Jason Kidd selects Rajon Rondo

[LarBrd33]

I can think of another point who couldnt shoot very well, rebounded extremely well, passed probably better then anyone ever, and was pretty successful and that was Magic. It's funny, it wasnt but a few short weeks ago we were debating Rondo's worth to this team. Not wether he was or wasnt good but wether he was very good or not and wether he deserved a huge contract. So far, some of those questions have been answered. When his shot comes around, and it will, Rondo will be a very unique player.

I don't count on his shot coming around, but it seems Rondo can some day be as good as Fat Lever.

He's already as good as Lever was, my hope is that his ceiling is higher.

Ya think?  Lever in his prime was a 19, 9, 9 and 2.7 guy.

Rondo's more of like a 10, 8, 4 and 2 guy

Different team styles and such, but I dunno....

[Fafnir]

I can think of another point who couldnt shoot very well, rebounded extremely well, passed probably better then anyone ever, and was pretty successful and that was Magic. It's funny, it wasnt but a few short weeks ago we were debating Rondo's worth to this team. Not wether he was or wasnt good but wether he was very good or not and wether he deserved a huge contract. So far, some of those questions have been answered. When his shot comes around, and it will, Rondo will be a very unique player.

I don't count on his shot coming around, but it seems Rondo can some day be as good as Fat Lever.

He's already as good as Lever was, my hope is that his ceiling is higher.

Ya think?  Lever in his prime was a 19, 9, 9 and 2.7 guy.

Rondo's more of like a 10, 8, 4 and 2 guy

Different team styles and such, but I dunno....

Rondo's a better defender and a more efficient scorer though. Lever also averaged more minutes and played at a higher pace than Rondo.

I think Lever's peak is still above Rondo, but career average wise they're on par right now. So I'd say Lever is the floor of my expectations.

[xmuscularghandix]

I can think of another point who couldnt shoot very well, rebounded extremely well, passed probably better then anyone ever, and was pretty successful and that was Magic. It's funny, it wasnt but a few short weeks ago we were debating Rondo's worth to this team. Not wether he was or wasnt good but wether he was very good or not and wether he deserved a huge contract. So far, some of those questions have been answered. When his shot comes around, and it will, Rondo will be a very unique player.

I don't count on his shot coming around, but it seems Rondo can some day be as good as Fat Lever.

He's already as good as Lever was, my hope is that his ceiling is higher.

Ya think?  Lever in his prime was a 19, 9, 9 and 2.7 guy.

Rondo's more of like a 10, 8, 4 and 2 guy

Different team styles and such, but I dunno....

Rondo's a better defender and a more efficient scorer though. Lever also averaged more minutes and played at a higher pace than Rondo.

I think Lever's peak is still above Rondo, but career average wise they're on par right now. So I'd say Lever is the floor of my expectations.

I'd also say that Rondo PPG isn't a fair measure of his scoring ability. His mentality going into games is just different, put him in a situation where he's carrying more of a load... he'll give you some strong numbers.

(minus his FT% which is obviously his Achilles heal)

[BballTim]

I can think of another point who couldnt shoot very well, rebounded extremely well, passed probably better then anyone ever, and was pretty successful and that was Magic. It's funny, it wasnt but a few short weeks ago we were debating Rondo's worth to this team. Not wether he was or wasnt good but wether he was very good or not and wether he deserved a huge contract. So far, some of those questions have been answered. When his shot comes around, and it will, Rondo will be a very unique player.

I don't count on his shot coming around, but it seems Rondo can some day be as good as Fat Lever.

He's already as good as Lever was, my hope is that his ceiling is higher.

Ya think?  Lever in his prime was a 19, 9, 9 and 2.7 guy.

Rondo's more of like a 10, 8, 4 and 2 guy

Different team styles and such, but I dunno....

  Lever's best per36 is around 18/9/7. Bump up Rondo's numbers to match the scoring difference between Boston last year and Denver's of the late 80s and you'd get 15/7/10.5. It's not that far off. It's also worth noting that Rondo's career playoff averages (12.6/6.1/7.7) are already a little better than Lever's (12.4/5.8/6.2). Rondo's played a few more minutes per game but the difference in ppg between the teams would cancel that out.

[Bahku]

Jason's a smart guy, with a very high basketball IQ ... good choice.

[Kiorrik]

This thread gets me salivating for a freak 40 point game for Rajon.

[Birdbrain]

I can think of another point who couldnt shoot very well, rebounded extremely well, passed probably better then anyone ever, and was pretty successful and that was Magic. It's funny, it wasnt but a few short weeks ago we were debating Rondo's worth to this team. Not wether he was or wasnt good but wether he was very good or not and wether he deserved a huge contract. So far, some of those questions have been answered. When his shot comes around, and it will, Rondo will be a very unique player.

I don't count on his shot coming around, but it seems Rondo can some day be as good as Fat Lever.

He's already as good as Lever was, my hope is that his ceiling is higher.

Ya think?  Lever in his prime was a 19, 9, 9 and 2.7 guy.

Rondo's more of like a 10, 8, 4 and 2 guy

Different team styles and such, but I dunno....

  Lever's best per36 is around 18/9/7. Bump up Rondo's numbers to match the scoring difference between Boston last year and Denver's of the late 80s and you'd get 15/7/10.5. It's not that far off. It's also worth noting that Rondo's career playoff averages (12.6/6.1/7.7) are already a little better than Lever's (12.4/5.8/6.2). Rondo's played a few more minutes per game but the difference in ppg between the teams would cancel that out.

TP and thanks for the interesting breakdown.  Fat Lever is very nice comparison for Rondo.  Although Rondo's quicker and maybe Fat could obviously shoot a bit better.  They are both about the same size with a similar tenacity around the basket.  It's really hard to compare PPG with the 2 players due to Boston having a much more talented team around Rondo and they actually play defense while Denver was a run and gun team that probably led Fat to get more layups.  Come on Rondo with the FTs you have ability to at least shoot 70%.  Concentration is the key.