what if Rondo never played w/ Big 3?

[cdif911]

I wonder if Rondo would still be Rondo had he not had 3 future HOFers beside him.  We're obviously seeing the emergence of one of the best pgs in Celtics history right now and it's a thing of beauty, but does he turn the corner into superstardom aside a weak supporting cast?  Part of me thinks he'd never get to this level (especially so quickly)... I do think that now that he's here, he'll continue, so when the big 3 are gone, he'll still be the alpha dog, but that is an interesting subplot as well

[bopna]

This is why CP3 envy's Rondo a lot, he has said that Rondo would be nothing without the big three.

But what the Big three needed is exactly what Rondo gives so it all went well in the end hence we got our title in '08.

I also feel Rondo would still be good even without the big three, think of the line up we had last night at the start of the 4th and we were still able to get that lead over the Cavs, that is how good Rondo is as a PG and as a leader is is very capable of leading this team to the Playoffs by himself as long as he got the chess pieces to work with. He will need a superstar scorer though in the mold of Melo or Joe Johnson in the future for him to really excel once the current Big three are gone.

[wdleehi]

I think that Rondo, while really talented, needs to thank the big three for helping him mature into the player he is now.



Without them, he would have still made it, but probably not this quickly. 





But this is all a bunch of guessing.

[Birdbrain]

It couldn't have worked out more perfectly for both the big 3 and Rondo (except for KGs injury that cut short the 2009 run).  He had some holes in his game that he's been obviously working on which the big 3 covered for the first few years while they both achieved success.  That success plus his work has created a monster we get to enjoy for a very long time.

The future looks bright.

[Frezz]

I play the what if game all the time in my head and think what if we won the lottery and drafted Durant. We wouldn't have traded for KG, and we'd have Rondo, Durant, Jefferson, Perkins, Delonte and whatever player or players we got for Pierce, since he probably would have been traded. What the hell would that team be like right now? Would Rondo be what he is right now? Would Perkins have that same attitude and fire he now has? Would Jefferson be 20/10? Crazy to think how different our team could easily be had a simple lottery ball gone the way the numbers say they should have gone.

[Brendan]

I play the what if game all the time in my head and think what if we won the lottery and drafted Durant. We wouldn't have traded for KG, and we'd have Rondo, Durant, Jefferson, Perkins, Delonte and whatever player or players we got for Pierce, since he probably would have been traded. What the hell would that team be like right now? Would Rondo be what he is right now? Would Perkins have that same attitude and fire he now has? Would Jefferson be 20/10? Crazy to think how different our team could easily be had a simple lottery ball gone the way the numbers say they should have gone.

I don't see the Pierce trade. I think you would have needed vets on that team. I see Durant starting out by coming off the bench.

Perkins / Jefferson / Pierce / West / Rajon Rondo

With Durant coming off the bench and getting starters minutes.

They'd have Telfair, Gomes, the 2nd rounder, Green, Wally, and Theo's contract to try and improve the rest of their role players. Ideally picking up a sniper to play at SF and move West to combo guard off the bench, plus a big to platoon with Perkins.

[Birdbrain]

I play the what if game all the time in my head and think what if we won the lottery and drafted Durant. We wouldn't have traded for KG, and we'd have Rondo, Durant, Jefferson, Perkins, Delonte and whatever player or players we got for Pierce, since he probably would have been traded. What the hell would that team be like right now? Would Rondo be what he is right now? Would Perkins have that same attitude and fire he now has? Would Jefferson be 20/10? Crazy to think how different our team could easily be had a simple lottery ball gone the way the numbers say they should have gone.

One thing is for certain the Celtics would be working on 24 year hiatus with regard to championships.

[FatjohnReturns]

Good Topic. The big three have been a big influence on Rondo. I remember reports on Rondo not wanting to lace up his sneakers for practice. While Rondo is headstrong and obstinent he is also a quick study.

I think having a quality professionals like Pierce and Ray have helped him mature and having Garnett around has helped him have the same kind fire inside KG has. So yeah I think you can attribute Rondo's development to (a) his work ethic and (b) the players the Celtics have surrounded him with.

He wouldnt be the same player without the big three.

[banty19]

Rondo would still be a pretty good player without the Big 3. As good as he is now? Probably not.

If you check out the stats for his rookie year, he already had good rebounding, steal, and assist/turnover totals. The only parts of his game that were worse were his FG% and his assist totals. I think the primary reason he had small minutes that year is the Celtics didn't want to win.

With that said, I think playing with the Big 3 has still helped him but more with off the court stuff like being a leader and a professional. If he doesn't play with them, maybe he develops a bad attitude and his career changes.

[ManUp]

I think the big 3 are the difference between Rondo being a winner,Jason Kidd, as opposed to a loser, Stephon Marbury. I'm only comparing attitude and team approach not talent. Although, I do believe Rondo will be better than Kidd when it's all said and done.