I already like Marcus Smart better than Rondo as our starting PG

[BudweiserCeltic]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

A SG, not really a need, and none of those are rim protectors.

[TwinTower14]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

A SG, not really a need, and none of those are rim protectors.

Yes - the C's have plenty of shooting on the roster and I guess a 19 year old with an 88 inch wing span at 6'10 doesn't have the potential of a rim protector...

I am in the camp of drafting Smart, I think he is going to be great.  Just using these guys as examples to show that they could have went other directions if they thought Rondo was staying or if they even want him to stay...

[BballTim]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

  Shocking, but it's possible that Danny didn't think those rookies would fill those needs. He didn't sound too high on the prospects before the draft.

[D.o.s.]

No surprise on the three bolded: None of those guys are rim protectors, save perhaps Vonleh, and I seem to see roughly 300 shooting guards on our roster already.

I'll stick with the thought that Smart was the BPA, according to the Celtics, which is why they drafted him, until it's disproved.

[BballTim]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

A SG, not really a need, and none of those are rim protectors.

Yes - the C's have plenty of shooting on the roster and I guess a 19 year old with an 88 inch wing span at 6'10 doesn't have the potential of a rim protector...

I am in the camp of drafting Smart, I think he is going to be great.  Just using these guys as examples to show that they could have went other directions if they thought Rondo was staying or if they even want him to stay...

  I doubt that Danny's drafting strategy is that simplistic.


   

[nickagneta]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

You draft for talent, not for need, especially when in the lottery. Smart was the most talented player left on the board when the Celtics chose him. That's why he is here. If Danny and the front office had someone else rated higher based on talent then that player would probably be here, regardless of the position they played.

[Donoghus]

Smart is the PG of the future and it's pretty evident that Ainge and Stevens feel the same way.  If they wanted to keep Rondo around for the rebuild wouldn't they have gone in a different direction on draft night??  If they wanted Rondo around I would think Ainge would have grabbed Randle, Staukas or Vonleh???  They all would have filled a need on this team..

Instead they took a PG who they believe will be a better fit for this team going forward??? 

Again Rondo is a good player but he is no where near a max player ( which he wants to get paid ) so he will get dealt or let walk at the end of the season...

To me Rondo's tenure ended here once Steven's signed on to be the coach....

First, none of those would've filled a need for this team.

Second of all, I was a big fan of drafting Smart as I'm a big fan of keeping Rondo, so no, your reasoning for how "evident" this all is is quite flawed.

Yea you are right they didn't need a shooting guard or a rim protector....

You draft for talent, not for need, especially when in the lottery. Smart was the most talented player left on the board when the Celtics chose him. That's why he is here. If Danny and the front office had someone else rated higher based on talent then that player would probably be here, regardless of the position they played.

Bingo.

[D.o.s.]

Honest question: I've seen a few posts that question drafting Smart. Some of them I don't agree with, but I understand (CoachBo pops out to my memory here), but are there people who really don't believe Smart was the most talented player left on the board?

[Eddie20]

The good news is that the Rondo question will be definitively answered, very soon. Reason: Coach Stevens' new system is so dramatically different from the way Rondo has played in the past. Therefore, when RR comes back, we can expect that it will be immediately obvious whether or not he is fitting into the new system. I think we'll know after one game. Maybe two or three, but I think one will suffice.

If Rondo does the old walk-pound-and-wait routine, then that will be that.

+1

  Neither of you may have noticed, but Rondo played half a season in Brad's system last year. And, fyi, much of the play in preseason doesn't continue into the regular season. Anyone remember Darko on the break from a few years back?

That's why i don't think Rondo will/can adjust to Brad's system and will soon to be traded
Yes the injury excuse will buy him some time but it's just a matter of time

  To a certain extent, Brad needs to be able to tailor his system to fit his personnel. He basically did that last year when Rondo was ready to play. He'll do the same thing if Danny adds any star players to the team. If not he'll be another Pitino for us.

Rondo is not at the same level of lebron, jordan, duncan and other greats.  Absolutely no way. They might have a great deal of freedom  to ultimately run/direct the team on both ends.  Take over in crucial situations to secure wins

Again rondo is not at the same level and what BS wants/the system in place for the team comes first

  So you're under the impression that unless teams have players at the level of MJ or LeBron they just institute whatever generic system they prefer regardless of the personnel that they have? That's absurd. And, again, that's the kind of coaching we got from Pitino. If that's all we're getting from Stevens then we're doomed.

Greg Popovich  is about the system 1st.   Not everyone is going to be a failure like pitino if they utilize this kind of system

When we won the championship, that season we played amazing team basketball also if you forgot.

Good point.

Rondo has too many flaws to build around him. He's good, but he's not that good. How many teams are building around a top 10 positional player?

You don't necessarily have to build around him with the intention of him being the #1 guy on the team but you can keep him around & add guys around including an alpha dog type.  If Rondo is the #2 or even #3 guy on this Celtics team, they'll be fine.

So this means that when we do add that alpha dog we'll hide Rondo along the baseline offensively like we did in 08. It would be incredibly difficult to win a title with Rondo as even our 3rd guy. Who do you think would be two perfect guys to put around Rondo to complement his skills? Then ask yourself if we are a legitimate title contender with those 3 guys and how likely it would be to acquire those said players in the first place.

Rondo's game is dictated on such ball dominance coupled with his lack of outside shooting that means that the rest of the roster needs to be very specific to his skill-set. A lot of hoops to hurdle for a fringe all-star.

