This is why I can't stand Rajon Rondo

[ManUp]

Rondo's inconsistency is being overblown. The only thing he hasn't been doing is play at an all-star level consistently. He's been a very solid player for us all years, and he hasn't really had any team killer type games. You are expecting too much if you think Rondo can dominate a 60 win team on a consistent basis. Especially when they have someone like Howard who has the ability to kill the drive and kick game.

Rondo was our most consistent player of the play-offs give him a break...

[droopdog7]

Look Rondo not perfect but the kids still really young, shoulda been a rookie this year and already is the 3rd best point guard in the league.

I'm sorry but this simply is not true.  I am guessing you are referring to Paul and Williams as one and two, which I agree with.  But Rondo still isn't better than Parker or Billups or Harris and maybe even Nelson.  And fully expect Rose to pass Rondo before he ever get's to third best PG.  So while I agree that the kid is good and is talented, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

  You honestly think that Devin Harris is a better pg than Rondo? He's a better scorer, but not a better ballhandler or passer or rebounder or defender.

I think that Rondo has a Grand Canyon-like hole in his game that other teams can seriously exploit.  I thought during Game 6 against Orl that should have replaced Rondo in the fourth with House to prevent them from immediately doubling PP.  Would anyone say anything like that about any other great PG?  I doubt it.  So while Rondo may be more of a pure PG (compared to Harris), Rondo can hurt us a great deal if other teams decide to employ that strategy.  So in short, yes, I think Harris is a better player than Rondo right now.

[JSD]

With Rondo's limitations I question how good he is when he doesn't have hall of fame players around him. I also wonder what a player like a Devin Harris would do in this offense. Rondo might very well be the most overrated Celtic and his attitude sucks and it stinks. There is a reason he's on the block with Ray.

In Ainge I trust.

[nickagneta]

Let's approach this one crazy statement at a time:

But so do lots of players who eventually end up being headcases.

Where exactly is the evidence that he is going to be a headache? Doc loves the kid. So does KG and Paul who have both coe out and said great things about the kid. Yes, kid. He's only 23.

He will hurt us in the long run especially with the kind of money he will likely tie down the Celtics with.

You are going to need to explain this one because if the Celtics sign him long term at a contract that is befitting his potential and accomplishments he should be making about $10-11 million a year. How does that handicap the C's financially considering he will be one of the better players on the team making a decent salary that isn't close to being crippling?

Also, addressing the posters who use his triple double averages to suggest he's a keeper. Exactly how is he stockpiling those stats?

He's stockpiling those stats by being a good slasher and finisher around the rim, having good court sense and passing skills and by being one of the truly elite rebounding guards in the league. You can criticize a lot about his game but trying to find fault in a 6'1" PG that averaged 10 RPG for 14 games is nuts.

But he will never be a stabilizer. Without a steady jumper and with the questionable penetrating game he's got, he'll never amount to much. Yes I said it, he's a question mark driving to the rim, because he has trouble finishing. He relies WAY too much on off balance shots and creating offense through his stupid fake that defenses know how to react to.

As Bball so accurately stated, people actually keep stats on these things and Rondo had the third best finishing rate in the league. Let me repeat that loudly, THIRD BEST FINISHING RATE IN THE LEAGUE!!!!! Your opinion is wrong and completely contradicted by pertinent stats.

Rondo has already started a practice of shooting over a thousand jumpers a day to make his outside shot better. Last year in a short off season he said he wanted to come back stronger and more durable and did. This year he said he wants to improve his outside shot. I see no reason to doubt him.

And all you have to know about how valuable other teams think Rondo is, is wonder just how many phone calls Danny Ainge would be taking if he put out word he was looking to trade Rondo. Here's a guess. At least 25 teams would be calling day and night with offers until Danny called off the dogs and said he had decided to keep him.

Your opinion, while your own and probably less unique than some Celtics fans think, is about as far opposite as to what the team management, his team mates, and basketball experts across the league think about him.

