In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : Five years in the league... you say he is a top tier NBA PG and you are having to explain to him the need to shoot lay ups and get to the FT line? Hmmmmm. Sounds like you're coaching a not-terribly-bright HighSchool JV PG who doesn't understand the game. Pud
Posted by puddinpuddin

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : Five years in the league... you say he is a top tier NBA PG and you are having to explain to him the need to shoot lay ups and get to the FT line? Hmmmmm. Sounds like you're coaching a not-terribly-bright HighSchool JV PG who doesn't understand the game. Pud
Posted by puddinpuddin

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : The point guard = quarterback analogy is not really accurate. Quarterbacks are the key player, by far, in pro football. Point guards are not the Key Player in basketball. In recent modern basketball it's usually been the 2/3 a la Kobe, LeBron, CPP, DWade; and in older school basketabll it was the center. There are exceptions for sure, but in football, it is almost always the QB that makes or breaks a team's chances, while in basketball it seldom is the point guard. That said, I like Rondo a lot, but think the coaching staff has been far too hands off on him (he ain't no vetrin), given him to much rope and he's got caught up in it with what appears to be a bit of a free throw shooting phobia. I think he has to shoot from outside a bit more to help space the floor in 1/2 court sets, and from what I can tell has a pretty good shot. I think Danny has kind of laid down the law whereas Doc wasn't able/willing to do so. Let's see how things go in the next few weeks, ex-Rondo; so far, they look OK. I'm hoping Rondo gets a wakeup call and starts to shoot, and take layups and if need be see a sports shrink if he's afraid of goint to the line.
Posted by futbal

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : uhh, maybe you missed those 14-15 assists a game....Tops in the NBA! That's first--as in better than every single other point guard in the NBA. This makes Rondo the first point guard on this pace since Stockton did it like ten years ago. Perhaps you missed the two all defensive teams, Perhaps you missed the way he dismantled Cleveland and orlando in leading the Celtics to the finals last year? Perhaps you missed where coaches and experts around the NBA all universially praise Rondo's high basketball IQ. That's quite impressive for a JV point guard.  By your criteria Jason Kidd for much of his career was a JV point guard. Will he be the first JV point guard to get elected to the NBA hall I wonder? Other than Bad shooting Bob Cousey, I mean.   Rondo, has flaws in his game. Everyone does. Doesn't take away from the things he does do exceptionally well
Posted by jtkl

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : The Celtics don't make it past Cleveland without Rondo last year. So while the Lakers exploited some of his weaknesse, blaming him for the loss is silly. It's like saying Denver wouldn't have lost 3 super bowls without Elway playing poorly in them. Uhh, No. They wouldn't have played in those super bowls without Elway. Rondo is a young player, their are parts of his game he still needs to improve, but he is a top 5 point guard. That said,  I want to see him start shooting layups. If he get's fouled, look at it as practice time. If nothing else he is getting the other team in the penalty. 
Posted by jtkl

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : uhh, maybe you missed those 14-15 assists a game....Tops in the NBA! That's first--as in better than every single other point guard in the NBA. This makes Rondo the first point guard on this pace since Stockton did it like ten years ago. Perhaps you missed the two all defensive teams, Perhaps you missed the way he dismantled Cleveland and orlando in leading the Celtics to the finals last year? Perhaps you missed where coaches and experts around the NBA all universially praise Rondo's high basketball IQ. That's quite impressive for a JV point guard.  By your criteria Jason Kidd for much of his career was a JV point guard. Will he be the first JV point guard to get elected to the NBA hall I wonder? Other than Bad shooting Bob Cousey, I mean.   Rondo, has flaws in his game. Everyone does. Doesn't take away from the things he does do exceptionally well
Posted by jtkl

Uhhmm...I like Sammy Hagar but van Halen clearly wasn't the same without The Dave. Not a good example in my book but some people may disagree..... As for Rondo, i like him a lot and mostly enjoy watching him play but I'm a bit worried about the shooting weaknesses in his game after Pierce, Allen and KG have left. He should become a bit more all-round, clearly, but for this team Rondo is a great fit.
Posted by basketbert

