Rajon Rondo has dished out 82 assists in the first five games of this season. That’s 16.4 dimes a game and a new league record for the beginning of a season. The guy’s spreading wealth like he rolls with Warren Buffet, and it’s not just because he’s compensating for a weak jump shot. It’s mainly because as a point guard, Rondo’s occupies that all too rare space of fitting perfectly with his team.
Boston is loaded with aging, offensive weapons that are as deadly as they are late 1990s. What KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Shaq have lost in shot creating ability, they’ve gained in ability to knock down shots that have been created for them. Enter Rajon Rando.
Rondo’s fast enough to take pretty much any player in the league of the dribble, but not as athletic as players like Derrick Rose (i.e. last night’s dunk) or David Westbrook to finish at the rim. But that doesn’t matter, because unlike Rose, Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Rondo has four players just dying to capitalize on the foot or two of space created by help side rotation. The careers of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce actually survive on this dynamic now.
Rondo has mastered dishing in a form that’s less like an earned assist and more like an over-athletized extra pass. Which isn’t that special, certainly not historically special. The irony is that if Rondo’s offensive skills were any more heightened, Boston would be worse off for it. What is special though is how much he accepts and relishes this role. In a league of superstars, an athletic and smart guard willing to play the role of a glorified distribution machine is a rarity. Just look at LA and their acquisition of Steve Blake this summer, a strategy Jackson obviously gleamed of Boston. Blake’s pretty much a white Rajon Rondo, minus the speed and a player that will (you heard it here first), in my opinion end up being a huge boon to LA.
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