The problem with Rondo, first and foremost, at the beginning of this season was that we ran an offense which continually took the ball out of his hands. That four game stretch was bad, and I think his groin pull and elbow injury didn't help, but it was the basic nature of our offense which was the main culprit. Personally, I think that Garnett's suspension was a blessing in that it forced Doc to actually give the kid the ball, and he came through for us. To Doc's credit he actually kept on giving Rondo the ball, and the kid kept on performing.
The talk of "aggressiveness" is misguided, IMO. How could Rondo be "aggressive" when he didn't have real control over the offense. Game after game he was dribbling down and handing off to Paul and Ray. They ran the offense, and they did not do a good job of it. Most possessions Rondo never touched the ball after he brought it up. We played 4 on 5 basketball BY DESIGN. We actually were the 27th ranked offense in the league 11 games into the season, efficiency-wise. Five games later - five games where Rondo actuially ran the offense - we are 14th. Pretty steep climb to say the least.
I just did a quick calculation regarding Rondo's PER over the last five games. It was about 13.7 after 11 games, and it is up to 17.85. To play 11 games at a 13.7 average and get it up to 17.85 in 5 means that Rondo's PER over these last 5 was approximately 27.0. That is a very, very high PER and a huge one for a point guard. The main reason that he has that is he actually has had the ball in his hands the last 5 games. It has made a big difference. Mind you that he has not dominated the ball, he simply hasn't be forced to give it up almost every time down, and has actually had it passed back to him when he does pass it off. It is alot easier to be "aggressive" when things like that are happening.
Do I think that Rondo will keep this up at this level? I doubt it, but I do think that he can stay fairly close to it. I also think that the PER's of Paul, Ray and Kevin will also go up as a result. The beautiful part about all of this is that Rondo is a true point guard. Getting him the ball means that he will get everyone else involved as well. It is what he does. His defense is also a huge factor for us, and that really isn't related by his PER. Steals count, but Rondo'd defense goes beyond just getting those.
Doc actually thought that his "offensive lineup" was the one with House at the point - a spot up shooter. It turned out that it was the one with Rondo - with Rondo actually running it. Hey, it's better late than never that Doc learned this.
