Rondo just isn't the same player on the road.
this i agree with, he's still very much a third year kid and second year starter, He hasen't gotten to a place where he has home and road consitant play, like vets do.
Rondo has definitely grown on me. I definitely like the kid and he can be impressive at times. But he seems to really disappear at times against tough teams. Especially on the road. I remember a game in Detroit last year where he was just terrible. Probably a combo of youth and nerves. It's likely the same reason he struggles making jumpers that supposedly he has no trouble making in practice.
Here's his current home/away split:
Home: 13.1 points, 8.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 steals 55% shooting
Away: 8.3 points, 6.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 2 steals 47% shooting
I don't think he has the same confidence on the road. He'll work it out eventually.
10/28 Cleveland 14 PTS, 6 ASTS, 5 REBS, 3 STL 4-5 FGA-FGM
11/4 @ Houston 10 PTS, 7 ASTS, 7 REBS, 5-10 FGA-FGM
11/20 Detroit 18 PTS, 8 ASTS, 1 REBS, 3 STL 7-11 FGA-FGM
12/1 Orlando 16 PTS, 12 ASTS, 4 REBS, 1 STL 6-10 FGA-FGM
12/5 Portland 16 PTS, 7 ASTS, 8 REBS, 2 STL 6-8 FGA-FGM
12/15 Utah 25 PTS, 8 ASTS, 9 REBS, 3 STL 7-14 FGA-FGM
12/17 @ Atlanta 15 PTS, 7 ASTS, 6 REBS, 4 STL 7-12 FGA-FGM
12/30 @ Portland 13 PTS, 7 ASTS, 6 REBS, 3 STL 5-10 FGA-FGM
In the only other three games against good teams on the road against here's what he did. Not great but not horrible.
11/9 @ Detroit 13 Pts, 5 AST, 1 REB, 2 STL, 4-5 FGA-FGM
11/23 @ Toronto 15 Pts, 4 AST, 2 REB, 2 STL, 6-11 FGA-FGM
12/25 @ Lakers 6 Pts, 12 AST, 3 REB, 1 STL, 3-11 FGA-FGM
That's 11 games against 9 of the toughest teams in the league. By my recollection there's one game where he didn't play great against a quality opponent, the Lakers game. But even then he had 12 assists and played some good defense.
So I ask, where exactly is Rondo disappearing to in games against good teams especially on the road? Or is that Lakers game still that fresh in your mind?
Nick I was just thinking back to the last couple seasons. In "big games" Rondo seemed to choke. The more hype the games received, the more likely he'd disappear.
The game that sticks out in my mind was last year against Detroit in Detroit. Huge game and we won it... but Rondo was 1-7 with 3 points and 0 assists. It was clear the kid didn't have confidence that night. Probably our biggest regular season game of the season and Rondo disappeared.
Then the rest is just memories of the playoffs.
5/10 @ Cleveland: 3-10 ... 7 points 0 assists 0 steals
5/16 @ cleveland: 1-4 ... 2 points 5 assists, 3 turnovers
5/26 @ Detroit: 2-8 ... 4 points 4 assists 2 turnovers
6/12 @ Lakers: 5 points 2 assists
6/15 @ Lakers: 1-7 ... 3 points 3 assists...
And I mean when Rondo struggles, the team struggles. I just have an impression of him as letting his nerves get the better of him in tough situations. Luckily the Celtics don't come across a lot of tough situations...
but thats misleading to a degree, what about all the games in the playoffs where he played extremely well? were those not big moments? how about the back to back threes in clevland to name a specific moment.
I think your over thinking it lar, you already had the right call. He's a young player. young players, in general, struggle with thier home and away splits.
He's still a young player, only a second year starter. inconstancy, as you pointed out, is something thats overcome with experience.
Yeah, I don't disagree with the home and away observation, I think it's very poignant. But like crownsy says, it's more than likely an age an experience situation where Rajon obviously justs feels more comfortable in his own court with his crowd behind him. Experience will correct that. Lest we forget, he's still only 22 years of age.
What I didn't agree with is that Rondo disappeared against good teams, especially when on the road. I think especially this year Rondo really comes to play when he plays better competition. I think the playoffs last year went a long way towards maturing Rondo when it comes to good competition and big games.
And I seem to remember some really big Rondo games in the playoffs.
Game 6 LA (Do games come any bigger than a championship clincher) 21 PTS, 8 AST, 7 REB, 6 STL,
Game 2 LA 4 PTS, 16 AST, 6 REB, 2 STL
Game 1 LA 15 PTS, 7 AST, 5 REB
Game 5 Detroit 7 PTS, 13 AST, 6 REB, 4 STL
Game 2 Detroit 10 PTS, 8 AST, 9 REB, 3 STL
Game 1 Detroit 11 PTS, 7 AST, 2 REB, 5 STL
Game 7 Cleveland 8 PTS, 8 AST, 8 REB, 1 STL
Game 5 Cleveland 20 PTS, 13 AST, 2 REB, 2 STL
Game 4 Cleveland 15 PTS, 4 AST, 3 REB, 2 STL
Game 1 Cleveland 15 PTS, 6 AST, 5 REB, 1 STL
And he really didn't have a completely horrible game in the Atlanta series but was very mediocre as was just about everyone else in Game 3 and Game 6 in Atlanta. In all the other games in that series he was [dang] good.
Again this helps to prove the home and away difference in Rondo's game as almost all of Rondo's bad playoff games were on the road and his best games all seemed to be at home. But all those playoff games were big games against the best of competition and Rondo came a huge quite a bit. And I think it's carried over to big time games and competition this year as Rondo is usually quite good to great in games versus the best of the league.
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