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Rajon Rondo has No Business Being Considered for NBA All-Star Game

December 27, 2008 by AlexV 

Sorry Rajon. You may be pretty decent, but you ain't no All-Star.

Sorry Rajon. You may be pretty decent, but you ain't no All-Star.

One of the most mind-numbing notions I have had to endure for the past several weeks is that Rajon Rondo deserves consideration for the All-Star Game. I think that is one of the most preposterous ideas I have ever heard.

At 11.6ppg, 5 rebounds per game, and 7.4 assists per game, Rajon Rondo should be hoping that at least five guys go down for him to even make it as a backup in that game. I mean sure, he has improved a lot this season, and shows signs of maturity, but that doesn’t mean he’s an All-Star.

In the Eastern Conference alone there are six other point guards who are easily better than Rajon Rondo (and have less around them in terms of talent), and if the Celtics had one of them instead, they could even be doing better; Jameer Nelson (17ppg, 5.4apg), Mike Bibby (15.9ppg, 5apg), Dwyane Wade (29ppg, 7apg), Devin Harris (24ppg, 6.8apg), Derrick Rose (17.5ppg, 6.1apg), and Jose Calderon (12.9ppg, 8.8apg). Somebody please tell me that Rajon Rondo is doing more for his team than one of these guys!

Now, I don’t want to take anything away from Rondo. He’s a great young talent, and I think he has benefited from learning how to win a championship so early in his career. However, that is solely because of the three stars around him; Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Furthermore, the only aspect he truly excels at is assists and a tenacity to play hard the entire game… but I’m sorry. A lot of heart, determination, and a knack for consistently posting impressive numbers in one stat category does not make an All-Star unless you’re the old Ben Wallace blocking the crap out of everybody each year.

Maybe next year… but probably not.

Comments

8 Responses to “Rajon Rondo has No Business Being Considered for NBA All-Star Game”

  1. AG on January 2nd, 2009 3:11 pm

    Chalmers is the Heat’s PG, not Wade. So excluding Wade, among the players you listed, Rondo is second in shooting percentage (to Nelson), first in steals, second in assists (to Calderon), first in rebounds. He’s not a great scorer, but that is not a point guard’s job. He is a great defensive player, though.

    Also, he’s arguably the second most important player on the best regular season team in history (to this point in the season). Devin Harris and Rondo should be the All-Stars.

  2. AlexV on January 2nd, 2009 8:22 pm

    You are right about Dwyane Wade not being the point guard in Miami anymore. He is the shooting guard.

    As for Rondo’s shooting percentage being second next to Nelson, that’s great, but it’s still for a respectable 11.2 points per game, where as Nelson averages 16.5 with just .005 percentage points more than Rondo. And even though it can be said that Rondo maybe evens it out because he averages 2-3 more assists per game than the other mentioned point guards, I would still take Nelson, or even Harris, Bibby, Rose, and even Calderon over Rondo for one reason.

    Of all six of those players, if one of them were to get hurt, the veteran as well as sheer superstar power of Keving Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen would be better equipped to handle the loss of their starting point guard for an extended period of time over talented but lesser experienced casts like Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu for Nelson, a team where there is maybe one sidekick such as Vince Carter and maybe Jianlan Yi as third option for Harris, a team lacking in depth after guys like Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, and Marvin Williams for Atlanta if Bibby were out,, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and a few other role players like Kirk Hinrich and Andres Nocioni for Rose, and Chris Bosh for Calderon as Jermaine O’Neal has failed to pan out.

    Finally, to your point that a point guard’s job isn’t to score, even though Rondo is better in all of the other categories aside from scoring, I think one would be hard-pressed to try and name great point guards who weren’t able to score at least 15 points per game. To be a great point guard you have to be able to get assists but also have to add a clutch and game-changing dimension scoring wise to aid your team.

    Rondo is solid, but he has not done much in that department. Bibby, Harris, and Nelson would all be better trusted to hit a game winning shot than Rondo, and Derrick Rose isn’t too far behind. I would say that Rondo and Calderon are close, but even if either player’s team needed a three pointer toward the end of a game, it would be Calderon being set up for the shot for the Raptors, and either Ray Allen or Paul Pierce and even role player Eddie House for the Celtics as opposed to Rondo.

    Once again, Rajon Rondo… much improved player, but not All Star Player.

  3. AG on January 5th, 2009 1:18 pm

    In your second paragraph you make a point that Nelson is a better scorer than Rondo, which I’ve already conceded.

    In your third paragraph, you address the quality of teammates, but not the record. I.e. have good teammates doesn’t make you worse, it just raises expectations for your team. The Celtics have met those expectations.

