Today's Knicks game is why you don't trade Rajon Rondo

[nickagneta]

Please Rajon, Im begging you...

Pretty please play with more consistency.

Im not asking you to drop these crazy triple doubles every game but there is no reason you cant put up 17 12 and 6-7 rbs while playing tough defense every single game.

Please maintain some consistency so I can go back to believing in you as a major piece of our next championship team.

Thanks bud.

I think this is unfair. Rondo is very consistent in the numbers he puts up. Let me rephrase that, he is as consistent as probably 90% of the players in the NBA on a night in night out basis.

Do you think Chris Paul is consistently throwing up 20/0/4 numbers every night? Here's his game log

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2779/chris-paul

He's had some pretty awful nights as compared to what is expected of him being a top 10 NBA player.

Do you think Deron Williams is a model of consistency?

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2798/deron-williams

Some fairly lousy games thrown in there.

Rondo is not a scoring guard. He's a pure passing PG that runs his team's offense, rebounds great for his size and plays great defense and that is his job. He can score but that isn't what he does. Its not what this team or system wants or needs from him.

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

[OsirusCeltics]

Maybe I jumped in the discussion late but if there's a true Celtics fan that's literally putting Jeremy Lin in the same discussion as Rondo , then you have no understanding of the overall game of basketball... Whoever is arguing back with him should cease that talk because that shows you how much they know about the game..

I think you should read what I said. And just because if you're a fan doesn't mean you have to abandon objectivity. I never said Lin was better than Rondo. I said Lin has a better half court game than Rondo. Hell, alot of top point guards have a better half court game than Rondo

[BballTim]

Maybe I jumped in the discussion late but if there's a true Celtics fan that's literally putting Jeremy Lin in the same discussion as Rondo , then you have no understanding of the overall game of basketball... Whoever is arguing back with him should cease that talk because that shows you how much they know about the game..

I think you should read what I said. And just because if you're a fan doesn't mean you have to abandon objectivity. I never said Lin was better than Rondo. I said Lin has a better half court game than Rondo. Hell, alot of top point guards have a better half court game than Rondo

  Lin isn't one of them. Look at how well Rondo passes, look at how well he runs the offense, look at how many mismatches he created for the team to exploit today. Lin does none of that.

[BballTim]

Today he was 0-6 with a turnover and 3 assists and no foul shots (even though we were in the penalty) as the lead slipped away.

  Two comments on this, by the way. One, and people might say he brought this on himself, but I think it's been very difficult for Rondo to get fouls called when he drives since his suspension. Two, and loathe though I am to say this in such a Rondo-hostile environment, I think that 0-6 is a fairly good sign. Rondo wasn't missing his shots because it was late in the game, he'd been a little off on his layups all day. But he generally doesn't attack the rim like that late in close games. If he keeps it up those shots will fall and it will make the Celts a better 4th quarter team.

[nickagneta]

Today he was 0-6 with a turnover and 3 assists and no foul shots (even though we were in the penalty) as the lead slipped away.

  Two comments on this, by the way. One, and people might say he brought this on himself, but I think it's been very difficult for Rondo to get fouls called when he drives since his suspension. Two, and loathe though I am to say this in such a Rondo-hostile environment, I think that 0-6 is a fairly good sign. Rondo wasn't missing his shots because it was late in the game, he'd been a little off on his layups all day. But he generally doesn't attack the rim like that late in close games. If he keeps it up those shots will fall and it will make the Celts a better 4th quarter team.

I agree with this. There were at least three times in each of the last two games where Rondo misses should have been Rondo going to the line due to being fouled. Its pretty apparent Rondo's not getting the contact foul going to the basket unless he is nearly beheaded.

[CoachBo]

Please Rajon, Im begging you...

Pretty please play with more consistency.

Im not asking you to drop these crazy triple doubles every game but there is no reason you cant put up 17 12 and 6-7 rbs while playing tough defense every single game.

Please maintain some consistency so I can go back to believing in you as a major piece of our next championship team.

Thanks bud.

I think this is unfair. Rondo is very consistent in the numbers he puts up. Let me rephrase that, he is as consistent as probably 90% of the players in the NBA on a night in night out basis.

Do you think Chris Paul is consistently throwing up 20/0/4 numbers every night? Here's his game log

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2779/chris-paul

He's had some pretty awful nights as compared to what is expected of him being a top 10 NBA player.

Do you think Deron Williams is a model of consistency?

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2798/deron-williams

Some fairly lousy games thrown in there.

Rondo is not a scoring guard. He's a pure passing PG that runs his team's offense, rebounds great for his size and plays great defense and that is his job. He can score but that isn't what he does. Its not what this team or system wants or needs from him.

