Debunking The "Build around Rondo" Myth

besides the 04 Pistons and the championship Bulls teams was a dominant post up big man who could get great post position and get off close turnaround jumpers and make them or could do that and also be able to go right to the rim from that position. Even the Bulls had Bill Carwright early who could battle for position and hit a few turnarounds. Lakers had Kareem, Philly had Malone, C’s had KM and Parish, Rockets had HA, the 90’s Pistons had James Edwards, Spurs had TD, Lakers of 00’s had SO, Heat had SO, C’s had KG, Lakers of late 00’s had Pau, and Dallas had Dirk who was not the back to the rim player the others were but he took it to the rim a lot off that dribble going to the rim and that high arcing shoot is impossible to block really. If he was not aggressive like he was, no way the Mavs beat the Heat. It made the difference.

The teams you brought up all had great pass first pg, but none of them had that impact big man post player who could post up and get off easy close shots and or take it to the rim a lot. Rondo has KG now but he is not the same player he was. Keep Rondo who is young and top five pg and Pierce, then get younger by using Allen who has value and KG who also has value if he plays more of a diminished role for trades now. Have to try to get a young real post player or at least a decent one who can get some close shots at the rim which is tough because their are not to many of those around, the good ones that is but this is most everybody’s problem except the few teams that have good ones and the ones who have decent ones. The best ones right now are Nene, LA, Lopez who is hurt, DH—who does not have a lot of touch on those close ones but is such a force, Pau, and Bynum—who really could be a lot better if he learned to be quicker with the doubles. The next group who are decent are Gortat, Pek, Noah—not really there yet, but good defensive center.

You have demonstrated that no one has won with a dominant point guard in the recent past, and that’s true. If you go back one more decade than you do, you could point out that Magic and Isiah Thomas won 7 championships between them. The past will support either argument.

The problem is, the Celtics are not playing in the past, but in the present (future?), so while history can be a guide, it shouldn’t be the only criteria for determining future success because the game continues to change its rules, its strategies, and its players.

The broader question that we need to ask is not will he be a dominant point guard, but will he be a dominant player, period. The Bulls have manged to do quite well building around a point guard, and I would argue have an excellent chance of bringing home a championship in the future. So the championship question is: is your team’s best player the best player on the floor? If you believe Rondo can be the best player on the floor for an entire playoff run, you build around him. If you don’t, you go out and get a guy who can be. It’s not a positional thing.

People seem to get hung up on the idea that “building around Rondo” means that Rondo will have to be the best player on the team no matter what and we’ll only add worse players as his supporting cast.

Rondo is a great piece to build with. Legitimate point guards are not easy to come by in the NBA. Half the league has an undersized shooting guard dribbling the ball up the floor in place of one and Rondo is one of the best in the league at a very difficult position to fill.

It also makes a ton of sense to build with/around Rondo because he’s got a very reasonable contract and the Celtics will be able to add one or two max contract players to the roster as a result. He’ll be distributing the ball to them and will only amplify their talent.

Also, for people who say that Rondo isn’t enough by himself I feel like it goes without saying that that is true. For the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron James wasn’t enough to win a championship. Dwayne Wade, without Bosh or Lebron, was not enough to make the Heat anything more than a 1st round exit from the playoffs. Chris Paul on the Hornets was not enough, Derron Williams on the Jazz or the Nets was not enough.

To say Rondo is not enough for the Celtics moving forward is not even a criticism of him in my mind. Just a statement of fact. No single player is enough and stacking superstars on a team together may not be enough either if they don’t have the right coach, system, chemistry, supporting cast.

Rondo has already shown that he can be part of a championship team and will rise to the occasion when faced with big moments in games that matter the most. There’s not a lot of players in the league you can say that about who are also one of the top 5 in the league at their position and are signed to a contract several million less than their peers.

It seems that people forget how the C’s won their last Championship, with defense. How was Rondo’s offense back then? Pretty lame but he did do some clutch offense. How was Ray Allen’s shooting that year and into the playoffs? Not up to his standards. Pierce, KG and Rondo carried that Team along with some intimidating defense and rebounding by Perk and some big threes from their 6th man Posey.

Rondo still has no problem getting other players involved. The problem has not been Rondo, it has been the poor jump shooting team the C’s have become with a very slow moving team defense.

This team needs a big that can play D first and score 12 to 14 in the post. Who that big is will be up to Danny to find.