Who’s that on the front page of ESPN.com?

Vote for Rajon!!!

I do believe that’s straitpinkie.com’s candidate for All Star, Rajon Rondo!!

John Hollinger was glowing in his discussion of Rajon last night, saying “The Big Three? Might want to make it the Fantastic Four. “  Hollinger’s Daily Dime

It was another night, another win for Celtics, and for Rajon it was another chance to face off against an Olympian point guard from out west in Deron Williams of Utah.  Although the C’s got the win just like Friday night against Chris Paul and the Hornets, their path to the win was quite a bit different, and it was mostly paved by Rajon Rondo in the fourth quarter.  Rondo scored 12 of his career high 25 points in the final 5:20 of the game, taking advantage of the Jazz’ defensive gameplan in crunch time.

Jerry Sloan did not think Rondo would beat them down the stretch, and he didn’t think he would be aggressive enough to beat him, so when Rondo gave up the ball on offense, Deron Williams played rover, double teaming whomever he gave it up to.  Rondo made him pay.  Rajon’s final line was 25 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and one endorsement from Paul Pierce: “There’s no reason he shouldn’t make the All-Star team.” (Boston Globe article).

The fact of the matter is that Rajon Rondo gives the Celtics a dimension that they simply would not have with nearly any other point guard.  The C’s are not a running team.  They aren’t going to beat you with fast break buckets often, but Rajon Rondo can.  When Rondo grabs a rebound (which he does better than any point guard outside of Jason Kidd) or steal (which he does better than any point guard outside of Paul), he can push it as fast as anyone else in the NBA, and when you can get a fantastic defensive team like the Celtics a few easy buckets each game, it makes a world of difference.

I’ll also make the argument that I don’t think the Celtics would take almost any point guard in the NBA over Rondo.  His defense allows him to fit it with the culture that Kevin Garnett has brought, and his generally deferential nature allowes him to fit in on offense with a team that has three guys who average over 20 points for their careers.  Now that Rondo is fully grasping when he needs to be assertive, this Celtics team is scary good.

The question now becomes, can Rondo and Doc Rivers justify selecting a potential fourth Celtic as an All Star?  It looks as if Doc Rivers is going to be the coach of the East, and pressure will be on him to limit his selection of his own players.  However, if Rondo keeps playing like this, there won’t be much protest when Rondo becomes an All Star for the first time.

Vote for Rajon!!!