anyone else annoyed with rondo and his assist whoring?

[I.R.Beast]

Im a celtic fan, but i cant help but feel like he is playing fr this record...passing up easy scoring opportunities to get cheap assists and or lower percentage shots..anyone else feel that way?

[bluechox2]

its a bitch way for the record

[Beebo]

Not annoyed at all as he's on my fantasy team. :yaohappy:

[imdaman99]

What record? It's 10 games into the season, how can we insinuate that's what he's gunning for?

[CTulc]

Because scoring 22 points tonight is clearly passing up open shots lol...

[tmacattack33]

I noticed this last year, or maybe even two yrs ago.

I've seen him turn up lay ups for passes.

[CTulc]

Its not "whoring" when he's the best passer in the league and he's trying to get more of his teammates involved. Rondo's taking more shots now and nailing them down at a higher %.

[brandonislegend]

A point guard trying to distribute and move the ball, strange.

[wang4three]

He's been doing it for awhile. Every star stat whores to a degree, he's just more blatant about it. Very blatant.

[fpliii]

NBA & ABA Single Season Leaders and Records for Assists (http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_season.html)

NBA & ABA Single Season Leaders and Records for Assists Per Game (http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_per_g_season.html)

NBA & ABA Single Season Leaders and Records for Assist Pct (http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_pct_season.html)

[I<3NBA]

anyone else annoyed with Kobe for score whoring? no?

PGs can't assist whore but SGs can score whore? :facepalm what next? you telling me big men should not whore them rebounds.

oh yah. i forgot. K-Love is a rebound whore.

[LT Ice Cream]

Would you not whore stats as well? Those numbers are probably worth a lot of money.

I'm probably sure you whore kills if you play video games lol.

[Trentknicks]

anyone else annoyed with Kobe for score whoring? no?

PGs can't assist whore but SGs can score whore? :facepalm what next? you telling me big men should not whore them rebounds.

oh yah. i forgot. K-Love is a rebound whore.
K-Love being a stad padder is totally different, he actually hurts his team doing this at times. Decides to park up under the rim and wait for the board as opposed to contesting shots.

[All Net]

My fantasy team isn't :lol

[BlackWhiteGreen]

Im a celtic fan, but i cant help but feel like he is playing fr this record...passing up easy scoring opportunities to get cheap assists and or lower percentage shots..anyone else feel that way?

No you aren't, as has been established plenty of times. Must be the third thread you've made on this.

It's annoying when he passes up an open shot for a more contested one, but that doesn't happen often. When it's a 2 on 0 break (like the Bass dunk last night) there's no problem with it really...

[Toizumi]

No you aren't, as has been established plenty of times. Must be the third thread you've made on this.

It's annoying when he passes up an open shot for a more contested one, but that doesn't happen often. When it's a 2 on 0 break (like the Bass dunk last night) there's no problem with it really...

I haven't seen much of the Celtics this season but I know that in the past, Rondo would sometimes turn down open shots, layups even, to give the pass/assist. It might be stat-whoring, but could also be instinct, as he has great court vision and is one of the best passers in the league. Could be bad anticipation also, as he might expect to draw defense on a drive, while the defense is anticipating the pass.

Rondo makes smart decision usually and I'm not "annoyed" by his decision making at all. What does annoy me is that he is sometimes given assists while they are clearly not assist (like in that 22 assist game), but Rondo is not to blame for that at all.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

I haven't seen much of the Celtics this season but I know that in the past, Rondo would sometimes turn down open shots, layups even, to give the pass/assist. It might be stat-whoring, but could also be instinct, as he has great court vision and is one of the best passers in the league. Could be bad anticipation also, as he might expect to draw defense on a drive, while the defense is anticipating the pass.

Rondo makes smart decision usually and I'm not "annoyed" by his decision making at all. What does annoy me is that he is sometimes given assists while they are clearly not assist (like in that 22 assist game), but Rondo is not to blame for that at all.

There is the odd occasion where Rondo will have committed himself to passing when he might be driving down a wide open lane, and that's annoying. But that's just his pass-first mentality, and he showed last night he can turn the scoring on when he needs to (18 of 22 points second half).

