Interesting thought - Rajon Rondo or Ben Gordon?

[HeroicKennedy]

Let's just step back and ignore the fact that Rondo has the Celtic taint on him.

Both have signed similar deals.

If it were up to you, who would you rather have?

It's a tough call, personally. I love UConn Huskies and Gordon is no different. He's a clutch scorer that can hit from anywhere on the court. He's that honest-to-goodness go-to option that this team has lacked for a while now. In fact, it's probably the only "superstar" aspect of his game. His defense is questionable (though he seems to work OK paired up with bigger guards), his ball-handing is somewhat suspect and he's undersized for his true position.

Rondo, on the other hand, is the prototypical point guard. Great vision, gets players involved, not to mention a strong rebounder and a high quality defender. His offense, while efficient, is pretty limited. No range on his jumper and a horrible free throw shooter for a PG.

Gordon was able to have success inspite of being on some bad teams.
Rondo has been successful himself, but is surrounded by 3 hall of famers.

We need better point guard play.
But we also need a go-to scorer that can create for himself.

Decisions.

[Liqourish]

Gordon. Gordon has proven himself time and time again to do what he does no matter who's on the floor with him. We dunno what Rajon can do without a team full of HoF'rs. Rebounding is rebounding, and he's damn good at it, no doubt. But if he was doubled or tripled team everynight, I don't see him putting up the type of numbers he puts up.

Now I'm not saying he's a scrub or anything, but I dunno if he's as good as he seems, because of the system he's in. $11 million a year for Rondo seems okay now, but once Ray Allen and KG retire, and all the FA's stop going to Boston chasing a ring, let's see if he's still worth that $11 million per.

[princeofpalace]

For this team: Gordon
Starting from scratch: Rondo

I dont beleive that Rondo is a product of the Big 3- Did you not see how well he played w/out KG? At this point- Rondo is the Celtics 3rd best player and he's still only 24. Great defense, great rebounding, great court awareness, opportunistic scorer. I think Rondo will be in the discussion after Paul/Deron for best PG in the game.

[tmorgan]

Rondo, and it's not close.

Although most aren't as good as Gordon, plenty of guys can shoot. Very few are the best defensive PG in the game, run an offense, rebound without sacrificing defense, and DRIVE ON ANYONE DESPITE HAVING NO JUMPER (and thus Rondo is driving on everyone despite getting a five foot sag).

Stud.

[princeofpalace]

Rondo, and it's not close.

Although most aren't as good as Gordon, plenty of guys can shoot. Very few are the best defensive PG in the game, run an offense, rebound without sacrificing defense, and DRIVE ON ANYONE DESPITE HAVING NO JUMPER (and thus Rondo is driving on everyone despite getting a five foot sag).

Stud.

This is the part where having Ray Allen helps. He opens up the floor for Rondo, to a lesser extent same for Pierce and KG.

[GJense4181]

Rondo.
Only four games, but look:
5 rebounds a game! Crazy awesome for a 6 foot PG.
11.8 assists a game! Stellar.
2.5 spg! Doesn't come at the expense of good defense, either (i.e. gambling often).
57% from the floor! A jump shot is a bonus if you're already hitting over half of your shots.

If I'm a generic team starting from scratch, I take Rondo.
If I'm a championship caliber team, it depends on whether my PG or SG is weaker (and if I have a scoring PG or a well-rounded SG).
If I'm the Pistons, I'd take Rondo. Rip could be his Ray Allen, and Stuckey could be unleashed.

[Master Shake]

Am I the only one in here that thinks Ben Gordon is a complete stud?

I gotta see him and Rip get some chemistry before I make that decision. If all goes well with the Rip/Gordon experiment, all we need is a PG to walk the ball up the court and pass to these guys and occasionally run a break.

3 games in, I'm going Gordon. I gotta see a half season though before I make it official.

[princeofpalace]

I just looked at the averages

Ben Gordon in 3 games is a stud
24.3 points/3.7 boards/2.7 assists on 49% FG and 41% from 3pt and 87% from the line

[bstein14]

Yeah, if we can get 24 PPG at a very efficient 49% from Ben Gordon over the next 5 years I'd take him for sure.

Hopefully he can continue to very efficiently score in bunches.

[Master Shake]

I don't expect him to keep hitting 49%. I'd think that number will average out around 45% or so.

But we certainly got ourselves a stud this off-season.

[coordinator0]

Pretty interesting question. I'd have to agree with PoP though. For the Pistons it would be Gordon almost no doubt. We needed that clutch scorer/legitimate deep threat we've been missing. However, if you're going to be a rebuilding team starting with a PG is the way to go. Rondo is smart enough to know that he doesn't have to carry the load whatsoever, so he just sets up the offense and let's his teammates do the work. I think that both are worth the money they got and I would love to have either on my team.

Now that I think about it, Gordon and Rondo would be nice compliments to each other. It would be an extremely undersized back-court for sure, but it could be manageable depending on what the rest of your team looks like.

[nasty daddy]

Easy one for me, Gordon all the way.

[Cowology]

I'd probably take Rondo. PG's are simply harder to find than scorers. Even on this team I think you'd be just fine with Rondo/Rip starting and Stuckey as your 3rd guard.

[vege]

Easy. Rondo.

[HeroicKennedy]

Wait, I've seen at least 4 people in this topic pick Rondo, yet it's 8-2 in favor of Gordon.