Is Rondo better than we think?

[Greeny]

You just got Rondo'd!
People were given these signs by Reebok last year in the playoffs, and they laughed as the signs were tossed away. NOT MINE!
Rondo has been brilliant in the regular season as well as vacant in some games.
In the playoffs, Rajon has been the best player in the league.
Rajon (5 games) vs. Lebron (4 games) / Kobe (5 games)

             
                              FG's               3pt's         Free Throws     Rebounds
      GS  Min    M    A     Pct      M  A   Pct       M    A    Pct      Off  Def Tot       Ast  TO Stl  Blk PF  Pts
LJ    4  40.5   39  77   50.7    3 17 17.7     47  59  79.7      4    41  45        30     6    6    3    5   128
KB   5  40.7   48 103  46.6    6 17 35.3     35  39  89.7      2    23  25        28   19  12   2   12  137
RR  5  44.4   48   94   51.1    4  7  57.1     21  29  72.4     15   36  51        51   11  16   1   17  121


Rondos stats are telling me that he is playing better than King James and Kobe.
Can this guy keep up this pace?
After the hard foul, the Bulls may take a closer look at Rondo.
The Celts don't have many guys/enforcers to protect him.

[Kiorrik]

You can't compare them, in my opinion.

The thing is, they have totally different builds, expertises and levels of experience. Not to mention different teams.

That said, yes, he's brilliant and a lot of people have underestimated him. People willing to look at him though, have always seen that he had great potential. His level of athleticism is just amazing.

The only thing I'm really worried of, is consistency. Against some opponents, he looks a little... lost. As if he doesn't know what to do against them to score, get people looks or fetch a rebound. Other than that; he's one of the best pure point-guards in the league.

So he's better than some people think, yeah.

[Greeny]

I think you can compare them, and I did.
Funny stat:Rajon Rondo has more assists and offensive rebounds than both Kobe and Lebron who are bigger and stronger.

Lebron and Kobe both handle the ball ALOT, so why not compare?

[Kiorrik]

That's okay buddy, I just choose not to compare them too much because the differences between them are quite big. It's like comparing an apple to a banana; both are really good but they taste totally different. They're both fruit, but thinking one is better than the other is a matter of opinion because they are so alike.

Now if rondo had twice the number of points the other guys had, that'd be a different thing

All three of them have a big impact on each team's games. I think that's a better way of grading them. Who has the biggest effect on the teams wins/losses?

[Celtics17]

You can compare their respective impacts on the game. Through the first 6 games of the playoffs you could make a very compelling case that Rondo has been the best player. That is not to say he is better then either Kobe or LB but rather just that he has been better in these playoffs, so far.

By the way, I think everyone has underestimated Rondo. Cosnsistency is one thing but you just don't have a series like this and it not be a precursor of things to come. Imagine if Rondo improves as much in next years playoffs as he has in these!

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm not sure that it's necessarily fair to look at raw numbers, when Lebron has played 4 games and Rondo has played 5.

Rondo: 24.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 10.2 apg, 3.2 spg, 2.2 tpg, 51.1 fg%

Lebron: 32.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 7.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.5 tpg, 50.6 fg%

The numbers are very close, but I think the additional 8 ppg that Lebron adds are probably more significant than the leads Rondo has in assists and steals.  Of course, the most compelling stat in Lebron's favor is "4-0", but Lebron has done everything he can.

As mentioned above, though, the players play different positions, so different things are expected of them.  It's more impressive for a guard to be averaging 10.2 rpg than it is a small forward, and it's more impressive for a small forward to average a ton of assists than it is a point guard, etc.

[Quinn]

I like how LeBron has made 3 threes in 16 attempts, but yet Rondo doesn't like to shoot threes and he's made 4/7.

Rondo's come far with his jumpshot, I'm proud of him.

[Greeny]

What makes Rondo stand out is:
51% shooting...17 more shots than Lebron.
15 offensive rebounds...Lebron and Kobe have 6 combined.
51 assists...Lebron and Kobe have 58 combined.

You can compare these guys since there are stats to verify their worth.
A point gaurd getting 15 offensive rebounds....This is crazy.
Each of these guys are surrounded with great players, so I think it is an even playing field. Rondo has played an extra 4 minutes per game and Lebron has played only 4 games - BUT in Rondo's defense, he has sustained this awesome play over 5 games, not 3 out of 5, 4 out of 5, BUT 5 out of 5 games.

