If Rondo becomes Stockton & Green becomes King, can we win?

[Vermont Green]

Rondo is Rondo, there has never been a player who can do as many things as well as Rondo while being as bad a shooter as Rondo.  Hard to find a comparable.  But if Rondo could ever learn to shoot as well as Stockton could shoot, look out.  You could assume though that Rondo could provide an equivelant contribution as Stockton but he would do it differently.

As for Green, I think the Worthy comparison is realistic.  He has played for stretches as well as Worthy but so far in his career has not been able to sustain it.

Worthy and Stockton are not going to win any titles with the current Celtics supporting cast and neither are Rondo and Green, in my opinion.

[moiso]

Rondo is Rondo, there has never been a player who can do as many things as well as Rondo while being as bad a shooter as Rondo.  Hard to find a comparable.  But if Rondo could ever learn to shoot as well as Stockton could shoot, look out.  You could assume though that Rondo could provide an equivelant contribution as Stockton but he would do it differently.

As for Green, I think the Worthy comparison is realistic.  He has played for stretches as well as Worthy but so far in his career has not been able to sustain it.

Worthy and Stockton are not going to win any titles with the current Celtics supporting cast and neither are Rondo and Green, in my opinion.

Kidd could do as many things as Rondo and was a bad shooter for most of his career.

[LarBrd33]

Ok, this is an ultimate what-if scenario.

If Rondo takes his current game and incorporates all of John Stockton's moves like continually setting picks & hitting a bunch of outside jumpers; while at the same time, Green becomes like Bernard King, a virtually unstoppable scoring forward, who can hit his shots from nearly anywhere on the court, does that get us a title, provided that the other role players handle their assignments well?

No.

However... if Rondo becomes LeBron James, Jeff Green becomes Dwayne Wade and Avery Bradley becomes Chris Bosh, I'd say we'd have a legit shot.

I'm crossin my fingies.

[ManUp]

Well, here's the thing ... Green doesn't have Bird's passing ability and thus, no comparison there.

He does, however, have quickness and the crafty ability to get to the right spots, for high percentage shots. And that's where the King comparison comes in, King was a high percentage, crafty scorer, before he tore up the ACL and never came back to form again.

As for Stockton, well, he's got the consistent outside shot which Rondo lacks, to complement his assists total. Plus, he's always setting picks, which keeps defenses working. These are all areas which Rondo can pick up on.

With the above stated, adding a few role players, like a Tony Allen-esque wing defender, Perkins-like enforcer down low, inside-out versatile guy like a J Posey, I believe, gets us into a form where we can contend.

After watching Paul Pierce play 15 years your calling Jeff Green crafty? Stop trolling me man

[Galeto]

Rondo is Rondo, there has never been a player who can do as many things as well as Rondo while being as bad a shooter as Rondo.  Hard to find a comparable.  But if Rondo could ever learn to shoot as well as Stockton could shoot, look out.  You could assume though that Rondo could provide an equivelant contribution as Stockton but he would do it differently.

As for Green, I think the Worthy comparison is realistic.  He has played for stretches as well as Worthy but so far in his career has not been able to sustain it.

Worthy and Stockton are not going to win any titles with the current Celtics supporting cast and neither are Rondo and Green, in my opinion.

You really think Worthy is a "realistic" comparison for Green?  Dang, that's not too kind for Worthy?  When has Green ever had stretches as good as Worthy had for his career? 

[LilRip]

Rondo + Green + Sully = Kidd + Richard Jefferson + Kenyon Martin

NBA Finals, here we come!

[mmmmm]

Rondo is Rondo, there has never been a player who can do as many things as well as Rondo while being as bad a shooter as Rondo.  Hard to find a comparable.  But if Rondo could ever learn to shoot as well as Stockton could shoot, look out.  You could assume though that Rondo could provide an equivelant contribution as Stockton but he would do it differently.

As for Green, I think the Worthy comparison is realistic.  He has played for stretches as well as Worthy but so far in his career has not been able to sustain it.

Worthy and Stockton are not going to win any titles with the current Celtics supporting cast and neither are Rondo and Green, in my opinion.

You really think Worthy is a "realistic" comparison for Green?  Dang, that's not too kind for Worthy?  When has Green ever had stretches as good as Worthy had for his career?

It's a fantasy thread about 'ceiling'.   What HoF 'prototype' do you think a player could be if they reached their ceiling.   No one here is saying our guys ARE equivalent to these HoF players.   It's just for fun.

