Ragin' Rondo

Just to throw a ridiculous stat out there: Coming into the 2008 Finals, Derek Fisher had accumulated 493 minutes of Finals’ experience. Rajon Rondo? 0. Heck, to take that a step further, Fisher has played in 20 Finals games lifetime; Rondo has played in 21 playoff games.

Anyway, the reason I write “ridiculous” is because it took Rondo all of 29 minutes to figure this thing out. Riding the wave that was The Pierce Return (by the way, it had more of a Bird ’91 feel to it than a Reed ’70, but hey, that’s just me), Rondo was the guy that got the ball to PP on consecutive possessions that resulted in two 3s; two 3s that basically turned the game.

Huge.

Why does that stand out? Rondo took an almost overwhelming moment and stayed in control. And people probably figure you could put a little sister of the poor at the point with the Big 3 and Boston would be good, but you can’t underestimate the two-stage growth of Rondo this year: 1) the regular season where he grew just about every game after the All-Star break and 2) the postseason that has seen him put up 10/4/6, come up big in several games, and has prompted me to write to someone that Rondo “had a little Fat (Lever) in him…”

And of course, Game 1 was basically a microcosm of all that. From the attempted dunk on Sasha Vujacic to the valued fourth scoring option to the 15/5/7 line to the aforementioned Pierce Moment, Rondo was superb. You can’t also forget he’s going against a guy (Fisher) who has been to the Finals four times.

But he handled himself well. Rondo didn’t ooze an ounce of nervousness in the first quarter; seemed quite at ease with it all actually. And he seems to be figuring out when and who to distribute the ball too. The Cs seemed to go to Allen early, KG in the second, and Pierce, of course, late. It was Rondo who was reading the temperature of each, knowing when to give it out, and not shying away from Phil Jackson’s psychological operation We’re Gonna Let This Rondo Guy Shoot The Jumper.

Of course, Game 2 is another day. But it sure is exciting seeing a young PG on the big stage.