I dunno, it's a tough call. Like I said, my hesitancy over Curry is all related to health; I don't think you can look at his skills on offense and really call Rondo a superior player. Most of the arguments people make for Rondo are on the basis of what Boston has accomplished as a team, and that's really not something that Rondo shoulders a ton. They won the title without him being a major factor in 2008 and that core stayed together. They declined, Rondo took on more responsibility, their peripheral talent fluctuated some and they made some mistakes (losing Perkins, for example) and suffered some bad luck (Posey signing with the Hornets, for example) and so they declined and Rondo wasn't good enough to overcome all of those things (including various injuries to other players and similar factors)... But people keep looking at this multiple All-Star team and assuming Rondo's driving everything, when he's not.
Very good player? Check. All-Star himself? Check. All-NBA? Not regularly, other guys are getting recognized over him more regularly... but All-NBA is also dominated by guys like Wade and Kobe and other high-profile 2 guards, not just PGs, so that's not a totally reliable way to look at this. Is he among the best PGs in the league? Yes, and that this is true is a testament to his overall ability, ala Kidd. Mixing defense, rebounding and savvy playmaking to cover up deficiencies as a scorer (or really I should say "shooter," since his handles are not at all a problem, nor his physical tools). Good stuff, good attitude, good team player, great competitor.
But I think people overrate him a little (a little, mind) and fail to consider the full picture of how things work (again, explicitly in the context of comparing him to his other elite peers at the PG position, not compared to, say, the average NBA player). And I think a lot of people don't really see how Boston operates, and what parts of it to which Rondo actually contributes versus those to which he does not. Also, his playoff performances have been overrated. He's an awful scorer, like most, worse there than in the RS, though because he cuts down his turnovers and improves his offensive rebounding, which helps out something like PS ORTG. He does step up his effort level, he's got another gear. He hits the boards harder, he puts a bit more effort in on defense, he's a little more careful about where he puts his passes and what he does. He plays smarter, he saves a little extra for the PS. It's part of what makes him a really good player. But I think people are too prone to mixing fascination with APG and team success without separating what a player actually did and did not do.
IMO, and this is especially true in a more structured system such as Boston's, shooting ability, an unselfish nature and PnR ability are the major influence factors in the value of a PG to the team. There are exceptions, I mean I can probably count the number of PnRs Magic ran on one hand, right? So there are always different styles and physical outliers and what-not. In more fluid systems, motion offenses, the triangle, there are different needs from playmakers, of course. Dribble penetration, for example, at which Rondo is better than Curry. Transition play, where I think Rondo is a more dynamic passer than Curry (although this is marginalized by Boston's slower pace, especially before this season).
Back to Rasho's question, do I think Rondo's A Game is better than Curry's? I don't know. Rondo is definitely a weaker scoring threat and while I think he's a better overall passer, I don't think it's a big enough gap to matter. Inevitably, when we talk about Rondo's performance, we're not talking about his defense. Individual defense isn't reliable and can be overcome with hot shooting... or screens, for example. I was in a thread recently, either this one or the thread on the PC Board, where someone was trying to say that Rondo played awful defense against Jennings in the first BOS/MIL game of the season... but what you see is that this is terribly untrue. Most of the time where Rondo was even involved in the play, he was getting wiped out on a screen... or he was there and Jennings hit a contested jumper, or made the pass that Boston's defensive strategy opened up. C'est la vie, yeah? That's the nature of individual defense.
So that means that we're talking about offensive performance... an area where Curry clearly has the advantage.
Doormatt wrote:
kevin love (when healthy)?
I've questions about his defense (which is important as a frontcourt player) and his ability to exert impact as an offensive player. He's not a great iso scorer. Good 3pt shooter, good FT shooter, great at converting offensive boards, etc. But he's not a takeover scorer and he's got some other issues. I'm on the fence with him, which is why I didn't include him.
Aldridge?
Nah. He had one outlier season as a scorer and is otherwise pedestrian in this regard. His ORTG comes from being a low-mistake guy, a really low-turnover player. Impressive, but not making mistakes isn't the same as making good plays. And of course, he's an unimpressive defensive rebounder, not an elite defender (even though he's a good one). I'm not a huge fan because he's not elite at basically anything but protecting the ball.
wade?
In years past, sure... Right now, definitely not. Wade is injured and playing like crap this season, young and SSS as it is. Last year... mmm. He's already losing his touch at drawing fouls, his jumper was as mediocre as ever, he was injured last season as well and he's marginalized next to Lebron. I'm not thrilled with the way he's playing, and he's into his 30s now. Much of what he does is enabled by others, he's less capable of asserting his will on the game, he's coming off of a weak Finals series... I'm not comfortable clearly rating him ahead based on the last 12 months or so.
i dont know how anyone wouldnt consider kyrie and harden better than rondo either.[/quote]