Gabe Pruitt is better than Rondo IMHO!

[DieselCeltic]

I know I will get flamed for starting this thread and people might make fun of my idiotic opinions, and I know this is only one game that Pruitt performed well but after closely observing Gabe and his game during his pre-season I am ready to say that we have something special going on here. First of all, lets not compare Gabe to Arenas...we all compared Gerald Green to TMac and look what happened. Guy was waved by two teams, and is fighting to stay with the Mavs. Anyways, the reason why I think Pruitt is better than Rondo is because of these facts:

- Pruitt is a very good shooter when under the pressure. Either way he is a good shooter, but when under pressure he will knock shots down.

- Pruitt is a better shooter than Rondo overall. Rondo was always known for his poor shooting and most likely will end his career as a bad shooter

- Gabe is not as fast as Rondo is nor is he a good slasher like Rondo - but he is just waaaaaaaaaay more creative than Rondo. Everyone compares his game to Arenas - I will compare him to Allen Iverson craaaaaaaazy huh here's why ??

You may not know but Gabe has a killer crossover and shoots similar like A.I does. When bringing the ball up court Pruitt does IT THE SAME EXACT WAY like A.I does. Pruitt also involves his team mates like A.I does - doesn't have the FLASHY HIGHLIGHT passes like A.I does "yet" but he can learn this.

Pruitt in all honesty is better 1 on 1 deffender than Rondo is. Pruitt seems to be a lot longer than rondo and has bigger jump+wing span.

Both are TRUE PG's but Gabe is more "truer" PG than Rondo.

Pruitt needs to build more size and add muscle mass. If he does that he can be something special. He can be Baron Davis type of player or Billups type of player.


What I also noticed about Pruitt that he can easily fool you - with pump fakes and make you shaky with his herky jerky moves. Rondo can also do this and get you off balance but he's never been known for pump fakes and other tricks that can help you get to the line.

Rondo will never be an elite PG in the NBA if he continues to be "scared" to take the shot. He just doesn't have that confidence while Pruitt does.


You may or may not disagree with me but if Pruitt continues to amaze us Rondo might be the back up point guard.

[bawstin]

[Bleeding Green]

I think Pruitt is more like a Pete Maravich type, but with a better outside shot and maybe baggier shorts.

[Tirion]

I'll be concerned with Harris if I was a Nets fan. First, he gets owned by some white dude in jeans and now this.

[Spin Move]

No, its not even close, first of all, Rondo is a better shooter then Pruit, Pruit is a better 3 point shooter, but not by that much and Rondo is a much better 2 point shooter, Rondo is a better defender, has better instincts, is a leader, has knows how to deal with the vets, can penetrate at will, is better protecting the ball, and while he doesnt have as good a crossover he is a much better basketball player then gabe pruitt

[BillessuR6]

I have always like Pruitt. We only saw a few minutes of him before this season but whenever he played he looked good. I even said before the start of last season that he fits this team better than Rondo because he is a better shooter. Of course, Rajon made an unbelievable leap last year and developed into one of the best PG˙s in the league. At this point he is a much better player than Gabe but I think they make for a very nice PG combination for us. I just hope Pruitt keeps improving and that he gets some minutes in the season, because he can help this team.

And like I said, he reminds me of Penny because of his smoothness...

I just hope he wasn`t showcased for a trade...

[hiphop1]

No, its not even close, first of all, Rondo is a better shooter then Pruit, Pruit is a better 3 point shooter, but not by that much and Rondo is a much better 2 point shooter, Rondo is a better defender, has better instincts, is a leader, has knows how to deal with the vets, can penetrate at will, is better protecting the ball, and while he doesnt have as good a crossover he is a much better basketball player then gabe pruitt

I dont know if Rondo is a better shooter than Pruitt. I think Pruitt edges him out in that catagory.

[bruno sundov]

Please. We all know what Rondo strengths and weakness are. WEe don't know that about Pruitt yet.

Lets just say in Rondo we have a special player that is a tripple double waiting to happen every night. What his stat line when they beat the lakers game 6, 22 points, 8 assist, 7 steals. SOmething crazy like that. Rondo is my guy for those reasons. Those are facts.

[Mahoney_jr]

Can we please stop overreacting to statlines of single games, esp. preseason games?

I think Pruitt skills are needed on the Celtics and he will make an extension of Eddie House needless. But Rondo gives our game a new dimension. Unmatched quickness and a hazard on defense is not something Gabe Pruitt can add to our starting 5. Maybe on some point in the far future he is our starter. But not until Pierce and Allen are coming from the bench or are already retired.

[Dave_From_NB]

It's great that Pruitt has gotten an opportunity this pre-season, and he's done all we really could have expected. In the eyes of most posters, he started off as one of the more likely Celtics to be cut, and he's in my eyes shown he should be on the active roster and my preferred backup to Rondo (with House getting most of his time at the 2). Given the chance, he's done very well.

However, it's a far cry from having a reasonable game against the not-so-championship-caliber Nets, to being able to replace the starting PG of the world champions. I say reasonable game, because although 12 boards is outstanding and 7 assists quite nice, 6 turnovers and 4-13 shooting are not quite nice. And no free throw attempts in almost 44 minutes of playing, what's up with that?

A great pre-season, I hope he keeps on going, and a little competition between 2 young PG's would be great. But he's IMO got a long way to go to knock Rondo out of the starting lineup.