[ManUp]

Doc Rivers expressed similar sentiments, which he directed at Rondo himself earlier this season. "Do you know your teammates hate playing with you? ... The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team. You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."

I'm pretty sure this quote was about Rondo's rookie season.

It was included in an article praising Rondo's growth as a player not to long ago.

Edit:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=macmullan_jackie&page=Rondo-090423

The media is just trying to spin old news.

That wasn't always true. Two seasons ago, before the banners and the plaudits and applause, when Rondo was in charge of a team that won just 24 games, he'd throw a no-look bullet and when it was dropped out of bounds he'd roll his eyes in exasperation. If he set up a shooter for the open jumper and it clanged off the rim, the shooter was subjected to the Rondo stare, a look steeped in disdain and aggravation.

Rivers hauled his supposed floor leader into his office and asked him, "Do you know your teammates hate playing with you?"

Rondo displayed no emotion, but his coach's comments left him struggling to breathe.

"The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team," Rivers chided him. "You can't be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it."

[Donoghus]

He's 23 years old.

This guy hasn't hit his ceiling yet.  Very rarely, do point guards come into the league and "have it" right away.  Rondo has made HUGE strides in his 3 years here and I fully expect the trend to continue.

Obviously, I would've liked to seen him play better in the Orlando series but, if anything, its provides a learning experience for him and will probably push him harder in the offseason knowing that he's not quite there yet.

In regards to the headache thing,  just about every 23 year old guy is gonna be a headache.  It's a stage in life that I'd say 99% of men go through.

[jdpapa3]

I have been very critical of Rondo in the past few weeks, but I am only giving him up if I am getting an extremely great and young piece back. Will that jump shot ever get better? I sure hope so, because his athleticism is only going to decline at some point. These are the types of questions you must ask when a guy will be asking for over 10 million.

This has been said before, but this is a very tricky offseason for Danny. The current championship window, IMO, is 1-2 years, and that's even if we were to let Ray expire. Danny has the pieces (Rondo, Ray) to widen that window by a whole lot. There are a limited amount of "window openers" out there, if you know what I mean. I just can't see Rondo being the "number 1" of a team that wins a championship.

[droopdog7]

He's 23 years old.

This guy hasn't hit his ceiling yet.  Very rarely, do point guards come into the league and "have it" right away.  Rondo has made HUGE strides in his 3 years here and I fully expect the trend to continue.

Obviously, I would've liked to seen him play better in the Orlando series but, if anything, its provides a learning experience for him and will probably push him harder in the offseason knowing that he's not quite there yet.

In regards to the headache thing,  just about every 23 year old guy is gonna be a headache.  It's a stage in life that I'd say 99% of men go through.

name the last great PG that DIDN'T have IT right away.  I can't.  I'm thinking that unless Rondo improves his shot dramatically, which I personally do not believe is possible, then he has just about hit is ceiling already. 

Does that mean I don not appreciate him or want to get rid of him?  No, but let's be realistic as well. 

[jdpapa3]

Steve Nash, droopdog. He was considered a bust for like 5 years. Also, Chauncey Billups bounced around to like 5 teams before he was considered legitimate.

[droopdog7]

Steve Nash, droopdog. He was considered a bust for like 5 years. Also, Chauncey Billups bounced around to like 5 teams before he was considered legitimate.

Thanks.  But Nash and Billups are the exceptions.  And I'm not really sure they improved as much as they were placed in the right situation at the right time.  As for Rondo, he may already be in the best situation he will ever be in.  We can already see all of his positive attributes as well as the hole in his game.  So I will stick to my original statement.  The only way Rondo can improve dramatically is by improving his shot OR finding a better situation.  I have doubts about both things happening.

[crownsy]

He's 23 years old.

This guy hasn't hit his ceiling yet.  Very rarely, do point guards come into the league and "have it" right away.  Rondo has made HUGE strides in his 3 years here and I fully expect the trend to continue.

