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Rajon Rondo says Celtics, Kentucky bring similar pressures with history, intensity

From Lexington, Ky., to Boston, Rajon Rondo has played for two of the most storied organizations in the game.

Rajon Rondo - photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

– photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Whenever Rajon Rondo has tugged a basketball jersey over his head in the last decade, he's had the fortune to know it meant something.

From Lexington, Ky., to Boston, Rondo has played for two of the most storied organizations in the game. Two years at the University of — which was actually one more than he wanted to play there — and now eight years with the have helped limit the amount of truly meaningless games he's had to play, according to Rondo.

“Playing at the University of Kentucky, there's pressure every game,” Rondo said Tuesday before practice. “It's almost similar to playing for the Boston Celtics. It's pretty much a way of life down there in Lexington. It's the only thing going on in the state for the most part. It's just Kentucky basketball, and that's it. Pretty much every game is a big game. Every game, they want to win.”

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On This Day In UK Basketball History

On March 27, 1951, UK wins its third NCAA title, defeating Kansas State, 68-58, in the finals in Minneapolis.

 

On March 27, 1978, Jack “Goose” Givens scores 41 points as UK wins its fifth NCAA Championship, 94-88, over Duke in St. Louis.  Givens scored the last 16 points of the first half for Kentucky, bringing his first-half total up to 23 points. Givens poured in another 18 points in the second half.  Givens' helped lead the Wildcats to their first title in over 20 years.  More than 10,000 fans greet the team at Blue Grass Airport and 15,000 more celebrate at Memorial Coliseum

 

On March 27, 1993, Kentucky beat Florida State to advance to the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. The victory completed a string of four games in which the Wildcats blitzed their Southeast Region opponents by an average of 31.0 points - the largest margin of victory by a team through four games en route to the Final Four.

 

On March 27, 2009, Billy Gillispie is fired as the Kentucky head basketball coach.

 

On March 27, 2011, freshman Brandon Knight scored 22 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the first time since the 1998 title with a 76-69 win over second-seeded North Carolina in the East Regional final of the NCAA Tournament.  The last minute of the game became the DeAndre Liggins show, as he blocked a shot on defense, hit a game-winning three-pointer on offense, then blocked another shot on defense to seal the victory. He finished with 12 points..

 

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