Have you ever seen the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer? Josh Waitzkin was a 10- or 12-year old wiz kid who happened to be one of the best chess players in the world. At one point, in a major tournament, Josh found himself in the championship against the other best junior chess player in the world (we’ll call him Mr. Jones for the sake of this post, since I don’t remember his real name). It looked like Josh was losing, but he reached out his hand to offer Mr. Jones a draw. Mr. Jones responded, “Draw? You’ve got to be kidding.” He was winning. Why the hell would he accept a draw?

But Josh saw things before his opponents did. He was always thinking a few moves ahead. Mr. Jones didn’t take the draw, and Josh told him, “You’ve lost, you just don’t know it.”

Mr. Jones was a little confused. “I’ve lost?” he asked. “Look at the board.”

Josh replied, “I have,” then implored Mr. Jones one last time to take the draw and share the championship. Mr. Jones still thought he was winning, so he refused. Josh proceeded to whip his ass and win the championship. He already knew what would happen. He always thought a move or two (or eleven or twelve) ahead of his opponents.

My point is this: Rondo’s a lot like Josh Waitzkin. Don’t ever tell him to look at the board. He already has.