Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 at 10:32 am  |  206 responses

Rajon Rondo Wants to Become Greatest Point Guard in Celtics History


by Eldon Khorshidi | @eldonadam

How good is Rajon Rondo? Coming off arguably the most memorable postseason of his career (you didn’t forget all those triple-doubles, did you?), the question has evolved from mild whispers into mainstream conversation. In terms of the current NBA landscape, you could make the case that Rondo is a top-2 point guard. He sets the tone of the ball game, possesses superior court vision, slithers into the lane at will, is fearless, has a contagious swagger, and most importantly, is just a flat-out winner. Rondo led the League in assists last year, and it’s crazy to think he led the Celtics all the way to the Final Four after they were largely dismissed a few seasons ago as being “too old.” It’s also telling when you look at Rondo’s résumé—take it for what it’s worth, but he’s won an NBA title, something Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Steve Nash can’t relate to. Shoot, those guys haven’t even been to the Finals.

Speaking to the media shortly after landing in the Philippines, Rondo, who has never lacked self-confidence, says he’s at a good place right now, but when it’s all said and done he has a bigger goal in mind: Rajon hopes to go down as the greatest point guard in Boston Celtics history.

More details, via Interaksyon.com:

Barely four hours after landing in Manila, NBA all-star guard Rajon Rondo took time to unwind at the Titan 22 barber shop at The Fort. He then went straight to scheduled business, talking to local media about, among other things, his place in Boston Celtics lore. “I hope I can end my career as the greatest point guard in the history of the Boston Celtics,” he said. He doesn’t know where he ranks just yet on the list of top lead guards in the history of the green and white, a lineup that includes all-time greats such as Bob Cousy, Jo Jo White, Nate Archibald, and Dennis Johnson, among others. Cousy was the first Celtics superstar, and was part of six titles with Boston. He pioneered behind the back dribbling, no-look passing, and other modern affectations during the early years of teh game. White, meanwhile, was the lead guard of memorable Boston championship teams in 1974 and 1976. He scored 33 points and nine assists in the Game Five of the 1976 Finals against the Phoenix Suns, a triple overtime game that is among the greatest in NBA history. Archibald was at the tailend of his brilliant career when he joined the Celtics, but helped the squad win the NBA title in 1981. Johnson, meanwhile, was the defensive demon who bolstered Boston’s backcourt in the 1980s. His memorable play perhaps came off a layup after a steal by Larry Bird against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals in 1987.

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  • LakeShow

    I never said he couldn’t create offense for others. That’s why he is even in a discussion for top 5 PG is because of his ability to create for others, but he can’t create for himself. He can, but it’s useless because he has no offensive moves and is a horrible jump shooter. I’ll have to look up the advance stats on his converting at the rim. Like I said he is not horrible at that like Brandon Jennings, but he needs to be elite if he is never going to get a jump shot and still be considered in the top 5 PG’s.

  • LakeShow

    Definitely lacks the athleticism. That may not hamper him as much as it may seem though. He still appears to be an elite play maker, solid rebounder and defender. His shot looks better than J-Kidds ever did, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot.
    He may be able to improve into a better shooter than J-Kidd(3rd all time 3 point list?) because he has the right mechanics. All a bunch of “if’s, and’s and but’s” right now though.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    idk, i consider Rose a pure PG as much as i do Rondo, or Williams, or Paul. All of them are PG’s through and through, have been playing the position their whole basketball lives. In contrast, I don’t consider Westbrook a “pure point guard” because he really doesn’t run the position, or seem to even understand what his responsibilities are at the position even though he’s a great player with as much talent as anyone else.

