Rivers on Rondo: ‘He's trying to do too much'

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CHICAGOThe Chicago Bulls are all about scoring just enough points to win, often milking the shot clock for all it is worth.

Naturally the Boston Celtics would like a more uptempo game, something that can only come about if the C's are successful in achieving all that is required on Doc Rivers' to-do list.

"You gotta get stops, and then you have to rebound," Rivers said. "You have to play defense without fouling.  If you do that you can create any pace you want to. It's a lot but it's what yo have to do."

Making all that easier to accomplish will be Rajon Rondo reverting back to the high-assist, low-turnover playmaker that the C's have had most of this season.

The last two games, Rondo has turned the ball over 14 times compared to just 22 assists which is slightly better than a 1:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

For the season, he has a 3.26:1 assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks seventh in the NBA.

Rivers has reviewed the video from the last two games with his players as well as with his staff.

Figuring out what Rondo's problems the last two games has been easy.

"He's trying to do too much; forcing it instead of letting the ball find the scorer," Rivers said. "It looked like Rondo was trying to make the play every time down. You know, that's tough to do. And it's not good for your offense anyway. He understands that."

Rondo would certainly love a repeat of his performance the last time the Celtics were in Chi-town. The 6-foot-2 guard had one of his best games of the season, tallying 20 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds and five steals in Boston's 101-95 win.

The production from Rondo that night was good. Just as important was his aggressive style both as a scorer and a passer without forcing the action too much.

Balancing the need to assert control of a game with not overdoing it is a challenge for all players.

"It's probably more for any point guard in the league because they have the ball, they make decisions," Rivers said. "You want them to be aggressive and attack. But when they try to do too much with the ball and try to create the play every time down the floor, that's probably going to hurt the team. So he's done it the last couple of games but overall he's been pretty good at it."

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