Obviously, I would've liked to seen him play better in the Orlando series but, if anything, its provides a learning experience for him and will probably push him harder in the offseason knowing that he's not quite there yet.

In regards to the headache thing,  just about every 23 year old guy is gonna be a headache.  It's a stage in life that I'd say 99% of men go through.

name the last great PG that DIDN'T have IT right away.  I can't.  I'm thinking that unless Rondo improves his shot dramatically, which I personally do not believe is possible, then he has just about hit is ceiling already. 

Does that mean I don not appreciate him or want to get rid of him?  No, but let's be realistic as well. 

Tony parker and jason kidd are also great PG's who couldn't shoot when they came in, and developed a decent shot.

[nickagneta]

He's 23 years old.

This guy hasn't hit his ceiling yet.  Very rarely, do point guards come into the league and "have it" right away.  Rondo has made HUGE strides in his 3 years here and I fully expect the trend to continue.

Obviously, I would've liked to seen him play better in the Orlando series but, if anything, its provides a learning experience for him and will probably push him harder in the offseason knowing that he's not quite there yet.

In regards to the headache thing,  just about every 23 year old guy is gonna be a headache.  It's a stage in life that I'd say 99% of men go through.

name the last great PG that DIDN'T have IT right away.  I can't.  I'm thinking that unless Rondo improves his shot dramatically, which I personally do not believe is possible, then he has just about hit is ceiling already. 

Does that mean I don not appreciate him or want to get rid of him?  No, but let's be realistic as well. 

John Stockton didn't have IT right away. He sruggled his first 3 seasons in the league. He didn't become a good three point shooter until about his 6th or 7th season.

Tony Parker didn't have IT right away. He was okay and inconsistent his first three years in the league. It can be argued that Rondo had a better third year than Stockton or Parker had in their third years.

[BballTim]

Look Rondo not perfect but the kids still really young, shoulda been a rookie this year and already is the 3rd best point guard in the league.

I'm sorry but this simply is not true.  I am guessing you are referring to Paul and Williams as one and two, which I agree with.  But Rondo still isn't better than Parker or Billups or Harris and maybe even Nelson.  And fully expect Rose to pass Rondo before he ever get's to third best PG.  So while I agree that the kid is good and is talented, let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

  You honestly think that Devin Harris is a better pg than Rondo? He's a better scorer, but not a better ballhandler or passer or rebounder or defender.

I think that Rondo has a Grand Canyon-like hole in his game that other teams can seriously exploit.  I thought during Game 6 against Orl that should have replaced Rondo in the fourth with House to prevent them from immediately doubling PP.  Would anyone say anything like that about any other great PG?  I doubt it.  So while Rondo may be more of a pure PG (compared to Harris), Rondo can hurt us a great deal if other teams decide to employ that strategy.  So in short, yes, I think Harris is a better player than Rondo right now.

  Put Harris on the team instead of Rondo and we might not even make it past the Bulls. And check out Mo Williams' numbers against the Magic. It's not a given that Harris would have dominated them. Did Rondo's outside shooting hurt the team in game 6? Yes, but why was Orlando able to apply that strategy so successfully? The team was exhausted. Ray was very ineffective. Howard (DPOY) was guarding the rim, and Lewis was cheating off Davis towards the lane because we were playing Davis and not KG. And if that strategy is always so effective against us, why don't teams employ it all the time? Don't they want to win against us?

[ssspence]

why even bother posting on something as dim as this? oh wait i just did...

[angryguy77]

I do believe that unless he gets a j he will become a liability as time passes. But I would say he's worth the risk to see if he can get one or not. The one thing that does concern me is his showing up late to games. I don't know if this has been answered or notm but I would like to know why this was an issue in the playoffs. If it was a family thing, I can let that slide, but if it was diva driven, then we have a problem because that will only get worse when this becomes his team after PP leaves.