2/2/11 post game comments re: Rondo's FT's

[Megatron]

The airball against LA is an abberation.

Rondo seems to make most of the jumpers he takes, hes taking way MORE of them this year and its showing that he actually is a decent jump shooter, he just has some shots that are airballs but hes actually a decent shooter.

[hwangjini_1]

The airball against LA is an abberation.

Rondo seems to make most of the jumpers he takes, hes taking way MORE of them this year and its showing that he actually is a decent jump shooter, he just has some shots that are airballs but hes actually a decent shooter.

Good points above, and a good thread. I enjoyed reading the intelligent points above.

A couple of small observations I have on rondo's jump shooting this year...

First, he is taking and making more jimp shots, which is good. Eventually other teams will need to recognize this and play more defense on him, which allows him to drive to the basket.

Second, while the above is hopeful, I also noticed that when rondo takes these jump shots the defender is very often 10+ feet away from him. That is, these are uncontested jump shoots because of his reputation for not taking/making them.

I do not yet see rondo as having proven he can take and make jump shots while being guarded closely. Pierce does this all the time, as does ray and Garnett. I don't think rondo can make contested shoots consistently at this point of his career.

So, my conclusions? They are meager and mild. For now, rondo's ability to make more jump shots seems dependent upon people assuming he cannot make them and sagging off on defense.

If they begin to guard him closely, the jump shot success he enjoys now will probably drop like a rock.  However, he might benefit by driving to the basket more..........

But then that brings us back to the other debate on rondo... His free throw shooting.

[BballTim]

The airball against LA is an abberation.

Rondo seems to make most of the jumpers he takes, hes taking way MORE of them this year and its showing that he actually is a decent jump shooter, he just has some shots that are airballs but hes actually a decent shooter.

Good points above, and a good thread. I enjoyed reading the intelligent points above.

A couple of small observations I have on rondo's jump shooting this year...

First, he is taking and making more jimp shots, which is good. Eventually other teams will need to recognize this and play more defense on him, which allows him to drive to the basket.

Second, while the above is hopeful, I also noticed that when rondo takes these jump shots the defender is very often 10+ feet away from him. That is, these are uncontested jump shoots because of his reputation for not taking/making them.

I do not yet see rondo as having proven he can take and make jump shots while being guarded closely. Pierce does this all the time, as does ray and Garnett. I don't think rondo can make contested shoots consistently at this point of his career.

So, my conclusions? They are meager and mild. For now, rondo's ability to make more jump shots seems dependent upon people assuming he cannot make them and sagging off on defense.

If they begin to guard him closely, the jump shot success he enjoys now will probably drop like a rock.  However, he might benefit by driving to the basket more..........

But then that brings us back to the other debate on rondo... His free throw shooting.

  If they guard him closely then there' no need for him to take the jumper as he'll have better options available. OTOH I don't think that having a defender a little closer will have a dramatic effect on his shooting.

[Roy H.]

Back to the original topic, I think it's good that the staff is emphasizing Rondo taking it to the hoop.  When he does, it naturally makes our offense more versatile.  A lot of times, Rondo relies only on his court vision and passing ability.  Those are both tremendous skills, but they're not the entirety of Rondo's skill set.  He's one of the fastest and quickest PGs in the game, but often he doesn't exploit that by penetrating (and often when he does penetrate, it's for the sole purpose of passing, rather than looking for his own offense.)

Rondo gets credit for being unselfish, but at the same time, I don't think the team benefits by Rondo handcuffing his own game.  I appreciate the comment above that the Celts have an efficient offense, to the point where Rondo getting put on the line may result in a less efficient use of a possession than just getting the ball to one of our other scorers.  However, except during crunch time, I don't think Rondo getting to the line consistently is a bad thing:  the more rhythm he gets for in-game free throws, the better he will shoot.  Also, getting opponents into foul trouble, and the Celts into the bonus early, is a benefit, even if Rondo is missing his FTs.