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

Could not disagree with you any more, Nick, and this surprises me coming from you.

Rondo doesn't bring it every night, nor does he bring it enough and that ought to be obvious by the reappearance of trade talks - even if their only intent was to motivate his petulant self.

This guy could be one of the all-time greats if he cares enough to, and right now after SEVEN years the jury remains out on the "cares" question - and one or two games doesn't change that.

He is indeed wildly inconsistent, in effort and in numbers, and it should be obvious by now how frustrated Ainge and Doc are with that.

Today's performance just reinforces that. Rondo's got to grow up at some point here and play like a pro every night.

If he ever does - and I am going to have to see it to believe it - he could be a hall of famer. But the bottles at TVs and basketballs at officials have to stop.

[Greenbean]

Please Rajon, Im begging you...

Pretty please play with more consistency.

Im not asking you to drop these crazy triple doubles every game but there is no reason you cant put up 17 12 and 6-7 rbs while playing tough defense every single game.

Please maintain some consistency so I can go back to believing in you as a major piece of our next championship team.

Thanks bud.

I think this is unfair. Rondo is very consistent in the numbers he puts up. Let me rephrase that, he is as consistent as probably 90% of the players in the NBA on a night in night out basis.

Do you think Chris Paul is consistently throwing up 20/0/4 numbers every night? Here's his game log

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2779/chris-paul

He's had some pretty awful nights as compared to what is expected of him being a top 10 NBA player.

Do you think Deron Williams is a model of consistency?

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2798/deron-williams

Some fairly lousy games thrown in there.

Rondo is not a scoring guard. He's a pure passing PG that runs his team's offense, rebounds great for his size and plays great defense and that is his job. He can score but that isn't what he does. Its not what this team or system wants or needs from him.

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

It's not a microscope thing and it is well documented.

Even KG said the other night how well Rondo played and how good he is. Then he capped off his quote with "it always comes down to consistency".

Jackie MacMullan just posted an article basically saying the same thing.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/7645973/rajon-rondo-turns-boston-celtics-shuts-jeremy-lin


Rondo can go 4-5 games where he looks like the most exciting player in the league...and the Celtics usually win at those times. Then hell go 2-3 games and just look...ordinary.

Also, I looked at the game logs and I saw 2 much more consistent players.

But I dont want to get into this right now...

I posted to basically say...wow Rondo, youre looking good and sustaining it..keep it up!

[manl_lui]

I bet someone is going to say "Today's Bobcat game is why you SHOULD trade for Deron Williams"

I'm still more impressed by Rondo's triple double

[Greenbean]

Today he was 0-6 with a turnover and 3 assists and no foul shots (even though we were in the penalty) as the lead slipped away.

  Two comments on this, by the way. One, and people might say he brought this on himself, but I think it's been very difficult for Rondo to get fouls called when he drives since his suspension. Two, and loathe though I am to say this in such a Rondo-hostile environment, I think that 0-6 is a fairly good sign. Rondo wasn't missing his shots because it was late in the game, he'd been a little off on his layups all day. But he generally doesn't attack the rim like that late in close games. If he keeps it up those shots will fall and it will make the Celts a better 4th quarter team.

Agree with this one.

Ronod didnt change the way he played in the 4th...his shots just werent falling.

He was attacking, playing defense, and dishing.

What changed in the 4th is that the Celtics couldnt get stops!

[PosImpos]

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

Eh, I think the idea that Rondo is an inconsistent player is not held only among the community at Celticsblog.

I trust Jackie MacMullen more than pretty much anybody else who writes about the Celtics, and she readily recognizes and acknowledges that Rondo is an inconsistent player whose play often depends on the opponent and the stage.

[BballTim]

Please Rajon, Im begging you...

Pretty please play with more consistency.

Im not asking you to drop these crazy triple doubles every game but there is no reason you cant put up 17 12 and 6-7 rbs while playing tough defense every single game.

Please maintain some consistency so I can go back to believing in you as a major piece of our next championship team.

Thanks bud.

I think this is unfair. Rondo is very consistent in the numbers he puts up. Let me rephrase that, he is as consistent as probably 90% of the players in the NBA on a night in night out basis.

Do you think Chris Paul is consistently throwing up 20/0/4 numbers every night? Here's his game log

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2779/chris-paul

He's had some pretty awful nights as compared to what is expected of him being a top 10 NBA player.

Do you think Deron Williams is a model of consistency?

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2798/deron-williams

Some fairly lousy games thrown in there.

