Rajon Rondo is a top 5 player in the nba

[Juneauz]

I would pick Rajon Rondo over Derrick Rose every day of the week, that's not even close.
If I had to make an overall talent list, right now RR is ranking 7th-8th in the league in my book

[Neurotic Guy]

Rondo needs to shoot better to be considered a top 10 player.
When 64% from the line is considered an improvement, you've got troubles. 

His high FG% is mainly due to points in the paint and though he does have a good 3pt% currently, let's see what it is after more than 7 attempts (maybe at 30 attempts we can begin to look at his % realistically).

Love him.  Top 20 maybe, but he can't carry a team the way top 5 guys do. 

[OmarSekou]

I have him as the 2nd best PG behind Paul (haven't seen DWill, Rose, or Paul this season).

Here's what he does well: He's very fast and can dribble so he can get anywhere he wants. He has unnatural court vision (Nash, Paul, and maybe DWill have this...Kidd does but he's not quick enough to create openings to set people up anymore). The most important thing is he's a good decision maker. Because of all that he consistently gets good shots for the Celtics.

The only PGs that really can do all of that are Paul, DWill (whose not quite as good at it), Nash, and Rose/Westbrook (who do that by creating shots for themselves).

He also plays great D and rebounds. He gambles a bit much, but he's the best defensive PG in basketball (quick hands, quick feet, great instincts). He uses his freakish length, timing and quickness to knife in and out for rebounds. He is fearless in driving in the lane or going up for rebounds.

The knock on Rondo is that he can't shoot, but he consistently gets good shots for the Celtics. His problem is only a flaw in the fourth quarter when teams play off of him. He can either take over a game at that point or fade away, but the problem is he's inconsistent in crunch time (Paul, DWill, and Rose never are). However, I think everything else he does puts him above everyone else but Paul.

The biggest issue with Rondo that no one talks about is his size. He's thin and he's reckless and usually gets hurt by the midway point (never gets reported but it's always noticeable). This isn't a huge issue because Rondo at 85% is still a top 5 PG, but he gets slammed way too much.

Long post I know.

[celtsfan84]

And JaJuan Johnson is the best power forward in league history.  And Avery Bradley is a competent NBA player. And E'Twaun Moore is the next David Thompson.

[CoachBo]

When Rondo plays EVERY night the way he played last night, then he's a top 20 player.

Top 5? No.

And the problem is, he doesn't show up to play every night like last night.

[nickagneta]

What I think really holds Rondo back from being a truly top player is that he takes nights off against lesser competition. Whether that is lesser overall team competition or lesser overall PG competition doesn't matter, he does it.

Last night he was going up against what a lot of people have anointed as the next great young PG, John Wall. That gets under Rondo's skin and he plays better because of it. My guess is you will see Rondo bringing his "A" game versus Cleveland and Kyrie Irving as well.

But when Rondo plays the Jacks, Calderons, Stuckeys, Teagues and Augustins of the NBA, expect him to disappear defensively and have a very inconsistent game. I love Rondo, but, its what he does at times and it really subtracts from him as a top player.

[stylo617617]

When Rondo plays EVERY night the way he played last night, then he's a top 20 player.

Top 5? No.

And the problem is, he doesn't show up to play every night like last night.

if rondo plays like he did last nite wont he average a triple double ? or close to it?

RIGHT NOW the only players playing better than rondo in the leauge are the top truly gifted players of out time

1.LBJ
2.KD
3.WADE
4.Dwight
5.rondo/kobe/rose are tied to me for that 5 spot as far as THIS SEASON so far

[BballTim]

What I think really holds Rondo back from being a truly top player is that he takes nights off against lesser competition. Whether that is lesser overall team competition or lesser overall PG competition doesn't matter, he does it.

Last night he was going up against what a lot of people have anointed as the next great young PG, John Wall. That gets under Rondo's skin and he plays better because of it. My guess is you will see Rondo bringing his "A" game versus Cleveland and Kyrie Irving as well.

But when Rondo plays the Jacks, Calderons, Stuckeys, Teagues and Augustins of the NBA, expect him to disappear defensively and have a very inconsistent game. I love Rondo, but, its what he does at times and it really subtracts from him as a top player.

