Seven months ago, Rajon Rondo stood in a gym full of basketball campers in Waltham and for the first time fielded some of the questions he would get over and over again until he made people believe his answers with his play.
The proverbial "keys to the car" were in his hands following one of the most dramatic transformations of any professional sports team in recent memory. There were many who thought the idea of trusting a second-year point guard with a suspect jump shot and a mere 25 career starts was like flipping the keys of a shiny new Corvette to a teenager fresh off his learner's permit.
If the Celtics were to have a fatal flaw this season, the consensus - especially among national media, but among plenty in the local press as well - was that Rondo was going to be it.
No pressure, kid. Just don't screw this whole thing up.
Seven months later, the point guard many predicted would be in way over his head has not only accepted the monumental challenge, but has tackled it with a command that few predicted. He's grabbed the reins of what could have been a mustang stampede of mega-personalities and steered the herd to the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history. He has mostly held his own - especially in the second half of the season - in his individual matchups against the best point guards in the game.
All the talent around him helps, but the way a player who nearly fell out of the first round of the NBA draft two years ago has quickly risen to become one of the league's most dynamic young talents is as big a reason for Boston's gaudy record as any not named Kevin Garnett.
Rondo may not win the award as the NBA's Most Improved Player this season. Yet given what the Celtics are among the favorites to accomplish this year under his guidance, his development may be among the league's most significant storylines.
Straight to the point
By the time the regular season rolled around, Rondo must have been asked a thousand variations on the query: Are you up to the task?
Up to the task of running an offense with, at the time, 22 years of All-Stars (now 25) in Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? Up to the task of directing three players who combined to average 74 points per game last year and who this year would be asked to sacrifice statistically all the way around? Up to the task of being the player opposing teams dared to shoot while they doubled the primary options?
"When the spotlight is on he has had to make sure he steps up and he's accountable for who he is on this team," Allen said. "A lot of people want to say that he is the guy they can attack. He's had to step up and show that 'I can play.' "
Rondo has done that both figuratively and literally this season. His statistics are up across the board with averages of 10.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game in 30 minutes a night entering Saturday night's game. Last year as a rookie he averaged 6.4, 3.7 and 3.8 in those categories, respectively, in 23 minutes.
Perhaps most impressive is what he's done in the categories of turnovers and shooting. Despite playing seven more minutes per game this year, his turnovers-per-game are virtually the same at 1.9. And that much-maligned shot? After hitting at only 41.8 percent his rookie year, he is up to 48.9 percent as a sophomore.
Yet his development goes well beyond statistics. Quiet to the point of reclusive around the media - and often even around his teammates - last year, he has opened up both on and off the court. When it comes to running the show, Rondo has taken bold steps to make even the trio of $15 million-plus men he often shares the court with know who is boss.
"His swagger is up," said second-year teammate Leon Powe. "It went from like a three last year to like a 29 (on a scale of 30) this year.
"He knows what he wants to run out there. He knows what he wants to do. When he calls a play, that's what he expects. He ain't a Hall of Famer, but what he calls is what we've got to run because he's the point. He's taken control of that position."
Rondo says he had no choice. When all those questions came about how he would handle being a 21-year-old point guard (he turned 22 six weeks ago) surrounded by such a cast of celebrated veterans, he exuded a quiet confidence about his ability to handle it.
Out on the court, he generally has not been so quiet.
In the past three weeks, he has had sharp words with both Allen and Pierce - as well as a spirited give and take with 340-pound Shaquille O'Neal - and has rarely backed down from anyone.
"You have to be like that playing with those guys," he rationalized. "Especially, being the point guard and being the coach out on the floor, playing with those three guys you have to orchestrate things."
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he felt prior to the season that would be one of Rondo's biggest challenges, though he had a sense his young point guard would respond.
"That's part of what we talked about," the coach said. "You are going to have to tell Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce 'No!' Sometimes, you don't even have to say it. You have to ignore them. That's not easy to do. That's tough to do. But you have to do it.
"I thought he had that in him. That part of it he's always had in him."
If anything, Rivers said, part of Rondo's maturation has been harnessing his own belief, at times, that he knows more about the game than those around him.
"That's an issue that we are trying to correct more because there's a way to do it," Rivers said. "That's where he got in trouble with (former Kentucky coach) Tubby (Smith) a lot. He was answering the question before the question was asked, and it wasn't the right answer sometimes.
"He has improved his listening skills a lot and that has made him a better basketball player. He bristles some, but that's normal."
Highlight package
Rondo caught the attention of a nationally televised audience two weeks ago with an ankle-breaking crossover move on Suns point guard Steve Nash that drew gasps from the sellout Garden crowd. Two nights later, he called for a clear out while Hornets guard Chris Paul guarded him and proceeded to stick a 20-footer in the MVP candidate's mug as the shot clock expired.
Then there is what has become his patented move - a drive to the lane where he shows the ball and fakes a spin away from the defender, only to snap back strong to the basket if, and usually when, defender bites.
"I used it a little bit in college," he said of that one. "I used to always just try to jump over people in college, but now when you are going up against a 7-footer who is athletic, it's a lot more difficult to get your shot off inside the paint. So I used it a couple of times in college, but it's really working for me in the NBA."
For a player roundly criticized for his reluctance to take shots - especially jump shots - as a rookie, Rondo no longer shies away from those chances. In the final possession of a quarter, he's generally more likely to drive to the basket and take the last shot as teams still shade away from him to guard Allen and Pierce on the wings.
"He's got that little walk where he knows he can go out there and do certain things and do it every night," Powe said. "That's how he's going to play. He's going to go out there and find people, penetrate and make his team better."
"Some of the plays are instinct," Rondo said. "I don't try to get too fancy because bad things can happen. Every once in a while, I have to create some tricks just to get my shot off. I don't want to do too much and turn the ball over, but I want to bring some excitement to the game. As a rookie, you don't want to do anything out there except make the right decisions. I'm still trying to do that now, but I feel I have a little more cushion."
Leading Man
Entering the season, the talk was that the Celtics needed to find a veteran point guard if they were to contend for a title. Even as recently as last month, there was speculation that free agent pickup Sam Cassell would put a considerable dent in Rondo's minutes.
But Rivers declared Rondo the undisputed starter as he has apparently proven his worthiness to both his coaches and teammates.
"You can tell he's really trying to lead the team," Kendrick Perkins said. "It starts from him. If he gets it going, we all get it going."
Perhaps the biggest question facing this team in preseason appears to have its answer as the playoffs near.
"Half the battle is confidence - believing that you can control the situation you are in regardless of the position you are put into," offered Allen. "You can be in control of your moment, your responsibilities, your time."
Even at age 22, Rondo's time seems to have already arrived.
(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@cnc.com. For updates and analysis, check out the "Courtside View" blog at www.metrowestdailynews.com.)
