Rondo making a late case for MVP?

[JSD]

At the beginning of the season I said Rondo would have a similar year to 2010, that he "is what he is", and that we should trade him soon while his stock is high.

He's actually regressed this season, so I don't think MVP talk is really justified; especially with such low scoring and ft% numbers.

[Boris Badenov]

Rondo hasn't even played like a top 10 point guard this year, never mind a top 10 MVP. Imagine if Paul Pierce, in his prime, got the kind of mainstream appeal Rondo gets.

Seriously?  He's led the league in Assists for almost the entire season, and has been near the top of the league in Steals all season, and you don't think he's a Top 10 PG?

I'd like to hear the 10 Point Guards that are better than Rondo.

Currently, Nash, Rose, Wall, Westbrook, Paul, Williams, Parker, and Kidd are all better than Rondo. I think Rondo belongs in the tier with Jennings and Curry.

There is no way Rondo is in the same league as Jennings and Curry. Leading the league in assists and steals during the season makes him an elite point guard.
This blog is absurd sometimes.

Why does leading in assists and steals have to make him an "elite" point guard? He is also the worst free throw shooter, the leader in turnovers, not a threat shooting the ball, and has seen his stats decrease from last year in many important areas besides assists. There's more to the game than getting assists and steals. Curry is a very complete player, Rondo is not.

He's not leading the league in Turnovers?

You're right, and it's not even close.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/turnovers/sort/turnovers/order/false

And it's been mentioned before, but seems like it's worth saying again:

(1) Total turnovers are not only no indication of being bad, they are a very good measure of being good. If you construct a team made up of the top 12 players ranked by total TOs, it is this:

Westbrook
Howard
Lebron
Rose
Nash
Ellis
Cousins
Stoudemire
Wade
Wall
DWill
Kobe.

In other words, it's a PG-heavy version of the Olympic team. (Rondo is 13th, so even here he is the last cut, heh.)

And (2), among the league leaders in TOs, Rondo has the best Assist to TO ratio. Only CP, Calderon and Kidd are better.

You can hold things against Rondo. But turnovers, particularly total turnovers, are not one of them.

[dtrader]

Rondo hasn't even played like a top 10 point guard this year, never mind a top 10 MVP. Imagine if Paul Pierce, in his prime, got the kind of mainstream appeal Rondo gets.

Seriously?  He's led the league in Assists for almost the entire season, and has been near the top of the league in Steals all season, and you don't think he's a Top 10 PG?

I'd like to hear the 10 Point Guards that are better than Rondo.

Currently, Nash, Rose, Wall, Westbrook, Paul, Williams, Parker, and Kidd are all better than Rondo. I think Rondo belongs in the tier with Jennings and Curry.

Nash doesn't play defense.
Rose yes.
Wall is barely shooting 40%, is turnover prone, and isn't even high on the steals list anymore.
Westbrook yes.
Paul yes.
Williams yes.
Parker is close to the same.
Kidd no way.  Shooting 36% for the season, is rebounding the same as Rondo, has less assists.

That is just looking at it statistically.  Watching those players play, I'd say the only ones who are clearly ahead of Rondo are Rose Westbrook and Williams.  Rondo and CP3 are pretty level.

Saying Rondo is on par with Brandon Jennings and Steph Curry is just as insane as saying he's MVP.

Kidds having a much better season than his numbers show. for 1, he's rebounding the same as Rondo...but in 4 less minutes. 2...yes his fg% is around 36%, but the vast majority of his shots are 3's, so it's really not like he's having a bad shooting year.  Plus he's having a career low in turnovers and personal fouls...showing that he's maybe playing smarter than ever.

 I still wouldn't put him ahead of Rondo due to Rondos defensive dominance, but Kidd is only a hair behind.

Nash and Rondo are maybe even to me...Nash excels at offense like Rondo does defense, and has equal defensive deficiencies as Rondo does offensive...Neither is anywhere near as complete as the other players on the list.

