Monday, May 10, 2010
Rondo's a rising star
Last year, during the NBA playoffs, Josh Krueger and I were having a little debate about Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. It went something like this:
Me: If Rondo could consistently hit a 17-foot jumper, he'd be a top-5 player in the league.
Josh: Whoa, let's not get crazy.
Josh then named his top five players: Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Chris Paul (remember, this is last year, before he got hurt) and Dwight Howard.
After watching him evolve into a complete player this season, and seeing Sunday's staggering stat line (29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists), I'll put Rondo right after Kobe, LeBron and Howard. I'd take him over Wade, and I'd take him over Chris Paul.
He is the league's best point guard, just beating out Deron Williams of the Jazz, a player with a completely different skill set. Keep in mind, he's also a first-team all-NBA defensive player. He's currently carrying this team on his back, because you know Paul Pierce certainly isn't.
Teams that used to give Rondo that open jumper are starting to realize you can't really do that anymore. He's starting to get the confidence to take it, and more often than not, he's knocking it down.
He's an entertaining, hard-working player that's on the verge of superstardom, and he can be on my team any day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree the Chris Paul pick doesn't look great this year. I never said I wouldn't want Rondo on my team. I'm just saying that, if I'm picking my team full of NBA players, playground style, Rondo's probably not going to be on my team.
It's nothing personal. I think he's a hell of a good player. There are just other guys I'd rather have.
It seems we're in agreement that, in some order, LeBron, Kobe and Howard are ahead of RR on the list. I maintain that D-Wade is, too. In fact, I might put him ahead of Howard, because he's more of a game-changer on the offensive end.
As for No. 5, there are a number of solid choices, and I don't mind including Rondo in the discussion. But, even though a year ago I never would have predicted this, I'll take Kevin Durant. He still has some work to do to reach his full potential, but the guy was a scoring machine this year. He's got the smoothest jumper in the league after Ray Allen, and he can score inside and plays decent D.
As far as other candidates, the way Steve Nash is playing right now, it would be hard not to pick him. The same goes for Amare Stoudemire, who again has me wondering why the Suns shop him at the trade deadline every year.
So, again, I'd take all of those guys before I'd take Rondo. But if I had to pick a Celtic, there's no doubt, Rondo is the one I want.
Post a Comment