How Overrated Rajon Rondo TRULY is.

[Rose]

Let’s discuss just how overrated Rondo TRULY is.

First let’s look at his shot attempts.
In his five years in the NBA he’s averaged this many shot attempts per year
Attempts Minutes
5.8 23.5
9.3 29.9
9.5 33.0
11.2 36.6
9.3 37.8

This is particularly interesting not only because his attempts are back down this year to his Sophomore levels, but because of the extra 8 minutes a game he’s playing. I wonder why he’s shooting less?

Well it could be because he’s actually a very POOR shooter, and isn’t really getting any better at that
Around the rim he shoots 64%(on 4.1 attempts per game)
<10 feet 48.5%(1.2 attempts per game)
10-15 feet 30%(.4 per game)
16-23 45%(2.8 per game)

Ouch. But to further examine that let’s compare him to his peers

Chris Paul
at rim 71.8%
<10 47.5%
10-15 43.1%
16-23 43%

Ouchies.

Deron Williams
At rim 59.2%
<10 46.7%
10-15 36.2%
16-23 46%
Interesting....
So that’s basically why Rondo doesn’t shoot, or score. Really he can’t especially compared to his peers. Which explains why players can play off of him now on defense, all they have to worry about is him driving into the paint to score.

http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?...ron%20Williams
http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Rajon%20Rondo
http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Chris%20Paul

Next let’s tackle his supposedly best rebounding point guard numbers
This year it’s a nice ...4.6
Deron a 3.7
Rose 4.5
lastly CP3 with 4.3
So of those four yes, he is the best. However he A. isn’t dominant over them at all really. And Russell Westbrook is actually better with 4.9 So really he’s just an upper echelon point guard rebounder


And now for Rondo’s vaunted passing abilities. First let’s give credit where the credit IS due, He does average a highly impressive 13.4. And he also averages 4.1 turnovers, which is the worst of any point guard I found. So props to the guy for leading the league in assists. The Celtics for a whole actually shoot right over 50%, including the big 3. Which is heavily impressive.

This in turn takes me to where the overrated part of his passing game is. First let’s discuss his absence. As I mentioned the team as a whole shoots over 50% from the field.
Now let’s look at the games he missed and what they shot
53% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012160BOS.html
50.6% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012050NJN.html
54% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012190BOS.html
39% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012220BOS.html
34.6% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012250ORL.html
50.7% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012280IND.html
43.4% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012310BOS.html
48% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...011210TOR.html
53.3% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...011220ATL.html
46.3% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...011240BOS.html
51.5% http://www.basketball-reference.com/...012290DET.html

Giving them an average shooting of 47% each game.
Obviously that’s not the historical rate their shooting at now, but still not missing a beat either, given that the league average right now is 45.6% a game. So it’s definitely more than possible that while sure he does “improve” their passing, they’d still be completely fine with out him. AND they would still be amongst the league leaders.

Lastly, his defense....wow. MUCH to be desired. an INCREDIBLE AMOUNT of benefit he gets playing with his bigs particularly Kevin Garnett. The Celtics actually play MUCH better defense without Rondo(with KG), and their offense hardly slips at all, even though they’re using a backup point guard who’s more of a scorer (Nate Robinson). And then have no real backup behind him.

BUT the best part is really that, those offensive numbers are down because of ONE game. in fact, if you remove the magic game they’re averaging
96.1 points
49.1% from the field
and lastly 22.5 Assists

All of which is JUST BARELY below their normal averages anyways. Keep ind mind that’s with a backup shoot first pass later point guard taking the shots, and with no depth, due to Delonte West being out. They go from 94.1 without him to 98.9 with him

Now defensively, this gets really good. Without Rondo, and with Garnett...they’re holding teams to 85.2 points. That’s right a HUGE drop off.

FGs 36.6/77.1---38.4/76.6

FTAs: 22.3---22.3
Assists: 21.7---24.6
W-L: .778----.778
Margin of victory 8.9---7.5

On the left is without on the right with. So basically they trade in a couple of assists for the same win-loss record and a better margin of victory. Trade 4 points to take away 6. Thus proving he’s actually...not that good of a defender And you say they’re getting less field goal percentage? Well they’re getting more shot attempts due to more rebounds!

Even more interesting the pace didn’t change. The Celtics literally rebound more, take the same amount of free throws, get MORE field goal attempts, and still somehow the opposing takes less, shots and less effective ones.

And that my friends is why Rajon Rondo is really overrated.

EDITED: For putting in shot attempts per game, in their respective location.

[jasonresno]

I've been waiting for this thread all day. Props and a rep your way when I can. But I fear your logic will fall on deaf ears. People know what they know, truth be damned.

[Batz]

Way to go John Hollinger Rosez. You forget one thing, watching the game and playoffs.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but vary that into your argument if you want to be taken more seriously.

[Rose]

Thanks both of you, and I know he plays well in the playoffs, but let's keep in mind he went up against Mo and Anthony Parker, not exactly well known for their defense(parker anymore).

obviously he has ALOT of intangibles, but they're still a better team without him.

[catch24]

Holy crap.

[DirkNowitzki41]

Holy crap.

[Rose]

You guys are gonna shit twice and die, once you see what I've done with Kevin Durant.

[west]

Holy crap.

[Batz]

Originally Posted by Rose

You guys are gonna shit twice and die, once you see what I've done with Kevin Durant.

Rosez stepping up.

[MMM]

One thing about rebounding I would use rebounding rate instead of rebound per game.

[Rose]

Originally Posted by MMM

One thing about rebounding I would use rebounding rate instead of rebound per game.

It's arguable. I don't like rebounding rate for point guards mostly because it's not their job to rebound. Anything they get is gravy.

[Rose]

Originally Posted by Batz

Rosez stepping up.

Let me put it to you this way, if you factor in his defense...He's nowhere near top 5 small forwards. But I'm still crunching other numbers on comparing him to other guys. It takes a wee while/Rudy Gay is undeniably better than Kevin Durant in everything but pure scoring.

[jasonresno]

Originally Posted by Rose

Let me put it to you this way, if you factor in his defense...He's nowhere near top 5 small forwards. But I'm still crunching other numbers on comparing him to other guys. It takes a wee while/Rudy Gay is undeniably better than Kevin Durant in everything but pure scoring.

I gotta see this. Your posts are gold

[Batz]

Originally Posted by Rose

Let me put it to you this way, if you factor in his defense...He's nowhere near top 5 small forwards. But I'm still crunching other numbers on comparing him to other guys. It takes a wee while/Rudy Gay is undeniably better than Kevin Durant in everything but pure scoring.

AAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWW SSSSSSSHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111 111111

[nycelt84]

Originally Posted by Rose

Thanks both of you, and I know he plays well in the playoffs, but let's keep in mind he went up against Mo and Anthony Parker, not exactly well known for their defense(parker anymore).

obviously he has ALOT of intangibles, but they're still a better team without him.

If you truly believe the Celtics are a better team without Rondo then you really don't know much about basketball.