New Orleans Pelicans: Can Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holiday work as a backcourt tandem?
By Warsame A
Will Rajon Rondo and Jrue Holdiay be the backcourt tandem the New Orleans Pelicans need this upcoming season?
When Rajon Rondo was signed during the summer, many people were wondering if he was a great fit with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Some were asking if he would be playing off the bench as a backup point guard, or if he was being signed because DeMarcus Cousins pressured the Pelicans to do so.
Well, according to Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, Rajon Rondo will be slotted alongside Jrue Holiday in the starting lineup.
This has disaster written all over it
For starters, positioning two point guards who are effective with the ball in their hands in the starting unit is ludicrous. Both players are undersized to defend against shooting guards, especially from the Western Conference.
Rajon Rondo had a below-average stat line of 7.8 points, 6.7 assists and 5.1 rebounds per during his stint in Chicago last season. Clashing with the head coach, star players and management had him benched sporadically for some parts of the season, but he showed up in the first two games of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics.
His ball-handling skills and crisp passing were so close to landing his Bulls one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, but he suffered a thumb injury to end his whirlwind season in Chi-town.
You can see why the Pelicans would sign the former All Star to round out their starting lineup, but it still doesn’t address their glaring concerns.
Who will run the offense?
You would have to give the nod to Rajon Rondo since Jrue Holiday is more effective off the ball. Holiday shot 35.6 percent from the 3-point line last year. He’s always been consistent shooting it from downtown throughout his career.
Rondo did shoot 37.6 percent from the 3-point line last year, but he was never known throughout his career as a consistent marksman.
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The Pelicans signed Rondo for his wizardry on the offensive end and to maximize the amazing talent he’ll be playing with. Both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins definitely need another playmaker to get them easier shots.
The key for the Pelicans to maximize both Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo for the long haul is to have one of them come off the bench. There will be a stretch of games where both Rondo and Holiday will be marked as a defensive liability if they match up against bigger and quicker backcourt tandems.
Alvin Gentry will realize that and start reshuffling his starting unit. This will eventually place Rondo as the key cog coming off the bench. Gentry’s substitution patterns will be key to maximizing both guards’ skill-sets.
So what type of scenario could we see this season?
One substitution scenario that could be entertained is having Jrue Holiday paired up with Anthony Davis. The other pairing should be Rajon Rondo playing with DeMarcus Cousins. When each pair is sitting on the bench, the other can run the offense without the pace dropping. There also wouldn’t be a drop-off when the bench steps on to the floor.
Many successful teams in the league usually leave two of their starters on the floor.
Pairing up those players together is the obvious solution, since both tandems have developed amazing chemistry together. Both DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo had a successful time together in Sacramento, so that’s an avenue that Gentry should be entertaining when the season starts.
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Will the point guards prove their doubters wrong and work cohesively in the starting unit? Or will it be an unmitigated disaster by the end of the season?