    In your fourth paragraph, you come up with an arbitrary number (15 points/gm), which would exclude John Stockton from being a “great” point guard, which is absurd.

    Towards the end of the fourth paragraph and beginning of the fifth, you talk about clutch scoring. During the second quarter of the season, the Celtics go-to player in the clutch has been Rondo most of the time. Their record should provide an indication of how well he has done in this role.

    In my opinion, I would rank the Eastern Conference point guards performance so far this season like this:

    Devin Harris, Rondo, Calderon, Rose, Chris Duhon, Bibby, TJ Ford, Nelson, Andre Miller, Mo Williams, Rodney Stuckey.

  4. AlexV on January 5th, 2009 4:19 pm

    That is correct. You did say Nelson is a good scorer.

    In your argument to my third paragraph, it is a lot easier to meet expectations when you have three perrenial All-Stars. The only perrenials on the other teams might be Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, and Vince Carter. Plus, because the Celtics met their expectations, Rondo plays better and is a more confident player. But please tell me that without the additions of Allen and Garnett that he would still look so good. I just cannot see it. Furthermore, he’s not that great to begin with.

    As far as the arbitrary 15 points per game, you were only able to provide me one example of a great point guard with 15 a game, and he may be the greatest ever, if not top three. So all that tells me is there is always an exception to the rule.

    As far as you saying that Rondo has been the go-to-man, I hardly can see what you mean. They Celtics, when they win, usually blow out their opponents, so when has Rondo really gotten the chance to be the man. The clutch guys are obviously still Pierce and Allen. As far as the record should indicate how good he is, once again… three perrenial All-Stars. If there is any sport in the U.S. where having star power be the deciding factor of a championship team, Basketball is it.

    How many teams make the playoffs and no one even utters that they have a chance to win it all. And that is because of star power.

    Finally, as per your ranking, Harris has been up-and-down. He either scores a lot and gets a lot of assists, or almost has no prescence. TJ Ford has been hurt lately, and he’s not a great true point guard to begin with. He turns the ball over, and looks to shoot first. Andre Miller should not be mentioned either. His team is terrible and has not met expectations whatsoever. Mo Williams and Rodney Stuckey have provided much more stability to their squads than Ford and Miller.

  5. Mec on January 25th, 2009 1:54 pm

    Points per game has no place in an argument for whether or not a Point Guard should go to the all star game. I mean, did you guys know half the game of basketball is DEFENSE, even if we tend to ignore it. Rajon is the best defensive guard in the eastern confernce, no question!

    Judge a point guard based on what a point guard is SUPPOSED to do to benefit a team.

    Number 1 stat: Turnovers. Low turnovers means they are a good point guard who can protect the ball.

    Number 2 stat: Assists. You get the other four guys involved in the game and raise their confidence and you’ll see overall improved performance in the team.

    Number 3 stat: Steals, deflections, etc. Can they cause a bit of chaos on the defensive end and cause fast break opportunities for the team?

    And another important thing that doesn’t really have a stat: ABILITY TO PENETRATE the lane. Rondo does this so well, especially now that the defense has to respect his ability to score in the lane, because when he penetrates he forces defenses to collapse on him and leave people like Allen, KG, and House open on the outside.

    TL/DR version: Rondo plays defense and gets his team involved in the game. He does this better than almost any other guard in the game today and deserves to be on the all star team, although not as a starter.

  6. AlexV on January 26th, 2009 6:04 pm

    Let me tell you something. The bottom line is that all great point guards can score. I don’t care what team you are talking about. And so far, if you can only come up with two point guards who are good and didn’t score a lot, John Stockton, and Rajon Rondo, then I don’t think anyone should ever argue that a Point Guard’s job is not to score. That’s bullshit.

    A point guard is supposed to spread the ball around and score. Period. ALL GREAT POINT GUARDS have been able to score, and mostgood point guards score too. This isn’t fucking fooball.

  7. Mec on January 27th, 2009 3:51 pm

    I disagree. Great teams have players who know their role on the team. The celtics are a great team and it is because each person on the team knows why they are in the game. Perkins moves body around and opens the lane. Pierce is a scorer who can get to the free throw line and create mismatches. Ray Allen is a pure shooter (as is Eddie House). KG is a 20/10 player. Rajon knows his job is play very good defense and to keep everyone involved in the game on the offensive side of the court.

    Basketball isn’t all about scoring. Especially the point guard positions. Rajon may have less points per game than other guards, but he also plays shut down defense, causes turnovers, and handles the ball exceptionally well. He changes the tempo of the game, passes to the open guy, and his team loves him for it.

  8. mzzo on February 4th, 2009 11:08 am

    I would take Rondo over Nelson Any Day Defense baby Rondo plays Defense

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