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Sunday, June 1, 2008
Rajon Rondo
Greater Louisville, KY
By: Tom Lane
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Photo(s) By: Kyle Danztler/MyActionPortraits.com
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Rising Boston Celtics star keeps Louisville ties strong.
Much of the credit for the Boston Celtics turnaround season has rightfully gone to veteran acquisitions like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. But a fair amount of credit for the biggest one-season improvement in NBA history is also going to their second-year point guard, Louisville native Rajon Rondo.
Doug Bibby has only lost to one of his players over the years in games of one-on-one. The first time came when he squared off against a freshman at Eastern High School where he was then coaching. This skinny freshman wasn’t that tall but had unusually long arms and huge hands…and lots of game. Rajon Rondo beat Bibby that day and many times since (although Bibby claims to have gotten him at least a couple of times over the years).
Rondo starred at Eastern for three seasons under Bibby. Then, with some encouragement from Bibby, he moved on to Oak Hill Academy for his senior season. It wasn’t easy for a guy Bibby calls a mama’s boy to leave home for the remote outpost in Virginia. “In the beginning it was tough for him and his mother,” said Bibby. He did want to come home. He was bored. But once the season started, he got to travel and his mother got to go to some of his games. He got adjusted pretty quick.”
The move paid off for Rondo. He helped Oak Hill to a national title. He went from a top 75 or so player in the country into the top 15 and became a McDonald’s All-American. He matured as a player and as a person, being away from home for the first time in what was like a freshman year in college. And the practices for the McDonald’s game actually helped determine his NBA future. Boston’s general manager Danny Ainge was among those in attendance impressed by what the ultra-quick guard could do against the nation’s best high school talent.
Two years at Kentucky followed. Then an up-and-down rookie season with the Celtics as Rondo learned the NBA game and battled for playing time with one-time U of L signee Sebastian Telfair. This season has seen marked improvement with his average points per game jumping from 6 last year to 11 this year. And those numbers have translated into more playing time: Rondo has started 77 games so far this year after starting only 25 last year.
Bibby attributes Rondo’s better stats to several things. “His work ethic, his drive…every day he goes in the locker room and takes notes from Ray Allen. He eats dinner over at Ray Allen’s house. Kevin Garnett shows him how to be the total package. He was blessed with the athletic ability. No one can teach him that. But his mental capacity grows every day. Who he is as a person is the real important part. He’s a very humble, hard-working guy, a very focused individual.”
Bibby, currently the head coach at Central High School, started as a coach to Rondo and grew into a mentor and now considers himself more like a big brother, talking and texting with Rondo almost every day. “I pick his brain now seeing what [Celtics coach] Doc Rivers is doing…things that I can pass along to my guys at the high school level.
Bibby is also close to Rondo’s family. Rajon has an older brother and a younger sister and has always been very family oriented, says Bibby. “To see how he’s been able to bless the people around him with his success, how he’s been able to buy his mom a home, get her a car, that’s when I get emotional. She sacrificed so much.”
“I always thought he would make it,” Bibby says. “I always thought he had the ability, the intellect, the motivation and the drive to be a pro ball player. He gets to practice two hours before and stays back two hours. He breaks down film. The sky is the limit for the kid.”
Tom Lane is the sports director at WDRB-TV, Fox41.
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