Los Angeles Lakers: How Rajon Rondo fits on the team
By Ethan Temkin
2.) Defensive Pest
Although he may not be the defender that he was in years past, Rondo still has his incredibly high basketball IQ — he gets into passing lanes, sneaks up behind unsuspecting players, and is just overall, a pest on defense.
In fact, Rondo is such a student of the game, that he is often able to call out the opposing team’s plays as they’re happening! My favorite example of Rondo’s defensive IQ came a couple years ago when he was on the Kings.
In the final seconds of a game against the Hawks, where the Kings were leading by a score of 91-88, Rondo was able to sniff out the set the Hawks were going to run, direct his team accordingly, and deny the Hawks a chance to get a shot off. I expect Rondo to have many of these kinds of plays in this upcoming season.
Even during his preseason debut for the Lakers earlier this week, Rondo was flying up and down the court, calling out coverages and being incredibly vocal. All of this was for a game of such little consequence. Now imagine Rondo in games where there are actual stakes involved.
He may no longer have the physical tools to lock someone down, but Rondo is still one of the smartest players in the game and will absolutely use that to his advantage when it comes to being a presence on the defensive end.