Rondo has a chance to be MVP like.

[Hemingway]

I have a lot of faith in RR's continued improvement. At some point-probably last summer- Rondo got the idea in his head: for this team to win I have to focus everything on being a great facilitator. He did that. Remember for the first half of the season there was talk of Rondo passing Stockton's single season assist record. Now Rondo needs to get the idea that he needs to be a scorer.

[mwhis21]

Exactly Hemingway.

The Celtics aren't changing their game plan around Rajon Rondo, Rajon Rondo is shaping his game toward the Big Three.

The body of work, the effort and improvement are all there. Anyone that doesn't see that either has short term memory, only sees what they want to support their argument, or just wants to start another everyone against Rondo discussion.

Injuries hampered him this year and he was still able to play at an All-Star level. Going to be really fun watching him grow and improve next year as well.

[GreenDreamer]

Only on a Celtics board will you find something like this... I swear, sometimes I consider not being a C's fan anymore after Pierce retires. I've never seen an inferior player like Rondo get so much hype.

Over the last 3 postseasons, combined, Rondo had a plus/minus of +179. Paul Pierce has a mark of +85. Just in case you have difficulties with math, Rondo's is more than double that of Paul's. Rondo's offcourt is -101. Pierce's is -13.

I love Paul, but considering that Rondo has played more than Paul, stuff like that is pretty damning. It isn't as if Paul's back ups have been better than Rondo's. It is just a plain fact that the Celtics are a REALLY BAD team without Rondo out there when it comes to playoff basketball. Not so much without Paul, even though they are nothing to write home about. Still, when Paul was playing like the living dead against Cleveland last year, it was Rondo who carried the team through that series... as he has in other series.

Take the last 3 games of the Miami series. Ya know, the game where Rondo had his elbow dislocated and the next two games. Rondo had a +17 over the 3 games. Paul had a -14. This is the ONE ARMED Rondo, never mind the fully functioning one. The best part about all of that is that people were raving about how "well' Delonte was playing. Delonte had a -28 over those 3 games. I like Delonte, but he is no Rondo. Rondo has been making 3 aging players look better than they are for a while now, and without of him out there to do so, it doesn't go so well.

That is how "inferior" he is. Please don't bore me with how great Paul was against the Lakers in 08. That is HISTORY. Larry Bird was even better, and I wouldn't want his aged ass out there now.

[Marvel]

I consider myself an optimist, but I'm not seeing Rondo's jumper improving anytime soon. It's probably how big his hands are (seriously..)
Kidding aside, Rondo plays to his strengths: great D, quickness and speed, drive to the basket, passing, and these are traits that make him an All Star. But to add a reliable jumper to his arsenal will make him more lethal. That being said, recent years tell us there's a slow learning curve

False. MJ's hands were just as huge. Many other guards in this league have big hands - not the same size as Rondo's, but hand size for a guard, SF(Pippen) doesn't affect your stroke. If they were as big as Shaq's, now that would affect his shooting significantly.

It's more to do with his form - guide hand still needs a little work, release needs to be a bit quicker, follow through could be more consistent, but other than that it's just what Nash said, repetition, work - day in day out.

I get the feeling that he just hasn't put in the work and i don't mean Nate Robinson, BBD work, i mean Kobe, MJ, Ray work.

I just don't know if he has the same drive as those guys.

[bigboi]

I consider myself an optimist, but I'm not seeing Rondo's jumper improving anytime soon. It's probably how big his hands are (seriously..)
Kidding aside, Rondo plays to his strengths: great D, quickness and speed, drive to the basket, passing, and these are traits that make him an All Star. But to add a reliable jumper to his arsenal will make him more lethal. That being said, recent years tell us there's a slow learning curve

False. MJ's hands were just as huge. Many other guards in this league have big hands - not the same size as Rondo's, but hand size for a guard, SF(Pippen) doesn't affect your stroke. If they were as big as Shaq's, now that would affect his shooting significantly.

It's more to do with his form - guide hand still needs a little work, release needs to be a bit quicker, follow through could be more consistent, but other than that it's just what Nash said, repetition, work - day in day out.

I get the feeling that he just hasn't put in the work and i don't mean Nate Robinson, BBD work, i mean Kobe, MJ, Ray work.

I just don't know if he has the same drive as those guys.

Rondo has the biggest hands in Celtics history. Look it up. That includes Shaq's. His hands are supposed to be for someone that's 7'8

[jmr07019]

Using hoopdata.com (thanks Bluewhale) I found these stats about Rondo's jumper the first 3 months. I am excluding October cus we only played 3 games. In parenthesis = (FGM - FGA)

November:
10 - 15 feet: 40% (0.2 - 0.5)
16-23 feet: 45.5% (1.4 - 3)
3 pointers: 16.7% (0.1 - 0.5)

December:
10 - 15 feet: 0% (0 - 0.3)
16-23 feet: 50% (1 - 2)
3 pointers: 37.5% (.5 - 1.3)

January:
10 - 15 feet: 25% (.125 - 0.4)
16-23 feet: 45.8% (1.4 - 3)
3 pointers: 40% (0.2 - 0.5)

All hope is not lost. In fact that if he shot like he did during December and January for the whole year people would be jumping for joy.

