I highly doubt this team will ever win an NBA championship without an all-star point guard who is great at defending and also great at breaking down the defense, at setting people up in transition as well as in the half-court. Lets face it. We've got two all-star type players with huge flaws. Yes, I said all-star, neither are super stars. 1)Dwight has no goto move in the post, and can't shoot a midrange jumpshot. But yet he is great at rebounding and very good at defense. He also draws double teams even without a goto move a lot of times. By goto, i mean, in a one on one matchup, he'll score 80 to 90 percent of the time. But yet he is a liability because of hack-a-dwight. He's at best, when being setup on alleyoops or actually rebounding and dunking it back in. 2) James Harden sucks at defense -- yes defense is half of the game -- and also overrates his play making ability, especially in the half-court, when the defense gets set. But yet his ego won't allow him to defer to Lin at times, which results in a turnover. But yet he is a great shooter, great at driving, especially given adequate space. He needs the ball on the kick-out. Not saying he can't create on his own in the half court, obviously he can. But not all the time. James Hardens's defense sucks so bad that we need lock-down perimeter defenders at the 1 and at the 3 to make up for it. Because we know he won't fight above or around a pick and he won't rotate on time either; hence our ****ty perimeter D. We also need a point guard who is so good that he will have to defer the ball to, given his enormous ego. We need a player like rondo, like chris paul. we'll never get chris paul, but who knows? maybe rondo? we can fill in all the other pieces later. with this big three we have a chance to win a championship.
we need a a all-star at every position now to win games ? First PF now PG, next its going to be at SF we will need Durant at SF and parsons gone to win games
Knee jerk reaction to team chemistry problems and coaching adjustments: GET NEW PLAYERS! TRADE THE WHOLE TEAM!
Rondo is the absolute worst fit for our so called flawed no D superstar Harden. I would only get Rondo if we could trade Harden for Paul George or Anthony Davis
This. Morey must realize that the talent is there. Now it's a matter of getting a real coach to utilize this talent and not a gimmick incompetent coach.
Rondo? The guy who couldn't even get along with Ray Allen and Doc Rivers? Doc Rivers has multiple rings and one of the most respected coaches in the NBA and Rondo *still* gave the guy loads of grief. Rondo would walk all over McHale... and annoy the heck out of most of the roster.
To be fair, the roster needs balancing out. I don't know if Rondo is the answer, though. If we had a coach with half a clue---don't play Brewer, a good perimeter defender; play Garcia who has the flu but not, apparently, a 3-pointer for the last week or two; iso Harden; Harden not playing? iso Dwight, which means don't play Asik at all, let starters burn out so we can get humiliated by the Knicks on national TV tonight---then few of these threads would pop up.
The same reason McFail never plays Brewer, but Brewer's D would have stopped some of these opposing players cold.
I actually agree with the analysis of the OP about the team. The "band-aid" solution would be Rondo. But that is the lazy approach, just like bringing in Beverly to start to satiate Harden. It still would not solve Harden's defense or the general lack of team play. The better solution would be for the head coach to step up and demand team play and defense by his top players. If Lin should handle the ball (many here debate this still), then let him handle the ball, and the coach should dictate this and tell Harden not to be sticky with the ball. If the top players are playing a certain way that is not working, and are not being held accountable, it is on the coach. Unless the coach is being directed by management to give in to his top players.
Agreed. Howard can't shoot. Adding a PG that can't shoot would force the Rockets to play a stretch 4s anytime Rondo and Howard are in the game together. I don't see the Rockets wanting to strip themselves of flexibility in player matchups.
I absolutely agree. I think a straight up trade of Rondo/Lin will be hugely beneficial to all parties involved (I don't know how the money will work though). Jeremy's value is probably going to be as high as it will ever get. His trade value will plummet going in into the season as Harden dominate the ball. He will be an easy to guard 3 point specialist who can't guard opposing bigger shooting guards. It will be a complete waste of his talent on our roster. On the other hand, Rondo will be a perfect fit to our personnel. We have two supremely talented superstars with screws loose in their head. Howard wants to be Akeem Olajuwon except he will never have the coordination to be a great post up player. His strength is in power, speed and jump, but not coordination. Harden on the other hand wants to be a point guard. I think he is the best finisher in the game today. Unfortunately, he wants to be the playmaker. His lack of supreme quickness and his propensity to over-expose the ball mean he will be a turnover machine in that role. Then we have a coach who doesn't have the balls to reign in his stars. In all fairness, this is NBA, not quite sure if any coach can reign in their star players. What we need is an all star point guard who is an ass-hole. He will insist on playing the right way. His difficult personality will eventually wears down Howard and Harden. Rondo is perfect.
Rondo fits this team on 2K, not in real life. We have two very capable point guards on our roster. As stated, we just need a coach that can utilize what we have. Lin has been playing great these past few games. Bev is struggling but keep in mind that he could easily still be out with a torn muscle in his mid-section. The guy is playing through pain and it shows. He will be fine. The entire team will be fine. We haven't even played ten games yet. It is going to take about 25 to get the guys completely gelled together and playing at a high level consistently.