  • peak_fly

    rondo is not top 2. he’s good don’t get me wrong but the fact that he cant shoot free throws and he has no jumper. definitely takes him out of top 2

  • Nicolas Fleming

    100 comments in August. This new commenting system works.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    Knew I could count on NBK to pull out the stat that reinforced what I knew with my eyes and standard stats.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    If he played better during the season they would have likely had a higher seed and might have won that series.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Gilbert/100001749589586 Mike Gilbert

    when did they mention Westbrook? oh yes they didn’t

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Gilbert/100001749589586 Mike Gilbert

    All he needs to do is develop a little more consistency. He’ll go 15 10 and 10 and then the next night fire a blank.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    Well I think he has the ability to manufacture points, just not on jumpers. Against the Heat, one of the best defenses in the League, he regularly manufactured buckets.

  • shutup

    Thank you, why is it Tony Parker is overlooked in every point guard conversation, he was arguably the third best player in the league last year, and finished fourth in MVP voting, and personally I believe he should have been ahead of CP3 in the voting (best regular season record and all)

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    Kidd always shot with more confidence, a huge part of shooting. He just didn’t put in the time in the gym, which he admitted later in his career. Rubio’s entire shot falls apart randomly, Kidd didn’t have that problem.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    Most players drop off gradually and then all of sudden it looks like they’ve fallen off a cliff.

  • Fat Lever

    Pure PG to me is some of the intangibles as well. How do you measure tempo control? What about making the right pass to the right guy in his spot(which may not always lead to an assist)? Things like that are where I think Rondo has the edge of Deron.

  • BlackPhantom

    Outside of your Top 5?? Wow, that’s pretty interesting.

  • LakeShow

    He also missed a ton of wide open and what I would consider for most players “easy buckets.”
    He had a real good series against them, but 17 points on 45% shooting would be nothing to write home about with CP3 or D-Will or Westbrook or D-Rose or Nash or…
    Where he does his damage is his game orchestrating play which is invaluable. I give him all the credit in the world for being able to do what only the best PG’s in the L can do, but he has a gaping major flaw in my eyes. That’s his lack of scoring and shooting ability. Those are what keep him on the outside looking in for me.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    When it comes to making an assist, I agree. But I think of a pure point as having game control. That means you know when to pass and when the team is better served by you shooting. In the playoffs Rondo balanced that incredibly, but during the season and in past years he’s sucked at it often. He passes up good shots to make forced passes in my opinion. Deron runs a team in total equally as well as Rondo. He doesn’t pass as well, no one does honestly, but the way he can be a dual threat is very important.

  • LakeShow

    Top players at the PG Position:
    Paul
    Williams
    Westbrook
    Rose (if 90% of what he use to be)
    Irving
    Parker
    Rondo
    …
    Yes, I think Irving will be this good next year.
    …

    Best PG’s in the L:
    Paul
    Williams
    Rondo
    Nash
    Rose
    John Wall
    Rubio
    Kyle Lowry
    …
    I’m just being dumb and differentiating between over all basketball players and players who play PG the best.

  • LakeShow

    True…
    He still has better overall form.
    I could see him becoming a better shooter than J-Kidd. It’s like looking in a Chrystal ball at his point though. We have no clue, but his mechanics are there from what I have seen.

  • BlackPhantom

    Wow, man. I like Kyrie Irving too, but I don’t think he’ll be better than Tony Parker nor Rajon Rondo next year, it’ll take him more than one year to get that level of point guard production.

  • LakeShow

    Your smarter than me. I’m going down that D-Rose MVP outta no where road with Irving. He got skills. I can’t doubt him.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    totally cosign this. Rondo passes just as well as Deron, but he’s like a starving artist who tries to create an assist at every opportunity. Deron takes them where he can get them, but he won’t hurt his production to create one. idk who is more “pure” between the two, but i totally agree with Allen’s classification of the term.

  • Caboose

    PG stat predictions for next year:
    Paul: 19-4-10
    Deron: 20-3-11
    Rondo: 14-6-11
    Parker: 21-3-7
    Westbrook: 24-4-6
    Irving: 23-3-6
    Wall: 19-5-9
    Rubio: 12-6-10
    Rose: No idea
    (These aren’t in a ranked order)

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Nash – 13 – 2 – 10
    Kobe – 24 – 4 – 4
    Metta – 7 – 3 – 2
    Pau – 18 – 8
    Dwight – 22 – 14 (18 – 12 if it takes him till 2013 to get healthy)

  • chingy

    6 boards for Rubio might be a bit high. And I can see Westbrook avg a few more points. Otherwise, on point.

