Rondo skeptical about the Lakers new line up

Boston guard Rajon Rondo said he expects the Celtics to unseat Miami and win the NBA title in the coming season. The NBA's assist leader last season said he likes Boston's offseason additions.

"I think because we have a talented group of guys... the additions of Courtney Lee, [Jason] Terry and Jeff Green," Rondo said.

"We have high expectations every year... I think we got a lot better than last year."

Rondo didn't talk much about Ray Allen leaving Boston to sign with rivals Miami Heat for less money -- except for saying, "he's fine".

The Celtics guard was somewhat skeptical about the new lineup of another rival team, the L.A. Lakers, who now feature stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash alongside Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Rondo said they've done nothing yet and it's all on paper.

The Celtics All-Star also said he expects to beat Jeremy Lin "pretty badly" when Boston meet Lin's new team, the Houston Rockets, RTHK reports.

Rondo is in Hong Kong for a sponsorship event, and he trained with young players for an hour on Friday morning.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_ ... amp;d_str=

Who isnt skeptical? We have a very talented team especially in our starting 5 but we havent even played a single second together. We shall see when the season comes.

The road to the championship is going to be anything but easy. You guys are assuming everything goes perfectly for the lakers with the chemistry. The pieces are there, but to assume it's going to come together quickly I think is naive. Kobe has never played with a ball dominating guard like Nash before, so that's going to take some adjusting to. Everyone on the team, from Nash, to Metta, to Kobe, to Pau, to Dwight is going to have to change their game a little. Miami had a super team, and look how much they struggled their first season. Same with Boston when they got KG. Boston had a hard time in the playoffs. It's not going to be a walkover. Not to mention, we don't even know how this group will look running the Princeton offense. It might not go as smoothly as we think.

Rondo is delusional. The Celtics can't beat the Heat or the Lakers. Not 100% sure if they can beat the Nets or the Bulls...

the argument can definitely be made that the lakers will win the title easily, because there isnt one team who matches up well with the lakers, thats all. looking back on past teams is useless btw - its all about this year. if dwight is healthy, back to the old dwight, the lakers have the title in the bag, and if you dont agree, you are underestimating what his impact will be vs teams who have nobody to slow him down

I'm fairly certain that if Ibaka and Perkins could shut down Bynum and Gasol, they will be able to give Howard and Gasol problems. I'm not underestimating the impact of Dwight, but I'm also not overestimating the impact of Dwight. To say Dwight will consistently score 30+ point games against tough, defensive minded NBA teams like OKC or Miami still sounds asinine to me. I'm sure time will prove me to be correct. I still consider the Lakers among the top 2 or 3 favorites to win the title, but the road to a title is highly unlikely to be easy... even with a 100% healthy Howard.

MIA has the worst frontline in basketball, saying dwight wont dominate them is ridiculous, ur a hater for that. OKCs frontline is formittable vs every team that doesnt have dwight, im not saying dwight will drop 30 on them, thats not why we traded for him, and thats not why we're the favs in the west in most people eyes

Nope, I'm not a hater. I'm just showing proper respect for the defending Champion Heat. Any team with Chris Bosh on the front line is by default never going to be the league's worst front line. If you really believe Miami's front line is the worst in the league, then I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. Haslem is a SOLID veteran big with 2 rings and a lot left in the tank. Bosh is a legit All-Star and has had numerous good games VS Dwight Howard in the past. There's no way Miami has the worst front line in basketball and it's ridiculous to say such a thing.

no. bosh is cannot get one rebound 1 on 1 vs dwight, nobody on the HEAT can, dobody in the league can, and that is the reason why we will win the ring. that plus dwight notoriously makes his teams D top 3! bosh doesnt rebound man and hes weak, the heats frontline will matchup horribly vs us

we have such an inside adv on the boards its ridiculous. in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs Bosh avg 6.5 rbs , in the finals, only 9, against no 7footers in the finals. our two 7 footers, and dwight especially can take Bosh's rpg avg down to what it was in the first 3 rounds of last years playoffs..

i had more respect for Bosh's rebounding before i looked at the stats, 8 rpg last season, 6.5 avg during the first 3 rounds of the playoffs. ur argument should end,now

The road to the championship is going to be anything but easy. You guys are assuming everything goes perfectly for the lakers with the chemistry. The pieces are there, but to assume it's going to come together quickly I think is naive. Kobe has never played with a ball dominating guard like Nash before, so that's going to take some adjusting to. Everyone on the team, from Nash, to Metta, to Kobe, to Pau, to Dwight is going to have to change their game a little. Miami had a super team, and look how much they struggled their first season. Same with Boston when they got KG. Boston had a hard time in the playoffs. It's not going to be a walkover. Not to mention, we don't even know how this group will look running the Princeton offense. It might not go as smoothly as we think.

Boston still won it the year they formed their big 3.

Boston still won it the year they formed their big 3.

haha, good old LSD, trying to rain on everybody's parade. Our Lakers are a nightmare or should I say Dwightmare matchup for Miami.

