Rondo is good with or without the Big 3

[GeoDim]

I'm sick of people blaming Rondo's success solely on the Big 3.  Obviously it helps with his maturation at such an early age, but this kid is gifted.

Rondo's stat line would be ridiculous if the Big 3 wasn't around.  If anything, they are holding him back stat-wise.  Did we forget what happened when we lost our best player last year?  Rondo stepped up and almost averaged a triple double for the entire playoffs.  That would never happen this year, because KG is going to eat up a lot of those rebounds and shots that Rondo was getting. 

I just don't understand how anyone can say that Rondo is only good because of the Big 3, when his best games are when we're missing parts of the Big 3.  It doesn't make any sense.

[PosImpos]

I'm sick of people blaming Rondo's success solely on the Big 3.  Obviously it helps with his maturation at such an early age, but this kid is gifted.

Rondo's stat line would be ridiculous if the Big 3 wasn't around.  If anything, they are holding him back stat-wise.  Did we forget what happened when we lost our best player last year?  Rondo stepped up and almost averaged a triple double for the entire playoffs.  That would never happen this year, because KG is going to eat up a lot of those rebounds and shots that Rondo was getting. 

I just don't understand how anyone can say that Rondo is only good because of the Big 3, when his best games are when we're missing parts of the Big 3.  It doesn't make any sense.

Well, it goes both ways.  The Big 3 also opens up a lot of opportunities for him offensively because they are all scoring threats.  With his lack of an outside shot he'd be really easy to gameplan for if he were our main scoring option.

[moiso]

Rondo's scoring numbers would be way higher on a bad team.  But I doubt Rondo's game would be nearly as disiplined if this were the case.  The big 3 helped groom Rondo into a winner at a VERY young age.

[GeoDim]

That's a good point, but on any good team you're going to have good shooters that open up the floor for you.  Rondo seemed to find his opportunities just fine when the team was without its best player.

At the same time, you could say that Rondo opens up the floor for other players, because of his ability to slash in the paint.  It goes both ways.

Also, to the other reply, I completely agree. Rondo wouldn't be close to the player he is now, if he didn't get the chance to start his career with three HOFs.  It definitely matured him as a player and kept him in line.  With his attitude, Rondo would probably be a distraction on a bad team.  But I'm just speaking stat-wise.

[moiso]

That's a good point, but on any good team you're going to have good shooters that open up the floor for you.  Rondo seemed to find his opportunities just fine when the team was without its best player.

At the same time, you could say that Rondo opens up the floor for other players, because of his ability to slash in the paint.  It goes both ways.

Also, to the other reply, I completely agree. Rondo wouldn't be close to the player he is now, if he didn't get the chance to start his career with three HOFs.  It definitely matured him as a player and kept him in line.  With his attitude, Rondo would probably be a distraction on a bad team.  But I'm just speaking stat-wise.

Yeah stat wise Rondo could be amazing on a bad team.  The guy can get points or assists every time he penetrates.

[Chris]

Any player is going to be better when playing on a team like this C's team.  Being surrounded by great players opens up the floor for everyone else, and spreads the focus of the other teams out.

The problem with Rondo is that he can be gameplanned out of games, regardless of who his teammates are.  If teams back way off him, and use his man to play the passing lanes, and not helping off the other perimeter players, it has been proven time and again that it takes Rondo out of what he wants to do, and makes him significantly less effective more times than not. 

Of course it does make it slightly harder to do this when all 4 of the other players on the floor can hit open shots, as well as move the ball quickly, but Rondo can still be a liability when teams defend him like this.

So until he becomes more proficient with the jumper, or consistently learns other ways to help his team when this happens (he has been better at points this year, by learning to find weaknesses in the zone, and basically becoming a roamer off the ball), he is not going to be able to take that next step, regardless of his teammates.

[Fan from VT]

Any player is going to be better when playing on a team like this C's team.  Being surrounded by great players opens up the floor for everyone else, and spreads the focus of the other teams out.

The problem with Rondo is that he can be gameplanned out of games, regardless of who his teammates are.  If teams back way off him, and use his man to play the passing lanes, and not helping off the other perimeter players, it has been proven time and again that it takes Rondo out of what he wants to do, and makes him significantly less effective more times than not. 

Of course it does make it slightly harder to do this when all 4 of the other players on the floor can hit open shots, as well as move the ball quickly, but Rondo can still be a liability when teams defend him like this.

So until he becomes more proficient with the jumper, or consistently learns other ways to help his team when this happens (he has been better at points this year, by learning to find weaknesses in the zone, and basically becoming a roamer off the ball), he is not going to be able to take that next step, regardless of his teammates.

Not fantasy stat-wise. Look at the dip that KG, Pierce and Allen all hit at the same time.

[Roy Hobbs]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

[pengaloo]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

Definitely not on this blog, and not among 99% of C's fans. But elsewhere... eh, it's almost always the same spiel.

[Roy Hobbs]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

Definitely not on this blog, and not among 99% of C's fans. But elsewhere... eh, it's almost always the same spiel.

Ah, I see.  Yes, charitably, those people are either biased or misinformed.  Rondo is a good player in his own right, and is having more and more nights where he enters elite status.

[scoop]

Well, it goes both ways.  The Big 3 also opens up a lot of opportunities for him offensively because they are all scoring threats.  With his lack of an outside shot he'd be really easy to gameplan for if he were our main scoring option.

This.

[Drucci]

I find this argument that Rondo would suck without the Big Three risible. Sure, it helps to have the Big Three around but Rondo is running the team, and as he goes so it goes.

Also, I like to bring the fact that Rondo averaged (almost) a triple double in last playoffs without KG, while scoring 17 points average. It says a lot about his talent.

[Boris Badenov]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

I think it's more correct to say that having the RIGHT teammates matters. I suspect that Rondo would not be helped so much by playing with Lebron or Kobe, but he might thrive on a team like the Houston squads from the mid-90s (where he'd have a big guy to catch lobs, and lots of shooters to spot up on penetration). He'd also have been fun to watch on those early 00s Kings teams, with all the cutting and ball movement.

With that in mind, I suspect that if you built a team around him, you could find personnel that might allow him even greater success than he's having now.

[BballTim]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

  Of course nobody would say that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the big three. But I'd guess there's a pretty good split between people who think his numbers would improve without the big three and those who think he would be much less effective without them.

[Roy Hobbs]

I haven't seen anybody suggest that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the "big three".  However, I do think that having elite teammates helps a player.

  Of course nobody would say that Rondo's success is *solely* due to the big three. But I'd guess there's a pretty good split between people who think his numbers would improve without the big three and those who think he would be much less effective without them.

His scoring and turnovers would go up, his field goal percentage, winning percentage, and probably assists would all go down.

(His assists might stay level because he'd have the ball in his hands more, but I think his efficiency with the ball would decrease.)