Stars and stripes replaced the Green, but Rondo still controls basketball games.

There once was a time when some Townies feared (hoped?) Rajon Rondo wouldn’t make Team USA. Umm, think again. He’s our national team’s starting point guard and a guy everyone on Team USA seems to be gushing about, especially his coach. (CSNNE)

“It starts with Rondo,” said Team USA and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “He wants to play defense. And he knows that the people behind him are playing defense, too.”

“He’s looking every single time,” Tyson Chandler said. “For the big man, sometimes you’re guessing, ‘Is he shooting? Should I attack the boards, or is he passing?’ So it’s good to know, he’s looking to pass first.”

“I like playing with Rondo,” Billups said. “He’s a winner. I love playing with winners; guys that know how to play the game. Guys that every possession know what it means.”

Watching Rondo play for Team USA, it’s just the same old dude we’ve come to expect every night. He only had six points, six assists and two rebounds in yesterday’s matinee against France (and France’s Boris Diaw, who looks like he has once again eaten every croissant in his home country), but — as always – there was never a time when he wasn’t in control. Solid double negative. 

Rondo runs the show, points players where they’re supposed to go, blows by whoever tries to defend him and makes players around him better. People wondered how Rondo would adjust to the international game, but I’m sure he was thinking all along, “How’s the international game going to adjust to me?”

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