The first time I heard about Rajon Rondo, it was from Bill Simmons as he raved about the kid's talent in a column on ESPN.com. It took a couple years, but eventually Rondo blossomed into the great point guard that Simmons had seen coming. He's long, quick, athletic and he passes exceptionally well. The biggest flaw to his game is shooting, but for whatever reason, he can get to the rim even with his defender knowing he's not going to take that 15-foot jump shot.
The most interesting aspect of Rondo's game is the way he statistically blows up in the playoffs. During the regular season, he's a good-to-great point guard. During the 2008-2009 regular season, he averaged 12 points, 8 assists 5 rebounds and a couple steals per game. Then the playoffs rolled around, and over 14 games he averaged 17 points, 9.8 assists and 9.7 rebounds per. The guy was a walking triple double.
Apparently that's just how Rondo is wired, as we see a similar story this year. From November to April, he averaged 13.7 points, 9.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds. Playoffs? 17.9 points, 11.4 assists and 7.1 rebounds, including an incredible 29 point, 13 assist and 18 rebound performance against the Cavs yesterday. He just takes it to another level when the games matter most, a characteristic all the greats have had.
He may have been overshadowed by Garnett, Allen and Pierce these last couple of years, but watch for him to take this team over as The Big 3 age.
No comments:
Post a Comment