Rondo ready to Go / Rondo is the best PG in the NBA (merged)

[Reddo]

The thing is would you trade rondo straight up for chris Paul? Even if you say yes I think you have to seriously think about it. Especially with how much Rondo has been progressing and especially after how hes preformed in the majority of the playoff games. It's at least getting pretty close to a toss up

If you consider salaries there's absolutely no way anyone does this trade even if it was feasible give the salary cap.

Regardless of salaries, I still think I keep Rondo.  Given what happened with the Hornets quitting on their coach, I'll take the chemistry between Doc and Rondo all the time.

[nickagneta]

Couple of points:
 
1.) If Rondo continues this superstar pace he has set for himself this playoffs and comes back next year even stronger than this year(though most likely not at triple double level) will he become a marketable NBA superstar and start getting NBA superstar preferential treatment like other superstars get. If he does and he can improve his free throws, he could easily be a 20/10/7 guy for the rest of his career.

2.) Has the NBA already turned Rondo's poster job on Howard into a commercial yet?

3.) I love Rondo and predicted a second team NBA All-Defensive Team nomination but feel that he got a gift based on his potential to play defense and not on the actual defense he played game in and game out this year. When Rondo gets it in his head to play defense like he did for parts of the Chicago series and like he did in game 1 from the 8 minute mark in the third and after, he is the best defensive PG in the league. But he gambles way topo much and cruises on defense most nights to pace himself.

4.) He is, by a wide margin, the best PG left playing in the NBA playoffs. Chauncey is great, don't get me wrong, but Rondo surpassed him this year and more so this playoffs. If Rondo were to help lead the Celtics to an improbable title win, he starts getting looked at as MVP material next year if he comes back strong.

5.) God I hope he works on that outside shot to the tune of about 1000 shots a day this summer.

[Reddo]

Couple of points:
 
1.) If Rondo continues this superstar pace he has set for himself this playoffs and comes back next year even stronger than this year(though most likely not at triple double level) will he become a marketable NBA superstar and start getting NBA superstar preferential treatment like other superstars get. If he does and he can improve his free throws, he could easily be a 20/10/7 guy for the rest of his career.

2.) Has the NBA already turned Rondo's poster job on Howard into a commercial yet?

3.) I love Rondo and predicted a second team NBA All-Defensive Team nomination but feel that he got a gift based on his potential to play defense and not on the actual defense he played game in and game out this year. When Rondo gets it in his head to play defense like he did for parts of the Chicago series and like he did in game 1 from the 8 minute mark in the third and after, he is the best defensive PG in the league. But he gambles way topo much and cruises on defense most nights to pace himself.

4.) He is, by a wide margin, the best PG left playing in the NBA playoffs. Chauncey is great, don't get me wrong, but Rondo surpassed him this year and more so this playoffs. If Rondo were to help lead the Celtics to an improbable title win, he starts getting looked at as MVP material next year if he comes back strong.

5.) God I hope he works on that outside shot to the tune of about 1000 shots a day this summer.

You're last two points kind of hit the nose and didn't.  Unless Rondo gets a consistent jumper (and no he doesn't have it yet) he's not even close to challenging Lebron/Wade for MVP anytime soon.  Even if he does get that jump shot going he's not winning an MVP.

He may (and that's a very faint may) have MVP numbers but he won't be winning it just because of how the voting works.

[nickagneta]

Couple of points:
 
1.) If Rondo continues this superstar pace he has set for himself this playoffs and comes back next year even stronger than this year(though most likely not at triple double level) will he become a marketable NBA superstar and start getting NBA superstar preferential treatment like other superstars get. If he does and he can improve his free throws, he could easily be a 20/10/7 guy for the rest of his career.

2.) Has the NBA already turned Rondo's poster job on Howard into a commercial yet?

3.) I love Rondo and predicted a second team NBA All-Defensive Team nomination but feel that he got a gift based on his potential to play defense and not on the actual defense he played game in and game out this year. When Rondo gets it in his head to play defense like he did for parts of the Chicago series and like he did in game 1 from the 8 minute mark in the third and after, he is the best defensive PG in the league. But he gambles way topo much and cruises on defense most nights to pace himself.

4.) He is, by a wide margin, the best PG left playing in the NBA playoffs. Chauncey is great, don't get me wrong, but Rondo surpassed him this year and more so this playoffs. If Rondo were to help lead the Celtics to an improbable title win, he starts getting looked at as MVP material next year if he comes back strong.

5.) God I hope he works on that outside shot to the tune of about 1000 shots a day this summer.

You're last two points kind of hit the nose and didn't.  Unless Rondo gets a consistent jumper (and no he doesn't have it yet) he's not even close to challenging Lebron/Wade for MVP anytime soon.  Even if he does get that jump shot going he's not winning an MVP.

He may (and that's a very faint may) have MVP numbers but he won't be winning it just because of how the voting works.

Oh I agree.

