I disagree Tim. Pierce and the Boston offense was fine post-Rondo... Pierce averaged 19, 6 and 6 after the all-star break. Check out Paul's shooting percentages:
Pre all-star 42%/36%/79%
Post all-star 49%/43%/78%
Jeff Green's scoring and efficiency increased dramatically after rondo went out.
Pre all-star 44%/34%/81% 10 points
Post all-star 49%/44%/80% 17 points
Brandon Bass... pre all-star 45% shooting... post all-star 54% shooting
Their effectiveness scoring wasn't hinging on Rondo's ability to pass them the ball.
...and look at what happened to them in the playoffs, where teams have to be able to execute their half court offenses against teams that are more focused on their defense than they are during the season. Go back over the last 3+ months of celticsblog, you'll find tons of posts from many different posters that contained phrases like "wait until the playoffs come".
What happened in the playoffs to the Celts offense was extremely predictable. If you don't believe me check with any number of posters who were saying the same thing, or go back and find the quotes from Doc, Danny and even Wyc saying the same thing.
I hear ya. I thought we'd perform a lot better in the playoffs... but I really don't think having Rondo would have made Pierce shoot higher than 36% (23% from three). He was just off. And we've yet to see any evidence that Jeff Green can be effective with Rondo dominating the ball every possession. I think the Knicks series would have looked a lot different... but I don't think the outcome would have been much different.
It's a wonderful scapegoat though. Denial is a powerful thing. Lot easier pretending this team is still a contender than facing the fact that the Charlotte Bobcats are closer to winning a title than this sitting duck franchise.
Denial is your desperately clinging to the remnants of your theories on Rondo's play that were pretty much trashed during the playoffs. Here are a couple of factors that could each have a significant effect on Pierce's shooting percentages. First, the responsibility of having to run the offense with Rondo out including bringing the ball up court much of the time just wore him down when he was playing big minutes. Second, the looks he got weren't that great, in part because Rondo wasn't running the offense, in part because Paul had the ball in his hands so much so the defense was focused on him before he got ready to shoot.
Let me know if you don't think that those are things that can effect a player's shooting or if you don't think having Rondo would have changed things.
And you can claim that we don't have evidence that Green can be effective playing with Rondo, but by the same token you have no evidence that he can't. He started the season poorly but his play improved as the season went on and that improvement started before Rondo's injury. Check out his splits and you'll see what I mean.
Sorry dude I just don't see it. Pierce shot just as poorly in the playoffs last year (38%/31%/89%)... Ray shot 39%/30%/71% ... and this was despite the fact they were playing with Rondo.
I absolutely love ROndo, but I contend that he is one of the most overrated players in the league. He's limited offensively. He would have struggled penetrating vs New York and his lack of shooting ability would have made him a liability without the ball. He gets assists, but a lot of that has to do with the offense we run, his league-high minutes, and the fact that he monopolizes the ball more than probably anyone in the league.
I know you strongly disagree and I respect that. Rondo earned his all-star appearances. If we had a couple young superstars on this team and ROndo was the 3rd best player, I'd totally want to keep him... but I see no way we are going to land two superstars while keeping Rondo.
I also feel like Jeff Green was never "bad" early in the season... he's about as steady as a player can be. His jump in productivity happened due to him finally getting an opportunity to create his own offense. He's very effective driving into the lane. That's something he rarely got an opportunity to do with Rondo's ball-dominating. Those two never clicked. If they click in the future, it will because Rondo adjusts his game and gives Jeff Green more opportunities to do Jeff Green things...and if that happens, we might see Rondo's assists drop.
We also have seen plenty of rumors over the years that paint a picture of a league not nearly as enamored with Rajon Rondo as you think. Take them with a grain of salt, but according to rumors we were turned down for Steph Curry when Curry was injured. We were turned down by the Lakers when we tried to trade for old Pau Gasol. We were turned down by the Hornets for Chris Paul and couldn't find a 3rd team (the Hornets preferred Steph Curry as well). Going back further, we tried to trade for Russell Westbrook and were turned down. We supposedly tried to trade Rondo for Tyreke Evans and change and were turned down. It seems to paint a picture of a league that values scoring over passing.
I'm rootin for Rondo. I'm rooting for BBallTim. I'd prefer to be wrong. But the way I see it, Rondo is at most a top 6 PG in this league, we don't know when he will return from his injury and if he'll be the same... we absolutely don't have any evidence to suggest he can lead a contender without Pierce and KG. There's a reason Ainge has tried trading him essentially every year.
Rajon Rondo has talent. Antoine Walker had a lot of talent too... I loved Walker when he played here. Walker earned his allstar appearances as well. But there's certain guys you just can't build a champion around. Ainge is aware of that. It would be hard to land a top 5 pick for Rajon Rondo.
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