Be realistic about Rondo (I know it is asking a lot)

[flyofchange]

You be realistic. Realistic is boring. I think he can up his scoring and his %es and win a mvp. If he takes some more shots like 15-16 a game his assists dont have to suffer. Thats MY opinion and everybody is entitled to thier opinion.
For the record, his %es are worse than other elite pgs but he has shot 50% basically 3 seasons of his career, a guy like kobe who has the highest usage % in the league like every year and only avges 5 assists and takes 20-30 shots a game has NEVER shot even close to 50% in a SINGLE season......but hes an efficient scorer that puts up 20,30+ a night........

I hope he wins an mvp some day cause hes truly a unique player and i hope he leads the celtics to banner 18.

He shot 50% because he pretty much avoided taking shots.  We had offensive weapons who took the scoring load... they also spread the floor and kept the paint open for layups (Ray spreads the floor like no other and KG takes bigs out of the paint with his mid-range game).  Rondo shot 50% for the same reason Perk shot 62%... it's hard to miss when you're primarily taking open layups. 

If Rondo continued to play as amazing and consistent as he did in the playoffs, he'd post regular season averages of 14.9 points, 10.2 assists.  This is just by simply deflating his playoff numbers to 36.9 minuets.  There's no way he'd average 43 minutes in the regular season (as he did during the playoffs).  Less minutes = less stats.  More shots = less assists.  Still...  very very good numbers.  Not on the level of a Chris Paul, though... at that point his shooting percentages become a factor. 

Again... Rondo in his prime is basically the second coming of Jason Kidd.  Kidd was an outstanding point guard and in the right circumstances lead a team to the Finals twice (partially because of the horrible eastern conference at the time).  Kidd never won MVP... but he was first team all-nba 5 times.  That's a realistic hope for Rondo. 

I think rondos the best ALLAROUND pg in the game. Thats my opinion and I stand by it. I think he has the stuff to be a mvp one day, perhaps next season. Thats my opinion an i stand by it.

[goCeltics]

think ppl are reading phantom posts, his obviously not better than paul, no where did i state that if you thought paul was better than rondo then your a 'hater'

ur r a hater if u try and pick every flaw in his game and ignore everything else he does.

rondo wasn't better than kg last year, but he is this team most important player going forward and every piece ainge gets he aught to think how that piece fits in respect to rondo.

[flyofchange]

Rondo haters need to go find another team, just like ray did.

I've been called a "hater" by many ignorant fans on this forum.  I love Rondo.  He's my 2nd favorite player to watch... but I agree people have an unrealistic perception of him.  He's a fantastic player, but there are better point guards in this league.  Chris Paul is better, for example.  I don't even feel it's debatable.  Still... by taking this stance, my fellow Celtic fans think I'm a traitor. 

I was reading an article on the HBO series "Girls" the other day.  It's a good show.  It has made me laugh several times.  It's not perfect, but I appreciate it.  There's been a ton of internet backlash about it.  A lot of the backlash revolves around some ridiculous nepotism claims.  A lot of people "hate" it for petty reasons.  I was reading the comments section in the article and a user named Homo_Erectus really summed up the culture behind this mentality:

Haven’t seen the episode yet, though it’s DVR’d. But I’ll tell you why there’s a backlash…

Because this is THE AGE OF HYPERBOLE. The internet has ushered in an era where everything is the “best”, “worst”, “greatest”, “stupidest”, “genius”, “most moronic”, etc.

If we aren’t totally in love with something then we must hate it, right?

Few have any self moderation, and too many have absolutely NO sense of perspective. “You said it was awesome and I watched it and it wasn’t awesome, therefore it’s terrible!”

I think he absolutely hit the nail on the head here.  We live in "THE AGE OF HYPERBOLE".  If I don't think Rondo is the "best" that must mean I think he's the "worst", right?  That kind of thinking needs to end.  I love Pierce, but at no point did I consider him as good as LeBron James.  That doesn't mean I'm a Pierce hater.  Have some perspective.