  I'd say that's more myth than fact. Lets face it, there are more bad point guards in the league than elite ones. If your claim were true Rondo would be known as  a mediocre point guard. This isn't the case. It was somewhat true 3-4 years ago but not really over the last couple of years.

[RyNye]

Here is a good article about Rondo, and his importance to the Celtics offense: Running on Rondo

Of course, most of the people on this forum will just ignore it and continue to call for Rondo's to score more, because the only way to win a basketball game is to huck shots at the basket and hope some go in.

[Greenbean]

Here is a good article about Rondo, and his importance to the Celtics offense: Running on Rondo

Of course, most of the people on this forum will just ignore it and continue to call for Rondo's to score more, because the only way to win a basketball game is to huck shots at the basket and hope some go in.

When did Celtics blog turn into a place where every other post is someone trying to call out "most people on this forum"?

Its getting rediculous and Im losing interest in being here.

Its petty, and highly unproductive to having good conversations about basketball.

[mqtcelticsfan]

Of course, most of the people on this forum will just ignore it and continue to call for Rondo's to score more, because the only way to win a basketball game is to huck shots at the basket and hope some go in.

Do you really think that's what we're saying? Scoring is different than chucking. What makes the best players so great is that they can score almost at will, not that they can get their Jamal Crawford on and shoot all night. They demand constant double teams and can take over the game night in and night out. Rajon barely requires a guy on him at all times, let alone two. His jumpshot and willingness to shoot it are so poor that his man on defense often ignores him entirely. Try that with Wade or LeBron and see what happens.

[Greenbean]

What I think really holds Rondo back from being a truly top player is that he takes nights off against lesser competition. Whether that is lesser overall team competition or lesser overall PG competition doesn't matter, he does it.

Last night he was going up against what a lot of people have anointed as the next great young PG, John Wall. That gets under Rondo's skin and he plays better because of it. My guess is you will see Rondo bringing his "A" game versus Cleveland and Kyrie Irving as well.

But when Rondo plays the Jacks, Calderons, Stuckeys, Teagues and Augustins of the NBA, expect him to disappear defensively and have a very inconsistent game. I love Rondo, but, its what he does at times and it really subtracts from him as a top player.

Yeah he doesnt seem to play with the same laser focus on defense consistently for 82 games.

It really is that "last step" for a star in this league, and it still may take another year before he can do this. When you think about all that he is resposible for

The great thing I have seen so far is that Rondo has been in attack mode, whther it is scoring or passing for almost every minute he has been on offense this year. It's nice to see.

[Greenbean]

What I think really holds Rondo back from being a truly top player is that he takes nights off against lesser competition. Whether that is lesser overall team competition or lesser overall PG competition doesn't matter, he does it.

Last night he was going up against what a lot of people have anointed as the next great young PG, John Wall. That gets under Rondo's skin and he plays better because of it. My guess is you will see Rondo bringing his "A" game versus Cleveland and Kyrie Irving as well.

But when Rondo plays the Jacks, Calderons, Stuckeys, Teagues and Augustins of the NBA, expect him to disappear defensively and have a very inconsistent game. I love Rondo, but, its what he does at times and it really subtracts from him as a top player.

  I'd say that's more myth than fact. Lets face it, there are more bad point guards in the league than elite ones. If your claim were true Rondo would be known as  a mediocre point guard. This isn't the case. It was somewhat true 3-4 years ago but not really over the last couple of years.

My take on what Nick is saying here is that Rondo seems to revert to his gambling, back tapping defensive game against inferior opponents where in games like last night, Wall could barely get a step on Rondo because he was moving his feet like a madman.


I think he is a much more consistent player on offense now, but defensively, I think he can still get to another level, and expect him to do so.

Edit: I just realized you are basically having this same conversation in abother thread.

