Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 13, 2011 15:52:17 GMT -5
Who's better: Rondo or Williams?
Two of the NBA's best point guards do battle in Insider's side-by-side analysis
Palmer By Chris Palmer
ESPN The Magazine
Archive
Williams/RondoUS PresswireRajon Rondo and Deron Williams are two of the best, but who's better?
Who (Else) is Better?
In this space we'll break down the best individual matchup of the week to see who's the better player. But toss out career accomplishments or potential. This is about ability -- strengths, weaknesses, intangibles -- and who gives his team the best chance to win. It's about the only thing that matters when you step on the court on any given night -- who's better right now.
Point guard is the deepest position in the NBA. Never before have there been so many quality floor generals in both conferences, and never before has the debate raged about who among them is the best.
Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo's styles are at the opposite end of the lead guard spectrum. The once maligned Rondo has become the Boston Celtics most valuable player, and Deron Williams toggles between potentially the best point in the league and the guy who never gets enough credit.
Now they occupy the same division, so there's no better time for them to square off in our weekly matchup. It's D-Will's power and speed against Rondo's cunning and unselfishness.
Rajon Rondo
Boston Celtics
PPG: 10.8
RPG: 4.5
APG: 12.0
FG%: .502
FT%: .545
PER: 17.84
Deron Williams
New Jersey Nets
PPG: 20.8
RPG: 3.9
APG: 10.2
FG%: .450
FT%: .849
PER: 21.63
RONDO: BASKETBALL IQ
Rondo's basketball IQ is among the highest in the game. His understanding of the shot clock, mismatches, game tempo and smart play calls has earned the respect of his teammates and peers. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers calls him the smartest player he's ever coached. Rondo is adept at finding hidden or unusual passing angles and scoring opportunities thanks to excellent floor vision and a keen understanding of where his teammates like to catch the ball. During the course of the game, Rondo keeps a running dialogue with each of his teammates. "He's always thinking and communicating," says Celtics teammate Paul Pierce. "He's our coach on the floor who makes us go."
WILLIAMS: CROSSOVERS
D-Will's crossover is arguably the most effective dribble move in the league. The stripped down version is setup up by a right shoulder fake to get the defender off balance before blasting the ball left across his body. Other times he'll begin with a casual right to left between the leg dribble then cross hard back to the right. Sometimes he'll rock the ball back and forth until the defender trips over his own feet before slashing to the rim. Lately he's been using it to set up his step back jumper, which has become his favorite move. "You know it's coming and it's so fast you just try your best to stay in front of him," says Hornets point guard Chris Paul.
RONDO: FREE THROWS
While nearly every top-flight point guard in the league possesses outstanding free-throw-shooting ability, Rondo is the worst at his position. What's more, of all starters, he's got a league-high 18 games in which he didn't attempt a free throw, a statistical anomaly for a player who scores most of his points at the rim. The real trouble with his poor foul shooting is that Boston is forced to take the ball out of the hands of its best ball handler late in games. The negative impact of Rondo's reluctance to draw contact (career low 1.9 FTAs) and inaccuracy at the stripe is somewhat lessened by excellent foul shooters Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who can handle the ball in crunch time.
WILLIAMS: LEADERSHIP
Williams isn't a natural born leader and can be prickly towards his teammates, even when the mood is light. He has a tendency to become perturbed when guys aren't playing up to his level or miss shots after he sets them up. Earlier this season Williams became visibly upset with rookie forward Gordon Hayward when on a series of plays he found himself out of position on the wrong side of the floor. After a Utah Jazz timeout, Williams ripped him in front of teammates on the way back to the bench. His reaction could have been a symptom of his growing frustration in Utah, but Williams would have been better served to employ a more positive form of leadership when dealing with a struggling rookie.
RONDO: CREATIVE PASSING
Rondo has some of the largest hands you'll see on a point guard, which give him added ball control and allow him to deliver passes from less-than-traditional angles. Add a 6-foot-10 wingspan and it further expands his menagerie of dishes from the open court to the tightest corners of the lane. Side-armed bounce passes to streaking cutters, wraparounds from one block to the other and underhanded drive-and-kick scoops are a few of his gems. He also has an inventory of one-handed ball fakes that free up passing lanes or clear a path to the basket. His ability to cleverly palm the ball gives a uniqueness to his game. "It's actually kind of fun to watch all the different things he can do that you don't see other guys doing," says an eastern conference assistant coach.
