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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

WEEK 1, DEBATE 1: Paul Pierce vs. Rajon Rondo

        

VS.




Who would you rather have this season: Paul Pierce or Rajon Rondo?

PIERCE'S REP:
"While 34, Paul Pierce enjoyed one of his more efficient seasons in 2010-11, posting a career-high TS% of 62%, 18.9 ppg, 3.3 apg, and 5.4 rpg. Pierce remained the only Celtic capable of creating his own shot, and his step-back jumper is still one of the league's signature go-to moves. Rajon Rondo's go-to move is a fake behind-the-back pass layup, which is impressive, but won't succeed much in the closing minutes. Despite his gaudy assist numbers, Rondo is an offensive liability, shooting 32.8 EFG% on jumpers, and struggling so badly at the line that he began avoiding contact (career-low 1.9 FTA). In the clutch, Pierce becomes Boston's go-to guy, while Rondo disappears (only 3 free throws attempted in clutch situations!). While I will admit that Rondo has the edge in youth, athleticism, and defense, if I needed a win tomorrow, I would go with Pierce ten times out of ten."

RONDO'S REP:
"Pierce is a spot up shooter now, he’s overweight, cannot guard on the perimeter, and is constantly bitching to officials more than moving his feet. Rondo is a pass-first guard who assists Pierce on all his outside jumpers. Is Carlos Arroyo gonna feed Pierce all those clutch shots? This debate’s about who's a better pick for the 2011-2012 season. So what if Rondo is an offensive liability? Ever heard of the phrase 'defense wins championships'? Because Rondo can dribble penetrate whenever he wants to, a lack of outside shooting doesn’t matter. Defensively, Rondo is the New Glove, and he can body up bigger guards (LeBrick in the playoffs) cause his hands are massive and he has a ridiculous wingspan. Rondo also had the 3rd best selling jersey in the league during the 2010-11 season. Pierce didn’t even break the top ten list. Probably cause he’s washed up. Guess the people have spoken."



PIERCE'S REP:
"You know who else didn't finish in the top 10 in jersey sales? Dirk, who happens to be the defending NBA Finals MVP. What does this mean? About as much as Rondo's jersey sales: nothing. Rondo is a pass first, second, third, fourth, and fifth guard, which is frustrating when he's passing up open lay-ups to dribble back out and try to dish, negating his admittedly awesome ability to get into the lane. Pierce was assisted on 55% of his field goals last year, 14th among Celtics and below the league average of 59%. In clutch situations, that number falls to 48%, and 35% on jumpers, so it doesn't matter if it's Rondo or Arroyo or Milt Palacio out there with him: Pierce creates his own shots. Rondo is a tremendous piece of a championship team, but, despite his advancing age, Pierce can still be The Man on a contender."

RONDO'S REP:
"You’re desperate to give Pierce props. Rondo’s high basketball IQ allows him to create a better percentage shot by passing up layups to get to the baseline and skip-pass to Pierce. Better choices; better team because of Rondo. Pierce was good at creating a shot. Now Pierce hurts the team jacking up shots rather than letting Rondo distribute. Rondo had a career high 11.2 assists a game (2nd in league) with 2.3 steals a game, averaged a career low 1.8 personal fouls and 10.6 pts a game. Pierce shot a career high 49.7%, yet 37.4% behind the arc, the lowest in the last 5 yrs. Pierce’s laziness led to 3 fouls a game. I’ll tell you what this means. Fouls equal free-throws; free-throws equal points against. Rondo doesn’t foul and swipes the ball giving his team (Pierce) more shots. Who affects the outcome of the game better for their team? Rondo."

 
Who won this debate? Go to the right sidebar to cast your vote!

13 comments:

  1. Happy Opening Day, Hardwood Courtroom fans! So who would YOU rather have this year - Pierce or Rondo? Are there any points you can think of that neither rep mentioned?

