Monday, September 10, 2012

Making A Point: One's Reaction to Rondo's Claim



In recent weeks, Rajon Rondo has claimed that he is indeed the best point guard in the NBA. This is nothing new from Rajon because he has been saying this for at least the last three years if you have been paying attention. 

Usually before the start of the training camp Rondo gets asked the same question: Who does he think is the best point guard in the league? Number 9 never disappoints when answering this question. However, this time as he enters his seventh season as a pro, and sixth as the leader of the C’s, he may actually have a legit argument. Personally, if we are talking about who’s the best “true-point guard” in the league there is no shadow of a doubt in my mind he tops the list. Rajon is the absolute best.

He is a throwback to when point guards used to focus on making plays and making passes to make your teammates better. That is what running the point is. It’s not just scoring, shooting, and not involving your teammates. Now if we are talking about all of the intangibles (overall) of a point guard, such as shooting percentage, free throw percentage, scoring, etc. Some might say the Celtics general is in the top three at best. After what we as basketball fans witnessed last spring, this point guard has clearly taken his skill set to another level. I can go on all day about this man. I believe he only is going to get better, if that’s possible. Obviously not everyone is going to agree with Rondo’s statement that he has repeated for the last few years.


Enter Mario Chalmers:

At a recent charity event in Brooklyn, New York, Chalmers stuck his nose in the conversation of Rajon putting himself at the head of NBA point guards. Of course Mario disagreed, going as far as saying he believed Rondo was in the top five at best. But he didn’t end there, Mario had more to say. When asked about his thoughts on the original statement and where he thought he ranked among the 30, this is what he had to say: 


“For him (Rondo) to say he’s the best is a pretty bold statement. I’d say that I am in the front end of the top 10.” 
Oh really now? Forget the fact you saying you are one of the top 10 point guards, but you actually believe you are in the top five? So in Mario Chalmers’ world, based on what has come out of his mouth, you and Rajon Rondo should be ranked the same? WOW! I guess the celebrities in Miami are coming across more potent bath salts than the bums these days.

Fact, yes you just won an NBA title, awesome, kudos for that. You are feeling yourself, and rightfully so. But if you actually think for one moment that you didn’t get outplayed by Darren Collison, Rondo, or Russell Westbrook, Mario look in the mirror and stop lying to yourself bro. You are not even a traditional point, at best you’re a “shooter” and even that’s a stretch. We all know who runs that team, and guess what, you don’t even make the top five on that list either! To be considered as the “point”, you have to lead your team and actually play the point. How are you leading when you’re constantly being scolded by LBJ, Wade, or your coach? Hell I’ve seen Bosh and even Haslem get in your face for making stupid mistake upon stupid mistake. In the four years you have been in this league and on the Heat you are averaging career numbers of: 8.3PPG/3.6APG/2.4RPG/27.1MPG/41FG%. These are numbers of a back-up point guard, not a starter my friend. Number wise, this past season was not even your best. So where are you basing your horrendous claim as a top point guard from? You’re barely a guard taking up space.

The only actual year you played as point guard in your career was when you were a rookie. You averaged 10PPG/5APG/3RPG/2SPG/32MPG/42FG%. Those are actually solid numbers for a first year guard elected to run a team. You started every game, and some thought you were on your way that being a good starting point guard. Miami ended up losing to Joe Johnson and the Hawks in the first round and in seven games, while you Mario, were being outplayed by Mike “Mini-Me” Bibby in the process. Then the next two seasons you were a sixth man- at best; starting only 50 games out of the 143 you played and averaging a mere 23 minutes per game in that stretch dishing out under 3 dimes and putting up 6.7 points. Let’s keep in mind Mario’s third year in the league was LBJ first year in Miami. 

Fast forward to this past championship year where you started all 64 games as the “point” averaging: 9 points, 3 dimes, and playing 28 minutes a game. Your title says starting PG, while LBJ and Wade are both averaging nearly three more assists than you. How you are making your teammates better again? Based on just numbers it’s easy to mention the likes of the Chris Paul, Derron Williams, Derrick Rose, etc. Last March, a list of the 30 points guards was compiled and ranked. Mr. Chalmers came in at 21 at the time. Even with his newly won championship ring, that still sounds about right. This means there are at least 10 point guards better than Mario. So I’ve decided to rank my own list, and the challenge was to look beyond the elites that are always brought up in conversations. This is what I came up with. Keep in mind #10, averaged less than 28 minutes per game and only started 28 out of 66 games. Yup, he actually had the ball in his hands and played the point!

10. Goran Dragic
  9. Jeremy Lin
  8. Kyle Lowry
  7. Ricky Rubio
  6. Darren Collison
  5. Ty Lawson
  4. Kyrie Irving
  3. Jeff Teague
  2. Jrue Holiday
  1. Mike Conley

So Mario, what are your thoughts about this list? Do you actually think you are better than the aforementioned? You are insane! The only reason you are a champion is because of one name and one name only. Good luck this season getting that ball, I mean since you do run the offense and all. It is time to check the definition of the term “Point-Guard” once again or re-write it, because Rondo’s statements are not very farfetched. As the great Jay-Z once said,” Men lie, woman lie, numbers don’t.” It's safe to say Mario is clearly dreaming down in South Beach...it must be nice.


By Joel Pavón

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