[Von_Waf4]

Honestly I'd say Nash's "best defense" is not as good as Rondo's "best offense". Also I don't believe Westbrook is better than Rondo. He scores more because he takes about 17 shots a game and while he is a better jumpshooter than Rondo, he is nowhere near a knockdown shooter either which seems to be forgotten by the media. He isn't as good defensively & averages more turnovers while grabbing more rebounds & shooting much better from the line. I'd still say that his shot attempts is the main reason his scoring is so much higher & thus isn't as good as Rondo overall.

[BballTim]

Rondo hasn't even played like a top 10 point guard this year, never mind a top 10 MVP. Imagine if Paul Pierce, in his prime, got the kind of mainstream appeal Rondo gets.

Seriously?  He's led the league in Assists for almost the entire season, and has been near the top of the league in Steals all season, and you don't think he's a Top 10 PG?

I'd like to hear the 10 Point Guards that are better than Rondo.

Currently, Nash, Rose, Wall, Westbrook, Paul, Williams, Parker, and Kidd are all better than Rondo. I think Rondo belongs in the tier with Jennings and Curry.

There is no way Rondo is in the same league as Jennings and Curry. Leading the league in assists and steals during the season makes him an elite point guard.
This blog is absurd sometimes.

Why does leading in assists and steals have to make him an "elite" point guard? He is also the worst free throw shooter, the leader in turnovers, not a threat shooting the ball, and has seen his stats decrease from last year in many important areas besides assists. There's more to the game than getting assists and steals. Curry is a very complete player, Rondo is not.

  Curry can't pass or handle the ball as well, rebound as well or defend as well as Rondo. Sounds "very complete".

[BballTim]

Saying Rondo is on par with Brandon Jennings and Steph Curry is just as insane as saying he's MVP.

  True.

[BballTim]

This blog is absurd sometimes.

  Sometimes?

[Redz]

MVP's don't have month long lapses where they could be confused for D-Leaguers.

I'm happy he's playing well, but not even close to an MVP season for Rondo.

[jdz101]

If Perk gets mentioned in this thread in anything thats not a joke I will be politely leaving this forum. 

[slamtheking]

If he's making a case for MVP, he waited a bit too long to make it.

[mc34]

When the playoffs come around, everyone will be calling Rondo the best point guard in the league again... We've seen how he likes to step up/change his game in the playoffs and big games and I have no doubt it'll happen again this year. Rondo is so far above Jennings its not even funny.

But anyway as for MVP discussions, if anyone on the Celtics deserves to be in consideration for MVP its Paul. This guy has put together perhaps the most complete season of his career, has been the go-to guy and most consistent player for our team, with little to no media buzz at all

[Vermont Green]

Boy, a lot of love and hate for Rondo.  My first post was on the harsh side so I want to follow up with something more positive.  Even though I am in the "Rondo is overrated" camp, I believe he has shown some signs of making the open shots he is being given every position.  This will change everything,  Rondo with a reasonably reliable shot could be a top 3 PG or maybe even a legitimate MVP consideration but until then, I think he is fighting for top 10 PG consideration.  And I do think that he will eventually figure out how to shoot.

[pearljammer10]

I'm very high on Rondo, I would take him at point guard over any other PG's in the league for this team, call me crazy, but I would. That being said, he had a great year, mostly, but his overall season is nowhere near MVP worthy.

[BballTim]

Boy, a lot of love and hate for Rondo.  My first post was on the harsh side so I want to follow up with something more positive.  Even though I am in the "Rondo is overrated" camp, I believe he has shown some signs of making the open shots he is being given every position.  This will change everything,  Rondo with a reasonably reliable shot could be a top 3 PG or maybe even a legitimate MVP consideration but until then, I think he is fighting for top 10 PG consideration.  And I do think that he will eventually figure out how to shoot.

  I think that falls squarely in the "Rondo is underrated" camp. Two straight years on the all defense team, two straight years as an all-star, arguably the best passer in the game and one of the best rebounding point guards in the league, and he's fighting for top 10 PG consideration?

[clover]

Even the guy ranking him 9th doesn't see him as a contender.  He just thinks that in going so deep for names someone should be included from the C's because of their record.

And of course when he's on, it's Rondo who stirs the proverbial Celtics drink.