As mentioned at RealGM.com Rajon Rondo will replace Joe Johnson in this week's All-Star Game. http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/219149/Johnson_Out_Through_All_Star_Break_Rondo_To_Take_Roster_Spot
I'm glad the coaches chose him as the reserve, even though he's had some bad tendencies of late with the 2 game suspension and also many reporters and fans flat out calling out Rondo as an overrated point-guard. There are some reason's why I believe this is good news for the Celtics.
1. This makes Rondo even more attractive if they are looking to trade him away. Hopefully they don't but if they choose this path his stock should be going up.
2. This give Rondo confidence, something that's he's been missing as of late. Rajon is a fancy player and he excels when playing with talent around his. (not saying the Big 3 aren't talented but they are not what they used to be when they came here in '08, '09, '10... etc.) I think he will have the most fun and make some Top 10 plays with his playing game for the East. Also why isn't he in the skills competition.. I'd say other than Kidd and Nash, Rondo has the best court vision and the ability to make some of the most difficult passes. Check this out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyYgNnwKZVs
3. Well that's all I have HA.. but I also think Josh Smith, Tyson Chandler and Greg Monroe should have got some love.
Promoted FanPost
On March 8 2010, the Celtics were well in the midst of a mid-late season swoon that would drop them to their worst season to date in the new Big Three era. Celtics fans were distraught, arguing back and forth about the window being closed, about who was a "real fan", who was too polyanna optimistic vs. who was too gloom-and-doom pessimistic. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce had both been in-and-out of the line-up with injuries, and after a fast start it seemed that the team had lost whatever magic they once had.
In the midst of this, I pointed out what was (to me) incredibly obvious: Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are the two best players on the team, and through age/injury neither were enough on their own to carry things like they once had. But TOGETHER, they still made this team as formidable as any team in the NBA. Here was the money section of my post, which I called Sanity Check: The Elephants in the Room
In 2010:
When KG and/or Pierce don't play: Celtics are 9 - 10 with a scoring margin of -0.8.
When KG and Pierce both play: Celtics are 31 - 11 with a scoring margin of +7.1.
Just to complete the sanity check, that win percentage and scoring margin with both KG and Pierce playing would currently be second in the NBA, just behind the Cavs and ahead of the Lakers.
AAAAARRRGHHHH!!! MY EYES!!!!! - via cdn2.sbnation.com
It's common knowledge that Rajon Rondo has a terrible, terrible jumpshot. He could build a small town with all the bricks he chucks up. Babies cry at the sight of this affront to basketball and opposing teams literally beg him to shoot it. He is so bad he caused Kobe Bryant to pioneer a new "I'm gonna ignore you and do what I want" style of defense, employed against Rondo and Rondo alone because only he is awful enough to justify it.
Ridiculous hyperbole aside, the general consensus is that he's a bad shooter - and that any time he does shoot the J it's a win for the defense. But before we all start mulling over trade scenarios (Hey there Deron), let's take a minute to look at some jump-shooting stats (for the purposes of this post, "jump shots" refers to 16-23ft shots) from a few of the league's top PGs, presented without names. (Credit to Hardwood Paroxysm's Mystery Statistics Theater for the basic idea; numbers courtesy of Hoopdata)
So... which of these is Rajon Rondo? Hit the jump to find out.
At this mid point I thought it would be interesting to look at how the core of this team has been doing. Because of injuries, suspensions and personal family-matter absences, the roster of the C's has been somewhat in flux. Because of that, it can be difficult at times to see through the noise and see how the heart of the team is doing.
Why is this important? Because in the odd chance that the team DOES make it to the playoffs, at that point, nothing becomes more important than how your top 5-man unit performs. Rotations shrink. Coaches go to 8 man units to get through entire games and the lion's share of minutes will go to the best 5-man unit. All concerns about how good your bench is, how to rest your starters, developing youngsters for the future - all that stuff goes right out the window. You win in the playoffs with your best unit.