[TimmyDuncan]

Yesterday vs the spurs was the first game I watched from him this season and it's more than obvious

Early in the game he was leading a fastbreak and was alone in the paint and just had to make an uncontested layup
He choose to make a pass backward to another Celtic player that was trailing at the FT line and had a Spurs defender on him.:facepalm

[INDI]

anyone else annoyed with Kobe for score whoring? no?

PGs can't assist whore but SGs can score whore? :facepalm what next? you telling me big men should not whore them rebounds.

oh yah. i forgot. K-Love is a rebound whore.

What hes saying is the way rondo goes about getting assists is similar to the way big men miss layups on purpose so they can tip it back and get the point plus a extra rebound.

Rondo goes for assists similar to a scorer shooting even though hes double teamed and acts like he doesnt see the open man.

Rondo goes for assists the way a player goes for a triple double at the end of a game even though their team is up by 20 and there is less than 24 seconds left in the game




In other words Rondo is an assist whore and will purposely break the flow of the game to get more assists and clearly its not about getting other people involved. I noticed this about 2 seasons ago and thought it wasnt a classy way of playing ball.

Rondo goes about getting assists the way reggie evans goes about flopping. That is all

[bluechox2]

rondo goes for an assist in a blowout loss still in the 4th quarter trying to rack up 10...dedication

[Yung D-Will]

I don't think this is suprising. I always said Rondo was similar to J-Kidd, and I feel this is the way J-Kidd would have wanted to play the game, if he had the talent around him to do so. However, he didn't which is why he was forced to score also. I feel Kidd would have done the same thing, but even better, if he had players like Kg in Nj.

[Lebron23]

Trade Rondo for Russell Westbrook. Celtics needs a go to guy right now.

[swi7ch]

It's the same as Kevin Love missing an easy shot on purpose just so he could get an offensive rebound and statpad his numbers. :facepalm

[Jakeh008]

anyone else annoyed with Kobe for score whoring? no?

PGs can't assist whore but SGs can score whore? :facepalm what next? you telling me big men should not whore them rebounds.

oh yah. i forgot. K-Love is a rebound whore.

Brook Lopez-Goat Center

[Tking714]

He can't shoot. What you want him to do? He can barely hit free throws at that, what if he goes for the layup and gets fouled?

[upside24]

Only if he is passing up scoring opportunities for himself to look for assists instead like not trying to lay one in on a fast break to wait for a guy to get set up for a three, which he has actually done before.

It's obvious assists are his primary concern, like points were for Kobe up until this years showing so far.

If he becomes more concerned with how many assists he has than if his team's offense is efficient then it's a problem.

[Richie2k6]

assist-whoring.... ironic

[DaSeba5]

Assist whoring? That's an oxymoron.

[ihoopallday]

A PG getting assists. SAY IT AIN'T SO!!

[derb2k2]

A point guard trying to distribute and move the ball, strange.


we know he's a PG but the fact that he passes up easy scoring opportunities just to get a damn assist is disgusting. I've seen him do it one too many times. Seriously what is the deal with that? really dislike Rondo.

[sipitri]

He's an assist whore, still manages to be arguably the best PG in the league (he is in my eyes) and I bet his teammates really enjoy to play with him. Can't see the problem.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

I don't see what's dislikeable about a guy who is unselfish. Who would you rather play with, Kobe shooting over double teams when you're wide open or Rondo choosing to pass to you on a 2-on-0 fast break? Oh, and we're writing this after he just had a 22/15 game :rolleyes:

[Wally450]

If he passes up those points for assists, he's still getting points for his team. Who care's?

[Qwyjibo]

A point guard's job isn't to just pass it and get assists. It's to create the best possible scoring chance for your team. That could be scoring yourself if you have the chance (or you have crap teammates) or creating for others.

If Rondo is passing up easy layups for himself for slightly more contested ones for his teammates then yea, it's stupid regardless if he still gets the assist.

[Quickening]

If he passes up those points for assists, he's still getting points for his team. Who care's?
His an assist whore, and like others have said, passes up easier chances of buckets for to gain assists... i.e he would hit the shot 7 times out of ten, but passes to a team mate who would hit their shot 4 times out of ten.... Yes in some cases he will still get assists, but it inevitably has a detrimental effect on his teams perfomances...

Makes his assists stat line look good though.

[LJJ]

It looks worse than it actually is because so many point guards do the opposite.

