There are many fans that believe Rondo is so good that he will lob the ball to mediocre players who will then slam down dunks all night. I am not one of those who buy this. I think Rondo is going to have a much tougher time on a weaker team. His MO is actually to dribble around a lot because once he is off the ball, his man sags and Rondo just stands in the corner on near the basketball.
I don't think Rondo is going to play all that much better than what Crawford played though the 4 wins (I don't think Crawford will keep that up either). Rondo will be an upgrade, no doubt and will allow either Crawford or Bradley to come off the bench, improving our depth considerably (meaning Rondo's minutes replace Pressey minutes). I just really don't see Rondo carrying the team to another level.
I agree with some of the pts made. Though rondo unlike jcraw has the ability to drive past his defender at will and either score a layup or make the pass. IF teams are smart and watch videos they will just lay off rondo and dare him to shoot. And if that doesnt fall we are in trouble(assuming everyone else is guarded tightly) plus we dont have a pp or ray allen.
We will be a better team now when rondo comesback but he prob cant us to another level. If this means we should trade him or get more help soon im just as clueless as the next fan
Backing off Rondo and daring him to shoot doesn't really work. Part of that is his improved mid range jump shot, but more important is the fact that even when guys go under picks or back off him when he has the ball in his hands, he still gets in the lane, he still finds open guys, and he still makes plays. You can even make the argument that when the defender plays Rondo by giving him a lot of space, it just makes it easier for him to pick the defense apart.
The notion that all you have to do is play off Rondo and you render him ineffective is pure mythology.
Its not a myth. Why do you think rondo is so ineffective in scoring in 4th quarter against top teams?
They lay off and dare him to beat them with his jump shot. I dont remember the last time rondo crushed a team with his jumpers late in the game.
Where's your evidence that Rondo is so ineffective in the 4th quarter against top teams? It's easy to see (from 82games) that he's normally best or close to best in assists during crunch time.
There are two main things to be gained by backing off of Rondo and daring him to shoot. One, have his defender help towards his passing targets to limit their ability to score after he passes the ball. Two, to be far enough away from him that you prevent him from driving off of the dribble. There's ample evidence that neither one of these things occur. They don't stop him from getting assists and they don't keep him out of the lane.
How about when he cant get the clutch assists your talking about?
That's not really evidence of anything.
Your dancing around the question.
If he cant get the clutch assists, how is be effective on the floor? If top teams layoff off of him, congest the paint, dare him to shoot the 18 ft jumpers, has he made them?
You know where iam going with this.
This sounds like weird hypotheticals.
My kid sees something exciting on cartoons and asks me, "Dad, what would it be like if people could fly?" And I answer, "Well son, then people would be flying."
You are asking about a hypothetical situation that hasn't arisen yet. So far, in the past, when teams have laid off of Rondo, or tried to go under screens, it hasn't worked for various reasons (he's still made the passes, he's still driven around them and he's on occasion just shot and made the mid-range jumper).
Yes, that was with Pierce, Garnett, etc., around him.
We don't know if Rondo will still be able to get 'assists' in those situations with this team because we don't know if his new surrounding cast will complete the shots at the same rates.
We can predict based on shooting percentages that they'll likely make some of them. But whether they will make them at the same rate, lower or more -- impossible to know.
This cast will probably not nail long-range 2s at the rate that KG did. Or 3PTers-off-kickouts like Pierce & Allen. But it also has more active cutters like Green, Bradley & Lee. And it has more guys who post-up down low like Sully & Olynyk.
Green certainly has shown himself capable of making those 'clutch shots'.
So they will likely do better on some shots and worse on others.
No way to know how the overall assist rates will turn out.
But not knowing is not evidence that it will be worse.