Rajon Rondo guarded his home turf and showed us exactly why many consider him to be the best point guard prospect in this draft; Jordan Farmar went on the road and helped his team beat a tough Michigan team with another outstanding individual performance; Corey Brewer put up a rare NCAA triple-double in a crushing home win over in-state Jacksonville; Cedric Simmons tried to do the same in NC States ACC opener against Miami; Steven Smith played an incredible 59 minutes and scored 41 points in quadruple overtime; Greg Paulus broke the record for assists by a freshman at Duke; and Sammy Mejia willed his team to victory on the road against Wake Forest.
Also check out our updated 2006 mock draft, as well as the 2007 mock-- reflecting the developments described in this article and around the NCAA lately.
Rajon Rondo, 6-2, sophomore, point guard, Kentucky
25 points, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 7-12 FG, 10-15 FT, 1-3 3P
J.L.Weill
It's a story told so often, the folks in the Bluegrass State are bound to be sick of it, but Rajon Rondo -- Kentucky's star point guard and arguably the best all-around guard in the country -- was supposed to be a Louisville Cardinal. But his hometown school didn't offer him a ride, preferring to wait for big fish Sebastian Telfair, who opted instead for the Trailblazers. On Saturday, Rondo made that decision look as foolish as it sounds. Rondo scored a career-high 25 points on 7-for-12 shooting and 10-of-15 from the line, and perhaps as notable, harassed Louisville's opposing star, Taquan Dean, into a 5-for-16 shooting night, including 2-of-10 from three-point range.
Coming off two 20-point games in blowout Kentucky losses, Rondo had more to prove than his ability to put points on the board. He needed to show that he could make his incredibly inconsistent teammates around him better, something that has garnered the sophomore point rave reviews from scouts since he took charge of this summer's U-21 Team in international competition. Rondo's ability to get the shot he wants on the drive is almost unsurpassed on the college level, and while his jump shot is not a thing of beauty, a massive attention to it in the offseason has improved it tremendously. In Saturday's win, the Louisville native was electric, scoring 13 first-half points and utterly dominating UL's young defense. Rondo weaved in and out of traffic, and passed over the double-teams with ease. He finished with 7 assists, many of them on draw-and-dish moves in the lane.
When he's at his best, Rondo can disrupt the opposition all over the floor with his defense, and lead his team to easy baskets in transition. He added 2 steals on Saturday, raising his season total to 19 in 9 games. The one thing Rondo didn't do against Louisville is the thing he has done all year in droves: rebound. But as Kentucky found out, its point man is far more valuable filling the stat sheet in other ways than outrebounding ineffective big men. To wit, Rondo's mind-boggling 19 rebounds against Iowa came in a UK loss.
Rondo's jumper is still awfully inconsistent for a guard, but like T.J. Ford or Telfair, he can burn you in other ways, namely rendering your half-court defense meaningless and making his teammates better. From an all-around perspective, Rondo easily played his best game of the year -- and on national television no less. The scouts are already watching him closely, and the spotlight at Kentucky burns bright. A few more performances like this one should be more than enough to ensure a lottery spot whenever Rondo decides it's time for the next level.