NBA awards are popularity contests, like high schools elections, and very seldom are given to the players that actually deserve the award. Rondo would never win an MVP unless he could average a triple double for a year and lead Boston to the best record. Only way he gets one.

That said, if he gets great numbers, like those close to Paul, I think he should be considered, which is all I was trying to say. I think if he played every game like he has for the better part of these playoffs, the media couldn't help but drum up Rondo for MVP talk.

But that's never going to happen in NLBA, National LeBron Basketball Association.

[Fafnir]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

[BballTim]

3.) I love Rondo and predicted a second team NBA All-Defensive Team nomination but feel that he got a gift based on his potential to play defense and not on the actual defense he played game in and game out this year. When Rondo gets it in his head to play defense like he did for parts of the Chicago series and like he did in game 1 from the 8 minute mark in the third and after, he is the best defensive PG in the league. But he gambles way too much and cruises on defense most nights to pace himself.

  Ian Thomsen of si.com had an article last month where he polled a bunch of nba scouts and personnel guys about post season awards. They had Rondo first team all-defense. I don't think it was a gift.

[CoachBo]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

Totally agree. He's rising up the list, but he's not the best point in the league yet because of his tendency to disappear.

[Roy Hobbs]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

Some would say Rondo pulls back due to injury.  Others (including his coach) would say he's a young player who doesn't play at full speed every game.  Once he gets there, he'll be in the conversation as an elite point guard.

[BballTim]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

Some would say Rondo pulls back due to injury.  Others (including his coach) would say he's a young player who doesn't play at full speed every game.  Once he gets there, he'll be in the conversation as an elite point guard.

  Rondo's had the same number of bad games in the playoffs as Ray and possibly 1 more than Paul, assuming you consider getting outplayed by Salmons a good game for Paul. The only player that might have been more consistent thus far is Perk.

[Roy Hobbs]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

Some would say Rondo pulls back due to injury.  Others (including his coach) would say he's a young player who doesn't play at full speed every game.  Once he gets there, he'll be in the conversation as an elite point guard.

  Rondo's had the same number of bad games in the playoffs as Ray and possibly 1 more than Paul, assuming you consider getting outplayed by Salmons a good game for Paul. The only player that might have been more consistent thus far is Perk.

Ray has how many all-star seasons in his career?  Also, how many times has Doc suggested that Ray was playing at less than 100% of his capacity?

Rondo is, overall, having a fabulous playoffs.  However, I think people are being a little too quick to disregard the 82 games from the regular season, when Rondo was good but not great.  Good young point guard?  Yes.  Potential future all-star?  Absolutely.  Best PG in the NBA?  Not until he plays more consistently, over time.

Additionally, in order to be the absolute best, Rondo needs to become a better shooter.  He shot 36.8% last night, and is shooting 26.8% in his last four games.  (Certainly, last night we didn't need him to shoot great, and he had a fabulous game otherwise).  Even more so than the shooting percentage, though, (which was overall very good this season) he doesn't have much of an outside jumper at all.  He needs to add that element to his game to be considered absolutely elite.

Rondo has cemented himself among the top ten point guards in the NBA, and on any given night he can be in the top three, or even the best.  However, he won't be the absolute best until he brings the same effort every night.

[Fafnir]

Against the Magic I don't think Rondo is going to shoot a great percentage. Dwight Howard's shot blocking clearly bothers him. He needs to get to the line and bring it in other areas to compensate for having to throw more floaters than he usually does.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

Some would say Rondo pulls back due to injury.  Others (including his coach) would say he's a young player who doesn't play at full speed every game.  Once he gets there, he'll be in the conversation as an elite point guard.

  Rondo's had the same number of bad games in the playoffs as Ray and possibly 1 more than Paul, assuming you consider getting outplayed by Salmons a good game for Paul. The only player that might have been more consistent thus far is Perk.

Ray has how many all-star seasons in his career?  Also, how many times has Doc suggested that Ray was playing at less than 100% of his capacity?

Rondo is, overall, having a fabulous playoffs.  However, I think people are being a little too quick to disregard the 82 games from the regular season, when Rondo was good but not great.  Good young point guard?  Yes.  Potential future all-star?  Absolutely.  Best PG in the NBA?  Not until he plays more consistently, over time.

Additionally, in order to be the absolute best, Rondo needs to become a better shooter.  He shot 36.8% last night, and is shooting 26.8% in his last four games.  (Certainly, last night we didn't need him to shoot great, and he had a fabulous game otherwise).  Even more so than the shooting percentage, though, (which was overall very good this season) he doesn't have much of an outside jumper at all.  He needs to add that element to his game to be considered absolutely elite.

Rondo has cemented himself among the top ten point guards in the NBA, and on any given night he can be in the top three, or even the best.  However, he won't be the absolute best until he brings the same effort every night.

Agree pretty much. And the problem with his inconsistencies is that right now he has control of our whole team, and if he plays poorly the team will most probably play poorly.