WILLIAMS: PASS SPEED
Williams never telegraphs a pass. That's because they leave his hands so quickly. Where Rondo likes to deliver the ball with one hand, Williams almost always passes with two, using the exceptional strength in his forearms, which lets him pick his dribble up and snap the ball out of his hands in an instant. Williams understands that with a crisp pass a teammate is able to quickly go into his move, leaving the defense a step behind. Whether reversing the ball or tossing it ahead, Williams releases the ball with plenty of pop, making it very difficult for a defender to react quickly enough to deflect the balls. "Tough to play the passing lanes against him," says a western conference scout. "You're better off just playing your man straight up."
RONDO: THE INSTIGATOR
Off the floor, Rondo is reserved and soft-spoken. But between the lines he has a long history of getting under opponents' skin. In the heat of battle he grabs, holds, nudges and bumps until an opponent can no longer focus on his game. During deadball situations, he'll stand in a player's path or eavesdrop on huddles. His intensity has been known to rile even the most focused players and has led to scrapes with guards (Kirk Hinrich, Chris Paul), wings (Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest) and bigs (Dwight Howard). Paul was agitated enough to follow Rondo into the Celtics tunnel after a game last season. Some feel Rondo takes it too far, and he's been accused of playing dirty, but his teammates see it as a sign of Boston's aggressiveness. "That's just him," says teammate Kevin Garnett. "He gets in people's heads and messes with their mind. It's intense."
WILLIAMS: COURT VISION
All elite point guards have excellent floor vision. But even the best have a tendency to put their head down when trying to make something happen. Not Williams. D-Will sees the floor exceptionally well because his head is always up. He likes to push off of made baskets, and his first reaction after getting the inbounds pass is to scan the fastbreak lanes for an open teammate and anticipate where shooters will spot up. Even when he's moving at breakneck speed while weaving in and out of traffic his eyes stay forward. His body control and concentration give him the ability to make reads at speed without losing balance or the ball. All of these things allow him to easily survey the floor and calmly react to the changing backtracking defense and choose the best option. "Those are the kinds of details that make him the truly effective point guard he is," says a western conference scout.
"Rajon has a terrific feel for the game. It comes very natural to him. When I play him, I try to push him out of his zone, make him uncomfortable in anyway I can. The best thing I can do is try to take away the angles that he likes, whether they're passing or driving angles. He's so talented you're not going to be able to take away everything, so if he wants to be a distributor I'll let him do that all night. Just don't give him anything else, because the goal when you play him is to try to make him one-dimensional."
-- Mo Williams, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
"Deron is so quick and strong and has so many different skills it lets him pretty much do everything really well. When he pushes it you really get to see how fast he is. He uses his strength well going towards the basket and likes to dip his shoulder into you to get contact. His crossover is just crazy. You want to play off him but he can hit the jumper really well too, so either way you look at it he's tough to deal with. I love to play against Deron because I want to test myself against the best. No question he's one of the best there is."
-- Jamal Crawford, PG/SG, Atlanta Hawks
DERON WILLIAMS
As a decision maker and scorer, Williams excels in every offensive situation from pick-and-rolls to isolations on the wing. He's at his best weaving in and out of traffic to find a spot up shooter or finish at the rim himself. Simply put, he's the most complete offensive point guard in the game.
Rondo's game is one of extremes. He's the league's purest point and one of its craftiest defenders. He leads the league in both assists (12.2) and steals (2.4). On the offensive end, Rondo does an excellent job of spreading the wealth and getting teammates the ball in a position to use their strengths.
But Rondo is also one of the worst shooters at his position. That glaring weakness alone prevents him from being better than a player who is an equally good passer and can be his team's No. 1 scoring option. Despite a beautiful array of runners and floaters, offensively Rondo is as selective and reluctant as they come, averaging just nine field goal attempts per game and clocking in as the Celtics' sixth leading scorer.
On defense Rondo edges Williams in both effort and technique -- few players can match his lateral quickness -- and also deflects four or five balls a game. But Williams is by no means a shabby defender, and Rondo's defensive brilliance can't make up for his shooting woes to win a head-to-head comparison.
If this were only about setting people up, Rondo would get the nod. But today's point guards are called on to do so much more, and Williams does many of those things consistently better than Rondo.
