whenever the topic of Rondo as being a ball-stopper comes up, i sometimes can't help but wonder if it's more because of that's how he NEEDS to play, rather than just a bad habit. Don't flame me just yet. I'll try as best i can to explain myself.
Rondo's best skill is seeing the floor and setting up his teammates. His worst skill is shooting. Let's first get that out of the way.
Now, for Rondo to be effective on offense, IMO he "needs the ball in his hands". This sort of phrase is usually reserved for scorers, but I think it's pretty true in Rondo's case. He can pass to anyone, anywhere, anytime he wants. But to be able to pass the ball, he needs to have the ball.
In situations where he's off the ball though, defenses don't have to respect him much because of his lack of shooting, which really kills spacing. His defender oftentimes plays like a "safety" on defense, allowing defenders to clog passing and driving lanes. The offense can swing the ball from side to side, but once it gets to Rondo, the defense is afforded a moment to set up again because they don't need to close out hard on him when he's on the outside. Rondo can cut to the basket, but since he generally has inept/inexperienced passers/playmakers as teammates, he likely won't get it in prime position to score either.
Thus, it's not unreasonable to think that the offense would be worse off if Rondo doesn't have the ball majority of the time he's on the floor. He can create truly magical moments with his passes, however in times that he doesn't, he just looks like he's pounding the ball for most of the shot clock. Either way, it's likely our offense's best alternative.
Am I on to something here?