FWIW - to answer your question - Green's stretch from around mid February last year all the way through the playoffs in June was pretty much just a hair under Worthy's numbers during his peak years (pts, rebounds, assists) .   

The only real difference being that Green got some of his points from outside with 3PT shooting that was not really part of Worthy's game.   And of course, Worthy maintained those numbers for a long time, across multiple years.

It's telling that last year was the first time Green came close to getting the same kind of utilization that Worthy got.  Worthy was consistently above 22% USG% through most of his career.  Last year was just the second time Green was ever above 20% and the first time he was above 22%.

Physically, Green looks and _moves_ a lot like Worthy on the court.   The similarity is obvious to many of us who watched back then and now.

Whether Green is able to consistently maintain that 'Worthy-like' production of course,  is a completely open question and it is fair to doubt it.   But that doesn't mean it isn't the 'upside' that we would hope to see realized.

[manl_lui]

Rondo + Green + Sully = Kidd + Richard Jefferson + Kenyon Martin

NBA Finals, here we come!

that...is actually...not that bad of a comparison

sign me up! NBA finals in 2 years

[TitleMaster]

The only real difference being that Green got some of his points from outside with 3PT shooting that was not really part of Worthy's game.   And of course, Worthy maintained those numbers for a long time, across multiple years.

Worthy was a high pro slasher player, who'd worked within Riley's system, where Kareem or Magic got him the open lanes. None of our teams, have a foundation as good as that, to make comparable Worthy metaphors.

Therefore, I'd rather hope for King to be the analogy, as that would allow Green to thrive, even if defenders packed the paint to stop his drives to the basket.

[mmmmm]

The only real difference being that Green got some of his points from outside with 3PT shooting that was not really part of Worthy's game.   And of course, Worthy maintained those numbers for a long time, across multiple years.

Worthy was a high pro slasher player, who'd worked within Riley's system, where Kareem or Magic got him the open lanes. None of our teams, have a foundation as good as that, to make comparable Worthy metaphors.

Therefore, I'd rather hope for King to be the analogy, as that would allow Green to thrive, even if defenders packed the paint to stop his drives to the basket.

Well, in this _fantasy_ world, where Green becomes Worthy ... can he still keep his superior 3PT shooting?

And in my dream, "who could they become" lineup, I believe I had Unseld & Dirk on the floor as well.   I think that might help with the spacing. 

[slamtheking]

Rondo + Green + Sully = Kidd + Richard Jefferson + Kenyon Martin

NBA Finals, here we come!

that...is actually...not that bad of a comparison

sign me up! NBA finals in 2 years

A team like the 2000-2002 Nets would be fighting for a low playoff seed in today's NBA.  Those were some really low-quality years in the East back in the late 90's and early 00's.

[nostar]

I remember reading a while back that Green drew a comparison to James Worthy. King is sort of the same hyperbole.

To be honest these comparisons are sort of just fluff. Rondo is a pretty unique player. Very few players in the history of the NBA have been as impactful as Rondo without scoring the ball, which is why I sort of understand the Stockton comparison. Stockton never put up huge scoring numbers and his assists are similar. But watching Stockton play and comparing it to Rondo, stats aside, you can plainly see they are vastly different skill sets.

Green as Bernard King is laughable though. Green has proved close to nothing so far. I will give him credit for coming back from a pretty serious heart surgery, that is courageous and deserves praise. But as far as basketball accomplishments he's short of Rudy Gay and Danillo Gallinari. Certainly a far cry from Bernard King.

I want Green to play well, earn his $9M/yr and maybe get traded at the deadline. I want him to play his best ball on a team that needs a scoring wing and not a rebuild like the C's will be the next 2 years. I also think the top pick next year will need his starting spot to flourish and my optimism has us getting one of those top SFs.

Rondo is a keeper. Closest thing this league has to another KG. The intensity, work ethic and absolute unflinching disgust at losing make him my favorite NBA player right now.

[Q_FBE]

I guess anything is possible. Right now the greatest optimist in me cannot see these dream scenarios playing out. Regardless, I will give this team a fair shake.

[vjcsmoke]

You forgot Brandon Bass as Karl Malone, Kelly Olynyk as Larry Bird, and Fab Melo as a young Shaquille O'Neal. Ooops we cut him.  We cut Shaq??  Nooo! 

Actually we cut Fab Melo.  Ok really sets in.  That's not that big of a loss.  But wait that means we don't have Stockton and Malone?  Umm yup.  Sorry to burst the bubble!

[fitzhickey]

If green can go average 33 points shooting over 50% from the field I'd be happy