RAJON RONDO ON THE RISE

I'm sitting here watching Rajon Rondo tear apart the Cleveland Cavaliers' defense, and I'm getting the feeling he's going to bust out big time over the next couple of years. It seems like every time I see him play, he's gotten 10% better than the last time. I've been thinking for a while that the Pistons might rather see the Celtics than the Cavs (who obviously give them fits) in the conference finals, but Rondo's recent play has forced me to change my mind.

Chauncey Billups is still a good defender, but those super-quick guys like Rondo give him problems. It's the same with Jason Kidd, he can still handle the bigger, slower PGs just fine, but when you throw him on a Chris Paul, it gets ugly fast. Billups isn't quite so far gone as Kidd, but I have seen the Pistons get hurt with PG penetration a lot this year. Rondo has been blowing by people since he got into the league, I worry that Billups won't be able to do much to check him on the perimeter. And you can't defend a team with 3 superstars if the non-superstar PG is breaking down the defense at will.

Plus Rondo's turned into a fantastic on-ball defender, not just an opportunistic steals guy. I know Mike Bibby isn't the best player in the league or anything, but Rondo was inside his jock that entire series, Rondo completely shut him down. Bibby averaged 10 & 3 with .339 shooting in the series. Rondo averaged 12-4-7 with 1 turnover per game.

Imagine if Phoenix had kept this guy, they'd be all set for the post-Nash era (I mean, they'd obviously be down, but not on the brink of obscurity like they are now). They're so desperate for a backup point that they signed Marcus Banks and then fucking GORDON GIRICEK, a guy Philadelphia thought so highly of that they cut him and ate his salary. But Phoenix essentially sold the rights to Rondo for cash, much as they did with Luol Deng and Nate Robinson, another couple of players they could really use. Oh well. As a Lakers fan I can't really say I'm sorry that the division and conference are soon to have another has-been.

BTW, I really hate when reporters say stuff like "Phoenix sold Rajon Rondo" vs. "Phoenix sold the rights to Rondo". I don't think you have to be super politically correct to be uncomfortable with the idea of selling black people.