Two of the NBA's best point guards do battle in Insider's side-by-side analysis
Palmer By Chris Palmer
ESPN The Magazine
Archive
Williams/RondoUS PresswireRajon Rondo and Deron Williams are two of the best, but who's better?
Who (Else) is Better?
In this space we'll break down the best individual matchup of the week to see who's the better player. But toss out career accomplishments or potential. This is about ability -- strengths, weaknesses, intangibles -- and who gives his team the best chance to win. It's about the only thing that matters when you step on the court on any given night -- who's better right now.
Point guard is the deepest position in the NBA. Never before have there been so many quality floor generals in both conferences, and never before has the debate raged about who among them is the best.
Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo's styles are at the opposite end of the lead guard spectrum. The once maligned Rondo has become the Boston Celtics most valuable player, and Deron Williams toggles between potentially the best point in the league and the guy who never gets enough credit.
Now they occupy the same division, so there's no better time for them to square off in our weekly matchup. It's D-Will's power and speed against Rondo's cunning and unselfishness.
Rajon Rondo
Boston Celtics
PPG: 10.8
RPG: 4.5
APG: 12.0
FG%: .502
FT%: .545
PER: 17.84
Deron Williams
New Jersey Nets
PPG: 20.8
RPG: 3.9
APG: 10.2
FG%: .450
FT%: .849
PER: 21.63
RONDO: BASKETBALL IQ
Rondo's basketball IQ is among the highest in the game. His understanding of the shot clock, mismatches, game tempo and smart play calls has earned the respect of his teammates and peers. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers calls him the smartest player he's ever coached. Rondo is adept at finding hidden or unusual passing angles and scoring opportunities thanks to excellent floor vision and a keen understanding of where his teammates like to catch the ball. During the course of the game, Rondo keeps a running dialogue with each of his teammates. "He's always thinking and communicating," says Celtics teammate Paul Pierce. "He's our coach on the floor who makes us go."
WILLIAMS: CROSSOVERS
D-Will's crossover is arguably the most effective dribble move in the league. The stripped down version is setup up by a right shoulder fake to get the defender off balance before blasting the ball left across his body. Other times he'll begin with a casual right to left between the leg dribble then cross hard back to the right. Sometimes he'll rock the ball back and forth until the defender trips over his own feet before slashing to the rim. Lately he's been using it to set up his step back jumper, which has become his favorite move. "You know it's coming and it's so fast you just try your best to stay in front of him," says Hornets point guard Chris Paul.
RONDO: FREE THROWS
While nearly every top-flight point guard in the league possesses outstanding free-throw-shooting ability, Rondo is the worst at his position. What's more, of all starters, he's got a league-high 18 games in which he didn't attempt a free throw, a statistical anomaly for a player who scores most of his points at the rim. The real trouble with his poor foul shooting is that Boston is forced to take the ball out of the hands of its best ball handler late in games. The negative impact of Rondo's reluctance to draw contact (career low 1.9 FTAs) and inaccuracy at the stripe is somewhat lessened by excellent foul shooters Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, who can handle the ball in crunch time.
WILLIAMS: LEADERSHIP
Williams isn't a natural born leader and can be prickly towards his teammates, even when the mood is light. He has a tendency to become perturbed when guys aren't playing up to his level or miss shots after he sets them up. Earlier this season Williams became visibly upset with rookie forward Gordon Hayward when on a series of plays he found himself out of position on the wrong side of the floor. After a Utah Jazz timeout, Williams ripped him in front of teammates on the way back to the bench. His reaction could have been a symptom of his growing frustration in Utah, but Williams would have been better served to employ a more positive form of leadership when dealing with a struggling rookie.
RONDO: CREATIVE PASSING
Rondo has some of the largest hands you'll see on a point guard, which give him added ball control and allow him to deliver passes from less-than-traditional angles. Add a 6-foot-10 wingspan and it further expands his menagerie of dishes from the open court to the tightest corners of the lane. Side-armed bounce passes to streaking cutters, wraparounds from one block to the other and underhanded drive-and-kick scoops are a few of his gems. He also has an inventory of one-handed ball fakes that free up passing lanes or clear a path to the basket. His ability to cleverly palm the ball gives a uniqueness to his game. "It's actually kind of fun to watch all the different things he can do that you don't see other guys doing," says an eastern conference assistant coach.
