I posted this on another forum- the good & bad of Rondo
Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 1:42 pm
This is stuff most C's fans already know, but the forum I posted it on is a General NBA forum and someone asked about Rondo. I just thought I'd post it here.
Compared to alot of Celtics fans, I have low expectations of Rondo. He will never be an All Star; most likely not even a Star. Barring a huge improvement, I feel he will be a solid starter for the duration of his career.
I'll start off with the negative aspects of his game. His jumper is one of Rondo's major deficiencies. However, he made a tremendous leap from last year to this. His FG% went up roughly 7 points and his eFG% also rose about 7 percent. His shot is still not as consistent as I would like and he often lacks confidence in taking the shot. Improving his jumper should be his main priority over the summer.
Most (let's say 80%) of his offense is a product of one of the Big 3 getting him open shots or spreading the floor for him. He wouldn't be useless without PGA, but they certainly increase his effectiveness greatly.
Another weakness of Rondo's game is his decision making. I think a major cause for this is the tremendous pressure to get each of the Big 3 a sufficient amount of shots to keep them happy. He often passes up nude layups to throw risky passes out to shooters, although turnovers are not a major concern. But sometimes he's overly aggressive when trying to finish at the rim. He often tries to dunk on players who are a foot taller than him and gets rejected.
Sometimes he gambles on defense. I often notice him leaving his man to help out a teammate when it's not necessary to do so. And the opposing team scores as a direct result of Rondo leaving his man. Also extremely aggravating.
Alright here's the good things. I really don't have to mention his defense so I'll just move on to the his speed and athleticism. Rondo is one of, if not the fastest/quickest guards in the league. He can get into the interior of the defense with ease. He also runs the break extremely well because of his speed and ball handling ability, which is also highly superior in comparison to other guards. The guy's hands, which are enormous in proportion to his body, are what gives him the ability to handle the ball. (http://aol.nba.com/media/rookies/rrondo2_600_060814.jpg) I am confident he could beat any And1 baller at their own game, quite handily in fact. That's really not saying much though, as most guards could probably do the same. Nonetheless, Rondo is an elite ball handler.
Now his athleticism. In proportion to his size, (6'1", 171 lbs. It's sad that I know that off the top of my head v.v) he is among the most athletic players in the league, nay, the world. (lol Scrubs) He pulled off a 360 with relative ease earlier in the year. The only current PGs I can think of who could pull that off with such ease are Nate Robinson and Baron Davis, 2 notably athletic players.
And even though I criticized him for it earlier in my post, one thing I LOVE about Rondo is that he has the balls to try to dunk on big men several inches taller than him. It's not always in the best interest of scoring points, but damn does it get me fired up, even if he gets blocked. The one that sticks out most in my mind occurred last year. Chris Bosh was the victim. Rondo crossed up whoever was guarding him (Calderon IIRC), and faked the kick-out to Gerald Green. Bosh was caught off guard as Rajon soared through the air and jammed it right over him, as Chris desperately tried to stop the embarrassment before it happened. I'll never forget that dunk, as well as the utter embarrassment of Rip Hamilton and Jason Maxiell earlier this year.
But the thing I found most impressive about Rondo's play this season was his ability to run the offense and get everyone, mainly the Big 3, enough touches to keep them content. Hypothetically, if you were to take 3 players who are each accustomed to dominating the ball on offense and taking 20 shots per game, and put them in a situation where they have to make personal statistical sacrifices for the betterment of the team, you would assume their would be some issues. That problem has been virtually non-existent for the Celtics. I feel Rondo is one of the main reasons for this. However, Pierce/Garnett/Allen are getting up there in age and they are all ringless, so they had their own reasons for their sacrifices, but I feel Rondo played a huge part in creating the great team chemistry that has made the C's such a great team.
Compared to alot of Celtics fans, I have low expectations of Rondo. He will never be an All Star; most likely not even a Star. Barring a huge improvement, I feel he will be a solid starter for the duration of his career.
I'll start off with the negative aspects of his game. His jumper is one of Rondo's major deficiencies. However, he made a tremendous leap from last year to this. His FG% went up roughly 7 points and his eFG% also rose about 7 percent. His shot is still not as consistent as I would like and he often lacks confidence in taking the shot. Improving his jumper should be his main priority over the summer.
Most (let's say 80%) of his offense is a product of one of the Big 3 getting him open shots or spreading the floor for him. He wouldn't be useless without PGA, but they certainly increase his effectiveness greatly.
Another weakness of Rondo's game is his decision making. I think a major cause for this is the tremendous pressure to get each of the Big 3 a sufficient amount of shots to keep them happy. He often passes up nude layups to throw risky passes out to shooters, although turnovers are not a major concern. But sometimes he's overly aggressive when trying to finish at the rim. He often tries to dunk on players who are a foot taller than him and gets rejected.
Sometimes he gambles on defense. I often notice him leaving his man to help out a teammate when it's not necessary to do so. And the opposing team scores as a direct result of Rondo leaving his man. Also extremely aggravating.
Alright here's the good things. I really don't have to mention his defense so I'll just move on to the his speed and athleticism. Rondo is one of, if not the fastest/quickest guards in the league. He can get into the interior of the defense with ease. He also runs the break extremely well because of his speed and ball handling ability, which is also highly superior in comparison to other guards. The guy's hands, which are enormous in proportion to his body, are what gives him the ability to handle the ball. (http://aol.nba.com/media/rookies/rrondo2_600_060814.jpg) I am confident he could beat any And1 baller at their own game, quite handily in fact. That's really not saying much though, as most guards could probably do the same. Nonetheless, Rondo is an elite ball handler.
Now his athleticism. In proportion to his size, (6'1", 171 lbs. It's sad that I know that off the top of my head v.v) he is among the most athletic players in the league, nay, the world. (lol Scrubs) He pulled off a 360 with relative ease earlier in the year. The only current PGs I can think of who could pull that off with such ease are Nate Robinson and Baron Davis, 2 notably athletic players.
And even though I criticized him for it earlier in my post, one thing I LOVE about Rondo is that he has the balls to try to dunk on big men several inches taller than him. It's not always in the best interest of scoring points, but damn does it get me fired up, even if he gets blocked. The one that sticks out most in my mind occurred last year. Chris Bosh was the victim. Rondo crossed up whoever was guarding him (Calderon IIRC), and faked the kick-out to Gerald Green. Bosh was caught off guard as Rajon soared through the air and jammed it right over him, as Chris desperately tried to stop the embarrassment before it happened. I'll never forget that dunk, as well as the utter embarrassment of Rip Hamilton and Jason Maxiell earlier this year.
But the thing I found most impressive about Rondo's play this season was his ability to run the offense and get everyone, mainly the Big 3, enough touches to keep them content. Hypothetically, if you were to take 3 players who are each accustomed to dominating the ball on offense and taking 20 shots per game, and put them in a situation where they have to make personal statistical sacrifices for the betterment of the team, you would assume their would be some issues. That problem has been virtually non-existent for the Celtics. I feel Rondo is one of the main reasons for this. However, Pierce/Garnett/Allen are getting up there in age and they are all ringless, so they had their own reasons for their sacrifices, but I feel Rondo played a huge part in creating the great team chemistry that has made the C's such a great team.