NBA News 2012: Rondo Accepts Responsibility For Celtics' Struggles

BOSTON, MA - FEBRUARY 15: Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics wins the jump ball against Greg Monroe #10 of the Detroit Pistons on February 15, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The Detroit Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics 98-88. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Rajon Rondo accepted responsibility for the Boston Celtics’ 0-2 start to the season.

“We have to trust one another defensively,” Rondo said after allowing 21 points and 13 assists to Brandon Jennings in a 99-88 loss to the Bucks on Friday. “It starts with me. I have to do a better job on the ball. We can say we [trust each other], but on the court it shows we’re not pulling in weakside [help]. There’s a lot of things.

“We’ve just got to start somewhere, and that’s the good thing about the league — we can start tomorrow.”

In two games, opponents have shot 50.3 percent against Boston, including 47.1 percent from beyond the arc.

“I’m going to try to come out and set the tone defensively [Saturday night against the Wizards],” Rondo said. “That’s all I can do. We’ve got to each look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to dig down and bring something to what we’ve been doing. Bring a little bit more to the game. I’m the point guard, I’m the first line of defense, I initiate the offense. I’ve got to be better.”

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/224302/Rondo_Accepts_Responsibility_For_Celtics_Struggles

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NBA News 2012: Rajon Rondo, cameraman clash over post-Game 5 filming

BOSTON, MA - MAY 06: Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics has a word with Rajon Rondo #9 of the Boston Celtics in the second half during a game against Atlanta Hawks in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2012 NBA Playoffs on May 6, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
The Boston Celtics missed an opportunity to close out the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, dropping an 87-86 road affair that gives Atlanta the chance to knot their first-round series in Boston on Thursday night. Near misses like the one Boston had at Philips Arena tend to stick in a player's craw, especially when the player singlehandedly got his flagging team back into the game and conjured a chance to win it out of thin air, only to see it end in a trap, a turnover and a loss, extending a series that player felt his team already had won.

So, yeah, Rajon Rondo — whom NBA fans know to be a quiet, reserved and occasionally volatile sort as it is — was a little bit salty when he spotted a cameraman filming him after Boston's Tuesday night loss:


While waiting to take the podium for his postgame media session, Rondo noticed a cameraman filming his idle chatter. The point guard pointed at the cameraman (which, if I was the cameraman, would probably have me thinking, "Oh, crap") before walking over to voice his displeasure.

"Listen — how many times I'mma tell you?" Rondo asks. "You are not filming me. I told you to quit filming. Do not film me. I'm not doing an interview right now. I just told you."

The progression is simple — Emotional Dude fresh off a tough loss wants to have a couple of moments with some people close to him before he steps up to the podium and talks about not having his best performance and his team dropping a winnable playoff game; Emotional Dude sees a camera encroaching on those moments; Emotional Dude responds in an emotional fashion; Emotional Dude comes off looking like kind of a jerk, especially after "Inside the NBA" host Ernie Johnson tags the encounter with a terse "Whatever."

You can understand Rondo's frustration, and he didn't escalate the hostilities beyond a reasonable level — any reasonable person sees the difference between this and stuff like the run-ins that guys like Randy Johnson and Kenny Rogers had with cameramen — but he's pretty clearly in the wrong here.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/rajon-rondo-cameraman-clash-over-post-game-5-161311234.html;_ylt=AhDy.3OoO_DUWzJqNCAcCOu8vLYF

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