Has the play of Rondo made Darren Collison dispensible?
- Thread starter NovembersVeryOwn
- Start date
No.
We've gone thorgh 10 straight years of teams half composed of scrubs no other NBA team would even employ. We're not going back to that. Collison/Belinelli, Koufos/Casspi are all players who have played prominent bench roles for 50+ win West powers in recent years. That's who you want your bench to be. Not could bes or maybes.
We've gone thorgh 10 straight years of teams half composed of scrubs no other NBA team would even employ. We're not going back to that. Collison/Belinelli, Koufos/Casspi are all players who have played prominent bench roles for 50+ win West powers in recent years. That's who you want your bench to be. Not could bes or maybes.
Darren is a team first guy – as good as he is on the court he is also one glassy guy off the court. We never heard a peep of a complaint from him when we went after Rondo and DC lost his starting job. He and Rondo are working well when both are on the floor, and I believe together, they have a huge upside that will unfold as the season progresses.
I just think it is rare to have a guy with Darren’s skill accept the situation he found himself in this season, in light of his outstanding play last year, and not voice any kind of displeasure. His professional demeanor and positive outlook, combined with his superb on -court skills, makes him a very valued commodity on our roster (he would be a starter on many other teams!). We should be grateful we have both Rondo and Darren!
I just think it is rare to have a guy with Darren’s skill accept the situation he found himself in this season, in light of his outstanding play last year, and not voice any kind of displeasure. His professional demeanor and positive outlook, combined with his superb on -court skills, makes him a very valued commodity on our roster (he would be a starter on many other teams!). We should be grateful we have both Rondo and Darren!
Let me clear something up, here, I never advocated within my post trading Darren Collison. I do believe he is a valuable asset. With that said, we've seen Rondo play when he's sharing minutes with Collison, and we've now seen him consecutively play 40+ minutes. From what I personally have witnessed, I think that it is abundantly clear that Rondo has been much more effective since Collison went down. Whether the two correlations are related is up for you wonderful fans to decide. I'm afraid, well, let's say nervous, of seeing DC come back and start to notice Rajon's effectiveness or productivity decrease. I am hoping that George Karl plays DC solely at the SG position so as not to throw off the rhythm of our triple double king.
No.
Collison is still your bench spark and has been great at it. You can play him with Rondo against certain units. He'll probably still get around 30 minutes once he's recovered.
A good PG rotation is important in this league. The Warriors have Steph Curry, but that doesn't mean they got lax on their backup PG. Shaun Livingston and Barbosa make a big difference as well.
Collison is still your bench spark and has been great at it. You can play him with Rondo against certain units. He'll probably still get around 30 minutes once he's recovered.
A good PG rotation is important in this league. The Warriors have Steph Curry, but that doesn't mean they got lax on their backup PG. Shaun Livingston and Barbosa make a big difference as well.
I think we will see a lot of DC and Rondo together down the stretch. Karl's preferred lineup in crunch time appears to be Rondo-DC-Rudy-Cousins with either Marco or Omri, depending on who is playing better. He then shuttles in guys like KK, Ben, or WCS in late game situations where we might need more defense. With Rondo having found his game, I think DC plays about 12 minutes per game backing up Rondo, and another 12-15 at the 2. My best guess on Karl's distribution (note, not mine, my best GUESS as to KARL's) is as follows:
PG- Rondo- 36, DC- 12
SG- Ben- 24, DC- 12, Marco-12
SF- Rudy-12, Omri- 24, Marco- 12
PF- WCS- 21, Rudy- 21, KK- 6
C- Boogie- 33, KK- 15
That gives you Rondo- 36 (I think he needs that many minutes to impact the game), Boogie and Rudy- 33 (I think they should both play less than 36-40 to keep them fresh), Ben, Omri, Marco, and DC- 24, WCS and KK- 21.
A nice 9 man rotation. Minutes can go up and down depending on matchups and how guys are playing. I would personally give a few extra to DC at the expense of Ben/Omri/Marco. You still have Acy, Butler, Anderson, Curry, and Moreland who are not part of the 9-deep and don't get regular minutes, but have all (except maybe Moreland) played at least some meaningful minutes this year and shown they can contribute in the right spots.
