NEED Brook back at least for the BULK if not the mean part. And he's a competitor. Randle became last year often our physical guy to put it to the other team's imposing Big Man.
     
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  17. Toklat

    Toklat - Lakers Starter -

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    While the Warriors are a great team, they are far from unbeatable. They had a beaten look to them till Paul went down. The tough perimeter defense had them rattled. Rondo is a huge addition and greatly increases our chances of beating the Warriors. Our defense is going to be good all season but phenomenal come playoff time when the vets really buckle down. The young guys were going to get into the 40 plus wins this season. Adding Lebron and company puts us in the 50's. Likely mid 50's.
     
  18. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    LaBronzo not LaBrondo

    :Laugh:
     
  19. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

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    :Headbang:
     
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  20. alam1108

    alam1108 - Lakers Legend -

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    There's a middle ground in between the two extremes, I'm sure we'll find it. Lebron's teams always tend to have some sort of fun when they play, he just never really had the bulldogs to buckle down and get to business when things mattered.
     

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