  • chingy

    Wonder how they’re going to enforce “SLAMonline Discussion Rules”

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    it’s through disqus, who have their own set of rules i’m sure.

  • chingy

    Say goodbye to your troll :)

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    well the one with the name “nbk troll” he’ll probably come back with that name if he doesn’t have one registered with disqus. the actual troll stopped his stuff a couple weeks ago

  • http://twitter.com/_DFrance DFrance

    Haha, true true. They won’t matter soon. Lol

  • Redd

    So by no idea, u mean you couldn’t even fathom the astronomical stats Rose will pull off? Lol.

  • Rainman

    i like this, this seems even better than the list above. Nash has gotta be in that Pure point guard discussion. He’s the purest PG since J-Kidd was in his prime. Or maybe purest since John Stockton even.

  • Rainman

    im trying to understand, im not bashing. But u look into fg% so much, how come D-will gets a pass for shooting 40% shooting.

  • Feez_22

    In order for rondo to become the best PG in celtics history, he’s going to have to attain a jumpshot. now i know people will point to a few games and advanced stats but dude isn’t a threat shooting the ball. all the rest of the good PGs in the league are. i remember when parker had a crappy midrange shot… he worked on it and became good at it. Rondo somehow needs to try that. Sucks that his shooting flaws were not corrected at the high school level. He played with josh smith at oak hill… go figue

  • SeanMagicJuan

    You can’t say “only two” when talking Finals.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Two is only one more than one. Saying Rondo has been to two compared to Westbrook’s one isn’t a lot to talk about.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    That’s interesting because a lot of people would say Rose is a “scoring PG”. I think Russell is just a creator in the vein of Iverson. Can play the point or the two but either way, he’s an attacker. That’s all he knows which works for the Thunder who only have two other guys who can score consistently besides him. He’s learning the position more and more each season. Even with his flaws, being All-NBA and doing what he’s done in four years isn’t bad.

  • airs

    im only commenting on this to see if i have any stats, sh*ts wild son.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Is Rose’s 25 and 8 average in his MVP season equal to Rondo’s 12 and 12 this past season in terms of effectiveness? I ask because it seems as if most people prefer the traditional point as if they are more valuable and talk down on “scoring PGs” because they may have more of an urge to score at times instead of pass. Just wondering what you all think. I have a hard time saying 12 and 12 is better than 25 and 8. Think about Chris and Deron, guys who are capable of 20 and 10 a night. Not to discredit Rondo and what he does. What do you guys think? Also, the fact that there are so many PGs to talk about is great for the game.

  • airs

    okay, how does this work.

  • Slick Ric

    Rondo has won a title but the guy who wrote this needs to calm down ……chances are, they would of won it without him that year. He made some plays but his main plays were getting the ball to the big three and getting the hell out of the way.

  • Slick ric

    There you go Manu…….

  • Redd

    Well his 12 APG wasn’t all him, it was the big three but I don’t dare discredit Rondo’s affinity for passing. Dude is a great PG in the traditional sense BUT don’t dare think it’s not credited to playing with the big 3, he now has the confidence and experience to be that dominate in a traditional manner.

  • Redd

    Seriously airs..? You’re still lost man? Lol.

  • 20folife

    I know you won’t probably won’t take the time to read this. But I’m a yung rapper who…………wait. this isn’t youtube. MY BAD!!!

  • 20folife

    Is it too soon to predict rondo being top 3 all time assists leader when he’s done??

  • G-PAK4

    Haattttteeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr

  • Mitt Robbedme

    If Rondo can be consistent as far as energy on a nightly bases, then it’s possible.

  • Enigmatic

    So how does this new commenting work tho?

  • Enigmatic

    Oh, like that. Dope.

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