With all the Kevin Love / NBA Draft talk lately, for the first time ever I think the topic of Rajon Rondo has faded in to the shadows. However I think that right now, he is going to be one of the 2 or 3 key factors in this rebuild process.
Rondo has got to be one of the most controversial topics on these forums and for good reason - his production has been very inconsistent from game to game.
I think Rondo is a tremendous help to this team WHEN he's playing the right way. When he's playing aggressively on offense (either to pushing to score or to create for others) and applying intense pressure on defense, it makes everybody better. Boston becomes very hard to beat.
On the other hand when he's casually walking the ball up the court, chucking lazy jump shots, pounding the ball in the half court and sagging off on defense (then cheating for cheap steals) it seems to bring out the worst in everybody, and Boston as a team look terrible.
It's very eas to blame Rondo for this, but what if it's not Rondo's fault? Maybe the reason he plays that way is because too much pressure rests on his shoulders, and he just doesn't have enough help. Avery Bradley and Jeff Green are capable scorers, but they are not elite shot creators nor are they great passers or ball handlers. When they are on the court Rondo kinda needs to hold the ball a lot, because there is no one else he can really trust to set up a play or create offense. If other players don't run after a stop or made basker, then Rondo has no use in wasting energy pushing the ball on the break. If his teammates don't move and cut enough, then Rondo has no choice but to stand around running tedious plays trying to get guys open. If that doesn't work sometimes he has to chuck up undesirable jumpers because there just isn;t any better shot available. Maybe he can't push the ball as often because he's too tired from having to run the offense 24-7, and maybe he can't pressure on D as often for the same reason.
Realistically, the last time Rondo had another competent all-round offensive player on the corut was when he had Ray and Pierce a couple of years back, but those guys were always missing games with injuries. If Boston can obtain another wing player (SG or SF) who has decent ball handling / passing / playamking abilites, do you guys think he may then willingly give up some of that ball handling responsiblilty? Do you think he might let those guys initiate plays more often? Do you think he might then be able to preserve the energy he needs to be able to pusht he ball more often on the break, and pressure the ball more often on defense?
Or maybe the opposite is true. Maybe the other guys around him look like they are worse than they are BECAUSE Rondo doesn't give them enough touches, hogs the ball too much, and calls too many lazy half court plays. Maybe Bradley and Green are actually relatively capable of creating offense when given the chance, but they just dont get enough opportunities to touch the ball until the option left is to shoot. Maybe Rondo's selfishness with the ball is holding those guys back?
What do you all think?
Personally, I'd be interested to see how things change if Boston picks up another big name combo guard in the draft, such as Exum (in the unlikely chance that he slips) or Smart. I'd like to see how Rondo looks with another guard alongside him who can pass, handle the ball, make plays and be aggressive offenisvely. Will he defer to those guys more and free himself up to be more aggressive on both ends of the court, or will he continue to hog the ball and pound Boston's hopes in to the hardwood? He really hasn't had that since Ray left, so I guess we at least owe him that opportunity. If he gets that support guy and still continues to play the way he has been, then I say we conclude that Rondo is the problem, and we trade him away before the deadline, as that should be long enough for opposing GM's to see that he's physically again. If he excels and goes back to being a dominant PG, then obviously we keep him and build around him.
That's my thoughts! Feedback?
Topic: Rajon Rondo - what will happen? (Read 1272 times)