[Marvel]

Rondo has the biggest hands in Celtics history. Look it up. That includes Shaq's. His hands are supposed to be for someone that's 7'8

Sorry, Shaq's hands are bigger.

Shaq: 11-12 inches long
Rondo: 9.5 inches long
MJ: 9-9.25 inches long

[jfs1000d]

Kid ain't MVP caliber.

How many MVPs did John Stockton or Jason Kidd win?

Nash won his, but that is by and large because Nash is a scoring player and a great shooter. MVPs are almost always primary offense players.

Rondo would have to average 15 pp and 15 apg and the Celtics win 60 games for him to win the MVP.

[jfs1000d]

BTW, on Rondo's shooting.

Shooting is the only skill in the NBA that you usually can improve dramatically year to year. It's hard work and just flat out gym time.

Now, if Rondo is in the gym doing what he needs to do, he will become a competent shooter. I just don't know from everything we have heard about Rondo in the past that he is going to put in the extra work on the jumper.

If mid August comes around, and he is just starting to get back into the gym, then, it's too late. He needs to work on that now.

There is no reason that after five years in the NBA he is still this poor a shooter from distance. He's better than he was, so that's encouraging, but he needs to get a lot better in that area.

No excuses for this. Shooting can be improved.

[GuyClinch]

If shooting was as easy to improve as everyone said it is - there would be alot less bad shooters. Personally I don't think Rondo will ever be a good shooter. If the US government had a nickel for all the times a commentator pointed out a bball player was a shot away from being a star - we wouldn't have a huge deficit ruining our kids future..

People are hoping for too much out of Rondo. Shooting of course is incredibly important. You can make a good case that basketball was and is popular because it was built around showcasing this skill. The art of throwing something into a particular spot in difficult situations likely harkens back to times before civilization when men had to use spears and rocks to hunt with..

This is why in sports 'throwing' is often considered an essential part of athleticism - and why guys like Ray Allen will get love and guys like Tony Allen will be a shot away from superstardom. That's right Tony Allen would be a superstar if he could shoot like Ray Allen but he can't and he won't be able too. And its the same with Rondo..

My gripe with Rondo - at least improve your free throw percentage. That is not a difficult shot - because you don't have to shoot in on the move or get open etc etc. This is an entirely reasonable expectation. Hell I wouldn't mind if he shot it underhanded. I can't for the life of me figure why ballers are so egotistical not one of them will suck it up and shoot underhanded. FT percentages would skyrocket for the worst shooters.

[bigboi]

Rondo has the biggest hands in Celtics history. Look it up. That includes Shaq's. His hands are supposed to be for someone that's 7'8

Sorry, Shaq's hands are bigger.

Shaq: 11-12 inches long
Rondo: 9.5 inches long
MJ: 9-9.25 inches long

Looked it up. You're right. The article that said he had the biggest hands was from 08. But regardless his hands are huge for his size, maybe a little too big.

Back on topic: I think Rondo could put up 15 pts/6 reb/14-15 ass/2 stls/50 %fg. Those are MVP numbers, but Rondo has to stay healthy. Also next year I think he's gonna break the assist record. I also could see him getting a quadruple-double

[RojanRando]

Rondo has the biggest hands in Celtics history. Look it up. That includes Shaq's. His hands are supposed to be for someone that's 7'8

Sorry, Shaq's hands are bigger.

Shaq: 11-12 inches long
Rondo: 9.5 inches long
MJ: 9-9.25 inches long

Looked it up. You're right. The article that said he had the biggest hands was from 08. But regardless his hands are huge for his size, maybe a little too big.

Back on topic: I think Rondo could put up 15 pts/6 reb/14-15 ass/2 stls/50 %fg. Those are MVP numbers, but Rondo has to stay healthy. Also next year I think he's gonna break the assist record. I also could see him getting a quadruple-double

I just don't see him averaging 14 assists
Yes he did average them in the beginning but i thought he had lightening in a bottle
There is a reason only one man has done it

[jfs1000d]

Rondo at his best is a 15 ppg 15 assists guy. The guy is great when he is great. He has way too many just absolutely nothing games though.

He will go 18 and 18 and then have a stretch where is 10 ppg and 6 assist a game guy.

He goes from great to pedestrian sometimes weekly. he was MVP like for a month this season. Not sure he can do it over 82 games.

[bigboi]

The thing about Rondo is he does his best when he wants to. So if he really wanted to have 15 pts/15 asst I wouldn't be surprised if he did it. He's gonna have to average those types of numbers if we want number 18

[jmr07019]

BTW, on Rondo's shooting.

Shooting is the only skill in the NBA that you usually can improve dramatically year to year. It's hard work and just flat out gym time.

Now, if Rondo is in the gym doing what he needs to do, he will become a competent shooter. I just don't know from everything we have heard about Rondo in the past that he is going to put in the extra work on the jumper.

If mid August comes around, and he is just starting to get back into the gym, then, it's too late. He needs to work on that now.

There is no reason that after five years in the NBA he is still this poor a shooter from distance. He's better than he was, so that's encouraging, but he needs to get a lot better in that area.

No excuses for this. Shooting can be improved.

We have never heard Rondo is not a hard worker. Difficult to get along with / coach yes. But that does not equal unwilling to work.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Rondo was an MVP candidate for the first few months. I expect him to improve on that next season (if there is one.