Three Alphas Reunite
For the first time since Rondo’s dramatic trip to the bench, we saw all three alphas on the court together again. In the fourth quarter. In a close game. With no indication that anything about their on-court chemistry had changed in the slightest.
While it remains a mystery why Hoiberg decided to bring the lineup back, in the fourth quarter especially, he did. The results were just more of the same. Jimmy was swamped with the ball in his hands because the guys defending the other two alphas could sag off to their heart’s content and pack the paint like it was a can of sardines.
Rondo was more engaged than usual on defense tonight, sometimes even picking up J.J. Barea before they even crossed half court. He also found Doug McDermott in the corner on a nice baseline pass and Bobby Portis on an even nicer entry pass from the top of the key. They both wound up missing, but Rondo can’t be blamed for that.
Rondo as a second-unit point guard surrounded by shooting does make some sense. The only problem is that the same shooting that makes him more tolerable on the court also helps Jimmy’s game open up immensely, and you can’t exactly play Doug and Nikola Mirotic for 48 minutes each.
Fred has a lot of rotation questions to figure out, but whether all three alphas should be playing together is not one of them.