Far be it from me to cut in on your dance. I’ll just add my 1.5 cent. I’m fine with Lonzo starting the year off the bench. Makes all kinds of sense. But if healthy he needs to start by 20 games in. He is a much better fit with LeBron. Much. Better. Rondo will be perfect keeping the bench organized and effecient. He will make Zu relevent, he just might make Kuz a 6th man of the year, and most importantly he will keep Lance from dominating the ball.
Zo had a usage rate of 17% last year...Rondo was at 16%....how is the ball sticking with Rondo? Defensively, Zo is better, but Rondo isn't necessarily a slack there either. I still believe, dude revs up in the postseason, so the regular season is him "processing" the competition and then blitzing them when it really matters (ie playoff Rondo). Stack him next to Zo and see how it helps him develop...see Jrue last year and Grant the year before in Chicago. Look how those dudes are built and Zo is putting in the time to get built the same way (Kuz called him a brick wall). As for earning it....yeah, that includes his health. You put in the work to show that you are conditioned and durable enough to sustain the day to day duress of the nba game. I'm not throwing him out there at 30 mins per....you gradually and systematically ease the grip up off that leash. He proves he can sustain a lengthier window of play, then he's earned and deserving of more time. Its absolutely the right thing to do...I don't see how there's anything wrong in having him earn his keep. You think its a bad take. I think it would be a bad break.
Rondo had a usage% of 16.9% last season. Admittedly, that's lower than Lonzo's however that's also by far the lowest he's had since his rookie year. His career USG% is 19.1% and I'd guess his usage% in the pre-season was higher than 16.9% as well. Also his usage% in the playoffs was 18.6% last year in the playoffs and a career 21.8% so yes he definitely brings it up a notch, but he likes getting the assist. I'd be willing to put money down that Lonzo is better at the "hockey assist" than Rondo is just based on what we see in games and that helps the first team get off to a quicker start and is better for guys like LeBron and Ingram. If you were referring to his health in terms of "proving it", then I'll concede that point. However, risk of re-injury in something like this is ever present. He could re-injure it falling over today. Luke seems to think he needs more conditioning, but everyone else thinks he looks like he's in great shape for missing time. If you're benching him now, it should be a matter of a couple of weeks before he's back in the lineup. That much is certain. Lonzo is simply the better fit.
Simply a better fit? Bro, they're pretty much the same player statistically. Haha. Its just one is old (and seems older due to his ACL injury) and one hasn't proven to be durable yet (and hasn't proven anything yet, even on the college level, so why hand him the keys?). There is nothing simple about the decision, which is why its been "the" conversation heading into the year and Luke hasn't committed to a decision yet. Ain't nothing simple about bringing a player back from injury (with durability issues) to integrate with 8 new players on the roster. How do you make it a better fit? Ease the kid in and let him prove he can handle bigtime minutes before we just hand it to him. I know its in your creed to pwn a discussion...but why you rushin', Iwon? Ain't nothing wrong in drago'n this out some. Cap dude at 25 mins per...bring him off the bench...avoid back to back games....and start revving him up (if warranted) as May approaches. You can't prevent the risk of injury, but you sure AF can minimize it. Why so eager to see Zo in street cloths again? Anyways, maybe dude could stay on the court and avoid injuries if he had better equipment to work with and not that bbbull**** he has on. Also, stop bbbiting haha.
Need to see more of him and Rondo together + Bron. If you want to stretch the floor, bring in Kuz at the 4...
Funny you identify with the bad guy who is destined to lose to the true champion...... The same player statistically perhaps, but not in play. You avoided it, but the truth in their play is that Rondo wants the assist more often than not where Lonzo is more willing to move the ball and let the offense go. It's literally his greatest strength (of many strengths) and something we bragged about together for months watching the kid play. Now he gets a moderate knee surgery and he's made of glass and needs to be treated with kid gloves? Man, what would we have done with Kobe when he was coming back from those knee injuries? The shoulder? The Achilles? Bench him too? Bring him along slowly if you want by limiting his minutes, but that doesn't mean he needs to come off the bench. Let's not forget you started this convo with benching him and making him "earn it" because apparently he had "two years of college" when we both know he was putting up dominant numbers for a kid his age against grown men. Rondo cannot play defense at the same level Lonzo can. He doesn't move the ball as quickly and smoothly as Lonzo does. Given that both aren't great shooters and both are elite passers, give me the guy with the versatility to affect the game on all three levels (offensively, defensively, and the glass) at the highest level. That's Lonzo.