You dont have to think hes the best. but what you have to do is give him his deserved props and not act like hes some scrub compared to paul and williams. Rondo aint no poor mans Ason kidd (without the J like back in the day). He has 6 seasons under his belt and still improving. Kidss career is done and he never shot better than 44% and he never avged more than 10.8 assists on a season. Plus kidd has more size than rondo.

Like i said i dont care if you think hes not mvp material, I do and there is no way id rather have deron williams (.407 fg this season) or chris paul in his place.

Rondo:

Best passer/playmaker in the game
Best rebounding point
Best Defender at point

Thats what i think

Not close when it comes to shooting but still makes him
Best ALLAROUND PG in the game

[scaryjerry]

the year we won the championship we were something like 8-2 without Garnett

your post should be deleted

[Gronktastic]

Why is everyone so worked up about whether Rondo is 'living up to expectations' or not? Honestly, he has shown himself to be a player that has both positives and negatives about him, which I think not many people can argue against.

He has proven himself to be a great passer (check assist stats), great rebounder for his size AND position (again, check PG rebounding stats), and a good defensive player, maybe not All-Defensive 1st, but definitely an above average defender.

Many people have also questioned certain parts of his game, like his 3pt shooting, which definitely isn't on the level of some other PG's in the game (CP3 for example), his jumpshot even, while it has improved it still isn't at the level that demands respect from opposing teams, and his free throws are certainly not at an ideal level for a player that can penetrate the paint as easily as he can.

While other elite PG's such as CP3, Rose, even Westbrook and others who i haven't mentioned,  may have better statistics in some of these areas that Rondo is weak at, that isn't always what matters the most is it? Player's are valued by different teams differently because of the teams need, play style, leadership and so on... Rondo, who is being paid $11M (not sure on this), is certainly a value-for-money PG considering how Westbrook, Rose and CP3 all pretty much have Max contracts of around $20M. While some people say that Rondo should play in a faster-paced offense, and not the half-court set that Boston plays, its pretty hard to say that he hasn't done well in the system. Leading the league in assists (or coming second) isn't an easy thing to do, especially considering the low scoring offense of Boston.

I think that people shouldn't judge Rondo against other players, instead they should view him as a player who has helped Boston to be a better team. I honestly dont think there is ANY point guard in the NBA right now who would be a better fit for the Boston team at $11M.

[GreenFaith1819]

Hey Carhole - was this thread a response to me comparing Rajon Rondo to Isiah Thomas from a different thread?

Wow.

I still believe that Rajon Rondo will have a BIG year in 2012-13.

He HAS to. And he WILL.

Whether or not that leads to MVP is anyone's guess.

But he has that in him.

He's ready - no doubt in my mind.

[Celtics4ever]

Rondo is the man.   He makes the game so fun to watch with his passes and he makes the whole team better.  He is easily the most marketable player on the team at this point.  I think his jersey outsells PP and KG.

[myteamisbetterthanyours]

I've given up arguing against the Rondo naysayers.. It's really a lost cause.. 20 career triple doubles.. 1 more than Lebron James and that guy is 6'8".. He's improved his jumper dramatically.. And it's only going to get better the more in-game reps he has.. And with Ray gone, he'll have his chances.. Rondo is a once in a lifetime player with extraordinary, otherworldly skills and a work ethic that will make him better than he already is, if that's even humanly possible. But oh well, "Haters gon' hate"

[flyofchange]

I've given up arguing against the Rondo naysayers.. It's really a lost cause.. 20 career triple doubles.. 1 more than Lebron James and that guy is 6'8".. He's improved his jumper dramatically.. And it's only going to get better the more in-game reps he has.. And with Ray gone, he'll have his chances.. Rondo is a once in a lifetime player with extraordinary, otherworldly skills and a work ethic that will make him better than he already is, if that's even humanly possible. But oh well, "Haters gon' hate"

TP dude! Nice post.
Ive had it with these pessimists as well.

[ms.ball]

^at 6'1", 170 lb

...and that outlier happened to be at arguably the biggest moment in his career.

