Let's be real here folks. Rondo is a very nice player and one of the better PG's in the league. He has a lot of areas where he is best in the league, but a few where he really struggles. He is by no means a complete PG who would be considered an all-time great. That being said, he is a nice trading chip to build a contender. Let's not forget the Champions of the past years and who led their teams:
Nowitzki, Kobe, Pierce, Duncan, Wade, Shaq/Kobe, Jordan, Hakeem, Magic, Bird, Kareem, etc...
The only PG that arguably led their team to a Championship, because I don't think Magic really counts at the PG spot, is Isaiah Thomas. Rondo is no Isaiah Thomas. He doesn't have the scoring ability to consistently take over a game. Isaiah was a Hall of Famer and one of the best of all time consistently throughout his career. Rondo, while very good, isn't anywhere near that level.
If the goal truly is a Championship, then putting all your eggs in the "Let Rondo be the cornerstone of this team" basket is a horrible plan. Championships are won with all-stars at the 3,4, and/or 5 spots. Not with PG's with huge holes in their game.
Why not face the fact that we are not going to win with this team. While Ray, Pierce, and KG at one point were championship material, they all aren't now. KG isn't anywhere near the defensive presence he once was, and we don't have any consistency at the 5 spot to back him up with JO not healthy enough to be dependable. Rather than spend this year and next pretending we have a shot, let's ensure that we won't wallow in another 20 years of mediocrity by using Rondo to give us a chance at maintaining a winning team and with a little luck contend again. If not, 2 years from now we are likely to be the Washington Wizards...
Trying to skew your argument by saying Magic doesn't count as a point guard is fairly nonsensical. Which point guard duties did he not do? Aside from that, is anyone claiming that Rondo is going to be the cornerstone going forward? How about a building block, one of the 2-3 good/great players you need to win a title? And someone better phone KG and tell him that he isn't anywhere near the defensive presence he once was, and we don't have any consistency at the 5 spot to back him up. We're 3rd or so in defense right now. Considering the fact that we were in the 20s after a dozen games or so, I'd wager that over the last month or so our defense has been significantly better than any other defense in the league.
You make Rondo, or any other PG 6 foot 9, and you might be right about Magic, but he was a PG only because of how deep that team was. You can put PG in front of Pierce's name as well and I would argue we do better in the half court, but that doesn't make him a PG. I seem to recall one of those Championships of Magic's was won with him playing the Center spot. Grow Rondo 9-10 inches and give him Magic's scoring ability and we can discuss that.
As far as KG goes, we are playing great defense in spite of KG. He has been horrible compared to the KG of 2008. He's rebounding at a 30% lower clip than his career avg. His steals are 50% lower than career avg. His blocks are down 30%. Of the big 3, KG has by far the most miles and it shows.
KG's minutes are way down from his career average. His rebound rate has been pretty steady since he got to boston in 07-08. Also, he is blocking shots this year at a rate not seen since his days in minesota.
Clearly KG has lost some athletic ability, but in his prime, KG was an absolute freak athletically.
Now he is still above average athletically compared to other players his size. He is still very effective in the Celtics defensive schemes and he's even shown me some new tricks by playing some dang good one on one defense on centers this year.
He is still an elite defensive player.
KG's minutes are down 15% from his career avg this season. His steals down 50%, rebounds and blocks down 30%. How do you not label that as his stats being down considerably in spite of his reduced minutes. If his minutes were down 30% then you'd have a point, but the stats don't lie. In key defensive numbers he is down dramatically even with his reduced time. KG was definitely an elite beast defensively in the past and arguably one of the greatest ever, however he is nowhere near that level and now plays at a "good" level. In 08 he was a much better player than Rondo. Not anymore. That's kind of the whole point of the thread.
Well you are exaggerating the decline of KG to make your point.
He has clearly lost some of his rebounding ability but his defense is still elite.
Steals and blocks can be very misleading to judge a defender.
Avery Bradley averages .4 spg and I think he is one of the best defenders at his position in the league, if not the best.
What I am saying is that he has regressed from top 2-3 EVER defensively at his position to top 5 in the league at his position.
You're original post had him pegged as washed up as a defender. At least thats what I read with the tone of your post.
Topic: PG's Do NOT Lead a Team to a Championship (Read 13629 times)