This slow motion replay of Rajon Rondo's block of Derek Fisher from Game 2 is just spectacular. It was emailed to me by a reader, Ian, with an analysis that I would love to steal for my own.
And while I contemplated making myself look good with someone else's words, I figured I'd just let Ian speak for himself:
of all the little story lines in these few moments of the game it is what Rondo does that blows my mind. If you watch closely when Rondo goes for the Fishers pump fake, his face doesn't look like surprised at all, he glances quickly to the shot clock at the other end of he floor, see's that Fisher will have to shoot and is ready immediately once past him to jump up to block Fisher's shot. If I didn't know better I would be tempted to say that Rondo intentionally bites on the shot fake, knowing that fisher pulls his shot back far behind his head, putting him in the perfect position for the block from behind. All of this happened in less then 30 seconds on a small play that helped turn the tide in a close game that could be the momentum shift that leads to banner 18; all that in less then 30 seconds!
You can see Rondo's eyes in the 30 second mark looking up at the shot clock. Just an absolutely incredible presence of mind to assess the situation in a split second and recognize what's gonna happen next. He almost jumps before Fisher does to block that shot.
I mean, who even thinks, after getting burned like that, to look at the shot clock on the other end of the floor to anticipate the guy's next move?It was an amazing play in regular speed. In slow motion, it's a work of art.