[cons]

Back to the original topic, I think it's good that the staff is emphasizing Rondo taking it to the hoop.  When he does, it naturally makes our offense more versatile.  A lot of times, Rondo relies only on his court vision and passing ability.  Those are both tremendous skills, but they're not the entirety of Rondo's skill set.  He's one of the fastest and quickest PGs in the game, but often he doesn't exploit that by penetrating (and often when he does penetrate, it's for the sole purpose of passing, rather than looking for his own offense.)

Rondo gets credit for being unselfish, but at the same time, I don't think the team benefits by Rondo handcuffing his own game.  I appreciate the comment above that the Celts have an efficient offense, to the point where Rondo getting put on the line may result in a less efficient use of a possession than just getting the ball to one of our other scorers.  However, except during crunch time, I don't think Rondo getting to the line consistently is a bad thing:  the more rhythm he gets for in-game free throws, the better he will shoot.  Also, getting opponents into foul trouble, and the Celts into the bonus early, is a benefit, even if Rondo is missing his FTs.

I agree with the last paragraph there - I don't think a few extra FT's for Rondo will mess up the flow too much, although I can see that point. I think it'd be worth it to get him more comfortable at the line.  And there are other benefits, as pointed out above.

[crafty213]

Also, getting opponents into foul trouble, and the Celts into the bonus early, is a benefit, even if Rondo is missing his FTs.

Agree completely. Creating fouls has tremendous value even when the the free throw are missed. Given his speed there is no reason for him to average less than 6 FT attempts a game.  Hopefully he learns to jump into the contact rather than around it.

[cons]

yeah, I definitely think at times he's not been as aggressive driving in and looking for contact because ( i think )he's worried about making free throws.
And that's where it could be a big problem - not just missing free throws, but being less aggressive to avoid getting to the line in the first place - then everything bogs down.

[BballTim]

yeah, I definitely think at times he's not been as aggressive driving in and looking for contact because ( i think )he's worried about making free throws.
And that's where it could be a big problem - not just missing free throws, but being less aggressive to avoid getting to the line in the first place - then everything bogs down.

  Rondo still takes a fair amount of inside shots. His numbers are down because his number of shots is down but he's still not that far behind the leaders (for point guards) and he takes a higher percentage of his shots from the inside than most. Also, every time I see him get fouled away from the basket he tries to throw up a shot (even when he's in the backcourt) in an attempt to get free throws from the foul so I don't think it's the case that he's afraid to go to the line.

[Fafnir]

yeah, I definitely think at times he's not been as aggressive driving in and looking for contact because ( i think )he's worried about making free throws.
And that's where it could be a big problem - not just missing free throws, but being less aggressive to avoid getting to the line in the first place - then everything bogs down.

  Rondo still takes a fair amount of inside shots. His numbers are down because his number of shots is down but he's still not that far behind the leaders (for point guards) and he takes a higher percentage of his shots from the inside than most. Also, every time I see him get fouled away from the basket he tries to throw up a shot (even when he's in the backcourt) in an attempt to get free throws from the foul so I don't think it's the case that he's afraid to go to the line.

Rondo is taking two less shots a game (11 to 9), but is also getting nearly two less free throws a game (3.5 to 1.7).

Something in his shot selection has changed, the free throw numbers are down by 50% while he's only shooting around 18% less.

[BballTim]

yeah, I definitely think at times he's not been as aggressive driving in and looking for contact because ( i think )he's worried about making free throws.
And that's where it could be a big problem - not just missing free throws, but being less aggressive to avoid getting to the line in the first place - then everything bogs down.

  Rondo still takes a fair amount of inside shots. His numbers are down because his number of shots is down but he's still not that far behind the leaders (for point guards) and he takes a higher percentage of his shots from the inside than most. Also, every time I see him get fouled away from the basket he tries to throw up a shot (even when he's in the backcourt) in an attempt to get free throws from the foul so I don't think it's the case that he's afraid to go to the line.

Rondo is taking two less shots a game (11 to 9), but is also getting nearly two less free throws a game (3.5 to 1.7).

Something in his shot selection has changed, the free throw numbers are down by 50% while he's only shooting around 18% less.

