Rondo has been angry the Celtics are shopping him

[BballTim]

Here is my opinion on Rondo and this Celtic team.
Rondo is the type of PG who is first and foremost
a play creator. He needs snipers to surround him.
They have been in place as long as he's been in Boston.
What I just said is a massive understatement. Rondo's
assists exist just as much for the talents of Ray, Paul,
Kevin, as they do for his own abilities. At least as
much.
But when the Big 3 start to retire, they will have
to be replaced with 2-3 shooters of the same caliber.
Not just at SG but also at PF and SF. So, yes a team
can be built around Rondo, it's just not going to be
offensively as lethal without top-of-the-line shooting
cast to surround Rondo.
Now, when you get a PG who is also lethal with the FG,
and who's layups don't roll around the rim half the time,
the need to surround him with as many sharp shooters
declines, so you can surround that shooting PG with
a more aggressive basket-charging PF or SF.
So I am of the camp which says the Celtics will be
better served by moving him for a shooting PG, because
you want to have that variety and flexibility going
forward with your best scorers nearing retirement.
A team that will be more difficult to defend against
because the PG is also feared as a shooter.

Exactly what I said about Shaq. Everyone and their mother said Shaq played well (before the injury) because of RR's passing abilities, well who do you credit when he produced the same (better even, when it was the middle of the season and even better the season before Clev.) the season b4 Boston?

  Shaq's spent his entire career hitting between 56% and 61% of his shots. Last year he hit 67% of them. I'd say that Rondo had a lot to do with that.

His shots changed last year though, too.  Pretty much just flushing lobs.  

  14% of his baskets last year were dunks, which is almost certainly a career low. But most of his shots were fairly easy, a lot of that was due to great passing and a well run offense.

Perhaps for the first time in his career he was lining up on the weak side, pretty much only getting the ball when defenses cheated off him.  That makes for a higher fg%, most likely, regardless of whether he flushed or dropped it in.  Since his range is about two feet, the precise type of shot probably doesn't matter.

In any case, I don't think it takes a top 5 PG to throw lobs to a guy that's 7'2, 350lbs, with great hands, and highly favored by the officials...pretty easy target.

In other words, I don't think Rondo really deserves much credit for whatever level of success Shaq had early last year.

The credit should go to Doc, who figured out how to use Shaq effectively (without clogging the paint).  The coaches in Cle and Phx clearly did not.

 To a certain extent I agree with you but I think Rondo gets more credit than you're giving him. He does a great job of directing players around and creating mismatches, and the timing and the accuracy of his passing is as good as you'll see. Most of the time I watch other teams play I see point guards miss plays that Rondo makes because they don't see the play, miss the window for when the pass can be made or don't have the skill to thread the pass.

  A lot of what Rondo does is fairly subtle, driving his defender to one spot, causing an interior defender to shift and making a pass neither defender can get that leads one of the bigs to an easy basket. It looks easy but most pgs don't have the knack for it that he does, and it results in a lot of easy layups/dunks for mainly older players who don't have the quickness or leaping ability they used to.

[action781]

Or better advice:  Talk to your vets Paul Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen and learn that in this league, your name is going to get brought up in trade rumors if you're any good.  Sometimes you'll get traded (ask KG and sometimes it will work out for the better) and sometimes you won't (ask Pierce).  If it's a somewhat discomforting feeling, then OK, I can understand that should be natural.  But angry?  Grow up; it's part of the business.

[celtics2]

Well uuummmm, ya can't shoot Pilgrim.....

[PosImpos]

Things Rondo could do to avoid trade rumors in the future:

1.  Work on his attitude;

2.  Develop his jumper;

3.  Learn to hit free throws;

4.  Bring consistent effort at all times;

5.  Don't disappear for the last quarter of the season.

That's perhaps harsh, but I also think it's fair.  He's a great player, but he's not flawless.  As long as there are big holes in his game, the team will inevitably explore upgrades.

basically you nailed it.

[Chris]

Good, he needs to get angry, and turn it into motivation. 

