The ball's in Rondo's hands (cont.)

Celtics coach Doc Rivers (right) is constantly pushing young point guard Rajon Rondo. AP Ian Thomsen's Mailbag Ian Thomsen will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

At week's end Rondo was fourth in assists with 8.5 per game, and his assist-turnover ratio of 3.2 was better than every All-Star's except Paul's (3.6). By any measure Rondo has surpassed expectations as a poor-shooting college sophomore who plummeted to No. 21 in the 2006 draft. After starting the latter half of his rookie season for the 24-win Celtics, he was headstrong enough to believe he could quarterback the team to a title last season after the acquisitions of Garnett and Allen.

"It's just my competitive side," Rondo says. "If I'm stubborn, I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about."

Yet for all of his strong opinions, Rondo is a good listener with large, stoic eyes that rarely reveal his feelings. Of all the strong personalities in the Celtics' locker room, his is among the least obtrusive.

"When he first came into the league, he introduced himself to me," Hornets coach Byron Scott says with a laugh. "I said, 'I know who you are.'"

Rondo has controlled the ball in every sport he ever played.

"I was a pitcher, and growing up I thought I was going to the NFL," says Rondo, who was a quarterback with a 55-yard arm before he chose to focus full time on basketball after his freshman year of high school. "[Playing QB] definitely translated to the basketball court, knowing where everyone has to be on assignment. Coming to the line you see different defenses, and you've got to audible quickly with the play clock going down."

Kentucky's walk-it-up pace exposed Rondo's weakness as a spot-up shooter. While he led the Wildcats in rebounds, steals and assists as a sophomore, he made only 68 of 119 free throws (57.2%) and 18 of 66 three-pointers (27.3%) numbers that sent his stock plummeting and enabled Boston to steal him in a draft-night trade with the Suns. Even now as he prepares to shoot, Rondo looks like a waiter carrying a tray of food, with his large right palm flat above his right ear. Through Sunday he led all point guards in shooting (50.6%), though more than two thirds of his attempts had been layups and he was making just 30.3% of his threes.

"He's not a great shooter, but he knows how to hide himself," says Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "Avery Johnson wasn't a great shooter either, but he knew how to go behind that basket and put himself in position to hurt you if you double-teamed off him. If Rondo was knocking down his jump shot consistently, you'd be talking about an all-pro player."

Rondo is often compared with Tony Parker, another late-first-round pick, who guided the San Antonio Spurs to the 2003 championship even though he lacked a reliable jumper. Whereas Parker overhauled his technique and has developed into a long-range marksman, Rondo intends to change nothing.

"I'm set in my ways," says Rondo, who believes his accuracy will improve with practice. "I don't feel like I have to settle for a jump shot, because I can get to the basket at will."

Both the Seattle Sonics and the Minnesota Timberwolves threatened to call off their blockbuster trades of Allen and Garnett, respectively, so badly did both want Rondo (before Celtics president Danny Ainge called their bluffs). Even so, his elder All-Star teammates were skeptical that a second-year point guard could help lead them to a championship. After roller-coastering through last year's playoff run -- his spectacular title-clinching performance (21 points, eight assists and six steals) in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers came after a combined 16 points and nine assists in the previous three games -- Rondo is learning how to listen. He has become a more consistent source of energy by heeding Rivers's demands to push the ball across half court as well as pick it up full-court on defense. Heart-to-hearts with his more famous teammates have helped him understand where they like the ball.

Softening his stubborn side is all part of growing up in a championship environment, Rondo acknowledges.

"I've learned to handle it a little bit better," he says. "Even though I think I'm right."