The problem with Rondo yesterday and maybe for his career

[Roy H.]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

[Celtics18]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I doubt Rondo ever becomes Tony Parker.  That accent will be way too hard for him to get right. 

[BballTim]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

  Rondo's been better than Parker the last few years. Parker was arguably better than Rondo this year, depending on what you want from a point guard. Parker's the better scorer but not the passer, rebounder or defender Rondo is and doesn't really run an offense as well. Remember all the threads before the season about where Rondo ranked among the top point guards? Parker didn't figure too prominantly in those discussions.

[CoachBo]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I'm less worried now about his jump shooting as I am his hyper-willingness to stop attacking and just sit out front pounding the basketball.

[Fafnir]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I'm less worried now about his jump shooting as I am his hyper-willingness to stop attacking and just sit out front pounding the basketball.

Yeah I'm not a fan of possessions where the only movement ends up being off the ball movement.

Everything works better when we start the offense at 18-20 seconds with this and that gives time for a secondary attack on the defense.

[Spicoli]

I think Rondos biggest problem is his fear of being fouled. I think that messes up his game more than anything else. It stops him from being aggressive to the hoop, and when he finally does drive he throws up circus layups that never go in because he doesn't want the contact.

[BballTim]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I'm less worried now about his jump shooting as I am his hyper-willingness to stop attacking and just sit out front pounding the basketball.

Yeah I'm not a fan of possessions where the only movement ends up being off the ball movement.

  I'm somewhat curious about how much of that we'll see when Ray's gone.

[Fafnir]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I'm less worried now about his jump shooting as I am his hyper-willingness to stop attacking and just sit out front pounding the basketball.

Yeah I'm not a fan of possessions where the only movement ends up being off the ball movement.

  I'm somewhat curious about how much of that we'll see when Ray's gone.

They run a lot of plays like that to give Pierce good position to attack or KG good position in the post too. So we'll still see it some, but Ray is the player who dictates the most attention off the ball so its an interesting thought.

[BballTim]

I can live with his jump-shooting, so long as he's playing aggressively.  Sometimes turns a little bit too much into a perimeter player.  We need him penetrating and looking for his own offense.

Rondo is fully capable of becoming Tony Parker with better passing.  I hope he gets there some day.

I'm less worried now about his jump shooting as I am his hyper-willingness to stop attacking and just sit out front pounding the basketball.

Yeah I'm not a fan of possessions where the only movement ends up being off the ball movement.

  I'm somewhat curious about how much of that we'll see when Ray's gone.

They run a lot of plays like that to give Pierce good position to attack or KG good position in the post too. So we'll still see it some, but Ray is the player who dictates the most attention off the ball so its an interesting thought.

  True, but the ones with Ray take the longest with all the movement to shake him free of his defender.

[Chelm]

Maybe, just maybe, Rondo has decided that he wants to leave the NBA as the greatest assist leader that ever lived and he has that as his main goal. He does look for an assist as his 1st, 2nd, and 3rd option. If he can score as easy as he can have an assist, he will take that assist. Thats fine and dandy to get everybody involved; thats what a point guard supposed to do, BUT, when he tries  getting an assist more importsnt than making a bsaket or two, and the team suffers because of it, you wonder why is he doing it. In mho, I believe he wants to leave his mark as the best assist leader in the game. He really has nothing else to motivate him. If Im wrong, then why are so many fans worried about his alleged poor judgment in not trying to score when he doesnt have uch a bad jumpshot after all? Food for thought.

No way in hell is he passing Stockton.  Tell him that, and then tell him to shoot.

[D.o.s.]

I'd like to add that while OKC's style has been successfully, it remains to be seen if they can win it all playing that way.  I wonder if the Thunder would be a better team with Rajon Rondo running the show as a true point guard.  

They wouldn't. Westbrook may be a gunner, but when he has it going he absolutely buries teams (example: Lakers, Los Angeles Game 6). Durant's a better scorer and Harden's probably got a better basketball IQ than either of them, but the Thunder need Westbrook's intensity.


The problem with Rondo is that throughout the game he'll stagnate the offense and fail to drive to the hoop. Of course, there's always the chance that he'll miss the wide open layup, too.

[BballTim]

I'd like to add that while OKC's style has been successfully, it remains to be seen if they can win it all playing that way.  I wonder if the Thunder would be a better team with Rajon Rondo running the show as a true point guard.  

They wouldn't. Westbrook may be a gunner, but when he has it going he absolutely buries teams (example: Lakers, Los Angeles Game 6). Durant's a better scorer and Harden's probably got a better basketball IQ than either of them, but the Thunder need Westbrook's intensity.


The problem with Rondo is that throughout the game he'll stagnate the offense and fail to drive to the hoop. Of course, there's always the chance that he'll miss the wide open layup, too.

  Westbrook scores much less efficiently than Durant or Harden but takes more shots than either of them. And the stagnating offense is more related to a lineup full of players in their mid-30s than you realize.

[D.o.s.]

I'd like to add that while OKC's style has been successfully, it remains to be seen if they can win it all playing that way.  I wonder if the Thunder would be a better team with Rajon Rondo running the show as a true point guard.  

They wouldn't. Westbrook may be a gunner, but when he has it going he absolutely buries teams (example: Lakers, Los Angeles Game 6). Durant's a better scorer and Harden's probably got a better basketball IQ than either of them, but the Thunder need Westbrook's intensity.


The problem with Rondo is that throughout the game he'll stagnate the offense and fail to drive to the hoop. Of course, there's always the chance that he'll miss the wide open layup, too.

  Westbrook scores much less efficiently than Durant or Harden but takes more shots than either of them. And the stagnating offense is more related to a lineup full of players in their mid-30s than you realize.

To quote Kevin Durant, the Thunder need Westbrook to be taking all those shots. Put a more normal point guard in there and they're not winning games. Now, there's definitely times where you see Westbrook dribble up into the top of the key and launch yet another pull-up two, but that dude works on rhythm. Once he's knocked a few shots down and gets himself going, the ball starts moving.


Anyway, our half court offense has been really sloppy all post-season. Rondo needs to push the ball, make layups, and keep the Celtics from settling for long twos.

[Q_FBE]

Decision making.....

When to shoot and when to pass. He can shoot and make jumpers like he did Saturday night after Pierce fouled out.

We should not get on his case for missed FTs because he created an opportunity to score.

I think we will get the Full Rondo Effect and that will get the rest of Celtics going to give us a chance to win tonight.

[td450]

Rondo is simply not a great one on one player. He has several great skills, and can finish certain types of shots efficiently, but if he doesn't get one of them, he struggles. He is an opportunistic penetrator and only needs a small opening to blow past someone because of his speed, but he is very average at setting up defenders and breaking them down with fakes and crossovers. He needs motion and spacing to create opportunities.

He also seems to need to decide whether to shoot or pass before he gets into the lane.

He just doesn't have the kind of one on one skills that you see with Parker or Chris Paul, who can beat anyone anytime they want.