I already like Marcus Smart better than Rondo as our starting PG

[Eddie20]

Well, in Triboy's defense we've had a worse record with Rondo, than without him, over the last 2 seasons. So having a player we invested a pick in, is more versatile due to his size, and a player that needs playing time to develop at the PG, a position he hasn't played much of, does have it's rationale.

With our roster makeup, is the goal this season to contend or is to develop our young players and have them build chemistry with each other? My opinion would be different if the former were the case.

[Tr1boy]

With 2 minutes in the game left .....Rondo and Turner need to be on the court ......between them , well get a good last minute shot .  They with Green and Sully standing under the bucket will give us a good chance to score that last minute , when last year we couldn't 't finish a game.

Smart should be on the court in the 4th.  We need his game changing defense against the opposing teams pg.  If they want to get creative and have their sg bring up the ball, then have Smart instead defend the sg and rondo then can be on the court. (But how often will this happen? )

I dont have worries about offensive production. Rondo does not make our offense any better with this lineup.  Rondo has 12 assist vs Smart , Turner, KO having 4 to 5 each . Actually having more guys involved passing the ball = the Spurs way of playing  = what Stevens wants out on the floor

[playdream]

Rondo "was" very very good and helped our team much ,with 3 HoFs
In the recent years he suffered from injury and i can't recall even one game we are playing better when he is on the court
And don't forget he won't play all-out in regular season which surely will affect our record and
the other teammates, since he is the captain
I will 100% trade him if he comes back this season and still pounding the ball instead of play up-quick fluid offense
I will trade him now if we can get cousins..

[Donoghus]

Let's play some regular season games first before making some ardent proclamations.  Yikes.

[Vermont Green]

I realize that this is a baiting type of thread but I will bite.

I doubt very much that Smart will be a better player than Rondo this season so unless Rondo is injured, I cannot see any reason that any coach would ever start Smart over Rondo.  Injury may keep Rondo out of the line up but not Smart beating him out.

But I don't think that is even a worthwhile way to look at it.  The comparison/discussion should be would you rather have Smart and Rondo or if you don't like Rondo, Smart and whoever you can get for Rondo.

These extremes that are discussed are possible but not likely.  Rondo may be washed up.  He may continue to have injuries and be done.  I think that is very unlikely as he looked fine at the end of last season and now his only problem is a broken finger.  I just don't see that as career threatening.

Smart may also become a star and surpass everything that Rondo has ever done.  That is probably not likely either but I like Smart so far.  And even if he does become a start, I don't see it happening this season.

And yes, you can go back and look at the wins and losses with Rondo in vs. out over the last 2 or 3 seasons and sure enough, the team won more without him and also averaged more team assists in those games.  Rondo is a good player but with flaws and in general, overrated in my opinion but come on, Marcus Smart is not going to beat him out for the starting PG spot.

[HomerSapien]

I'm in the trade Rondo camp too. That said, we haven't even seen Smart matched up with a real NBA point guard yet so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I'm anxious to see him matched up on Kyle Lowery this preseason.

No need to rush to make ourselves worse right away. Rondo isn't a scrub, and I'm fine with Smart playing as his backup for a half, whole, or even a few seasons until he becomes a finished product.

[SHAQATTACK]

With 2 minutes in the game left .....Rondo and Turner need to be on the court ......between them , well get a good last minute shot .  They with Green and Sully standing under the bucket will give us a good chance to score that last minute , when last year we couldn't 't finish a game.

Smart should be on the court in the 4th.  We need his game changing defense against the opposing teams pg.  If they want to get creative and have their sg bring up the ball, then have Smart instead defend the sg and rondo then can be on the court. (But how often will this happen? )

I dont have worries about offensive production. Rondo does not make our offense any better with this lineup.  Rondo has 12 assist vs Smart , Turner, KO having 4 to 5 each . Actually having more guys involved passing the ball = the Spurs way of playing  = what Stevens wants out on the floor

Eventually maybe  , but Turner has the offensive moves to get his own shot....like a poor man Pierce.  Something we ve needed for a long we time.  If Rondo and Turner and Green work together ,  they should be able to give us a good chance to win those last second games .

[SHAQATTACK]

Rondo "was" very very good and helped our team much ,with 3 HoFs
In the recent years he suffered from injury and i can't recall even one game we are playing better when he is on the court
And don't forget he won't play all-out in regular season which surely will affect our record and
the other teammates, since he is the captain
I will 100% trade him if he comes back this season and still pounding the ball instead of play up-quick fluid offense
I will trade him now if we can get cousins..

Yeah me too , I m a Rondo fan ....but he needs to run the ball , not hold the ball ........everybody else is passing quick .....Rondo needs to join the program .....and yes I was think ing the same thing .....how good would Cousins be on this Athletic team ..with a soft spoken Stevens too guide him .and instill confidence.

[makaveli]

Rondo "was" very very good and helped our team much ,with 3 HoFs
In the recent years he suffered from injury and i can't recall even one game we are playing better when he is on the court
And don't forget he won't play all-out in regular season which surely will affect our record and
the other teammates, since he is the captain
I will 100% trade him if he comes back this season and still pounding the ball instead of play up-quick fluid offense
I will trade him now if we can get cousins..

Yeah me too , I m a Rondo fan ....but he needs to run the ball , not hold the ball ........everybody else is passing quick .....Rondo needs to join the program .....and yes I was think ing the same thing .....how good would Cousins be on this Athletic team ..with a soft spoken Stevens too guide him .and instill confidence.

i agree with everything above, but that's the scenario waiting to happen. Rondo is playing for one thing only this year, and that's a max-type contract, so he will go for big stats(passing the ball only when the guy is wide open, dribble until that happens).
Smart has the vision, will to play defense, and already is a better shooter than rondo, just wait till his slashing game(drive and kick) expands(that's what i expected from him the most, and we had non of that so far.

[celtics2030]

Looks like Rondo's approval ratings are frantically dipping.

[pearljammer10]

[Clench123]

We should wait till we play a real team in a real season before jumping the gun.

[Clench123]

One of the most creepy gifs I've ever seen

[celtics2030]

you probably are a little young.

[loco_91]

1. Marcus Smart is a better defender than Rondo.  Rondo once was an excellent thief but was only an avg man to man defender and can get overwhelmed by bigger guards. With Smart you will rarely have to worry about this problem. Smart is an excellent thief also

2. Rondo is a better offensive player, better passer. But Smart is no slouch. He has better passing skills than most give him credit for and i have already seen a better jump shot from him than i have ever seen from Rondo. Smart has 3 pt range and is gaining rapid confidence in his shot

3. Smart is younger, more durable.  With him being younger, Stevens can mold him into the type of PG he wants out on the floor.  Rondo will not listen to Stevens half the time.  Rondo now having to be cautious of how he plays won't go full out like Smart can in addition

4. I know it's only 2 pre season games.  But i have seen enough to know what i like.  I like how Smart does not pound the ball, that he can switch to having a "sg" mentality and let other guys  who have very good passing skills also be facilitators. Just confuse the opposing defense ,  instead of having one guy hold/dribble the ball.

I think that Smart *can* be better than Rondo, but right now he's faaaar from it. He needs to get better at just about everything, especially shot selection, before he gets there.