If anything it's a lot how the guy whose records Rondo is chasing used to do. Stockton used to dribble all over the court passing up relatively easy shots to look for the assist. Nash too. I think Toizumi hit the nail on the head when he said it's probably instinct to players like that.

[daily]

A point guard trying to distribute and move the ball, strange.Only on ISH is a point guard doing his job a bad thing. Thank god ISH wasn't around in the days of Magic or Stockton

[KyrieTheFuture]

I get amazed when you people complain about selfish ball players and then when someone selfless comes around you criticize them for not shooting more.

[Clifton]

It would be a mistake to dismiss this, or avoid the question by pointing up another player not named Rondo who also statwhores.

It's bad for the team. It's selfish. Rondo is a selfish, arrogant guy, period. This detracts from his overall effectiveness as a player, period. Now, the problem actually caused by a guy passing too much is minimal, but it does take away from the team dynamic. The ideal is the kind of unconscious chemistry that the good teams simply have, which is when you're never really thinking about any one player. The 00s Kings just went out there and played. Heck, the 90s Bulls, despite having statistical marvels like Jordan and Rodman, had that way about them too: Make the best play. The recent champion Celtics, same story. The Heat this season, same story. A guy like Shane Battier, he might hit 5 3s, he might go 35 minutes and take only 1 shot. It's unconscious and situational and team-oriented. Rondo happens to have trouble entering that zone, I think. That doesn't mean he's not making his team better; he is. He's a very good player. But he is also a self-conscious player and that's a bad thing to be.

[Qwyjibo]

I get amazed when you people complain about selfish ball players and then when someone selfless comes around you criticize them for not shooting more.
Being "selfless" doesn't make it smart basketball or the right thing to do. If he is not taking high percentage scoring chances in order to setup teammates for lower percentage (even slightly) ones simply to get an assist, he is hurting his team.

Again, a point guard's job isn't just to pass and setup teammates. I think the notion of a "pure PG" is taken to extremes. I'd rather simply have a PG that makes the right decision on the floor. One that can recognize his teammates are crap and take on the scoring load or set-up better scoring teammates depending on the situation. Not one with a "pass only" mindset.

[TAZORAC]

Because scoring 22 points tonight is clearly passing up open shots lol...

Somebody can score 22 points and still pass up open shots. You've probably never played organized basketball and if you did you were no good, 5 points for 4 quaters is 20 points, it's not very hard to do.

He's defiantly an assist whore.

[JGXEN]

A point guard's job isn't to just pass it and get assists. It's to create the best possible scoring chance for your team. That could be scoring yourself if you have the chance (or you have crap teammates) or creating for others.

If Rondo is passing up easy layups for himself for slightly more contested ones for his teammates then yea, it's stupid regardless if he still gets the assist.
100% agreed.

[JMT]

I'm fascinated by the theory that passing the ball to someone who makes their shot can somehow be described as a lower percentage shot.

[BlackWhiteGreen]

It would be a mistake to dismiss this, or avoid the question by pointing up another player not named Rondo who also statwhores.

It's bad for the team. It's selfish. Rondo is a selfish, arrogant guy, period. This detracts from his overall effectiveness as a player, period. Now, the problem actually caused by a guy passing too much is minimal, but it does take away from the team dynamic. The ideal is the kind of unconscious chemistry that the good teams simply have, which is when you're never really thinking about any one player. The 00s Kings just went out there and played. Heck, the 90s Bulls, despite having statistical marvels like Jordan and Rodman, had that way about them too: Make the best play. The recent champion Celtics, same story. The Heat this season, same story. A guy like Shane Battier, he might hit 5 3s, he might go 35 minutes and take only 1 shot. It's unconscious and situational and team-oriented. Rondo happens to have trouble entering that zone, I think. That doesn't mean he's not making his team better; he is. He's a very good player. But he is also a self-conscious player and that's a bad thing to be.

Name me a player who doesn't fit that description of arrogant and self centred who is a good or better, but doesn't get criticism for being too passive. I can think of one current player, and even he gets called passive on occasion.

