Hahaha, dude, Nash has a shooting game that Rondo will never have in his career, even if he improves. He's one of the best 3 point shooters of this generation, hell in the entire history of the NBA. And he is almost literally twice as good as Rondo is when it comes to hitting free throws. He's multiple threat, it's not just the one facet of the game you have to worry about when it comes to him. Driving, shooting, passing, finishing, hitting his shots from the line, all similar to Rose, multiple threats that can be employed at any time. Which is what I mean when I say "inspire fear."
I don't mean being exciting, I'm not talking about unseen intangible factors or flashy play (but a lot of that usually comes with the territory), I'm talking about if you do stop him on his way to the rim, if you do stop an easy lay in with a foul or a block or something, he's not going to make you pay by going to the line. Until he fixes that, he will never be a scoring threat in the future. And you don't have to worry about guarding him on the perimeter, he can't hurt you from out there. He doesn't "inspire fear" from out there, because he has no range. Like he doesn't "inspire fear" from driving the ball because he can't hit his free throws. Simple. His value is almost completely dependent on finding his teammates and their talents.
And like I said, in a little while Allen is not going to be around with his lightening quick release and great shooting percentages from anywhere on the court, with his just-pick-a-spot-and he'll-hit-it accuracy. Pierce isn't always going to be able beat his man and elude the defensive rotation as the years continue to pile up on his knees and Garnett is fading as well. Shaq, Jermaine O'Neal, it's basically a wrap on both of their careers.
There's going to be a lot more on Rondo's shoulders when it comes to offense sooner rather than later. We're all going to see, unless he makes a drastic improvement, he's going to very easily be taken out of the game as more of the scoring weight will fall to him (or someone else not half as talented as any of the Big 3), and that's not a good thing. And the talking heads at ESPN will be mourning the "downfall of a star", when he really never was one to begin with.
An elite player can do more, should do more, than just one thing really well. Rondo is not that.
I love how you put words in my mouth and make it out to sound like I even hinted that Rondo was anywhere near Nash as a shooter, or even a decent for that matter. So you're making the case that because Rondo's teammates will be leaving in a few years, he won't have any good teammates, thus making him a bad player? Ok, well in 20 years D-Rose will retire and the Bulls won't have him. So I guess they'll be a bad team? Who's talking about a few years from now? Maybe you because it benefits your argument, but I'm living the present. And right now and for a few more years, he will have Ray, KG and Paul Pierce to pass to. And Ray Allen isn't a good player because he can explode to the rim, it's because of his shooting. And him having bad knee's won't affect him as a player.
That's a horrible argument anyway. Yes players get old, D-Rose will and so will Boozer. And hey, they won't be good at sometime in the future. So I shouldn't pick them to win it all this year because of that? Come on.
Maybe the Celtics won't be as good in a few years, that means Rondo isn't an elite player now? Really? And tell me, how many rings has Steve Nash been able to attain? Heck, how many Finals MVP awards has he won? The answer is none. On the other hand, if the Celtics can hold on to a 4th quarter lead in game 7 last year of the Finals, and a game they were in control of until that quarter, Rondo would be a Finals MVP right now. Yet you're going to discount that because it didn't happen. Even though it easily could have gone the other way if maybe Perkins doesn't get hurt, or one bounce goes the Celtics way. But hey, Nash is a better shooter, so he must be a better player, right?
And again, you're missing the entire point that I'm making. That fear that you're talking about doesn't matter. Does he need to work on his free throw shooting, yes. But even shooting that bad from the charity stripe, he still has one more ring and championship than Steve Nash. As a starting point guard on the team, and they wouldn't have won it all with out him. Heck, they wouldn't have made it to the Finals without Rondo in 2008.
Would all of that stuff that you mentioned be nice for him to have in his game? Yep, but he still doesn't need it. But anyone that's ever watched Rondo play, would know that when he does go to the rim and gets cut off, he finds a way to kick it out and eventually set someone up for an open shot.
You say you don't rag on him for not being flashy, yet why does it matter to you how he gets the job done as long as he does it? You keep ignoring the main point/fact that I'm making. Derrick Rose is averaging 25 points a game. So is Rondo, only he does it with assist. Yet you're insisting that because he can't shoot that will somehow come into play when it really counts, yet he's already won a championship with his game right now and could have won a Finals MVP award. Does he need to win 2 before you admit that he doesn't need to be Steve Nash 2.0 to do what really matters, which is win a ring? Or have I simply misunderstood you and you're talking about winning an MVP award?
And it's laughable that you're going to tell me that Rondo doesn't have the intangibles that Nash has? Well good for Rondo. He has the best one, which is leadership.
Paint the picture anyway that you would like. But facts are facts, I can't make the stats up. You want to say D-Rose is a complete player? Rondo is averaging 5 more assist then Rose, but you say that his 10 ppg average keeps him from being as good? How about you add another 20 points onto that and give him an average of 30 ppg from his assist? Really, give me one good reason why ppg should be valued over assist?