  Rondo's already taken the team on deep playoff runs as one of our top 3 players. Saying it would be incredibly hard to win with him as one of our best players is fairly ridiculous.

The team had the Big 3, which with their ability to shoot and play off the ball complemented Rondo very well.

I present you with the same task, give me two players that complement his game, makes us a contender, and think about the ability to acquire those players.

It's not an easy proposition to construct a team when you're building it around a player that is so ball dominant to be effective. Even having a good post up big is difficult because Rondo would be doubled off regularly making it more difficult for the big. For all of Rondo's strengths, it's his weaknesses that makes it difficult to construct a club around him.

[BballTim]

The good news is that the Rondo question will be definitively answered, very soon. Reason: Coach Stevens' new system is so dramatically different from the way Rondo has played in the past. Therefore, when RR comes back, we can expect that it will be immediately obvious whether or not he is fitting into the new system. I think we'll know after one game. Maybe two or three, but I think one will suffice.

If Rondo does the old walk-pound-and-wait routine, then that will be that.

+1

  Neither of you may have noticed, but Rondo played half a season in Brad's system last year. And, fyi, much of the play in preseason doesn't continue into the regular season. Anyone remember Darko on the break from a few years back?

That's why i don't think Rondo will/can adjust to Brad's system and will soon to be traded
Yes the injury excuse will buy him some time but it's just a matter of time

  To a certain extent, Brad needs to be able to tailor his system to fit his personnel. He basically did that last year when Rondo was ready to play. He'll do the same thing if Danny adds any star players to the team. If not he'll be another Pitino for us.

Rondo is not at the same level of lebron, jordan, duncan and other greats.  Absolutely no way. They might have a great deal of freedom  to ultimately run/direct the team on both ends.  Take over in crucial situations to secure wins

Again rondo is not at the same level and what BS wants/the system in place for the team comes first

  So you're under the impression that unless teams have players at the level of MJ or LeBron they just institute whatever generic system they prefer regardless of the personnel that they have? That's absurd. And, again, that's the kind of coaching we got from Pitino. If that's all we're getting from Stevens then we're doomed.

Greg Popovich  is about the system 1st.   Not everyone is going to be a failure like pitino if they utilize this kind of system

When we won the championship, that season we played amazing team basketball also if you forgot.

Good point.

Rondo has too many flaws to build around him. He's good, but he's not that good. How many teams are building around a top 10 positional player?

You don't necessarily have to build around him with the intention of him being the #1 guy on the team but you can keep him around & add guys around including an alpha dog type.  If Rondo is the #2 or even #3 guy on this Celtics team, they'll be fine.

So this means that when we do add that alpha dog we'll hide Rondo along the baseline offensively like we did in 08. It would be incredibly difficult to win a title with Rondo as even our 3rd guy. Who do you think would be two perfect guys to put around Rondo to complement his skills? Then ask yourself if we are a legitimate title contender with those 3 guys and how likely it would be to acquire those said players in the first place.

Rondo's game is dictated on such ball dominance coupled with his lack of outside shooting that means that the rest of the roster needs to be very specific to his skill-set. A lot of hoops to hurdle for a fringe all-star.

  Rondo's already taken the team on deep playoff runs as one of our top 3 players. Saying it would be incredibly hard to win with him as one of our best players is fairly ridiculous.

The team had the Big 3, which with their ability to shoot and play off the ball complemented Rondo very well.

I present you with the same task, give me two players that complement his game, makes us a contender, and think about the ability to acquire those players.

It's not an easy proposition to construct a team when you're building it around a player that is so ball dominant to be effective. Even having a good post up big is difficult because Rondo would be doubled off regularly making it more difficult for the big. For all of Rondo's strengths, it's his weaknesses that makes it difficult to construct a club around him.

  I'd guess you never saw Shaq play on the Celts. In fact Rondo and Perk had good chemistry (he was among the league leaders in fg% playing with Rondo) and so did Wilcox. He's never had trouble playing with post up bigs. Similarly, people were always saying Rondo would struggle without Ray's HOF shooting, but things went just fine with Bradley in the lineup. The "Rondo needs certain types of players around him" arguments are pretty flimsy.

[D.o.s.]

Shaq and Wilcox weren't really "post up bigs" when they were on the Celtics though. Going back a little futher, Sheed was/is probably the best post player that Rondo's every played with, but he didn't spend much time in the post either.

[fantankerous]

Shaq and Wilcox weren't really "post up bigs" when they were on the Celtics though. Going back a little futher, Sheed was/is probably the best post player that Rondo's every played with, but he didn't spend much time in the post either.

Big Al.

[Donoghus]

Shaq and Wilcox weren't really "post up bigs" when they were on the Celtics though. Going back a little futher, Sheed was/is probably the best post player that Rondo's every played with, but he didn't spend much time in the post either.

Big Al.

I was thinking the same thing although both were awfully young when playing together although Big Al already had some pretty special post skills.

[D.o.s.]

You guys are totally right about Jefferson, I just tend to think of Rondo, as far as these discussions are concerned, as "Rondo, the undisputed starter," not "Rondo, the rookie splitting minutes with Sebastian Telfair."

[BballTim]

Shaq and Wilcox weren't really "post up bigs" when they were on the Celtics though. Going back a little futher, Sheed was/is probably the best post player that Rondo's every played with, but he didn't spend much time in the post either.

  Shaq was clearly a post up big, although he was more of a "finish the easy pass with a layup/dunk" player on the Celts. Eddie was talking about how hard it would be for those bigs that played inside to score with Rondo on the court but when the situation actually occurs you tend to see historically high fg% from the centers.