Pierce and Ray can still carry the team and be heroic when needed, but on the overall performance of the team, it's all on Rondo because he's dominating the ball. And I don't care about shooting or anything like that. As long as he's making good decisions, not walking up the ball, and constantly attacking, we'll be in a great position for a good game. When he goes away from this, we struggle (and it also usually happens when we get big leads). Pretty much if he's doing his job of breaking down defenses and moving the ball we're good.

I really liked how he played last night, and although he took some ill advised jumpers and bad execution on some of his floaters, for the great part of the game he was pushing the ball and making Alston defend him... opening up Perk's game and freeing up our shooters.

[BballTim]

Rondo is way too inconsistent to be the best PG in the NBA.  He had three poor games in a row, followed by tonight's great effort.  If he's ever going to be on CP3's level, he needs to bring it every night.

CP3 also has "bad" games. But you're right Rondo needs to be more consistent. I think because of the nature of the Celtics having 3 "bigger" stars if Rondo isn't feeling it he sometimes pulls back.

CP3 doesn't have that luxury.

Some would say Rondo pulls back due to injury.  Others (including his coach) would say he's a young player who doesn't play at full speed every game.  Once he gets there, he'll be in the conversation as an elite point guard.

  Rondo's had the same number of bad games in the playoffs as Ray and possibly 1 more than Paul, assuming you consider getting outplayed by Salmons a good game for Paul. The only player that might have been more consistent thus far is Perk.

Ray has how many all-star seasons in his career?  Also, how many times has Doc suggested that Ray was playing at less than 100% of his capacity?

  It was my point that Ray's been to all of those all-star games. You're expecting Rondo to be more consistent than perennial all-stars. Ray can disappear and contribute nothing for long stretches. So can Paul or KG. But when Rondo does this it's proof that he's an inconsistent player. When Paul doesn't attack the basket or run his iso play in the first half of a game where are the threads about how he doesn't bring it every game? Where are the posts saying that we need to bring a better backup sg to light a fire under Ray so he doesn't take games off?

  And, really, do you need quotes from Doc to tell you that 4 points, 3 boards and 1 assist is less than 100% of Ray's capacity? It seems fairly obvious to me. As for the comment Doc made, he was talking about what he told Rondo. Is he going to have more to say to Rondo or Perk or Davis about a bad game than his is to PP/RA/KG? I would expect so, due to their level of experience. And he was discussing the comment after the game last night. He likened it to a golfer losing the tempo to his swing, that he can't just "fix it" even when he knows of the problem. If you want to call that a lack of focus or intensity then you'd have to put Ray's going entire games without contributing to the offense in the same category.

[Roy Hobbs]

  It was my point that Ray's been to all of those all-star games. You're expecting Rondo to be more consistent than perennial all-stars. Ray can disappear and contribute nothing for long stretches. So can Paul or KG. But when Rondo does this it's proof that he's an inconsistent player. When Paul doesn't attack the basket or run his iso play in the first half of a game where are the threads about how he doesn't bring it every game? Where are the posts saying that we need to bring a better backup sg to light a fire under Ray so he doesn't take games off?

I think you missed the point.  Ray or Paul *aren't* inconsistent; they've played consistently at a high level over the course of their careers.  Sure, they have bad games here and there, but overall, they've established themselves over years as all-star caliber players.

Rondo averaged 11.9 / 8.2 / 5.2 this season.  He hasn't been an all-star yet.  He had five brilliant games in the playoffs, followed by three relatively poor ones, followed by an excellent one.  He's had ups and downs his entire career, as is to be expected from a third year player.  He is *not* consistently performing like the "best point guard in the NBA", which I'm sure you know.

Maybe I'm missing your point, but if you're trying to suggest that Rondo plays at Ray's or Paul's level as consistently as they do, I think you're mistaken.

[Redz]

  It was my point that Ray's been to all of those all-star games. You're expecting Rondo to be more consistent than perennial all-stars. Ray can disappear and contribute nothing for long stretches. So can Paul or KG. But when Rondo does this it's proof that he's an inconsistent player. When Paul doesn't attack the basket or run his iso play in the first half of a game where are the threads about how he doesn't bring it every game? Where are the posts saying that we need to bring a better backup sg to light a fire under Ray so he doesn't take games off?

I think you missed the point.  Ray or Paul *aren't* inconsistent; they've played consistently at a high level over the course of their careers.  Sure, they have bad games here and there, but overall, they've established themselves over years as all-star caliber players.

Rondo averaged 11.9 / 8.2 / 5.2 this season.  He hasn't been an all-star yet.  He had five brilliant games in the playoffs, followed by three relatively poor ones, followed by an excellent one.  He's had ups and downs his entire career, as is to be expected from a third year player.  He is *not* consistently performing like the "best point guard in the NBA", which I'm sure you know.

Maybe I'm missing your point, but if you're trying to suggest that Rondo plays at Ray's or Paul's level as consistently as they do, I think you're mistaken.

With the exception of Perk, the Celts haven't had ANY truly consistent performers in the playoffs.

I guess Mikki Moore has been consistent in a bad kinda way (though he did have those quality 3 minutes in Game 7)