[drza44]

When I played basketball in elementary and junior high, I was able to get away with being more athletic than everyone else.  I was quicker than them and I hustled, so I could get ridiculous numbers of steals just by thieving from the unwary.  I could get to the rim at will, so either scoring or setting up my teammates was a breeze even though I couldn't shoot very well.  Then, I got to high school and suddenly there was more strategy and more athletes and more height and the tricks that I used to use didn't work as well anymore.

I say that because, to me, that's what I see in Rondo.  Even at the NBA level he's going to be quicker and more explosive than almost everyone.  So against most of the teams in the NBA on most nights he has the potential to kill them with speed.  He can disrupt on defense, and he can break down their defenses by just being quick and decisive.

Unfortunately, like I found out in high school, there is always a higher level.  And when we go against the ultra elite of the league, especially in crucial games, Rondo can no longer just out-athlete everyone.  When we faced the Lakers in 2010, with their size up front and Kobe playing Rondo to shoot, his effectiveness went WAY down.  When playing against the Heat, who have ultra athletes that are almost as quick as Rondo but jump a LOT higher we've seen Rondo be unable to finish effectively and thus lose a lot of effectiveness.  And this is a problem, because teams like the 2010 Lakers or the current Heat are EXACTLY who we have to go through to get to the promised land.

Rondo is an excellent player.  But the reason that he's not top-5 is that when other teams game-plan against him, his impact goes so far down.  The Celtics as constructed can't depend on Rondo to be a top-5 player because he can't BE a top-5 player against every team.  But the hope...what would have gotten them a title in 2010 had KG's knee been healthier, and what maybe would have gotten them past the Heat last year had Rondo (and maybe Shaq) been healthier, is that the team can do so many things in so many different ways.  If everyone is healthy, then taking away Rondo's drives should open things up for the rest of the players on the squad to perform.

But to answer the OP, no, Rondo's not a top-5 player.  But if everything else goes right health-wise on this team, we don't need him to be.

[Celtics18]

When I played basketball in elementary and junior high, I was able to get away with being more athletic than everyone else.  I was quicker than them and I hustled, so I could get ridiculous numbers of steals just by thieving from the unwary.  I could get to the rim at will, so either scoring or setting up my teammates was a breeze even though I couldn't shoot very well.  Then, I got to high school and suddenly there was more strategy and more athletes and more height and the tricks that I used to use didn't work as well anymore.

I say that because, to me, that's what I see in Rondo.  Even at the NBA level he's going to be quicker and more explosive than almost everyone.  So against most of the teams in the NBA on most nights he has the potential to kill them with speed.  He can disrupt on defense, and he can break down their defenses by just being quick and decisive.

Unfortunately, like I found out in high school, there is always a higher level.  And when we go against the ultra elite of the league, especially in crucial games, Rondo can no longer just out-athlete everyone.  When we faced the Lakers in 2010, with their size up front and Kobe playing Rondo to shoot, his effectiveness went WAY down.  When playing against the Heat, who have ultra athletes that are almost as quick as Rondo but jump a LOT higher we've seen Rondo be unable to finish effectively and thus lose a lot of effectiveness.  And this is a problem, because teams like the 2010 Lakers or the current Heat are EXACTLY who we have to go through to get to the promised land.

Rondo is an excellent player.  But the reason that he's not top-5 is that when other teams game-plan against him, his impact goes so far down.  The Celtics as constructed can't depend on Rondo to be a top-5 player because he can't BE a top-5 player against every team.  But the hope...what would have gotten them a title in 2010 had KG's knee been healthier, and what maybe would have gotten them past the Heat last year had Rondo (and maybe Shaq) been healthier, is that the team can do so many things in so many different ways.  If everyone is healthy, then taking away Rondo's drives should open things up for the rest of the players on the squad to perform.

But to answer the OP, no, Rondo's not a top-5 player.  But if everything else goes right health-wise on this team, we don't need him to be.

Thanks for the nice post, but I think you are selling Rondo short if you think he gets by primarily on his athleticism.

Yes, Rondo's one of the fastest guys in the league and quick to the ball with long arms, but his vision and court sense are what sets him apart as an elite point guard.  There are a lot of comparable athletes out there who will never be the player that Rondo is.  Think of our own Avery Bradley as an example of this.