Us reporters are really pleasant folks. After the final buzzer sounded yesterday, one Dallas-based reporter turned to another in the TD Banknorth Garden press room.
“Let’s go autopsy the corpse.”
Anyway, here’s my take from the blowout. It’s about Rajon Rondo.
So here goes:
BOSTON — So what if his jump shot is as soft as a porcupine. Rajon Rondo deserves to be an All-Star.
He might not possess the scoring ability of Allen Iverson or Devin Harris, but no Eastern Conference point guard is having a better all-around season than the third-year man out of Kentucky.
“I like his game, I like his attitude,” former Northeastern star and current Dallas backup guard Jose Barea said. “He deserves more credit than he gets.”
Rondo was a human Kawasaki yesterday, weaving in and out of traffic at breakneck speed. Poor Jason Kidd, who turns 36 in March, at times kind of looked like a moped next to him. Rondo finished with 13 points, 14 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals in a 124-100 Celtics blowout of the Mavericks at TD Banknorth Garden.
“He’s having one of those All-Star type of years,” Kidd said. “His numbers probably would be better if they (actually) had to play the fourth quarter.”
Rondo was the catalyst early on, pushing the ball up the floor and finding open shooters as Boston opened a 38-23 lead after a quarter. The outcome was never really in doubt after that.
If Rondo had played a few minutes more — he was out there for nearly 35 — he probably would’ve had a triple-double. His season averages are now 10.9 points, 8.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
That’s All-Star material, right?
“I think it is,” backup point guard Gabe Pruitt said. “Now people are realizing what he can do.”
In his fifth year out of Wisconsin, Harris is having a huge year. In all likelihood he’ll be an East reserve. But is he a better point guard than Rondo?
Let’s see. As of yesterday, Harris led all East point guards in scoring at 21.8 points a game (Iverson, who the fans voted in as a starter, was at 17.7 a game). In that same group, Rondo was third in assists (Harris was fourth at 6.4 a game). Rondo was first in rebounding (Harris was ninth at 3.0 a game). Rondo was first in steals (Harris was third at 1.6 a game).
Rondo’s biggest knock is his inability to shoot from the outside. It’s a valid criticism.
But even though he won’t be mistaken for Reggie Miller or Steve Kerr any time soon, his seemingly impure jumper can be effective. He sank a few mid-range J’s yesterday. And he is shooting 50.4 percent (197 of 391) from the field. On the other hand, Harris is shooting 44.6 percent (256 of 574). To be fair, he has hoisted up nearly 200 more shots than Rondo.
“I think it’s key to be able to knock down shots,” Kidd said. “You don’t have to be Ray Allen, you just have to be open and take the shot. You can see (Rondo’s) grown into making those shots. His ability is there.”
But does he even need to shoot? The arsenal at Rondo’s disposal probably makes Harris wish he could wear green and white instead of the colors of the old ABA ball. Kevin Garnett (23 points) and Allen (23 points) were the most effective weapons yesterday.
Once again, the Rondo-to-KG alley-oop connection was made in spectacular fashion. Twice they hooked up for thunderous dunks. To the delight of the nearly 19,000 packing the Garden every game, it’s becoming a trademark.
“KG’s such a great scorer. A lot of people try and deny him the ball,” Rondo said. “When that happens, we both make eye contact. He either spins out or fakes like he’s coming to set the pick and goes for the ball. It’s really hard to defend.”
To hear Rondo describe it is enough to make even the most satisfied hoop coaches jealous.
“When you get that pick-and-roll action, if the defender doesn’t show, I get any easy layup,” Rondo said. “If he does show, you get KG for the pick-and-pop jump shot.”
When he’s on, the only way to stop Rondo is to, well, rough him up. At 1:50 in the first quarter, Jason Terry committed a foul by pretty much punching the driving Rondo in the face.
It sent the 6-foot-1, 171-pound Rondo to the parquet in a gangly heap.
His style might get him clotheslined once in a while, but it’s worth the risk.
“He creates a lot of problems for the other team’s defense,” Barea said. “He attacks.”
And what about his lack of a jump shot?
“It doesn’t matter,” Barea said. “That makes him more aggressive…I think he does it all.”
Which is precisely why if I were one of the 30 NBA head coaches — who collectively select the All-Star reserves — I’d spread the word.
Vote Rondo.
