Baxter Holmes On Celtics At 7: The Intelligent, Competitive, Frustrating Rajon Rondo
BOSTON (CBS) -- On Monday night's "Celtics At 7," The Boston Globe's Baxter Holmes joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Adam Jones to discuss Rajon Rondo.
Holmes had a fantastic article about Rondo and his patience in Sunday's Globe, talking with the point guard's former coaches to see if the 28-year-old can survive a rebuild in Boston.
We've learned over the years that Rondo is a fierce competitor, and Holmes says when you mix that with his high basketball IQ, it can lead to some frustration when the team isn't winning.
"He's a very intelligent player and very competitive. When you mix those things, you have a player that can see things other players don't see, or he understands the game at a certain level," Holmes said of Rondo. "He wants to win, but he's also kind of waiting on them to catch up to what he sees. Because he wants to win and has to wait, there can be frustration."
"He's certainly challenged his coaches over the years, and I think a lot of it boils down to you have a very intelligent player mixed with a competitiveness, and it creates kind of an impatience on the court for anything less than the best," said Holmes.
Should the Celtics build around Rondo?
"The Celtics would like to keep him but he's alluded to how he's intrigued by free agency," said Holmes. "(Boston) can offer him more than anybody else, and they also have the potential with all the draft picks and assets that they can flip those and add pieces around him. This summer will be very telling with what the future will hold... It could say a lot about [Rondo's] future with the team."
With Rondo hinting that he might leave, or at least test the free agent waters, could Celtics president Danny Ainge speed up the rebuilding process in order to keep the All Star point guard?
"I think that plays a role a little bit. They don't think they're at the point yet where he's been toiling with the team and they have to sit down and discuss whether he is in or not," said Holmes. "I think they realize that because of who he is, it would behoove them to add more players quickly. Because of how elite he is, there is a chance they could lose him, so they're more apt to turning this around quickly."