Rondo Makes First Team All Defense!

[Lucky17]

So Rondo finished with the second most vote totals for the First Team, yet was nowhere in the running for DPOY?

  Didn't he finish 4th or 5th for DPOY?

You're right. He finished 5th, six points behind LeBron.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/20/howard.defensive.poy/index.html

Strange that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers got plenty of press, and yet there was virtually no mention of Rondo. At least, I don't recall hearing his name come up anywhere.

[Chris]

This is great for Rondo, but I hope he is not content with it.  He still is very streaky defensively, and has a lot of room for improvement.  Its great that he can now call himself the best defensive PG in the league right now, however, his talent suggests he should be in the discussion as one of the great defensive PG's ever, and he isn't there yet.  Time to take that next step.

Those that think he's not a ' good ' defender but, get's lots of steals due to gambling can take solace in the idea that awards are subjective...

I still think he is overrated a bit by some.  But more than anything, i think he is still a disappointing defender, because he doesn't bring it every night, or for 48 minutes.  He is not yet a "lockdown" defender.  Right now, he is a defensive play maker who can lock guys down when he really wants to.  But he needs to become that guy that just takes a player completely away (kind of like he did to Mo Williams in game 2).  When he gets to that point, I will stop getting on him for his lack of focus, and even laziness defensively.

[Who]

Rondo is a very good defender but I wouldn't have voted for him on the All-Defense team.

I would Westbrook on the first team and no point guard on the second team.

[Chris]

So Rondo finished with the second most vote totals for the First Team, yet was nowhere in the running for DPOY?

  Didn't he finish 4th or 5th for DPOY?

You're right. He finished 5th, six points behind LeBron.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/20/howard.defensive.poy/index.html

Strange that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers got plenty of press, and yet there was virtually no mention of Rondo. At least, I don't recall hearing his name come up anywhere.

Well, its a position thing.  Rondo got so many votes as the best defensive PG, because there was not much competition at that position (just like Howard at Center).  Smith, Wallace, and James, would have all taken votes away from each other in the team voting, since they play the same position.

[Ersatz]

I think LeBron James deserves to be on there.

Agreed. But Kobe doesn't. Sefolosha, Wallace, and Battier are all better at that position.

[Ersatz]

Rondo is a very good defender but I wouldn't have voted for him on the All-Defense team.

I would Westbrook on the first team and no point guard on the second team.

I'm sorry, but this is the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while. Rondo is by far the best defensive point guard in the league and one of the top five defensive players. It's not even a debate, so I'm not sure why you are trying to make it one.

[Who]

I think LeBron James deserves to be on there.

Agreed. But Kobe doesn't. Sefolosha, Wallace, and Battier are all better at that position.

Battier didn't have a good season defensively. He was injured for most of it (ankle?) and noticeably less effective than usual. The lack of a shot-blocker behind him lowered his defense further.

Good-to-very good defense ... but not All-League defensive team caliber defense.

Battier should be back to his best next season though, once he gets healthy and once Yao returns.

[Lucky17]

So Rondo finished with the second most vote totals for the First Team, yet was nowhere in the running for DPOY?

  Didn't he finish 4th or 5th for DPOY?

You're right. He finished 5th, six points behind LeBron.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/20/howard.defensive.poy/index.html

Strange that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers got plenty of press, and yet there was virtually no mention of Rondo. At least, I don't recall hearing his name come up anywhere.

Well, its a position thing.  Rondo got so many votes as the best defensive PG, because there was not much competition at that position (just like Howard at Center).  Smith, Wallace, and James, would have all taken votes away from each other in the team voting, since they play the same position.

No issue with the vote totals. It's the fact that the names of the 2nd and 3rd place finishers were part of the press release, and LeBron, of course, got mentioned as a vote-getter as well.

I had no idea Rondo finished just behind the King, until I looked it up.

[Ersatz]

Rondo is a very good defender but I wouldn't have voted for him on the All-Defense team.

I would Westbrook on the first team and no point guard on the second team.

I'm sorry, but this is the most ridiculous thing I've read in a while. Rondo is by far the best defensive point guard in the league and one of the top five defensive players. It's not even a debate, so I'm not sure why you are trying to make it one.

