Assorted Thoughts

I'm off to a tremendous pace of roughly a post per month, so I'm due to weigh in on a few topics. Perhaps it will also get my creative juices flowing and help me finish the story I'm trying to write for my actual job. Let's proceed with the bullet points, shall we.

• RONDO!
• In more detail, RONDO, RONDO, RONDO, RONDO!
• As I said, his Rondoness is scheduled to return to the court on Friday night against the Lakers. Though he is expected to play limited minutes, color me intrigued to see what he does as the focal point of the team's offense. Since his rookie year, his job was primarily to serve as a playmaker, with others drawing more defensive attention. There were always flashes of what he might be capable of doing if given a more substantial offensive burden, but that was never really what he was asked to do. In my mind, it is impossible to predict how he will do in a situation where the offensive players around him are far more limited, and where he may be counted to score more consistently. What he shows over the rest of this regular season may go a long way to determine if he will be a key piece in the team Danny Ainge is trying to build, or a piece that will be traded elsewhere to aide in that building. As I said, color me intrigued.
• If nothing else, having Rondo back should raise the entertainment level of the 2013-14 Celtics. It might not be as easy when the no-look passes are aimed at Kris Humphries or Jerryd Bayless, but Rondo was usually good for at least one play per game so audacious that I would actually LOL. I'm looking forward to having that element back in the mix. I put the over/under at the number of passes that surprise and/or rocket off the hands of an unsuspecting teammate at 2.5 in his return.
• It cannot be proven because I failed to actually post it, but the addition of Bayless suggested to me that Jordan Crawford would not be long for the Green and White. Though Crawford seems to possess more play-making skills than Bayless, Jerryd also seems to be able to create his own shot, something the team sorely lacks. It seemed clear that their games are redundant enough that it was time to send Mr. Crawford on his way, and while obviously getting a guaranteed first-round pick would have been preferable, it's hard to quibble too much with getting anything back for a guy that exceeded expectations.
• Had I written a game-report on Monday's loss to the Rockets, I would have said it felt like the fourth quarter of that game served as a microcosm of the season as a whole. Bayless catches fire, sparking a spirited comeback that falls short. They employed what seemed to be sound strategy in fouling Howard, but he did just enough at the line to keep the wolves at bay. It seems like someone has been able to step up offensively each game, but with very little consistency. Just enough misses, just enough mistakes, and suddenly its a nine-game losing streak. Thankfully it came to an end against Toronto, but it feels like there are going to be more games like Houston than the Raps game in the future.