[Prophet_C]

Did you watch any of Rondo's play last year? Without him we wouldn't be champs. Do you think Gabe can run this team like Rondo?

I didn't even read your post to be honest. I saw the title and couldn't believe my eyes. How much has Gabe Pruitt played during a meaningful game? Hey, I'd love for this kid to succeed but c'mon...

[BadWolf]

I guess my post got lost?
How can you say Pruitt is a truer PG than Rondo and yet you compare his game to Arenas, Davis and AI? It just doesn't make sense.
I haven't seen enough of Pruitt to really have an opinion. He sure filled the stat sheet yesterday, but he wasn't efficient at all. If he shoots great under pressure, then he must suck when open? I give you sthg, he's not afraid to force a shot.
All that said, it would be great if he turns into even a miniBaron or mini-AI or just better then Tony.

[DJToLarry]

Not to take anything away from Rondo, but good players make you look better. That was part of the reason he made a "big jump" in his second year. That and the fact that he is a tireless worker and is highly competitive. I always liked Gabe's skill set. He would also take a leap if he were to play with the Big Three all year. Gabe is a really good shooter and would have a ton of wide open looks playing with the Big Three. That's his strength. That gap between the two is quite wide right now, but given the minutes with the Big Three it's not as wide as people would think.

[MVP16]

No. His game last night wasn't even that good. He got 7 assists, to go along with 6 turnovers. He got 11 points, but on 13 shots. He got 12 rebounds, but against a soft Nets team that we outrebounded 56 to 29 and Pruitt played 44 minutes. While I usually get excited about a young player putting up nice numbers I'm pretty cautious of what Pruitt has done so far this preseason. Sure he has shown some promise, but I think a lot of it is due to it being the preseason. To suggest that Pruitt is better then Rondo, who proved himself during the regular season and playoffs, is ludicrous.

[DorfonCeltics]

The premise of this post is completely off. There is no way that Pruitt is better than Rondo. However, what we are seeing now is Pruitt is definitely better than Eddie and probably better than Sam at this point in his career. I was at the preseason game yesterday and the player I came away most impressed with was Gabe. He was confident and deliberate in his actions. He didn't shoot very well but we all know that is probably his biggest strength. But boy can this kid play defense. We didn't miss a beat defensively having him out there. I was most impressed with his understanding of our defensive schemes and his ability to make the proper rotation every time. I'm pretty sure that Gabe just cemented himself as our backup point guard. I can't wait for the season to start.

[BillessuR6]

I really like the trio of House-Pruitt-Tony together on the court. They bring a lot of shooting and scoring to the second unit. We have a little size disadvantage at SF with this combo but I think we can get away with it against certain teams. I hope Pruitt`s recent performances are enough to get him into regular season rotation and that he can be a solid back-up for Rondo and Ray.At this point that is his ceiling...

[tombattor]

I think Pruitt is more like a Pete Maravich type, but with a better outside shot and maybe baggier shorts.

Pete Maravich with better outside shot? hahaha. You know Maravich was one of the best players of his time, right? As much as I like Gabe, I don't quite see him becoming that.

[eloper]

I checked last night's box score expecting to see 30 points on 10-11 shooting or something ridiculous like that....I guess 4-13 shooting and 6 turnovers explains the Iverson comparison....

I like Gabe, but he's not going to be AI, Arenas etc. The guy he was matched up against last night is probably his ceiling. Gabe's never going to be a drive and dish PG, but he could be a lot like Devin Harris or like another Delonte (better handling ability, but similar results statistically).

[sully00]

I like Pruitt alot and if you want to say he is a better individual offensive player than Rondo your probably right. The kid is a borderline NBA talent at SG he is a better shooter and probably a better scorer than Rondo. But I think it is fair to say that it isn't even close at just about every other aspect of the game Rondo is better. Playmaking, defense, ball handling, speed and quickness, rebounding, Gabe just happens to be good at the one thing Rondo is all in all terrible at, it makes them a good tandem.

[LenBiasBaller]

I think Pruitt is more like a Pete Maravich type, but with a better outside shot and maybe baggier shorts.

Pete Maravich with better outside shot? hahaha. You know Maravich was one of the best players of his time, right? As much as I like Gabe, I don't quite see him becoming that.

I'm guessing he was being sarcastic as everyone is throwing around comparisons to All-Stars like AI, Penny, Gilberto, etc.

Pruitt was drafted by Ainge and in that alone I knew the kid could play. I've been saying all along he should be taking 100% of Cassell's minutes. I know its only a few games and a small sample but the future looks promising for Gabe. Hopefully he can get some steady minutes and continue to build on his game...he's already light years ahead of Eddie bringing the ball up the court and setting up the offense.

It looks like Sam will simply ride the pine most of the year and just practice with the team. They can let Pruitt, Rondo, House, and TA split all the pg and sg minutes aside from RA and really let them mesh. This way sam's old ass will stay fresh for the entire playoffs. I'm guessing this is the way Doc will play things out.

Scal, Giddens, and Sam mostly on the inactive list. Send Giddens down to the d-league and let him get burn there.

POB looks like he is getting outplayed by BBD and Powe so he will be deep on the bench until he works on his horrible conditioning...he started out so well and now it seems like he's regressed...Plus Doc ripped him that one game cause of god knows what...hopefully the kid doesnt have a knack for getting into people's doghouses...