[BballTim]

You just got Rondo'd!
People were given these signs by Reebok last year in the playoffs, and they laughed as the signs were tossed away. NOT MINE!
Rondo has been brilliant in the regular season as well as vacant in some games.
In the playoffs, Rajon has been the best player in the league.
Rajon (5 games) vs. Lebron (4 games) / Kobe (5 games)

             
                              FG's               3pt's         Free Throws     Rebounds
      GS  Min    M    A     Pct      M  A   Pct       M    A    Pct      Off  Def Tot       Ast  TO Stl  Blk PF  Pts
LJ    4  40.5   39  77   50.7    3 17 17.7     47  59  79.7      4    41  45        30     6    6    3    5   128
KB   5  40.7   48 103  46.6    6 17 35.3     35  39  89.7      2    23  25        28   19  12   2   12  137
RR  5  44.4   48   94   51.1    4  7  57.1     21  29  72.4     15   36  51        51   11  16   1   17  121


Rondos stats are telling me that he is playing better than King James and Kobe.
Can this guy keep up this pace?
After the hard foul, the Bulls may take a closer look at Rondo.
The Celts don't have many guys/enforcers to protect him.

  Anyone else surprised that LJ has only 6 turnovers in 4 games? Detroit sucks.

[Greeny]

"Anyone else surprised that LJ has only 6 turnovers in 4 games? Detroit sucks."

I think that is a great stat that Lebron has accomplished and I did notice it.

Detroit Basketball <<echo>> Sucks <<echo>>

[shiggins]

the thing is also, rondo is in a dog fight here and he needs to put up these numbers.  so far lebron and kobe have just coasted through easy series...if they needed to put up bigger numbers im sure they would be.

[Fan from VT]

Rondo has been very impressive in the playoffs. In fact, he is 5th in the entire playoffs in PER (Still over 10 points back from Lebron, though). He's been easily the best player on the Celtics.

I believe that Rondo has simply stepped up his game and increased his aggressiveness now that the stakes are higher and KG is out. However, due to the close nature of the games against Chicago, I was wondering if people were going to accuse Rondo of gaining stats at the detriment of the team; in other words, I was wondering if people would argue that if Rondo weren't being so aggressive, the team would have an easier time beating a 7 seed. So i very quickly just charted the plus/minus data for the playoffs, and guess what? Whatever Rondo is doing is working just fine, because when he's on the floor, the C's outscore the bulls:

   Total +/-...   Per Game
Pierce   45...   9
Davis   66...   13.2
Perk   36...   7.2
Allen   45...   9
Rondo   55...   11
Marbury   -28...   -5.6
Scal   4...   0.8
House   -22...   -4.4
Tony   -32...   -6.4
Moore   -36...   -7.2
Pruitt   -6...   -1.2
Walker   -6...   -1.2
Powe   -16...   -3.2

[Fan from VT]

And in case you were wondering, here it is with the blowout win removed:

   Total +/-...   Per Game
Pierce   21...   5.25
Davis   36...   9
Perk   20...   5
Allen   16...   4
Rondo   29...   7.25
Marbury   -37...   -9.25
Scal   -2...   -0.5
House   -11...   -2.75
Tony   -24...   -6
Moore   -32...   -8
Pruitt   0...   0
Walker   0...   0
Powe   -16...   -4

[nickagneta]

I'm not sure that it's necessarily fair to look at raw numbers, when Lebron has played 4 games and Rondo has played 5.

Rondo: 24.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 10.2 apg, 3.2 spg, 2.2 tpg, 51.1 fg%

Lebron: 32.0 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 7.5 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.5 tpg, 50.6 fg%

The numbers are very close, but I think the additional 8 ppg that Lebron adds are probably more significant than the leads Rondo has in assists and steals.  Of course, the most compelling stat in Lebron's favor is "4-0", but Lebron has done everything he can.

As mentioned above, though, the players play different positions, so different things are expected of them.  It's more impressive for a guard to be averaging 10.2 rpg than it is a small forward, and it's more impressive for a small forward to average a ton of assists than it is a point guard, etc.

On the other hand, LeBron has scored as many points as he did because the refs in that series exercised their David Stern given right to put LBJ on the free throw line 15 times per game in that series. Say what you want about LeBron's impact on the game and about his scoring but the discrepancy between fouls called on LeBron and fouls called for LeBron is just too wide a margin to be ignored.

He is getting a helping hand and even the national media are starting to catch on and report the abuse of power that goes LBJ's way. Rondo isn't getting nearly the assistance by the refs to inflate his stats than LeBron is by going to the line 15 times a game. I would venture to say that Rondo goes to the basket a heck of a lot more than LeBron but that the percentage of times that he goes to the line for those drives is drastically lower than the percentage of times LBJ goes to the line after a drive. I refuse to believe that's because Rondo is drawing as much contact.

[acieEarl]

I've said all year I thought he was the 3rd best pg in the league. These playoffs he's been awesome. His triple double average is ridiculous but the one thing that no one has really mentioned is his lack of turnovers as well.