In Response to Re: w/o Shaq, nothing is easy. w/o Rondo, it is all mess : Van Halen still tours... David Lee Roth - is he still alive?  Oddly and just as filler.... in their youth Eddie played the drums and Alex was the guitar player and at some point they changed and Eddie claims that he never took formal lessons - one of the most gifted guitarists who essentially brought classical music to metal never took formal lessons - wow. I used to think that Perk was the player in the league whose actual game and his perception of his game had the greatest disparity - in other words the difference between his actual game and his perception of his game could not even fit in the grand canyon.... recently and more and more I believe Rondo is right there with him.  In his SI interview / article he basically said that he is the best point guard in the league - hey Rajon give about a dozen other point guards in the league 4 hall of fame starters and they may average 14 assists also - oh no they wouldn't average 14 assists because occasionally they would shoot the ball instead of passing up layups and by shooting and making wide open uncontested jumpers they would be forgoing assists - oh no wait, they would not be wide open and uncontested because the defender realizes that the guy he is guarding can actually shoot.. if Gilbert Arenas was given the shots Rondo gets he would be the all time leading shooting percentage leader in the history of the league....  Rondo pounds the ball into the floor killing the shot clock causing 3 second violations waiting for someone to get open and then passes the ball and runs and stands in the corner wide open hoping the ball gets shot by the first guy he passes it to so that he gets the assist and the ball never cycles back to him....  it is really funny how often after he passes the ball and the Cs are trying to move the ball and he is obviously not an option and his teammates quickly look at him and realize that passing the ball to him is a mistake and he is calling for the ball - little does he realize that he has wound the clock down too far and that giving the ball back to him is basically a turnover or on a positive note - a rebound opportunity.   I love the "perfect for this team" assessment, it seems to apply to the weakest of the Cs starting 5 and is somehow justified and at the same time a great qualifier..... as if the team would be worse off with better all around / more complete players as if somehow the Cs would be worse off with Derick Rose and Brook Lopez, as if they would be worse off with Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, as if they would be worse off with Devin Harris and Roy Hibbert, etc.  Imagine the Cs having D Howard and Steph Curry as their center and point guard - the posters here would be saying I wish we had a center who was not athletic, could not defend, could not rebound, could not shoot, could not block shots and I wish we had a point guard who could not shoot, not make 3s, not make free throws - we would be so much better off - if we had Perk and Rondo they would be perfect for this team...... think about that - that is what we have when we read over and over and over again about how Perk and Rondo are "perfect for this team" as if having complete players is a mortal sin - well unless of course we have complete players at the other 3 positions um.... which they do. I guess what I am saying is that they have two very easily replaceable parts and would not be any worse off an in many cases a lot better..... Somehow with a point guard that can shoot routine jumpers, an occasional 3, and 90% of his freebies and a center that can actually participate as an option in the offense would make the team worse. I can see KG, Pierce, and Ray sitting around saying I am so glad we have Rondo and Perk not being able to participate in the offense, ensuring that one of us is constantly double teamed and that the opposing defense is allowed to sag into the paint and take away penetration in the half court offense. KG is thinking to himself I am so glad we have Rondo passing me alley oop passes but then every night when I watch sportscenter I see about 20 other guys in the league getting alley oop passes.  How can Blake Griffin possibly be the play of the day without Rondo feeding him alley oops every night?  How can Hibbert be putting up numbers that Perkins would kill for every night?  How is it even possible that Davis and Bledsoe are giving Griffin 10 alley oops per night without having Rondo there?  I thought there were only alley oops when Rondo was involved. So back to the title of the thread - Shaq at 38 is vastly superior to Perk - but of course what we read over and over and over again is that without Perk there is no chance to even find anyone that could possible replace him but by simply getting injured the Cs were able to get two centers when healthy are both better than Perk..... there are still those that think that Perk would only be a graduate of medical school if he had simply gone to school instead of going to the NBA.....  I love the "he would only be a junior in college had he gone to college"... now in year 8 Perk is a journeyman center who has never turned out to be the player that most of the posters here said "give him some time - he would only be a sophomore, junior, senior blah blah blah" had he gone to college as some sort of justification as to the weaknesses and shortcomings in his game.  Boy oh boy with Eric Dampier they somehow would not have won a ring 3 years ago?  Oh did I say Dampier - Bogut, either Lopez, either Gasol, Howard, Horford, blah blah blah..... and "with Rondo it is all a mess" ummmmmm, give me Devin Harris and a whole bunch of others with KG, Pierce, Allen, and Shaq and you are absolutely no worse off...let alone it being "it is all a mess"..... and the Cs are no worse off and again in many cases a lot better off and a lot better team...... the "perfect for this team" is an excuse, qualifier, joke, and simply laughable...... keep trying though....
Posted by TheDUDDER

pierce put up 12 assists the other night - so, it does show that it is not too amazing that a non shooting player would get 14 a night.  granted, I am a fan of Rondo and the way he plays the position, but I do hope he's off shooting free throws while he's out.  2,000 a day should help.
Posted by jeezem