Rondo is not a scoring guard. He's a pure passing PG that runs his team's offense, rebounds great for his size and plays great defense and that is his job. He can score but that isn't what he does. Its not what this team or system wants or needs from him.

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

Could not disagree with you any more, Nick, and this surprises me coming from you.

Rondo doesn't bring it every night, nor does he bring it enough and that ought to be obvious by the reappearance of trade talks - even if their only intent was to motivate his petulant self.

This guy could be one of the all-time greats if he cares enough to, and right now after SEVEN years the jury remains out on the "cares" question - and one or two games doesn't change that.

He is indeed wildly inconsistent, in effort and in numbers, and it should be obvious by now how frustrated Ainge and Doc are with that.

Today's performance just reinforces that. Rondo's got to grow up at some point here and play like a pro every night.

If he ever does - and I am going to have to see it to believe it - he could be a hall of famer. But the bottles at TVs and basketballs at officials have to stop.

  Nick's right, to a point. Rondo goes for  18/17/20 and people debate every flaw and every misstep in that game. Deron scores 57, and people are wowed. What did Deron do wrong in that game? Nobody knows, so everybody assumes it was just a great game. Deron didn't look any better than Rondo did on an off night when they played the Celts, but people undoubtedly see that as a rarity.

  On the other hand, many of the top point guards will put up numbers that look more consistent than Rondo's. That's the nature of their roles on the teams. Some nights Rondo's the first option on offense, some nights he's the 4th. Williams, Rose and Westbrook are always first options, Paul's probably second option this year.

   Having a different role on a regular basis will add a lot of inconsistency to your stats. Having a number of nights when you don't take many shots magnifies that. Someone said that CP3 and Deron's numbers don't seem inconsistent. That's mainly from taking more shots and scoring more points every night. Scoring 4 points one night and 18 the next looks pretty inconsistent, scoring 14 one night and 28 the next doesn't.

[BballTim]

I think Rondo is as consistent as any player. he's just under a larger microscope here at Celticsblog because there exists a very vocal minority that appears to want everything to change with this team because.....well, I don't know why, but its fairly obvious they don't want this team in its current form any longer.

Eh, I think the idea that Rondo is an inconsistent player is not held only among the community at Celticsblog.

I trust Jackie MacMullen more than pretty much anybody else who writes about the Celtics, and she readily recognizes and acknowledges that Rondo is an inconsistent player whose play often depends on the opponent and the stage.

  I think the whole thing about Rondo playing better against certain opponents was a lot more true 3-4 years ago and it's just stuck in people's heads, to the point where people hunt for reasons that Rondo play better in a given game. He might get up a *little* more for big games like most good players do but I'll guess that if you look at his game logs for the last year or two you'll see plenty of big games that weren't against CP3 or Deron or Rose or Nash or Westbrook. It's clearly true that he plays better in the playoffs, but that's a different story.

[KGs Knee]

Ok, so I just finished reading through all 9 pages of the thread.  Here are a couple of points that really struck me.

-Wow, it's just amazing how different people can watch the same game and come away with such widley differing opinons on what really happened.

-Rondo, love him, hate him or otherwise, is an absolutely polarizing individual.  It's amazing how heated discussions about him get.  Some of the arguments I read were histerical.

I also want to pose a question to those who doubt Rondo.  Tell me what other player in the league is capable of putting up the numbers Rondo did today?  He may not be an elite scorer, but he affects the game in so many ways.

The one point I would concede about Rondo is his consistency.  I don't think it's anywhere near the issue some claim it, but it is an issue.  Just think though, if Rondo was as consistenly good as he could be, he'd be a top 5 player (possibly the best).

[bfrombleacher]

It's clearly true that he plays better in the playoffs, but that's a different story.

That's not a bad thing at all...right?

[5.9.20.34.43]

Ok, so I just finished reading through all 9 pages of the thread.  Here are a couple of points that really struck me.

-Wow, it's just amazing how different people can watch the same game and come away with such widley differing opinons on what really happened.

-Rondo, love him, hate him or otherwise, is an absolutely polarizing individual.  It's amazing how heated discussions about him get.  Some of the arguments I read were histerical.

I also want to pose a question to those who doubt Rondo.  Tell me what other player in the league is capable of putting up the numbers Rondo did today?  He may not be an elite scorer, but he affects the  game in so many ways.   




Summed up perfectly..thank you goodnight.

The one point I would concede about Rondo is his consistency.  I don't think it's anywhere near the issue some claim it, but it is an issue.  Just think though, if Rondo was as consistenly good as he could be, he'd be a top 5 player (possibly the best).