WILLIAMS: PASS SPEED
Williams never telegraphs a pass. That's because they leave his hands so quickly. Where Rondo likes to deliver the ball with one hand, Williams almost always passes with two, using the exceptional strength in his forearms, which lets him pick his dribble up and snap the ball out of his hands in an instant. Williams understands that with a crisp pass a teammate is able to quickly go into his move, leaving the defense a step behind. Whether reversing the ball or tossing it ahead, Williams releases the ball with plenty of pop, making it very difficult for a defender to react quickly enough to deflect the balls. "Tough to play the passing lanes against him," says a western conference scout. "You're better off just playing your man straight up."
RONDO: THE INSTIGATOR
Off the floor, Rondo is reserved and soft-spoken. But between the lines he has a long history of getting under opponents' skin. In the heat of battle he grabs, holds, nudges and bumps until an opponent can no longer focus on his game. During deadball situations, he'll stand in a player's path or eavesdrop on huddles. His intensity has been known to rile even the most focused players and has led to scrapes with guards (Kirk Hinrich, Chris Paul), wings (Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest) and bigs (Dwight Howard). Paul was agitated enough to follow Rondo into the Celtics tunnel after a game last season. Some feel Rondo takes it too far, and he's been accused of playing dirty, but his teammates see it as a sign of Boston's aggressiveness. "That's just him," says teammate Kevin Garnett. "He gets in people's heads and messes with their mind. It's intense."
WILLIAMS: COURT VISION
All elite point guards have excellent floor vision. But even the best have a tendency to put their head down when trying to make something happen. Not Williams. D-Will sees the floor exceptionally well because his head is always up. He likes to push off of made baskets, and his first reaction after getting the inbounds pass is to scan the fastbreak lanes for an open teammate and anticipate where shooters will spot up. Even when he's moving at breakneck speed while weaving in and out of traffic his eyes stay forward. His body control and concentration give him the ability to make reads at speed without losing balance or the ball. All of these things allow him to easily survey the floor and calmly react to the changing backtracking defense and choose the best option. "Those are the kinds of details that make him the truly effective point guard he is," says a western conference scout.
"Rajon has a terrific feel for the game. It comes very natural to him. When I play him, I try to push him out of his zone, make him uncomfortable in anyway I can. The best thing I can do is try to take away the angles that he likes, whether they're passing or driving angles. He's so talented you're not going to be able to take away everything, so if he wants to be a distributor I'll let him do that all night. Just don't give him anything else, because the goal when you play him is to try to make him one-dimensional."
-- Mo Williams, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
"Deron is so quick and strong and has so many different skills it lets him pretty much do everything really well. When he pushes it you really get to see how fast he is. He uses his strength well going towards the basket and likes to dip his shoulder into you to get contact. His crossover is just crazy. You want to play off him but he can hit the jumper really well too, so either way you look at it he's tough to deal with. I love to play against Deron because I want to test myself against the best. No question he's one of the best there is."
-- Jamal Crawford, PG/SG, Atlanta Hawks
DERON WILLIAMS
As a decision maker and scorer, Williams excels in every offensive situation from pick-and-rolls to isolations on the wing. He's at his best weaving in and out of traffic to find a spot up shooter or finish at the rim himself. Simply put, he's the most complete offensive point guard in the game.
Rondo's game is one of extremes. He's the league's purest point and one of its craftiest defenders. He leads the league in both assists (12.2) and steals (2.4). On the offensive end, Rondo does an excellent job of spreading the wealth and getting teammates the ball in a position to use their strengths.
But Rondo is also one of the worst shooters at his position. That glaring weakness alone prevents him from being better than a player who is an equally good passer and can be his team's No. 1 scoring option. Despite a beautiful array of runners and floaters, offensively Rondo is as selective and reluctant as they come, averaging just nine field goal attempts per game and clocking in as the Celtics' sixth leading scorer.
On defense Rondo edges Williams in both effort and technique -- few players can match his lateral quickness -- and also deflects four or five balls a game. But Williams is by no means a shabby defender, and Rondo's defensive brilliance can't make up for his shooting woes to win a head-to-head comparison.
If this were only about setting people up, Rondo would get the nod. But today's point guards are called on to do so much more, and Williams does many of those things consistently better than Rondo.
