am i the only one??? (Is Rondo unfairly criticized?)

[wiley]

there seems to be an overwhelming analysis, trade ideas, skepticism, etc of rondo over the last week or two on the boards.  am i the only one who feels this is unjustified?  sure he has some weaknesses, but his positive attributes far outweigh his negative ones.

he was playing on some weak ankles, having rolled/sprained them multiple times the second half of the season, yet he nearly averaged a triple double in the playoffs. not to mention, the starters were required to play a ton of minutes due to the pathetic play from the reserves.

personally, he is so far down on the radar as to why we didnt succeed this postseason.  injuries obviously were number one.  the most glaring weakness this season, especially in the post season, was the bench.  they were terrible!

when guys on the team, i specifically remember interviews from paul, ray, and perk.....they all said rondo was the mvp of the team and does an excellent job running the team. 

the focus should be on the reserves, not rondo.

I agree completely with you.  The trades I've presented including Rondo have been for discussion only.  I like discussing trade ideas in the hypothetical because I learn alot (salaray cap stuff, player evaluation, opinions and talent verses how a player fits).

Waited too long for a player like Rondo.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

 No, you're not the only one, but the naysayers and critics always rule the day on celticsblog during the offseason.

I disagree.  I guarantee that if you counted the number of "Rondo is untouchable / shouldn't be traded under any circumstances" posts, and compared them to the "Rondo is seriously flawed" posts, the former would be in the majority, probably by a 2-1 or 3-1 margin.

Perhaps the critics get more attention because they're going against the conventional wisdom.  However, they're still certainly in the minority.

  I'm not going to go back and count posts but I'll bet they're close to even. Coaches, scouts and GMs think he's one of the best defenders in the league but here he's a terrible defender. His jumpshot kills our offense in spite of the fact that we won 62 games and had a top 6 offense this year. Any pg with a decent jumpshot is an upgrade. Yep, it's the summer.

So this is the time I post my "dump Rondo for Chucky Atkins" thread?  

[housecall]

Great point about reminding us about his sparined ankles...he played the post season with ankle issues.I think he did a hell of a job considering his problems.tp

[nickagneta]

I think that for every post that tries to put Rondo down, there is another that throws love and adulation his way. So I think whether you support Rondo or come to criticize him tends to make one believe that there is a surplus of pro or anti Rondo posts and threads dependent upon where one's opinion stands.

My opinion is based that I think he brings a bunch more positives to the team than negatives and that he has, with maturity, an ability to become a special player. While I love Rondo and think it extremely foolish to think about trading him this off season, I wouldn't hesitate to trade him in the right trade. Also, I think it's foolish to trade him while we have him in inexpensive control and have yet to get a definitive read on how his game is going to changeover the next year or so.

[cordobes]

Any pg with a decent jumpshot is an upgrade.

BballTim trade mark.  

What is there to discuss about the reserves? I mean, one can always discuss Tony Allen, but with whom, if his supporters seem to have vanished?

[Fafnir]

  No, you're not the only one, but the naysayers and critics always rule the day on celticsblog during the offseason.

I disagree.  I guarantee that if you counted the number of "Rondo is untouchable / shouldn't be traded under any circumstances" posts, and compared them to the "Rondo is seriously flawed" posts, the former would be in the majority, probably by a 2-1 or 3-1 margin.

Perhaps the critics get more attention because they're going against the conventional wisdom.  However, they're still certainly in the minority.

  I'm not going to go back and count posts but I'll bet they're close to even. Coaches, scouts and GMs think he's one of the best defenders in the league but here he's a terrible defender. His jumpshot kills our offense in spite of the fact that we won 62 games and had a top 6 offense this year. Any pg with a decent jumpshot is an upgrade. Yep, it's the summer.

I don't think anyone said we need to find any PG with a jump shot. I know cordobes had some throw downs about how his lack of shooting allows teams to clamp down on the other four players.

In my mind the last two Orlando games proved him right. That is the one area of Rondo's game that he can/should improve. The rest of his game I love and is excellent overall.

He's a hell of a player, I look forward to seeing him on the C's for years to come. Though I'm still being stingy and refusing to buy his jersey until he re ups with the C's. I've been burned before =P.