Sorry for the strident tone. But I can't buy the Rondo-is-overrated argument. His numbers say that he's the best PG defensively in the league, and all the people I trust who "know basketball" say the same thing. So when people discount his excellence, I get, uh, defensive.

[Witch-King]

That's the thing with Rondo. Even though he's running one of the most potent offenses in the league on one end of the court he han still play lock-down defense on the other end. He Doesn't shooot the ball a whole lot but he can still dominate the other team's pg statistically, or just plain neutralize them with his defense. Definitely a top 5 pg in the league right now, maybe even top 3.

[Birdbrain]

This is great for Rondo, but I hope he is not content with it.  He still is very streaky defensively, and has a lot of room for improvement.  Its great that he can now call himself the best defensive PG in the league right now, however, his talent suggests he should be in the discussion as one of the great defensive PG's ever, and he isn't there yet.  Time to take that next step.

Those that think he's not a ' good ' defender but, get's lots of steals due to gambling can take solace in the idea that awards are subjective...

I still think he is overrated a bit by some.  But more than anything, i think he is still a disappointing defender, because he doesn't bring it every night, or for 48 minutes.  He is not yet a "lockdown" defender.  Right now, he is a defensive play maker who can lock guys down when he really wants to.  But he needs to become that guy that just takes a player completely away (kind of like he did to Mo Williams in game 2).  When he gets to that point, I will stop getting on him for his lack of focus, and even laziness defensively.

I think you underestimate how much energy it takes to run the team and I think if you believe a 40 min PG can be lock down defender 100% of the game you are going to be disappointed.  

But you want to know what's cool we get to watch and see him grow.

[Birdbrain]

Rondo is a very good defender but I wouldn't have voted for him on the All-Defense team.

I would Westbrook on the first team and no point guard on the second team.

I respectfully disagree.  Westbrooke isn't in the same hemisphere and just to cover both I've always felt Battier has been overrated as a defender. 

Sort of like Raja Bell in that regard to most C's fans.

[BballTim]

This is great for Rondo, but I hope he is not content with it.  He still is very streaky defensively, and has a lot of room for improvement.  Its great that he can now call himself the best defensive PG in the league right now, however, his talent suggests he should be in the discussion as one of the great defensive PG's ever, and he isn't there yet.  Time to take that next step.

Those that think he's not a ' good ' defender but, get's lots of steals due to gambling can take solace in the idea that awards are subjective...

I still think he is overrated a bit by some.  But more than anything, i think he is still a disappointing defender, because he doesn't bring it every night, or for 48 minutes.  He is not yet a "lockdown" defender.  Right now, he is a defensive play maker who can lock guys down when he really wants to.  But he needs to become that guy that just takes a player completely away (kind of like he did to Mo Williams in game 2).  When he gets to that point, I will stop getting on him for his lack of focus, and even laziness defensively.

  Nobody's been a "lockdown" defender on point guards since they eliminated the hand-check rule.

  And here was what Doc said (in the "Rondo is the key to the series"article before game 1): "He has to be disruptive defensively with his feet and his ball pressure." Being disruptive defensively involve a lot of things that have nothing to do with sticking to Mo Williams like glue that are important to our team defense. 4 of our top six players in terms of minutes played are in their 30s and we're still near the top of the league in forcing turnovers. Rondo clearly has a large hand in this.

[BballTim]

Rondo is a very good defender but I wouldn't have voted for him on the All-Defense team.

I would Westbrook on the first team and no point guard on the second team.

  If you look at their counterpart production on 82games Rondo's better than Westbrook almost across the board.

[fairweatherfan]

I think it's easy for us to underrate Rondo's defense because we see the gambles he makes, and also because PG is the hardest position to assess for man-to-man defense, because PGs are screened off plays much more often than any other position.  Fighting through those screens is part of good defense, but realistically a lot of the points and assists an opposing PG gets aren't the fault of the other PG.  So it's easy to overestimate how many defensive failures Rondo has had.

Also, as others have pointed out, much like Dwight Howard affects a lot more shots than he actually blocks, Rondo disrupts ball movement and penetration even when he never gets a hand on the ball.  Defenses know he's there, and it often makes them tentative or rushed, which produces a lot of turnovers and bad shots, even when Rondo didn't explicitly do anything good on the play.