kasino wrote:he was assisted on 76% of his points thats 12 points of his 15.8
11 of Pierce 19 points come from Rondo plays
not incorrect they aren't iso players any longer all now rely on his playmaking
Not every assist comes from Rondo, though, there are plenty of other passers on that team. Or did you forget that Pierce averaged 4.5 apg himself, while Garnett managed 2.9 and Ray averaged 2.4? All of them while playing comparatively few minutes per game compared to your normal starter.
And again, though you keep ignoring it, on that kind of shooting volume, it's easier for a single pass here or there to affect things. Consider:
Last season, Garnett made roughly 6.5 field goals per game, which means he was assisted on ~ 5 of those. He was, in his last Minny season, assisted on 59.2% on 8.4 FGM/g, or ~ 5 per game (we're talking ~ 4.97 in both cases). KG is simply taking 4.6 fewer shots overall compared to those years. He's not being asked to create his own shot quite as much, so the buckets he was getting then are the same buckets he's getting assisted on now.
Lest you forget, and as I remarked previously, Garnett posted up on 440 possessions last year (or 32.4% of his 1359 possessions). He isolated on a mere 3%, or 41 total possessions. But post-ups are essentially isolations from a different part of the floor. He was a PnR roll man on 259 possessions (19.1%), spotted up on 268 attempts (19.7%), had negligible action (~1% each) on hand-offs and around screens, had 117 cuts to the hoop (8.6%), had 39 shots off of offensive boards (2.9%) and had 70 transition possessions (5.2%).
So again, roughly a third of his possessions came in the post, where he managed 163 FGM on 46.7% FG, 9.8% SF and 10.5% TOV. That's pretty good, generally, good enough to rank him 25th in the league. Everyone knows that, left block, that turnaround over his shoulder moving towards the baseline is money, his go-to move. He employed that very well. Most of those possessions were straight isos, with Rondo dumping it in and then buggering off because he knew better than to stick around because his man would sink in on KG, knowing that Rondo can't shoot the 3.
Also, consider that an "assist" will sometimes be something as simple as Garnett getting GREAT position in the post and then Rondo making an obvious, open pass to KG (with his man sealed on his back) that KG turns into a jumper.
Now, that's a legitimate assist and should be recorded as such, but in the context you're trying to assemble of Rondo
creating all of Garnett's points and KG
relying, that's a prime example of a possession where Rondo created bug-all, KG did all of the work himself and Rondo just delivered the ball with a clear, open pass. That happened a lot (mostly with KG posting in the middle after setting an off-ball screen while Rondo dribbled at the top of the circle), it was a staple play. Sometimes Pierce or Ray threw that pass, with equal efficacy. Sometimes Bradley, etc. Keep that in mind.
Meantime, my word, what did the Celtics do WITHOUT Rondo? He missed 13 games, during which they went 8-5 (minding that he occasionally missed games with other significant players). Given the way you've talked about him, you'd assume that their offense collapsed in his absence, but clearly that wasn't the case. They were a middling offense with him (15th ranked and he had an offensive RAPM of +0.6). I agree that the decline of the Big Three is a big part of why Boston's offense has been flagging of late... in fact, I whole-heartedly concur. I think, though, the disconnect you're not addressing is that if Rondo was so good on offense, then the team would be a lot better on O than they have been given the efficiency of the players on that team. One big part of it is that he's such a bad scoring threat that it actually drags down his overall offensive impact, despite the fact that he's one of the best passing points in the league, a remark I do not contest at all.
Rondo, as I've said before, IS a good PG. But you're comparing him to a much better one when we talk about Nash. When you talk about Deron, his impact on a game is better because he isn't mostly useless as a scoring threat and he's still at LEAST as good at creating for others, controlling tempo, etc... and there's literally no evidence pointing towards the idea that Rondo's better. Comparable as a playmaker, certainly, but not better... and certainly not better overall.
EDIT:
Forgot to mention another common play the Celtics use, one that Orlando uses as well, and really any half-way savvy team with a post scorer employs: It starts with a high screen and roll that doesn't result in a shot or a pass to the roll man (or a swing pass, for that matter), the ball-handler retains possession. KG fights around, gets post position now that he's rolled deep and receives an entry pass. This was as frequently Pierce sending the pass as Rondo. KG on the right elbow/mid-post, turns middle, BOOM, jumper. Would you call that Rondo "creating" something (or Pierce, for that matter), or KG using the screen to create the look himself, sealing his man to create an easy, direct pass that leads to his own shot?
Anyway, I could go on ad nauseum. Most post players get 60-66% of their shots assisted, or thereabouts, when they're taking a significant number of shots. When they're not being asked to create 17+ FGA/g, that proportion naturally rises. KG's able to use simple plays to score and on which he is often assisted because they spread the ball around to THREE scorers and as a result don't have to aggressively isolate and create their own shots as often. This is an ASSUMED component of a team that has such a wealth of scoring talent.
In 2011 and 2012, Wade's posted the highest proportion of assisted field goals of his career. In the 5 years leading up to that, he managed no higher than 29.2% but in 2011, BOOM, 36.7. Then 39.9% last year. Hell, even Lebron was assisted on over 37% last season, the highest he's seen in the last 7 years. Bosh too, peaked at 60.9% pre-Miami, but hovered mostly at 50-57%. Miami? 59.9 and 64.9%.
This is simply what happens when you conglomerate talent.
EDIT 2: Thought of ANOTHER play the Celtics use to get KG the ball in the post that has nothing to do with the ball-handler until the final entry pass (aka is created by Garnett moving without the ball, not truly by the action of the guy who delivers the ball and is frequently credited for an assist because KG makes quick moves). Ball-handler, usually Rondo (but sometimes Bradley), stalls a little above the top of the circle with KG on the elbow (often left side, Pierce on right block); Pierce comes up from the post to receive the ball above the arc and Rondo/Bradley cuts out of the way.
The ball-handler down-screens and KG dives to the spot vacated by Pierce and receives an entry pass while Ray, who is usually in the pocket on what is now the strong side, was cutting baseline to take his man well away from KG for the iso. It's a classic piece of set offense, and the Spurs love it (and have for 20 years or so) that's not really reliant upon the talent of the ball-handlers, just a very basic piece of coordinated team offense.
