So you have to make up your mind. Either they suck, and Rondo should be taking more shots and he isn't, or they're good so Rondo's assist average is disproportionate because he's just out there tossing them the ball. Can't have it both ways.
They're effective, absolutely. Pierce can still score on most defenders and is probably the craftiest scorer not named Kobe or Carmelo. Allen is a great shooter off screens. Garnett can post up good defenders, he's just not explosive anymore. And Rondo does do a good job of running the offense. It's not as black and white as you make it seem. Rondo is a fine player, but Westbrook is a better one.
Anyways, the Celtics go through many offensive lulls, which a better Rondo would help with (if he could hit an open jumper confidently, or if he used his driving ability to draw fouls more often, he'd power them through slumps, like Westbrook does with the Thunder). They're great because of defense.
Or maybe it will be exactly the other way around, since Rondo can get to the basket at will, and Westbrook doesn't know how not to play me-ball. Fact is, we'll never know since this is unlikely to be empirically tested.
What the hell is "me-ball"? I thought I was arguing with someone who was beyond tired cliches. Westbrook is as selfish as the sky is red. He does what he is asked to do, and he does it admirably.
Paul Pierce is a NBA champion, a finals MVP, and one of the most clutch players in the league. King and Aguire may have to wait, but Pierce is going in.
You may be right - because sportswriters have a very dulled out vision of the world, don't they? King didn't have the fortune of playing on a great team, but he's one of the best scorers in history. The greatest accolade is the observation upon watching a player that, holy shit, he is amazingly good. Pierce has always been very good, but his "legacy" is what it is because he happened to win a championship on a great team and a storied franchise that today's sportswriters grew up worshiping. All this while King was playing with Micheal Ray Richardson et. al. and if you think anyone with the simplified results-oriented views of your average sportswriter would root for them over the Great White Hope himself - then you aren't familiar with how we worship our heroes here in America.