With the Celtics, Danny famously gambled last year that he could put any good big man in the post behind the "Big 4" of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo and that they would still be a dominant unit. That gamble fell short behind injuries to not only the big men he planned to replace Perk with, but also to Rondo.
Many feel that the core "Big 4" is now past it's window and that they can no longer get the job done. Most of the complaints posted on this board are criticisms of the starters. KG is too old and slow and has no hops. Pierce has no legs. Ray can't get open off screens anymore. Both Paul and Ray are accused of turning the ball over like a greased bowling ball. Rondo is inconsistent, moody, and a mis-matched gazelle on a unit of beached manatees. And so on.
If all that is true, then they must suck, right? Well, I thought it worthwhile to take a look at how the "Big 4" is performing in isolation from the rest of the Celtics. Numbers after the jump.
Let's go ahead and do some minor things to get this team going. I think it would be a great idea to take a flier on Allen Iverson. If he can get you 5 points per game off of the bench and create his own offense when our bench guys look stagnent and just run around setting unnecessary picks?
Another thing is the Starting 5. Please let Greg Stiemsma aka Greg Steamer get a chance to start. Jermaine would be much more effective coming off of the bench and even potentially closing games out, if he is having a good night. GS would provide much more youth, shot blocking, athleticism and one could argue, rebounding. I would personally like to see us trade Jermaine for someone like a Brandon Wright.
I think we should try and do what ever we can to get Lamar Odom. I think he would thrive in Green working with KG, P2, RR, Ray and all the other guys. Lamar wants to be a part of a team with a "brotherhood mentality." I think the Mavs would heavily consider a package surround Jermaine O'neal and maybe Brandon Bass. I strongly disagree with the notion to trade any of our draft picks this year. This upcoming draft is very strong and I believe we are going to get some tremendous value in the next 6 months or so.
Does Dallas do Lamar Odom and 2nd round pick 2012 for Jermaine O'neal and Brandon Bass?
As we know this year isnt going to well so we must look to the future. I have been watching a lot of north carolina games and have really fallen in love in Harrison Barnes. The one person who he really reminds me of is Paul Pierce. What better way to replace PP than with a clone of him. He has got a really good mid range game and a little bit of hop in his step. Although he isnt a great athlete, like Pierce, he is a very young and promising SF. He is a legit scorer who could average somewhere in the 20's in the near future and be a star within the next few years.
I know most mock drafts have him going in the top four but if there was a way for the Celtics to get a high lottery pick and select this guy I think we should do it. Whether that is through a trade with a horrible team ( Bobcats, Wizards, or Raptors) or by some other way, I would love to see Barnes wearing his #40 jerseys with the Celts next year.
Well, I dont like our chances this year and it looks like we are all thinking about the future of the celtics. We should make any moves that could create some assets for this team and not just let everyone walk. Everyone should be on the block to try making this team BETTER!! I like the Idea of trying to get young players with good contracts and/or draft picks for our vets. Another benifit it trading our vets is that we will actually let the young guys get some minutes and see if the fit in out future. I dont know about you, but i hate to see dooling playing over more or not that kg and bass are out that jajuan or steisma are not getting the majority of the minutes. lets see if these guys can actually play. Anyways here are some players that I would not mind getting on the cheap that would not hurt the cap and will still allow us to get max contract deals in the off season(via dwight or deron).
Trade Ideas.
Paul Milsap- 2ys/8mi
Derrick Favors- 3yr/4.4mil
Anderson Varajao- 4yr/7.7mil
Paul George- 3yr-2.2mil
Lou Williams- 2yr-5.1mil
Evan Turner- 3yr-4.9mil
Andrea Bargnani- 4yr-9.2mi
Damar Derozen- 2yr-2.6mil
Derrick Williams- 4yr-4.6mil
wesley Matthews- 4yr- 6mil
Demarcus Cousins- 3yr-3.6mil
Not sure which players here we could get and I am sure I am missing more players, but these are the type of players we should be attempting to trade for along with draft picks and get some assets on this team.
Even the idea of trading Rondo for Gasol would be bad if we could get a good point guard like mo williams or even get deron in the off season.
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