That is how the real teams do it. Identify a 9-man core. Let them play, and have useful guys who can come in and play when called upon in the 10-13 holes.
PG- Rondo- 36, DC- 12
SG- Ben- 24, DC- 12, Marco-12
SF- Rudy-12, Omri- 24, Marco- 12
PF- WCS- 21, Rudy- 21, KK- 6
C- Boogie- 33, KK- 15
That gives you Rondo- 36 (I think he needs that many minutes to impact the game), Boogie and Rudy- 33 (I think they should both play less than 36-40 to keep them fresh), Ben, Omri, Marco, and DC- 24, WCS and KK- 21.
A nice 9 man rotation. Minutes can go up and down depending on matchups and how guys are playing. I would personally give a few extra to DC at the expense of Ben/Omri/Marco. You still have Acy, Butler, Anderson, Curry, and Moreland who are not part of the 9-deep and don't get regular minutes, but have all (except maybe Moreland) played at least some meaningful minutes this year and shown they can contribute in the right spots.
That is how the real teams do it. Identify a 9-man core. Let them play, and have useful guys who can come in and play when called upon in the 10-13 holes.
Just to look at this from another perspective, Rajon is on a one year deal with no guarantee that he resigns for next year. Darren is signed at an absolute bargain for two more seasons after this one.
Right now Darren is actually the better asset when you consider both production AND contract status.
That said, I get where the OP's coming from. Rondo HAS played better the last couple games but I'm not sure that's so much DC being out as Rajon just getting more comfortable with a new system and all his new teammates.
The season is still very young and I think we've got one of the better PG tandems in the league. As time goes by they'll settle into their roles and improve the team.
In short, I'd be very upset if DC were dealt.
Right now Darren is actually the better asset when you consider both production AND contract status.
That said, I get where the OP's coming from. Rondo HAS played better the last couple games but I'm not sure that's so much DC being out as Rajon just getting more comfortable with a new system and all his new teammates.
The season is still very young and I think we've got one of the better PG tandems in the league. As time goes by they'll settle into their roles and improve the team.
In short, I'd be very upset if DC were dealt.
Collison is who he is and its too late to be making large surges in play.
Rondo was a 4x All Star and NBA champion, if Collison were to pass him up that's all about Rondo, not DC. The gap in presence is enormous. Collison was solid and adequate for us last year as a starter. Gave us a chance. But Rondo has presence and sees everything. Different level.
we will be very happy to have DC if we manage to reach the playoffs and the whole opposing gameplan is to make Rondo shoot jumpshots.
In this league you need versatility to be successful.
And DC can change the way we play by providing the necessary spacing to let Cuz operate in the low post.
No he is not expendable, unless Curry suddenly plays more like his brother and proves, that this is not just some hot stretch for some games.
Basically it all comes down to a wait and see aproach until next offseason.
In this league you need versatility to be successful.
And DC can change the way we play by providing the necessary spacing to let Cuz operate in the low post.
No he is not expendable, unless Curry suddenly plays more like his brother and proves, that this is not just some hot stretch for some games.
Basically it all comes down to a wait and see aproach until next offseason.
funny, while the premise of the OP is quite ridiculous, there might be something to the idea of the kings playing better without collison. when he was out, coach was forced to move away from small ball, because he had very few players on the court with speed, so we saw greater patience from the team and a stronger commitment to rim protection. this is, of course, not a slight on darren, but a slight on the coach's strategy when darren is available. i'd really prefer not to see rondo/collison-led units anymore. it's a tremendous defensive liability to place them on the court at the same time, and while rondo certainly has had his share of turnover issues during his brief tenure as a king, shifting him off-ball completely neutralizes any utility he has. karl has to find a way to fall out of love with his desire to play small. as a situational strategy, there may be moments when it proves effective, but as an overall approach for this particular roster? that's just doomed to fail, if you ask me...