In Response to w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : Dude Paul had a triple double with only 3 to's.  Shooting was fantastic as well as he shut Danny Granger down completely.  What do you expect from him?  I don't want a bunch of alley oops this early anyway.  It increased the chance they get hurt.  Looked to me like Paul gave Shaq a highlight alley oop though.
Posted by OneOnOne

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : Five years in the league... you say he is a top tier NBA PG and you are having to explain to him the need to shoot lay ups and get to the FT line? Hmmmmm. Sounds like you're coaching a not-terribly-bright HighSchool JV PG who doesn't understand the game. Pud
Posted by puddinpuddin

In Response to Re: w/o Sahq, nothing is easy. W/o Rondo, it is all mess : You may be correct that the Cs would not have gotten past Cleveland without Rondo but they would have gotten past Cleveland the Lakers had with any number of other point guards. When David Lee Roth left Van Halen people thought it was the end..... Rolling Stone magazine of course covered it extensively but the memorable quote from Rolling Stone was "remember the name of the band is Van Halen" - that meant there was not much importance associated with who the singer was.  Of course Van Halen went on to bigger and better things until Eddie's alcoholism took over his life.  David Lee Roth went on to become a radio DJ.  Rondo is David Lee Roth and the band goes on without him. After beating Philly tomorrow night the Cs winning percentage this year will be higher without Rondo than with him.  It is the band not Rondo........ Delonte West can get to the rim anytime he wants, he is tough defender, he can shoot from anywhere on the floor.... the Cs are absolutely no worse with Delonte West at the point.
Posted by TheDUDDER

So the C's may be just as good with another terrific PG not named Rondo?  But that can be said about all the positions.  How would they be with Duncan at PF, Melo at SF and Ellis at SG? There are some great players in the league at all the positions and we're fortunate to be loaded at all of them, including PG. Enjoy the ride.
Posted by pliu

pierce put up 12 assists the other night - so, it does show that it is not too amazing that a non shooting player would get 14 a night.  granted, I am a fan of Rondo and the way he plays the position, but I do hope he's off shooting free throws while he's out.  2,000 a day should help.
Posted by jeezem

In Response to Re: w/o Shaq, nothing is easy. w/o Rondo, it is all mess : Jeeez... lets see. If traded I would ask to be sent to a team whose starting PG doesn't visibly tremble at the thoughts of taking a wide open 12 footer with the game on the line. Hmmmmmm... that pretty well narrows it down, doesn't it? Gonna be tough to find such gutsy, ice water in his veins PG play at this level!  Okay how about any one of the following teams if we can make the salary cap numbers work: Blazers Bobcats Bucks Bulls Cavaliers Clippers Grizzlies Hawks Heat Hornets Jazz Kings Knicks Lakers Magic Mavericks Nets Nuggets Pacers Pistons Raptors Rockets 76ers Spurs Suns Thunder Timberwolves Warriors Wizards    Pud

Still undefeated without Rondo. Although Rivers is doing everything he can to make us lose. Ray Allen should never be running the offense. We should use Robinson, Daniels, Pierce, or Bradley to run the offense. Ray should be the end of the play, not the beginning. And that lineup we had at the beginning of the fourth quarter was something to behold.
Posted by Kirk6

In Response to Re: w/o Shaq, nothing is easy. w/o Rondo, it is all mess : I like KG at PF over Duncan (at least at this point in Duncan's career).  And I hands down like PP at SF over Melo and I also prefer Ray at SG over Ellis. The reason is, it doesnt take one person to win a game.  It takes 5 to win.  Our starting 5 complement each others skillset.  That is exactly why Rondo is the perfect PG for us.  The Rondo haters are simply pissed off because Rondo plays in a fashion that goes against the stupid models they have in their heads.  You see, in the models in their heads, a person with Rondo's attributes wouldn't do well.  These haters, at this point in their lives, don't want to change their models.  They would rather expend a lot of energy trying to make us believe that Rondo is a duck because their model says he is a duck.  In reality, Rondo is a lion.  Their models are flawed.  Its an ego thing. They remind me of this guy I used to know.  A season after Tom Brady took over the QB role of the patriots, I asked him about the Patriots and he said, "You know, I am one of those Drew Beldsoe's fans."  I never spoke to that guy again.  Not because Bledsoe wasn't a good QB.  But, very quickly I realized that this guy had a bad model in his head and I didn't want anything to do with his models.  Just because Bledsoe is a good QB doesn't mean Brady can't be good either. 
Posted by bilalkazmi