Why Rondo will have a big year

Boston Celtics: Why Rajon Rondo Will Have a Big Year

Yahoo Contributor Network Mark Evans 5 hours ago

COMMENTARY | During his time in the league, Rajon Rondo has established himself as one of the league's top point guards.

Sign up for Yahoo Fantasy Basketball in Partnership with NBA.com
He consistently posts huge assist numbers, and he always seems to elevate his play on the big stage. His injury last year was the beginning of the end of an era, and he is all of the sudden the undisputed face of the franchise.

This season will be an interesting one for Rondo. He will be expected to carry a young team while recovering from a bad knee injury. Additionally, there will almost certainly be chatter surrounding the possibility of a trade. Danny Ainge has insisted that a Rondo trade will not happen, but you can never be too sure of anything an executive says.

Despite these challenges, Rajon Rondo is in for a big year.

First and foremost, Rondo will have a massive chip on his shoulder. He sat on the sideline and kept an ear open to everyone saying he should be traded. While his team struggled against the New York Knicks, he watched helplessly on the bench. The competitive fire inside of Rondo has been brewing for a while now, and you have to believe he has an itch to prove a point. Leading this team will be one of the biggest challenges of Rondo's career, and he will step to the plate to deliver.

With Brad Stevens, the Celtics could run an offense that actually fits Rondo's game. Doc Rivers implemented a slow half-court offense that limited Rondo's ability to run and create in the open court. In spite of this, Rondo still posted very impressive numbers. There's no longer a need to slow down the game with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce gone. The offense might not be better, but it will definitely be operating at a faster pace with more possessions. This means easier points for Rondo at the rim, and the potential for more assists with Jeff Green and Gerald Wallace running on the wing.

It's no secret that Rondo likes to gamble on the defensive end. He hovers around two steals per game, which is certainly an impressive total. Part of this is good instincts and solid hands, while the other part is his willingness to take a chance at a steal. Rondo might have a little bit of a leash to take more chances on the defensive end, as Brad Stevens could see an opportunity for easy points on the other end following a Rondo steal. With solid help defenders around him such as Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, and Gerald Wallace, the gamble might be worth it. As a result, Rondo's steal total could take a noticeable jump.

Of course, returning from a knee injury is never easy. This will probably be Rondo's biggest obstacle, and it will take some time for him to return to his usual self. Some players are never the same, and simply regaining confidence in his knee will be a challenge. The team won't rush him back, but it will still take some game action to shake off the rust.

This season, Rondo will show why he's worth keeping around. Look for a big year from Boston's building block.

--


KJ

Another story from a Yahoo contributor who is in college...

We don't know when Rondo will be back and will he be ultra motivated playing for a team that should have an under .500 record? Maybe, maybe not.

Pierce and Garnett provided many of the made shots for Rondo's assist numbers. I expect his assist numbers to go down this year but his scoring might increase.

I really don't see his assists going down if we are going to go uptempo for 48 minutes. Actually I believe his assists may actually increase. (but he needs to be back 100%)How many times in the past did the C's run sets and PP or KG hold the ball and go one on one?? That isn't going to happen this year (and actually we really don't have a player like that now)....at least not with them. Once RR comes back and is 100% (which might not even be this season) assists will increase IMHO.

beat

Among the stuff P.J. Carlesimo spouted the other night, one really stuck with me. There's virtually no one on this preseason's Celtics team who's really good at creating his own shot. TJ, as for the absence of KG and Pierce, while they provided many of the made shots for Rondo's assists last season, they may also have reduced his potential for assists by creating their own shots so often. It could be argued that, whatever mix of players replaces those two in the Celtics' lineups this season, that mix will be in greater need of Rondo's assists than Kevin and Paul were.

Based on extremely early returns, and obviously pending additional personnel moves, this is shaping up to be a very assist-oriented team. After two games (ya, ya, no one has to tell me it's a small sample), WITHOUT Rondo, they're averaging 26.5 assists per game compared with the 22.8 assists per game they averaged last season; and that's been happening during two games when their halfcourt offense has frequently been ragged.

IF Rondo returned to average the same 48.7% of the Celtics' APG that he averaged last season, and IF the team averaged the same 26.5 assists they're currently averaging without him, he would average 12.9 APG during his abbreviated 2013-14 season. Obviously, there are important "IFs" and unmentioned variables involved in that statement, which goes well beyond the number of assumptions I'm comfortable with in drawing a statistical conclusion. But the likelihood is that Rajon will be called upon to be even more of an offensive catalyst with KG and Pierce gone. And the greater tendency the team is already displaying for faster-paced games than last season reinforces that likelihood by capitalizing more often on Rondo's greatest strength—transition basketball.

I only hope the "new look" Celtics' propensity to push the ball even when not fast-breaking will rub off on Rondo upon his return. He's certainly seeing a flock of potential teammates who seem to thrive on up-tempo basketball, and there should be fewer situations in which he's outrunning all his teammates upcourt.

Of course, where Rondo is concerned, one always has to take his frame of mind into any analysis of any aspect of his game. There's never any guarantee that he won't sulk as he seemed to do after Perk was traded. But I happen to think his mental approach has improved (perhaps dramatically) since then. He seems genuinely excited about being in "partnership" with Brad Stevens in making the team click, and Brad is wisely encouraging the notion of a virtual partnership. Rondo's participating, to the best of his ability, in workouts. He's animated and vocal on the bench. And it just makes sense that he'll jump at his biggest opportunity yet to prove what a relatively valuable part of the Celtics tradition he can be.

As for the likelihood of a Rondo trade, in my book, such rumors have identical credibility with stories about the Celtics deliberately pissing away the season. Our local dump smells like petunias in comparison.

Sam

Kj,

I'm using my new tablet until I get my new power cord for my laptop.  Cutting and pasting is a pain with this.  I appreciate you helping out.


bob


.

Bob,

No prob, always happy to contribute.


KJ