Folks on here recognize that we weouldnt have made it to 7 games in the miami series without Rondo right? I mean, we might have lost the Philly series if Rondo hadnt stepped up at the end.
Look at it this way: The folks who have Rondo at number 3 are the true optimists. If Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are playing so well--particularly come playoff time--that our MVP candidate is the team's third most valuable player, then we are the front runners to bring home #18.
It makes me laugh too. Do people forget he is the league MVP candidate for this team?
Of course without KG we are toast-he's the defensive MVP candidate for this team which thrives on defense.
But if we lose Rondo we are toast as well. People act like he's replaceable. He's arguably the best PG in the league and if he's not he's probably top 3. It;s like the Thunder losing Westbrook. They'd be no where.
KG is our defensive general, and Rondo is our offensive general. Without either one we are screwed. We could possibly get by without Pierce if Green steps up to 15 ppg because we have a stronger scoring bench, we'd just lack the forwards to guard Lebron effectively.
For me it's:
Rondo
KG
Pierce
Green
Bradley
Bass
Terry
Lee
Sully(hopefully he moves up to Bass' spot as he improves).
Darko
Wilcox
Collins
Barbosa
Joseph
Melo
The eye sight and the numbers leave no doubt: Garnett has a greater impact on the game than Rondo does. I cringed every time KG went to the bench and eagerly awaited his return each passing possession. I didn't like Rondo getting subbed by any means, but let's face it, he was the PG for one of the worst offenses in the entire league last year. Nothing to write home about. Lose him and we can't get significantly worse. Missing the defensive anchor of the leagues best defense, and you'll notice how important KG is.
There no evidence to suggest Rondo is more important than KG, other than of course being a RR fanboy. The case for #2 between RR and Pierce is more compelling, and I think the case can be made for both and there isn't a right or wrong answer.
You can mix and match 2-15, but everyone should have KG at the top.
Well, this fanboy believes that Rondo will be at least as important to this team's chances as Kevin Garnett. As much as I expect KG to continue to valiantly battle father time, the truth is that he is 36 years old and will need to be treated with even more caution than in previous seasons. The same is going to hold true for Paul Pierce.
Rondo, on the other hand, is just entering his prime years as an NBA player. If we can keep our two older stars fresh for the playoffs, and our young point guard continues to shine brightest when the games really matter, then look out for another serious run at the trophy.
At that point, it won't matter to me what order we place our three super stars.
The Big Three are all equally important. It's very hard to distinguish how much different we would be without each one, as each brings something very different.
You can compare their ages and expect improvement from Rondo and a decline from KG, but I think neither be drastic. And looking at the last games they played, in May and June, it was pretty evident that KG made a much bigger impact. His +/- far outweighed anybody in the NBA, let alone the C's. His impact on the offense may be even greater than Rondo's, at least according to the numbers. We were an excellent team with him on the floor, and every time he went to the bench, we became a pretty bad one. Close games became deficits. Our leads disappeared. Their leads widened.
Rondo and Pierce may be able to take over games more often than KG, but KG does things that don't show up on stat lines. The only place it shows is on the scoreboard. The shot he altered that someone else rebounded? No block or rebound for him, but no points either. That hard pick that freed Rondo who sets up Bass for an easy jumper. No points or assist for KG, but score 2 for us.
Rondo can have all those eye-popping statlines he wants/needs (as evident by his play in marquee games vs. games against bad teams), KG plays every game, every play, with the same importance. And it shows.
Topic: 1-15. Rank 'em if you got 'em (Read 9368 times)