I think people get so wrapped up in Rondo not being a great "shooter" that they fail to recognize that he's an very good scorer. For me, it's a really important distinction.
Also, his jump shooting from the elbows and above the foul line in general have improved slightly each year. He's hit his mid range jumpers with a lot more frequency this year than last.
As far as guys sagging off him, there are so many ways to get around that with some tweaking of your offensive set.
But without tweaking it, I'd tell Rondo to shoot the ball every time he's open, when someone is sagging off him, above the foul line. I'm very confident he could hit 40-42% of those shots. At least enough of them for guys to start inching closer to him, then he blows by...
Also, I'd much rather focus on what Rondo does well and surround him with players who cover his weaknesses. On our team, no one shoots like Ray, no one creates like Paul, no one passes like Rondo, no one defends like KG. It's the same with all teams, that's why it's a team game.
When Ray, Paul and KG were more in their primes, it was much easier for them to cover Rondo's "weak shooting" because they were more dominant offensively themselves. It's a little different now...
When KG, Ray and Paul were more in their prime when they first got here, the team was dominant with Rondo setting them all up. The big three aren't as dominant any longer.
But if you surround Rondo with the right, young, offensive weapons, he will shred you every night in the half court and on the break. He's not the "scorer", he's the play maker - he makes everyone else better offensively.
Rondo is like Magic Johnson as a play maker - he is that good with the ball to me. Magic Johnson wasn't Reggie Miller, he wasn't Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen or Michael Jordan. He was Magic Johnson, he primarily passed the ball to all the guys who could shoot - "better" than he ever hoped to shoot. Magic wasn't a "shooter" either, but he knew how to "score" when necessary, as does Rondo.
So for me, this relentless harping on Rondo's inability to shoot is like endlessly criticizing Ray because he just isn't a good ball handler and he really sucks at play making too, or saying "I just don't understand why Perkins can't hit just 1-2 three point shots a night. He really sucks at shooting threes...
Get Rondo the right group of young, talented guys who can defend and get up and down the court and you will once again have a very dominant team with Rondo leading the charge.
We're in a great position with draft picks and Cap space to do that over the next 2-3 years, by which time Rondo will be about 27-28.
Topic: Michael Wilbon on Rondo (Read 4517 times)