Sunday, April 13, 2014

Celtics' win streak has little impact on the Tankometer, but doesn't look good for Rajon Rondo

To the dismay of many Boston fans, after dropping 14 of their previous 15, the Celtics have now emerged victorious in each of their last two contests.  The C's first winning streak in over a month has dramatically hurt their chances of receiving a top 5 pick in the draft, as they're now tied with the Lakers for the 5th fewest wins (25) in the NBA with just two games remaining (including one more date with the pathetic 76ers).

However, the pair of W's has only dropped the Tankometer by a small margin, from 77% a week ago.  Why?  In the first installment of the Tankometer I wrote:
"The job of the Celtics "Tankometer" is to measure my perceived level of how hard they (and by they I mean the players, coaches, and front office combined) are trying to win games."
In Friday night's victory Boston had some very questionable late-game clock management and shot selection.  On Saturday they won with only eight players available; Rajon Rondo, Jared Sullinger, Jerryd Bayless and Kris Humphries were all held out of action for various insignificant injuries.  Rondo actually sat out both wins with a bruised shin.

I was under the impression that when Rondo returned from his ACL injury the Celtics would be a much better basketball team.  They haven't been, not even close.  The opposite actually:

Boston is 6-29 in games Rondo has played in this year (a .171 winning percentage that would be the worst in the league over the full season), and 19-26 without him (.422).  I'm not going to panic or overreact to this, but it's definitely concerning.


No comments:

Post a Comment