Battier doesn't complain about his touches or shots because he's arguably the 5th or 6th best player on his team (and happens to be one of the smartest players around). Miami didn't work for a long time because Wade couldn't become the number 2. Bosh is a naturally passive player, and anyone below those 3 is so much worse they don't deserve to take shots off the big 3. Almost every other team has struggles with shots, touches, minutes. Rondo takes that away in a sense because he gets players their shots, by being unselfish. Do you think Brandon Bass would rather get 2 points from a post move on Tiago Splitter or from a hand off from Rondo with no one near him?

[Scholar]

Uh oh! Stop the presses! There's a pass-first PG in the league!!!

[DaSeba5]

An assist means the team scored, so I don't see what's wrong with that. 15 assists means 30+ points.

[Tking714]

Somebody can score 22 points and still pass up open shots. You've probably never played organized basketball and if you did you were no good, 5 points for 4 quaters is 20 points, it's not very hard to do.

He's defiantly an assist whore.


Bold bold statement

[stevieming]

Somebody can score 22 points and still pass up open shots. You've probably never played organized basketball and if you did you were no good, 5 points for 4 quaters is 20 points, it's not very hard to do.

He's defiantly an assist whore.

So 20 PPG or you're no good? Are you shitting me....

plenty of good NBA players don't average 20 points a game. It is a hard thing to do.

[konex]

http://i.imgur.com/yDHvq.png

LMAO. This is crazy. If a guy was gunning to score like this, he'd be getting destroyed. This is just as bad IMO

[EoJ]

http://i.imgur.com/yDHvq.png

LMAO. This is crazy. If a guy was gunning to score like this, he'd be getting destroyed. This is just as bad IMO
He had 11 assists at this point, he was trying to reward bass for the steal.

[konex]

You don't do that down 6 in the 4th....

[Kevin_Garnett_5]

You don't do that down 6 in the 4th....
You do if you're playing the Magic.

[Doranku]

Wow that picture. :oldlol:

[chips93]

LMAO. This is crazy. If a guy was gunning to score like this, he'd be getting destroyed. This is just as bad IMO

if javale was similarly pursuing some individual statistical record he would be getting slated for it. but because its the 'savvy, veteran celtics' its ok

:rolleyes:

[Kevin_Garnett_5]

if javale was similarly pursuing some individual statistical record he would be getting slated for it. but because its the 'savvy, veteran celtics' its ok

:rolleyes:
Rondo already had well over 10 assists at that point so there was no "pursuing an individual record".

[Pushxx]

If you don't think a dunk after you get a steal isn't rewarding, then you don't know basketball.

Was it a dumb play? Hell yes. Was it assist whoring? Hell no.

[chips93]

Rondo already had well over 10 assists at that point so there was no "pursuing an individual record".

but the mentality of looking to pass at all costs, to get the record, leads to decisions like this one

[IGOTGAME]

is this a joke? pgs give layups up all the time. It is something good pgs do to get their teammates confidence up.

[dunksby]

Rondo knows he can't make a layup to save his life so he does the smart thing and lets others do what he can't which is making buckets.

[Lebron23]

Rondo knows he can't make a layup to save his life so he does the smart thing and lets others do what he can't which is making buckets.

:oldlol: :oldlol: :oldlol:

[chips93]

is this a joke? pgs give layups up all the time. It is something good pgs do to get their teammates confidence up.


in the play screencapped above, if you read the text, youll know that the celtics didnt score in the possession

[kNIOKAS]

in the play screencapped above, if you read the text, youll know that the celtics didnt score in the possession
They did, Terry made baseline jumper after the pass from Rondo IIRC. Cs got offensive rebound on the play.

[jdm_dc_fan]

in the play screencapped above, if you read the text, youll know that the celtics didnt score in the possession
Bass missed the shot/blocked, rondo got an offensive rebound then an assist from terry getting an easy open baseline jumper. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

[Derka]

I was really annoyed with it last night. Down 6 to the Magic in the 4th quarter and he has the ball on a free breakaway...and he stops and lets other people catch up so he can get an assist...and we end up turning the ball over.

Decisions like that...I can really do without, especially if he's gonna spout off on some "I totally don't think about the record" bullshit like he's been doing, when of course he absolutely cares about it.

I know he was already over 10, but he's absolutely about running that number up. The consecutive streak isn't the only record Rondo's gunning for here. He's got a long career ahead of him if he stays healthy and productive.