But Real, I called you Iwon (Ivan). That being said...I love your takes, your limitless optimism of our guys and your strong AF opinions. Its fun trollin you instead of pushovers like sirron and LT all day. See, now I'm identifying myself as the bad guy....cause the bad guy doesn't die at the end of this movie (I know, the irony) and as an agent of chaos, I'm looking to f*** s*** up (including popular opinion). Either way, thanks for not being so Gothdam serious about this topic, but the jump-off for me on this discussion is that Zo was given the keys last year cause Ennis couldn't justify as a vet that Zo needed to earn that spot from. Recall, Magic and Rob wanted to bring in Rondo last summer, so the plan imho was to have Zo earn his keep as the apprentice supplanting the mentor. Even Kob had to earn his keep and come up off the bench. Kob was arguably more athletically talented than both Eddie and Byron, but those guys mentored and pushed Kob to be the killer he became. If Zo had led his team to a title in college and entered the league at an older age rather than a 1anddone player and had led his team to the finals and earned Finals MVP as a rookie, I can see why you would want to rush dude to the starting spot. (Holy run-on sentence, Batman). But Zo didn't even get a single RotY vote...let alone finish the year out...and I would love to be joking on that matter, but it happened. f*** narrative, not one single nba talent evaluator gave the kid a vote. Competition is great for the kid...it'll make Zo more hungry to get that spot and keep it. Even if Zo was healthy, Rondo should start and have Zo supplant him. Force Luke to do that....force Rondo to go to Luke and say, the kid is ready. But now lets factor in his injury... Oh and if you don't want to take my word for it, Zo said last year that the toughest adjustment to the NBA was the day to day grind of the league calendar. Anyways, Zo as a defender during the regular season eats up Rondo...but the playoffs are different and that is when Rondo does crank it up defensively. Rondo still brings intangibles that don't make him trash on that end of the court and as a result, Zo should be eased back from his injury. As the year progresses, give him the minutes and starting job if he truly proves he's earned it by remaining healthy and efficient in his monitored minutes. All that being said, you're an animal when it comes to debating, so I'll bow out with this post, cause at this point I'm afraid PETA will step in... #PutDownTheBat,Man
It's going to become apparent really quick which two of Rondo, KCP, Hart and Ball defend Lillard and McCollum better over the course of the entire Portland opener. Calling it.
You know I got nothing but love and respect for the work you put in here. I get your point. My main reason for responding in length was just the questioning of his talent. Saying something like "two seasons in college" gives me heartburn. The kid did an incredible job last year in the minutes he played! Honestly if it wasn't for Ben Simmons, people would be amazed at Lonzo's numbers and honestly they should be anyway! Lonzo Ball- 10.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.8 blocks Ben Simmons- 15.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks By the way, only one other player has his 10/6.9/7/1.5 as a rookie: Magic Johnson. Not Steve Nash. Not Jason Kidd. Not Gary Payton. Not Chris Paul. Not Russell Westbrook. Not Kyrie Irving. Not Steph Curry. Not Isiah Thomas or Isaiah Thomas. None of them. Just Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball, and Magic Johnson. but one of those is the ROY and the other one didn't get a single vote? That's the system's issue, not Lonzo's. Meanwhile these same people were the ones voting Embiid as the 3rd highest vote total for ROY in '17 as a red shirt freshman who played only 31 games. THIRTY ONE GAMES! Compared to Lonzo's 52 games. That's just idiotic and a media driven nonsensical hatred towards Lonzo. And I know most people will say "well he wasn't efficient". So effing what? If anything, that makes his 10 points pretty damn impressive considering he was getting knocked around at the rim and wasn't consistent from deep. If this is the worst Lonzo Ball we're going to see (and I think it probably is), the kid is destined for something special. I'm fine with easing him back into the rotation, but the real is that Lonzo is better than Rondo. The reason Rondo should still play a lot and could start for a while is Lonzo's inconsistency. But once we see Lonzo knocking down shots more regularly, things are going to change real fast.
Define fresh. Cause if its this... You best be worried. #BenchFresh @therealdeal but Magic played only 37 games after his rookie campaign. #EaseEmIn
What do you want for the bargain basement big baller brand, BBBBB, version? It's only $200. Didn't need no steenking NIKE contract.
Didn't read all, but usage rate isn't a perfect measure of ball stickiness. Doesn't the NBA track time of possession? To my eye, that's the style difference between the two. Rondo dribbles more.
Nope, ball doesn't stick with Rondo based off time of possession or touches. It's true that Rondo dribbles more than ball per touch...but by a colossal 1/5th of a dribble more. Fellas, can we just agree to disagree on what we see between the two and agree to agree that Zo's health/longevity/development should be the priority towards the Lakers long-term success?
