Making Rajon Rondo Work: Back to Boston

By Fansided and Michael RENE KANOY/FanSided via Pippen Ain't Easy
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Rajon Rondo need not be a DNP-CD forever. Pair him with Doug McDermott and Cristiano Felicio and revamp the Bulls’ starters with players who can make shots under two seconds. Jimmy can keep his stepback jumper and cutting to the hoop.

Rondo was picked up by the Bulls team because of his stats: he played for a Sacramento Kings team that had the fastest offense in the NBA last year. But this is misleading because in that team he had decent shooters and DeMarcus Cousins in the post as sure assists.

There are talks about moving Rondo by the trade deadline or packaging something so he can play elsewhere and not be a DNP for the rest of the season. It might be unfair to expect Rondo to go head-to-head with the likes of opposing players like Giannis Antetokounmpo. Playing him with Butler or Taj Gibson as offensive options also slows Rondo down to a walk up point guard who cannot push the ball – Rondo himself said he wants to push the ball. But most of the time, he has played with Jimmy and Taj, both of whom take at least three to five seconds after getting the ball to score from anywhere using the eye test.

Remembering the champion Boston Celtics, with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Fred Hoiberg can tweak his lineup to come close to that kind of offense: Posting up Doug like KG but with McDermott’s crafty shotmaking and quick fadeaway shot. And playing Felicio as a pick-and-dive option for lobs or bulldozing rim attacks. Those two score quick in that offensive set up.

Watch McDermott score in under two seconds in the paint against Jeremy Lamb of the Hornets. Denzel Valentine can be groomed as a roaming taller Allen (but with less athleticism and slashing skills) or a poor man’s Nicolas Batum.

If Hoiberg revamped the starting line-up and put in McDermott as starting power forward over Gibson and Felicio in for Robin Lopez, the Bulls would play even faster as far as scoring is concerned.  It has been documented that Doug scores within two seconds or so after a catch and scores at a eFG percentage of almost .60 last year during his scoring binge in February. And if we observe Felicio and Wade interact with each other (as reviewed by Tyler Pleiss on BlogaBull) on lobs and dives, Big Cris scores with almost the same quick baskets as Doug in specific rim diving sets. Valentine can play the Allen proto-shooter along with Isaiah Canaan on sparing nights. Watch Felicio play the dive in the video below as a quick scorer and you can see he can also shoot the 3-ball if Hoiberg allowed him to.

If Rondo can get his assists ramped by fast scoring, he will be able to run the faster paced Bulls game that Hoiberg wants. If Jimmy or Wade is his first option that starting line-up has a slower scoring pace than one with Felicio and McDermott on board from the tip-off. Rondo can even set up walk up three with Doug which was a staple Creighton play and the easier score than waiting for Jimmy to survey the field and drive inside.

Babysitting Butler is just not going to cut it for the rest of the year. He can have his 40- or 50-point games but those take a lot of effort given Jimmy’s game of going to the free throw line.

    GIbson and Lopez are nice scoring options but the team is better off priming Doug to get hot from the first quarter so he gets a feel for the game and contributes big. Lopez and Taj can only drive the offense as much. But Doug can be counted on to be a cog worth more than the two bigs.

    With Doug and Felicio, the Bulls get a faster game going with less effort than Jimmy. Portis or the other guard – say Michael Carter-Williams will be helping Rondo defend. Being creative with a toolbox lineup is the key for Hoiberg. His players can do specific things very, very well. Portis swarms the ball carrier and sneaks in defensive rebounds and snipes as the third long range option. Doug can post up anybody in the league. Felicio is almost unstoppable in the pick-and-dive.

    What the Bucks have run against the Bulls, the Bulls can run too, but Hoiberg has to use his players smartly and not expect Doug to just shoot corner threes or Bobby to defend the post and play center. I already wrote about using Bobby as a big playmaking, running wing like Antetokounmpo but Fred has to use him in that role rather than center which he won’t do well.

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      So far the Bulls have used Butler exclusively from December to early January as walk up first option on an ISO facing the basket.

      If Rajon is to be worth anything to the Bulls this season, Hoiberg must be willing to mix up the lineup. Rondo doesn’t have to close out games even. Just play him with the quickest scorers on the team: McDermott, Felicio, Carter-Williams, or Portis to be specifically assigned to cover opposing playmakers on the return play so Rondo’s weaknesses aren’t exposed as badly. If Rondo is a liability closing the game, they can bench him in the fourth quarter and play Carter-Williams. If the Bulls are leading by 20, they can rest both and have Jerian Grant or Valentine run the show.

      A Celtics-styled offense might be in the works for Chicago since it keeps a player resource useful and might turn the corner if Rondo can run the team faster finding Doug for quick post ups or Felicio diving to the rim. Valentine is more than a capable shooter who can avoid injury by playing like Ray Allen as lights out shooter instead of attacking the rim.

      The Bulls have the talent, only the coach has to really figure it out.