I do think that Rondo was/is generally our second best player. However, he was wildly inconsistent; in some games (national TV, playoffs...something like 70% of his triple doubles are on national TV games, which account for less than 20% of his games, I believe) he can win it by himself, but the bulk of the time he is just kind of there. This becomes a problem because he is so ball-dominant, and Terry is much better with the ball than off the ball. THis doesn't mean he plays point, but for example when he was with Kidd, he would initiate pick and roll and have Kidd as an outlet to drain open threes, something Rondo cannot do. So with Rondo out, Terry gets to shoot more off the dribble than off the catch, which helps him. Then both Pierce and KG are well above average passers for their position, it's part of what makes them stand out. But when you have two very good passers in an offense that basically runs everything off of one primary passer, those skills become irrelevant/redundant.