[angryguy77]

I'm sick of him, his dumb headband redbull drinking Brad Miller beating ###. I say we trad him to the Utah Flash for Kosta Koufos




Who knows why these topics come up, I think they are laker plants, or Brad Miller has nothing better to do.

[Fafnir]

Any pg with a decent jumpshot is an upgrade.

BballTim trade mark.  

What is there to discuss about the reserves? I mean, one can always discuss Tony Allen, but with whom, if his supporters seem to have vanished?

Along with his playing time....

If he actually stays healthy I think he'll end up getting some burn next year, but only in the regular season.

[ma11l]

I think a lot of the early offseason reaction from us is stemming simply from the Orlando series, more specifically the poor Game 7.  We are forgetting the classic Chicago series.  The two main principles of a lot of Celtics trade talk were the two best players wearing green during the series.  Rondo and Ray were both amazing.  We seem to be forgetting that.  Their value to this team comes somewhere in the middle of the Chicago and Orlando performances.

[bknova]

I'm not surprised.  For years every time we got ousted from the playoffs the panic-ers on this board wanted to trade Pierce.  Now they can't, so its Ray and Rondo.  

We have the best starting 5 in the game.  The chemistry, the complimentary skill sets, the complimentary tempraments.  In this age of spoiled brat athletes, we've assembled something incredible.  And what, we're gonna break it up because we lost in the 2nd round cause we were without 2 of our top 7.  

This team if we had KG and Powe would be in the finals again right now.  Its not over yet.  The window isn't closed.  

[winsomme]

 No, you're not the only one, but the naysayers and critics always rule the day on celticsblog during the offseason.

I disagree.  I guarantee that if you counted the number of "Rondo is untouchable / shouldn't be traded under any circumstances" posts, and compared them to the "Rondo is seriously flawed" posts, the former would be in the majority, probably by a 2-1 or 3-1 margin.

but which is closer to the truth: the "Rondo is untouchable" posts or the "why i can't stand Rondo" posts?

like i just noted in the other thread, Rondo is a top 5 PG, so IMO any critiques of his game should to be made keeping that in mind.

[cordobes]

like i just noted in the other thread, Rondo is a top 5 PG, so IMO any critiques of his game should to be made keeping that in mind.

Can you give examples of critiques that are made with that in mind and critiques that are made without that in mind?

For the love of God, I have no freaking idea how the fact that a player is a top-5, top-10, top-20 or even the GOAT can affect the way one critiques and analyses his strengths and weaknesses. That's a completely novel concept to me.

[Roy Hobbs]

 No, you're not the only one, but the naysayers and critics always rule the day on celticsblog during the offseason.

I disagree.  I guarantee that if you counted the number of "Rondo is untouchable / shouldn't be traded under any circumstances" posts, and compared them to the "Rondo is seriously flawed" posts, the former would be in the majority, probably by a 2-1 or 3-1 margin.

but which is closer to the truth: the "Rondo is untouchable" posts or the "why i can't stand Rondo" posts?

like i just noted in the other thread, Rondo is a top 5 PG, so IMO any critiques of his game should to be made keeping that in mind.

The former is closer to the truth, although in my mind, neither is necessarily close.

However, if we're limiting the critics to the "why I can't stand Rondo" type of posts, then I think the ratio is closer to 10:1 for vs. against (and probably closer to 75:1, frankly).  Very few people "can't stand" Rondo.

From my own perspective, Rondo isn't a top-five point guard yet.  He's in the top ten (although I think he's more inconsistent than most top-ten PGs), but I don't think he's solidified a top five spot yet. 

I think a lot of people, in evaluating Rondo, are solely focusing on his first four or five games against Chicago, and are ignoring the 82 regular season games, as well as the Orlando series.  When you look at his entire body of work, you see a young PG who is sometimes brilliant, and at other times looks like a borderline second-rounder.  On average, he's still a good player, but his game has some very real deficiencies that need work. 

[BballTim]

Any pg with a decent jumpshot is an upgrade.

BballTim trade mark.  

  Followed closely, of course, by your "giggles like a small child" smiley.

[Who]

I think Rondo's defense is getting an unfair amount of criticism.

However, outside of that, I don't have any problem with the discussion/posts debating Rondo's strengths/weaknesses/contract value/trade value.