[ACF]

I thought of something recently:
 
Do you think Danny "planted" the R2 trade rumors in the media? Had someone throw something out there? To see if a mad Rajon Rondo is a productive and consistent basketball player. lso to let everyone know who's in charge. We'll see how Rondo reacts.

[Chris]

I thought of something recently:
 
Do you think Danny "planted" the R2 trade rumors in the media? Had someone throw something out there? To see if a mad Rajon Rondo is a productive and consistent basketball player. lso to let everyone know who's in charge. We'll see how Rondo reacts.

Neh.  I think Danny is really exploring every trade that could make the team better, and for the right price, Chris Paul would make this team significantly better. 

If someone leaked the story, I would have my money on NOH, to get teams thinking that Rondo isn't enough to get Paul.

[action781]

I thought of something recently:
 
Do you think Danny "planted" the R2 trade rumors in the media? Had someone throw something out there? To see if a mad Rajon Rondo is a productive and consistent basketball player. lso to let everyone know who's in charge. We'll see how Rondo reacts.

Neh.  I think Danny is really exploring every trade that could make the team better, and for the right price, Chris Paul would make this team significantly better. 

If someone leaked the story, I would have my money on NOH, to get teams thinking that Rondo isn't enough to get Paul.

I agree with both points

[Marcus13]

It's pretty well documented that Rondo is a very emotional person.  He's going to have to get more head-strong to survive in this league

[BballTim]

It's pretty well documented that Rondo is a very emotional person.  He's going to have to get more head-strong to survive in this league

  It's well documented that he's head-strong and stubborn and confident. I doubt he's near the top of the team in terms of being overly emotional. For starters, I'd put KG and Baby well ahead of him.

[Redz]

Good, he needs to get angry, and turn it into motivation. 

not sulking and disappearing for two months?

[Meadowlark_Scal]

Well, on the one hand..he should be mad....it is anti-loyalty...and most would feel the same...but, at the same time...it is a business....he is well paid...and this is the company he works for..that is trying to get ahead. But,if the players realized that they worked for these teams, and the fans..they would have never gone on strike..!

[tenn_smoothie]

Things Rondo could do to avoid trade rumors in the future:

1.  Work on his attitude;

2.  Develop his jumper;

3.  Learn to hit free throws;

4.  Bring consistent effort at all times;

5.  Don't disappear for the last quarter of the season.

That's perhaps harsh, but I also think it's fair.  He's a great player, but he's not flawless.  As long as there are big holes in his game, the team will inevitably explore upgrades.

"develop his jumper" - i thnk he has worked hard on this part of his game - but his shooting form is so fundamentally bad, it makes improvement very difficult.

"learn to hit free throws" - ditto, plus the added problem that i think he now has a mental block when he goes to the line.

"don't disappear for the last quarter of the season" - emotion plays a big part in Rondo's game, i thnk he's actually a little fragile in this area, though when he is in good shape emotionally and feels wanted, he will literally give the Celtics his right (or left) arm in an effort to help the team. also, while you may not want to hear this again, it's not any less true - Rondo was torn up over the Perk trade and it threw him off (then again, it threw the whole team off).

one other thing - i don't blame Rondo for being angry over the way Danny has shopped him.

[MF Doom]

Fans of other teams don't value Rondo nearly as much as we do. Maybe thats because they only see him play a few times a year. But still, I find it a little weird. Thunder fans on their board laughed at the Westbrook for Rondo trade rumors, saying Rondo has hit his ceiling, while Westbrook has so much more room to grow.

Has Rondo hit his ceiling? Besides the obvious, what else could he possibly improve on?

[LB3533]

Rondo will be entering his 6th year. He is what he is.

He's a great playmaker, a stellar defender, but he has flaws in his game and to get the most out of Rondo, YOUR team NEEDS other great pieces.

CP3 will be entering his 7th season and he is a legit League MVP contender each and every year. YOUR team don't need great pieces with CP3, you can have a nice David West and an aging Peja as your 3rd best player and still compete out in the Western Conference.

If you put CP3 with other GREAT talent, that team is going to dominate.