Rondo is nothing more than a stat hog
Dennis Rodman was a stat hound too and he pulled down for 20 rebounds a night during his three-peat Bulls run in the later 90’s.
The Smoking Cuban
Rondo is notorious for giving up layups to get an extra assist to keep his triple-double numbers up. This attitude reportedly is a cause for his almost five turnovers a game. But, if you look at both Dallas and Sacramento, those teams don’t have elite shooters on their roster, so passing off to a bad player won’t get results. George Karl doesn’t even play his shooters on the Kings roster as much because he has to keep DeMarcus Cousins happy with touches. It’s not Rondo’s fault they have a bigger black hole of a player in Cousins.
But with Chicago, Rondo gunning for triple doubles a night is a plus-plus for the Bulls. You want him taking 15 seconds out of the shot clock looking for an open long range shooter and not Jimmy Butler doing the same thing to drive into a double team. If his assists get the Bulls 10 three-point shots or more a night that works out like a dream and Rondo will love getting 20 assists on some nights.
Essentially, as snooty as he is as a person, I’d personally want his game to speak for itself among the Bulls new playmaker projects so they can play better, too.
I want Rondo helping out on rebounds to pad his stats and give Butler less worries if he misses mid-range jumpers. I want Rondo looking for Butler for lobs or any off-ball plays Hoiberg can cook up for the duo. Logging 15 or more assists a game is a precious thing for Rondo than scoring if he won’t get a triple double.
A stat being bandied as empty by Kelly Scalleta of TodaysFastbreak.com is that Rondo only had 18.2 percent of his rebounds as contested caroms. That’s still a Bulls player going for a rebound than giving an opponent a free possession. The Bulls need every free rebound they can haul down next year to run their pace-and-space game. Those other uncontested rebounds by Rondo got the Kings one more possession for a run out score which is what the Bulls need for themselves this coming season.
The only caveat is to be aware when Rondo is looking to even up his stats and losing sight of the game.
If he goes on a scoring binge after getting 10 assists, play another pass-first guard in tandem with Rondo,
That’s not difficult for a smart coach like Hoiberg.
Next: Rondo and Jimmy Butler can't play together