anyone else annoyed with rondo and his assist whoring?

[sipitri]

He's an assist whore, still manages to be arguably the best PG in the league (he is in my eyes) and I bet his teammates really enjoy to play with him. Can't see the problem.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

I don't see what's dislikeable about a guy who is unselfish. Who would you rather play with, Kobe shooting over double teams when you're wide open or Rondo choosing to pass to you on a 2-on-0 fast break? Oh, and we're writing this after he just had a 22/15 game

[Wally450]

If he passes up those points for assists, he's still getting points for his team. Who care's?

[Qwyjibo]

A point guard's job isn't to just pass it and get assists. It's to create the best possible scoring chance for your team. That could be scoring yourself if you have the chance (or you have crap teammates) or creating for others.

If Rondo is passing up easy layups for himself for slightly more contested ones for his teammates then yea, it's stupid regardless if he still gets the assist.

[Quickening]

If he passes up those points for assists, he's still getting points for his team. Who care's?

His an assist whore, and like others have said, passes up easier chances of buckets for to gain assists... i.e he would hit the shot 7 times out of ten, but passes to a team mate who would hit their shot 4 times out of ten.... Yes in some cases he will still get assists, but it inevitably has a detrimental effect on his teams perfomances...

Makes his assists stat line look good though.

[LJJ]

It looks worse than it actually is because so many point guards do the opposite.

If anything it's a lot how the guy whose records Rondo is chasing used to do. Stockton used to dribble all over the court passing up relatively easy shots to look for the assist. Nash too. I think Toizumi hit the nail on the head when he said it's probably instinct to players like that.

[daily]

A point guard trying to distribute and move the ball, strange.

Only on ISH is a point guard doing his job a bad thing. Thank god ISH wasn't around in the days of Magic or Stockton

[KyrieTheFuture]

I get amazed when you people complain about selfish ball players and then when someone selfless comes around you criticize them for not shooting more.

[Clifton]

It would be a mistake to dismiss this, or avoid the question by pointing up another player not named Rondo who also statwhores.

It's bad for the team. It's selfish. Rondo is a selfish, arrogant guy, period. This detracts from his overall effectiveness as a player, period. Now, the problem actually caused by a guy passing too much is minimal, but it does take away from the team dynamic. The ideal is the kind of unconscious chemistry that the good teams simply have, which is when you're never really thinking about any one player. The 00s Kings just went out there and played. Heck, the 90s Bulls, despite having statistical marvels like Jordan and Rodman, had that way about them too: Make the best play. The recent champion Celtics, same story. The Heat this season, same story. A guy like Shane Battier, he might hit 5 3s, he might go 35 minutes and take only 1 shot. It's unconscious and situational and team-oriented. Rondo happens to have trouble entering that zone, I think. That doesn't mean he's not making his team better; he is. He's a very good player. But he is also a self-conscious player and that's a bad thing to be.

[Qwyjibo]

I get amazed when you people complain about selfish ball players and then when someone selfless comes around you criticize them for not shooting more.

Being "selfless" doesn't make it smart basketball or the right thing to do. If he is not taking high percentage scoring chances in order to setup teammates for lower percentage (even slightly) ones simply to get an assist, he is hurting his team.

Again, a point guard's job isn't just to pass and setup teammates. I think the notion of a "pure PG" is taken to extremes. I'd rather simply have a PG that makes the right decision on the floor. One that can recognize his teammates are crap and take on the scoring load or set-up better scoring teammates depending on the situation. Not one with a "pass only" mindset.

[TAZORAC]

Because scoring 22 points tonight is clearly passing up open shots lol...

Somebody can score 22 points and still pass up open shots. You've probably never played organized basketball and if you did you were no good, 5 points for 4 quaters is 20 points, it's not very hard to do.

He's defiantly an assist whore.

[JGXEN]

A point guard's job isn't to just pass it and get assists. It's to create the best possible scoring chance for your team. That could be scoring yourself if you have the chance (or you have crap teammates) or creating for others.

If Rondo is passing up easy layups for himself for slightly more contested ones for his teammates then yea, it's stupid regardless if he still gets the assist.

100% agreed.

[JMT]

I'm fascinated by the theory that passing the ball to someone who makes their shot can somehow be described as a lower percentage shot.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

It would be a mistake to dismiss this, or avoid the question by pointing up another player not named Rondo who also statwhores.

It's bad for the team. It's selfish. Rondo is a selfish, arrogant guy, period. This detracts from his overall effectiveness as a player, period. Now, the problem actually caused by a guy passing too much is minimal, but it does take away from the team dynamic. The ideal is the kind of unconscious chemistry that the good teams simply have, which is when you're never really thinking about any one player. The 00s Kings just went out there and played. Heck, the 90s Bulls, despite having statistical marvels like Jordan and Rodman, had that way about them too: Make the best play. The recent champion Celtics, same story. The Heat this season, same story. A guy like Shane Battier, he might hit 5 3s, he might go 35 minutes and take only 1 shot. It's unconscious and situational and team-oriented. Rondo happens to have trouble entering that zone, I think. That doesn't mean he's not making his team better; he is. He's a very good player. But he is also a self-conscious player and that's a bad thing to be.

Name me a player who doesn't fit that description of arrogant and self centred who is a good or better, but doesn't get criticism for being too passive. I can think of one current player, and even he gets called passive on occasion.

Battier doesn't complain about his touches or shots because he's arguably the 5th or 6th best player on his team (and happens to be one of the smartest players around). Miami didn't work for a long time because Wade couldn't become the number 2. Bosh is a naturally passive player, and anyone below those 3 is so much worse they don't deserve to take shots off the big 3. Almost every other team has struggles with shots, touches, minutes. Rondo takes that away in a sense because he gets players their shots, by being unselfish. Do you think Brandon Bass would rather get 2 points from a post move on Tiago Splitter or from a hand off from Rondo with no one near him?

[Scholar]

Uh oh! Stop the presses! There's a pass-first PG in the league!!!