Rajon Rondo does not lack for confidence. When the basketball world wondered how an untested second-year player would handle running an offense with three future Hall of Famers, Rondo shrugged and wondered, "Why all the fuss?" When the playoffs began and everyone wondered how Rondo would handle the increased attention Rondo shrugged and said, “Just watch.”

So, it’s not all that surprising when I asked Rondo what his goals were for the upcoming season at Media Day he answered, “To be the best point guard I can be. To be the best point guard in the NBA.”

He may already be the best in the Eastern Conference. Several developments last year have hastened his rise. Jason Kidd was traded to Dallas, and Chauncey Billups and Gilbert Arenas got hurt (Arenas is out until at least December). Assuming he returns at full health, let’s reserve the top spot in the East for Billups, but that puts Rondo in a wide-ranging discussion that includes New Jersey’s Devin Harris, Toronto’s Jose Calderon, and Philly’s Andre Miller.

To put it another way, if you were building a team from scratch and had your choice of any young point guard in the East, who would you want?

 

Rondo brings a unique skill-set to the task at hand. He is already gaining a reputation as one of the best on-the-ball defenders at his position. His quickness might be unparalleled in the league, and he is a ferocious rebounder, a talent that plays well within the Celtics defensive system, which often draws big men out to the perimeter. 

Then there’s that confidence thing again.

“I don’t really bother worrying what people think about me,” Rondo said. “As long as Coach Rivers and Danny (Ainge) believe in me, which they have from Day One when they drafted me. As long as the two guys making decisions have confidence in me, then I’m cool with myself.”

Ainge believed in Rondo enough to swing a draft-day trade with Phoenix two years ago, essentially buying a pick from the Suns, to secure his services. When the two mega-deals for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were in motion last summer, both Seattle and Minnesota made plays for Rondo, but the Celtics refused to include him in any trade.

It was fascinating to watch Rondo’s growth during the playoffs last year. He thoroughly outplayed Mike Bibby in the first round and then had to adapt as the Cavaliers geared their defensive gameplan around leaving him uncovered. Then he got into a good at home, bad on the road rut, a situation that he noted he needs to improve. Throughout his postseason ebbs and flows Rivers vacillated between being the chastising parent, and his biggest defender.

“He’s just got to keep getting better, and make sure he knows he’s not where he needs to be,” Rivers said at media Day. “(My) job is not to coach guys where they are, but where you know they should be. That’s my job with Rondo. The great thing about Rajon is, he understands that as well as anybody. He wants to keep getting better.”

Rondo already has proven that he can run a team with three strong personalities, and there are signs that he is already taking on more of a leadership role this season by helping organize optional September practices.

“He’s become very comfortable saying, ‘No’ to them,” Rivers said. “For a point guard, the most important word to learn is ‘no.’”

After making an aborted run at Corey Maggette and allowing James Posey to leave for New Orleans, the Celtics elected to work the margins in the offseason, adding J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker in the draft and Darius Miles and Patrick O’Bryant in free agency. That means improvement will have to come from within and the player poised to make the biggest jump is Rajon Rondo.

MEDIA DAY MINUTIA

The Celtics three stars began the festivities (Jess and I promise to try and come up with a better nickname than the Big Three) with a joint press conference. Ray Allen noted that the shortened summer was actually a relief. “When you fall short of expectations, in July and August, you press,” Allen said. “This summer, I felt the right to relax.”

In a quick walk-and-talk conversation, Allen noted that the biggest difference between last year and this year was trust. “What was going to happen when we got into an adverse situation,” Allen said. “Now we’re not worried about that.”

While everyone lamented Posey’s absence, no one begrudged the man the right to make more bank. Though one wonders how long it will take for someone to bring up Pose’s name the first time there’s a defensive breakdown. As for who will stand-in for his pre-game man-hug the smart money is on Eddie House. 

In our brave new world of round the clock journalism there’s meta and then there’s Media Day. Overheard from a TV producer while scribbling notes: “Make sure you get a shot of the notebooks.” Because nothing says ‘Good TV’ like shorthand transcriptions of a televised press conference.

Paul Flannery covers the Celtics for WEEI.com.