I would like to say that as much of a fan I am watching Rondo play, he often gives the appearance of helping us a lot more than he actually is. If we really want to play Cousins in the post, it's hard to have a PG and PF that can't shoot, a SF that is only so-so from 3 and ... well our SG struggles are so well documented as it is. Cousins will get double and triple teamed and he isn't particularly effective in posting up but turning away from the defense to score. On defense as well Rondo is actually pretty bad in his rotations and staying in front of his man, but that's something that isn't brought up very often. And as much as I couldn't stand IT, having a PG who can actually just pull up and shoot would help us a lot.
I may come across as defending the coaching staff not because I think Karl is doing a great job, but because I don't see many coaches who I think would do a better one, and even far less that could do a better job but aren't going to want to come here. I am also not 100% convinced that we can't a playoff team under Karl, even with questionable rotations (which I personally feel are very much due to the roster and players' strengths in the first place), because we have games where we play great D and score effortlessly, but there are other games where we fall flat in the 1st quarter.
Well, I mean, that's the thing isn't it? What do you need to win games in the league right now? Look at the list of top scorers in the league and their team's record:
1. Stephen Curry (45-4)
2. James Harden (26-25)
3. Kevin Durant (38-13)
4. DeMarcus Cousins (21-28)
5. Lebron James (35-13)
6. Russell Westbrook (38-13)
7. Damian Lillard (24-26)
8. DeMar DeRozan (33-16)
9. Paul George (26-23)
10. Anthony Davis (18-30)
Only Sacramento, Portland, and New Orleans can't find a way to win with top 10 scorers on the team. Portland gutted their team and replaced their vets with young unproven players and they're still winning more than we are. New Orleans has the same mix of good offense and terrible defense that we have. You can keep going down the list if you want to. Is IfAt1st right that the current rule set punishes post play and rewards teams with perimeter stars? If that's the case don't you need to cash in on your Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins right now and get yourself an elite wing instead? Let's get real here and consider the possibility that everyone else is right, maybe dominant big men are done and you can't win that way. Maybe it's not George Karl's fault, we just need more shooters, more wings who can hit threes and we'll be right at the top of the standings too...
I think you could
try to make an argument that it's impossible to win in the league right now without elite 3pt shooting. Golden State and San Antonio are the best shooting teams by far and they're lapping the pack. I would counter though that we're not even trying to eschew the long ball, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to use our lack of success to justify it. We shot more 3 pointers than free throws today. On our home court, with Boogie Cousins and Rudy Gay on our team. Against Milwaukee it was 26 3pt attempts and 30 free throw attempts. The Memphis game was a more sensible mix, but in the loss to New Orleans we shot 28 threes and only 20 free throws. We're letting 'em fly along with the league trend and our team 3pt% is tied for 9th out of 30. So what is actually going on here? I honestly don't know. I'm not enough of a rules expert to differentiate between correlation and causation here. But I do know that you're not going to win a lot when you allow the other team to score 108 points a game and that's one aspect of the game that we should have some control over.
You're not the first one I've seen arguing that Rajon Rondo is hurting the team. He's shooting 36% from three this season though, which is hardly as awful as people make him out to be. If defenders are leaving him wide open, good! Only Omri Casspi and Seth Curry have a significantly better chance of making that shot and we want
them shooting it don't we? I've mentioned elsewhere that the scoring leaderboard has been trending smaller for awhile now. There are currently 7 starting PGs in the top 20. 5 of them are also the leading scorer on their team. If you expand the list to the top 30 scorers you add three more point guards for a full 1/3 of the league that has a top 30 scorer in the starting PG spot. Guards who pull up and shoot are dominating the league overall. That makes Rondo an outlier as a PG who doesn't look to create his own shot. And outliers are suspect. Outliers, in fact, bear many superficial similarities with scapegoats. My question is -- if we already have a 20 point scorer on the wing (Rudy Gay was the #12 overall scorer in the league last year!) would it actually make sense to have a PG trying to pour in points too? Rondo is notching 12 assists a game -- that means more made baskets for DeMarcus and Rudy. Doesn't that fit our personnel better than a guy like IT who leads his team in FGA from the PG position?
This is what it comes down to for me: we need to make a decision if we're going to be a run and gun high scoring powerhouse or if we're going to be a deliberate defensive squad who maximizes their possessions by converting in half-court sets. If run and gun is who we deep down want to be, if that's how we think we're going to win in this league, then it's time to seriously consider cashing in the biggest asset we have for a dynamic wing player who can light up the three point line every night. If we're going to reverse course and utilize a bruising post presence in the manner that has historically been the most effective, than Rajon and Rudy are ideal running mates at PG and SF and you absolutely
have to swap out George Karl with a more traditional half-court minded coach who will drill defense all day long until it comes out our players ears. You have to. Anything else would be irresponsible.
And then there's this: More than any other team in the league (even Memphis who's core is aging rapidly) we have a roster ideally suited for a grind it out half court style of game and we're trying to outrun and out shoot Golden State. It's a crime against basketball that this roster and this coach are paired together. It's a relationship which benefits nobody. Either George Karl should have free reign to reshape the roster as he sees fit or he shouldn't be here. That's the gutcheck. If you do still believe he's the right coach for the job, than you have to be willing to give him the roster he wants.
). A guy who you can't leave open, who can score when he wants, but is still looking to set guys up first and foremost. Besides, if Cousins is the HOF low post player that he is made out to be, you don't need to have a PG who is getting 10 assists or who excels in setting him up for easy buckets. Derek Fisher sure didn't have to do much setting guys up. 
