Rajon Rondo's statline the last 5 games is just sick

[Kutzy]

Also, im not discounting his play this season, it is excellent. I just dont see the huge future for him, thats all.

 

[Tomlinson21RB]

The knock on Rondo has always been his jump shot. At UK he played LOCK-DOWN defense and was actually among the team leaders in rebounds per game. (BTW, it would have been fun to have watched him play at UK with a coach who enjoyed offense.)

The reason his shot hasn't come around is his hands. His hands are HUGE for a guy with his frame and they actually get the way of his shot. You can kind of see it here:

It's awesome when a guy that size can catch a pass or rebound with one hand.

 

[Tomlinson21RB]

[quote="Kutzy":3h6xvf1m]Call me a hater, but I still dont see it in this kid. I want to see how he would perform without so much help. I refer to the Lamar Odom effect.

agree, teams dare him to shoot an outside shot and he wont because he cant.

I guess the question is what creates a great point guard. I don't think point guards have to be dominant scorers to be great. If all the "anti-Rondo" camp is saying is that he will never drop 25 ppg then I agree fully. If you guys are saying he isn't one of the best point guards in the league then I'll disagree with that all day.

The best PG (in my mind) ever is John Stockton. He was a pass first player who played Excellent defense. In my mind these are the 2 things you need to be an elite PG. What set him beyond everyone else though was his ability to hit the open jumper from anywhere when they backed off of him. This is something Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Steve Nash can do consistantly. Stockton never scored more than 17.2 PPG in his career, this is a good go-to in my mind. I think the average of points per assist is somewhere near 2.3 points. Adjusting Stocktons greatest numbers in a season (17.2 points and 14.5 Assists (89-90)) He was directly accountable for over 50 points per game. This is what I want a PG to do, not to actually SCORE 50, but be accountable for 40+.

Chris Paul 07-08 21.1 Points and 11.6 Assists was almost an adjsted 48 points per game. Deron Williams 07-08 was 18.8 points and 10.5 Assists with an adjusted number around 43. This is elite in my opinion. I would like their 3 point shooting to be better than the current ~35-37% but its much better than Rondo's ~25%.

I agree Stockton is the best ever. I actually had to debate someone that thought Stockton was the most overrated player of all time (how ridiculous is that???). Obviously Rondo can't even carry Stockton's tiny shorts, but very few can. I'm also going to admit that Paul and Williams are better than Rondo. I think after those two he's near the top of the next tier of point guards. I also don't think Rondo's 3 point % really matters because he only averages .6 3 point attempts per game and knocks down 30%, not 25%.

He is a career 25% shooter, nearly 31% this season. But that is a stat you gotta look at for point guards. The ability to hit the open shot when presented to him. Rondo usually passes up those open shots.[/quote:3h6xvf1m]

I think his stats this year improved so much over last year that you have to talk about this year over career stats. Also, last year was almost his rookie season considering how poorly he was used in his real rookie season. And while he's a career 25% shooter from behind the line, here are his stats by year: 20.7 (.4 attempts), 26.3 (.3 attempts), 30.3 (.6 attempts). I guess if you're going to judge a point guard heavily on his ability to hit a 3 then Rondo will never be great in your eyes. I tend to judge point guards less on scoring and 3's and more on shooting percentage, assists, rebounds, and defense. Rondo is well above average in all of these categories. As far as hitting the open shots when presented, yes he does pass up those shots too often. Even Doc, who is a terrible coach, yells at him to start shooting those. However, I do remember a number of HUGE open shots that Rondo hit in the Cleveland and LA series last year. KG, Allen, Pierce, and Perk have all said at one point or another that Rondo is the most important player on the team. When he's on they are nearly unbeatable.

For the record I'm not saying Rondo will ever be the best point guard in the league, but I think he's going to have a long successful career in the top 5 year after year.