Stats and PERs become meaningless very quickly unless you're a corny white guy that has never played a game of basketball in his life. I don't suggest Rondo will ever win an MVP, but to judge him based on his true shooting percentage is a joke my dude. No one can run an offense like the little guy in the game right now. He's the reason everyone else is getting theirs and one of the fiercest competitors in the game. If everyone adopted his approach to the game, the league would be incredible... not a bunch of disloyal, money-hungry, egotistical clowns.   

Love it! TP

[Celtics18]

Rondo haters need to go find another team, just like ray did.

I've been called a "hater" by many ignorant fans on this forum.  I love Rondo.  He's my 2nd favorite player to watch... but I agree people have an unrealistic perception of him.  He's a fantastic player, but there are better point guards in this league.  Chris Paul is better, for example.  I don't even feel it's debatable.  Still... by taking this stance, my fellow Celtic fans think I'm a traitor.  

I was reading an article on the HBO series "Girls" the other day.  It's a good show.  It has made me laugh several times.  It's not perfect, but I appreciate it.  There's been a ton of internet backlash about it.  A lot of the backlash revolves around some ridiculous nepotism claims.  A lot of people "hate" it for petty reasons.  I was reading the comments section in the article and a user named Homo_Erectus really summed up the culture behind this mentality:

Haven’t seen the episode yet, though it’s DVR’d. But I’ll tell you why there’s a backlash…

Because this is THE AGE OF HYPERBOLE. The internet has ushered in an era where everything is the “best”, “worst”, “greatest”, “stupidest”, “genius”, “most moronic”, etc.

If we aren’t totally in love with something then we must hate it, right?

Few have any self moderation, and too many have absolutely NO sense of perspective. “You said it was awesome and I watched it and it wasn’t awesome, therefore it’s terrible!”

I think he absolutely hit the nail on the head here.  We live in "THE AGE OF HYPERBOLE".  If I don't think Rondo is the "best" that must mean I think he's the "worst", right?  That kind of thinking needs to end.  I love Pierce, but at no point did I consider him as good as LeBron James.  That doesn't mean I'm a Pierce hater.  Have some perspective.

Self moderation can be an important quality to have.  On the other hand, being a sports fan is a pasttime that lends itself well to exuberance. We see somebody do things while playing the game that we love that makes our jaws drop in awe, I see no reason to be reserved about it.  Where's the fun in watching anymore it that's the case?

I'll run the risk of sounding like a "fan boy" which, in reality, is what we all are.  Otherwise, we wouldn't be spending our time on a Fan Blog of a pro sports team.  

It's hysterically funny that you decided to put "the age of hyperbole" in all capital letters, as if to further (most likely unwittingly, though) prove your point about hyperbole.  

Anyway, I'm a big Rondo fan.  I've made that clear in many of my posts on this forum.  I've certainly taken my fair share of criticism for my support of our young point guard.  Last summer, I argued endlessly that I would not have traded Rajon Rondo for Chris Paul.  I would still argue that.  

I can't, however, argue that Rondo's career statistical numbers are on par with Paul's.  They aren't.  Paul's numbers are ridiculously good.  I can argue, though, that Chris Paul has recently had knee surgery which looks to have slowed him down some from an athletic perspective.  He's still putting up really good numbers and is still a really good point guard, but I think it's completely fair to consider the likelihood of holding up physically as a factor when making personnel decisions for a pro sports franchise.  I don't think I'm going out on a limb or lacking perspective when I say that Rondo is probably a better bet from a health standpoint.

Now, Paul might be worth the risk if Rondo was a mediocre, dime a dozen, easily replaceable type player.  That, however, isn't the case.  We can go back and forth about his flaws vs. his strengths, but it would be hard to make the claim that it would be easy to find someone who could replace the things that he does well and do them as well as Rondo does.  

Now this might be where my homer vision comes into play somewhat, but I also think that Rondo has shown that he's still in the process of improving his game from a leadership and toughness perspective.  It's not likely that this improvement will show itself in a huge statistical spike over the next few years, but it could show in wins and losses as the Boston Celtics rebuild around Rondo.  

In short, pro sports is a risk industry.  From my perspective, Rajon Rondo is well worth the risk for the long term.