You guys need to stop jumping all on LSD and giving him all this crap, and actually, if you think about it, all of you guys doing this is technically a collective form of bullying towards him, because he never technically said anything to any specific person, you guys just ganged up on him.

He's right by the way, you guys cannot just expect a championship with this team. It's very disrespectful to all the other teams in the league and you all should be ashamed, for real. Imagine you having a job and someone tells you "Hey sorry, but they're going to give your job to him", even though you've been working there for a few years, had done a good job, and hadn't done anything to make them think that you haven't. Wouldn't you feel offended if that happened? C'mon people, show some respect to OKC and Miami, the only 2 teams that made the NBA Finals last season, not the Lakers, who didn't even make it to the Conference Finals.

last season is last season, the lakers are a completely different team now, with the best roster in the NBA, and the most dominant force in the NBA -dwight

u over respect them, i go by the numbers. the last two seasons vs MIA ,dwight has had two 18 rebound games, a 25 rebound game, and a 24 rebound game, and theyve only played 7 times, with dwight being hurt and in foul trouble in other games vs them. ill give u OKC has a frontline that could keep dwight to his avg 15/16 rebounds,possibly. but MIA has no1 for you to be confident in.
for now, you are no more right than me, to be over or under confident, we're at opposite ends of the spectrum, neither is more realistic right now

last season is last season, the lakers are a completely different team now, with the best roster in the NBA, and the most dominant force in the NBA -dwight

the fact that i am thinking this is no problem,imo its what us laker fans should do,with all the stats out there in our favor, BUT the fact that the lakers arent thinking how im thinking, just adds to my confidence!hahaha. ya dig

Hmm well that's your opinion lol, all I'm saying is that if our little 03-04 experiment was any indication, we cannot simply expect the best result, which is the championship. I love your confidence and excited ness in our team, don't get it wrong, but what I'm saying is to tone it down a little bit and understand that other Laker fans still have some doubts about whether or not the Lakers can win it all, which doesn't make them any less of a fan of the Lakers as you or any other Laker fan who thinks this year is going to be easy for us.

Also before you say "You're too old to understand", yeah I just turned 18 this summer so don't worry I "dig" what you're saying d@wg, f0 $h1zz13

I didn't say they didn't win it, I just said they had a hard time getting there, which they did. Several of their playoff series went to Game 7's. And I don't think it will be any different for the lakers. I just don't agree with ShouldbeGM's assessment that it will be a cakewalk to win the title. I think it will be a tough road.

Hmm well that's your opinion lol, all I'm saying is that if our little 03-04 experiment was any indication, we cannot simply expect the best result, which is the championship. I love your confidence and excited ness in our team, don't get it wrong, but what I'm saying is to tone it down a little bit and understand that other Laker fans still have some doubts about whether or not the Lakers can win it all, which doesn't make them any less of a fan of the Lakers as you or any other Laker fan who thinks this year is going to be easy for us.

Also before you say "You're too old to understand", yeah I just turned 18 this summer so don't worry I "dig" what you're saying d@wg, f0 $h1zz13

Do some of you guys forget that Miami has Lebron James, BY FAR, the best player in the game right now, a top 2 sg in Wade, an all star big man in Bosh and an absolutely perfect group of guys to complement that big three? Plus, they already have plenty of chemistry between them and they've already been through a lot of wars together. It's just completely astonishing and ridiculous that you think the Lakers will just walk all over them... I'll tell you one thing, if the Lakers' players were dumb enough to play them with that mentality that it'll just be a walk in the park to beat them, then the Heat would be the ones cruising by the Lakers, not the other way around.

Rondo is delusional. The Celtics can't beat the Heat or the Lakers. Not 100% sure if they can beat the Nets or the Bulls...

The one thing we have to realize, is that the Howard -Nash match-up is pretty tough for any opponent! Yes, Miami has LBJ, but that is really the only match up they can expose!

In my opinion the Lakers win four out of the five on personal match ups!

In my opinion the Thunder have a harder match up for the Lakers then the Miami Heat.

I'm fairly certain that if Ibaka and Perkins could shut down Bynum and Gasol, they will also be able to give Howard and Gasol problems. I'm not underestimating the impact of Dwight, but I'm also not overestimating the impact of Dwight. To say Dwight will consistently score 30+ point games against tough, defensive minded NBA teams like OKC or Miami still sounds asinine to me. I'm sure time will prove me to be correct.

I still consider the Lakers among the top 2 or 3 favorites to win the title, but the road to a title is highly unlikely to be easy... even with a 100% healthy Howard. If I'm proven wrong and we sweep the Thunder or Heat in a 7 game series, or defeat them in a decisive 5 games, I'll happily eat crow. I just don't think that'll happen. I have too much respect for the talent level, the athletcism, the depth, the defensive mentality, and the chemistry of last year's NBA Finalists Heat and Thunder.