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  2. What is a better percentage shot than an open layup? Any thoughts? Both of their fouls per game seem pretty low. Also, are either of these guys as valuable to the Celtics as KG or Ray Allen? Would Pierce's production go up without these other stars, or would he collapse under the pressure of having to carry a team? Would Rondo be able to be more of a scorer if he were on a team like the Cavs, and would his assist numbers be as high without three Hall-of-Famers around him? And how many more years until Rondo is leading a new core of Big Baby Davis and Jeff Green, and will that team be able to compete for a playoff spot? These are the things to ponder when we don't have actual basketball to watch. Thanks a lot, NBA.

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  3. Both players have a significant impact on any giving night. While Paul "stab me" Pierce has better all around scoring stats, if I were starting a team TODAY I would select the floor general to lead my troops to battle. Rondo is a premier franchise player despite his shooting abilities. He is a winner and creates a atmosphere for himself and other to proper. Good courtroom debate; the jury has spoken. We find Pierce..,GUILTY of being of overweight; bitching for foul looks, lack of overall communication and defensive abilities, and furthermore, having the worst beard in the history of man-kind.

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  4. BSMART, great analysis (especially your assessment of Pierce's beard). Canaan, when the Celtics' core consists of Rondo, Davis, and Green... all I can say is "Boston Massacre."

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  5. If there was a season and I was going into it right now, I would have to take Rondo with me. Youth, defense, and the overall ability to enhance everyone around him outweighs Pierce's value (which is high). The fact that a Pierce-type player is more easily replaceable than a Rondo-type player makes me choose Rondo over Pierce. Despitevthat, I still voted for Pierce because his rep was speaking the Truth about The Truth.

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  6. BSMART, you obviously forgot about Drew Gooden. Was anything worse than that?

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  8. Feralad, that's interesting that you think a Pierce-type player is more easily replaceable than a Rondo-type player. I'm not sure I agree. How many wings are there in the NBA that are at Pierce's level? Maybe 4 or 5? Although Rondo's probably a Top 5 PG, do you think the difference of the top 1-5 PGs and the next 6-10 PGs is as great as the difference between the top 1-5 wings and the next 6-10 wings? I certainly think the drop-off is much greater from the top 5 wings to the next 5 wings, but maybe I'm alone here. Thoughts anyone?

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  9. I agree Phil. There are an abundant source of young game-changing point guards in the league right now, including at least 5 I would take over Rondo. As for wings, LeBron and Durant are the only two I would definitely take over Pierce, with Melo right there with The Truth. Is there anyone I'm missing?

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  10. Well if you count 2's as wings, then you've obviously got Kobe and D-Wade, maybe Ginobili. But after that? You're dropping down to the Joe Johnsons, Eric Gordons, and Danny Grangers of the world. Solid players, but certainly not in the same class as those top 5-6 wings.

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  11. You might be right that there are more "Rondo's" out there. I think the Celtics system inflates Pierce's stats a lot more though. If you plug an Igoudala into the Celtic's system he's right there with Pierce. Rondo makes the Celtics go round. You're probably right in terms of the NBA as a whole, that Pierce isn't as replaceable. But because he's on the Celtics he gets open, easy shots routinely. Largely in part due to Rondo but also Allen and Garnett's ability to spread the floor. Maybe it's the other way around, and Pierce and co. make Rondo better. But I'm still backing Rondo.

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  12. It's hard to measure Rondo vs. Pierce for two reasons. One is that Rondo continues to grow as a player by leaps and bounds, and so we are put into the position of speculating about how good he will end up being. If we take the measure of Rondo right now, we see a player with a shockingly powerful array of tools and skills, but equally shocking inconsistency and immaturity. By the end of this year we will have a much better sense of just what we have in Rondo. And let's not forget that, even though Pierce is the consummate professional now, when he was Rondo's age, he was a bit of a problem child himself, wasn't he? Our best hope is that Pierce will pass the torch to Rondo, and that as this process unfolds, there will be a period of magnificent synergy between the two.

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