  But it's not a huge change. If you consider that the bulk of those foul shots come from drives, you're adding a little over 1 drive to this year's totals and a little over a half a drive to last years. If my cursory math is right he's taking about 47% of his shots from the inside compared to 56% or so last year. So out of the 10 or so scoring attempts he takes a game he's taking 1 more jump shot than he would have last year. This would be due to his greater willingness to take (and make) outside shots. He's actually scoring a little more efficiently this year.

[cons]

you're right about him throwing it up every time he hears a whistle - forgot about that. so I could be wrong - i guess there's a first time for everything! -

I just hope i am wrong, because overall I seem to notice that when he's driving a lot and generally being aggressive the team is usually rolling. When he walks it down and they run sets for jumpers, it's just not as good.

[Greenbean]

Back to the original topic, I think it's good that the staff is emphasizing Rondo taking it to the hoop.  When he does, it naturally makes our offense more versatile.  A lot of times, Rondo relies only on his court vision and passing ability.  Those are both tremendous skills, but they're not the entirety of Rondo's skill set.  He's one of the fastest and quickest PGs in the game, but often he doesn't exploit that by penetrating (and often when he does penetrate, it's for the sole purpose of passing, rather than looking for his own offense.)

Rondo gets credit for being unselfish, but at the same time, I don't think the team benefits by Rondo handcuffing his own game.  I appreciate the comment above that the Celts have an efficient offense, to the point where Rondo getting put on the line may result in a less efficient use of a possession than just getting the ball to one of our other scorers.  However, except during crunch time, I don't think Rondo getting to the line consistently is a bad thing:  the more rhythm he gets for in-game free throws, the better he will shoot.  Also, getting opponents into foul trouble, and the Celts into the bonus early, is a benefit, even if Rondo is missing his FTs.

Everything Roy just said plus this:

Teams have adjusted to Rondo the assist man who doesnt look to score. They are jamming outlets and effectively forcing him to run more halfcourt sets. (the Lakers couldnt figure this out but Phoenix, Portland and Sactown could...go figure)

I think that the coaching staff is seeing this and imploring Rondo to show a little offense to keep defenses honest. Teams were thinking if we can just get Rondo in the halfcourt, we can play 4 on 5. Rondo HAS to attack with the intent to score now to set up his passing game. He alwys seems to wait until the playoffs to have this kind of approach. I think we will start seeing it in the regular season now.

[BballTim]

Back to the original topic, I think it's good that the staff is emphasizing Rondo taking it to the hoop.  When he does, it naturally makes our offense more versatile.  A lot of times, Rondo relies only on his court vision and passing ability.  Those are both tremendous skills, but they're not the entirety of Rondo's skill set.  He's one of the fastest and quickest PGs in the game, but often he doesn't exploit that by penetrating (and often when he does penetrate, it's for the sole purpose of passing, rather than looking for his own offense.)

Rondo gets credit for being unselfish, but at the same time, I don't think the team benefits by Rondo handcuffing his own game.  I appreciate the comment above that the Celts have an efficient offense, to the point where Rondo getting put on the line may result in a less efficient use of a possession than just getting the ball to one of our other scorers.  However, except during crunch time, I don't think Rondo getting to the line consistently is a bad thing:  the more rhythm he gets for in-game free throws, the better he will shoot.  Also, getting opponents into foul trouble, and the Celts into the bonus early, is a benefit, even if Rondo is missing his FTs.

Everything Roy just said plus this:

Teams have adjusted to Rondo the assist man who doesnt look to score. They are jamming outlets and effectively forcing him to run more halfcourt sets. (the Lakers couldnt figure this out but Phoenix, Portland and Sactown could...go figure)

I think that the coaching staff is seeing this and imploring Rondo to show a little offense to keep defenses honest. Teams were thinking if we can just get Rondo in the halfcourt, we can play 4 on 5. Rondo HAS to attack with the intent to score now to set up his passing game. He alwys seems to wait until the playoffs to have this kind of approach. I think we will start seeing it in the regular season now.

  It's a stretch to say that Sactown's figured anything out on defense. Rondo only played 30 minutes, took 15 shots, and still managed 10 assists, which is probably close to his per-minute average for the season. Are you saying he's going to be getting fewer assists for the rest of the season?