Free throw shooting and Rajon Rondo

[Atzar]

We should've made the trade in the offseason. Jonny Flynn,  Brandon Jennings, and Tyreke Evans will have better careers than Rondo. Ainge way overpaid for Rondo. I think Ainge panicked and gave Rondo whatever to make him happy.

Yes, because a bad stretch of 12 free throws = bad PG.  Always. 

Overreaction much?  If you saw the game tonight, Doc said it's not a big deal - Rondo has made adjustments to his shooting stroke and hasn't worked things out yet.  It's better if it happens now than March - or June.

[vinnie]

We should've made the trade in the offseason. Jonny Flynn,  Brandon Jennings, and Tyreke Evans will have better careers than Rondo. Ainge way overpaid for Rondo. I think Ainge panicked and gave Rondo whatever to make him happy.

Yes, because a bad stretch of 12 free throws = bad PG.  Always. 

Overreaction much?  If you saw the game tonight, Doc said it's not a big deal - Rondo has made adjustments to his shooting stroke and hasn't worked things out yet.  It's better if it happens now than March - or June.

I started this thread and in no way am I asking for the Celtics to trade Rondo. However, I don't buy the attitude that missing 9 straight free throws is no big deal. He is a point guard and he HAS to make free throws, be it November, March or June. I honestly do not think I have ever seen a point guard miss 9 straight free throws. And, the more he misses, the worse it is going to be for him psychologically.

[Atzar]

We should've made the trade in the offseason. Jonny Flynn,  Brandon Jennings, and Tyreke Evans will have better careers than Rondo. Ainge way overpaid for Rondo. I think Ainge panicked and gave Rondo whatever to make him happy.

Yes, because a bad stretch of 12 free throws = bad PG.  Always. 

Overreaction much?  If you saw the game tonight, Doc said it's not a big deal - Rondo has made adjustments to his shooting stroke and hasn't worked things out yet.  It's better if it happens now than March - or June.

I started this thread and in no way am I asking for the Celtics to trade Rondo. However, I don't buy the attitude that missing 9 straight free throws is no big deal. He is a point guard and he HAS to make free throws, be it November, March or June. I honestly do not think I have ever seen a point guard miss 9 straight free throws. And, the more he misses, the worse it is going to be for him psychologically.

Go shoot free throws for awhile.  Take 100 or so, whatever you want.  Now alter your shot... release faster, or higher, or alter your stance.  You'll probably miss quite a few of them.  Shoot 100 more.  Even if you practice that new form for awhile, you're still likely to miss them a lot.

Look, the fact is that shooting doesn't come naturally to Rondo like it does to Ray, or Kobe, or Michael Redd, or Steve Nash, etc.  He's going to have to put up thousands of shots for every ounce of improvement.  In case you haven't noticed, thousands of shots take a long time to put up.  It'll take Rondo awhile, probably until the second half of the season, to start showing any visible signs of improvement - and there's always the chance that the new form just doesn't work for him and he ends up having to revert.  In either case, I think a healthy dose of patience is in order here.

[Ohio Celtics Fan]

hey, it could always be worse...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQq9YWZ568&NR=1

[pengaloo]

We should've made the trade in the offseason. Jonny Flynn,  Brandon Jennings, and Tyreke Evans will have better careers than Rondo. Ainge way overpaid for Rondo. I think Ainge panicked and gave Rondo whatever to make him happy.

Yes, because a bad stretch of 12 free throws = bad PG.  Always. 

Overreaction much?  If you saw the game tonight, Doc said it's not a big deal - Rondo has made adjustments to his shooting stroke and hasn't worked things out yet.  It's better if it happens now than March - or June.

I started this thread and in no way am I asking for the Celtics to trade Rondo. However, I don't buy the attitude that missing 9 straight free throws is no big deal. He is a point guard and he HAS to make free throws, be it November, March or June. I honestly do not think I have ever seen a point guard miss 9 straight free throws. And, the more he misses, the worse it is going to be for him psychologically.

Be patient, because what is the alternative? Would you rather have Rondo give up on his improved shooting form before it really got a chance to succeed? Give him some credit for persevering with something that hasn't shown any short term gains. He's seeing the big picture and I think we should too!

[xmuscularghandix]

He's afraid. The kid is flat out afraid of getting to the line. I'm pretty sure this is also why he has been less then aggressive in attacking the rim.

It's unfortunate when you have a player who can't do something, but it's flat out annoying when you have a player who can do something very well... but just he refuses to do it. Rajon Rondo could attack his defender and get to the line at will, and rack up some AND1's but he just isn't interested in doing that.

[Reyquila]

It is utterly unacceptable that a starting PG cannot make free throws on a consistent basis. Period. No amount of excuses will make it right.Just not acceptable.

[Drucci]

I would like to understand how Rondo's jumpshot mechanic has improved while his FT mechanic has totally regressed to a point he is even worse than Shaq?! Really ugly and disturbing to see.

[Bankshot]

He's afraid. The kid is flat out afraid of getting to the line. I'm pretty sure this is also why he has been less then aggressive in attacking the rim.

It's unfortunate when you have a player who can't do something, but it's flat out annoying when you have a player who can do something very well... but just he refuses to do it. Rajon Rondo could attack his defender and get to the line at will, and rack up some AND1's but he just isn't interested in doing that.

Agree.  He's afraid.  Same thing happened to Antoine.  Antoine totally avoided contact so he wouldn't have to go to the line and display his horrible free throw shooting. Same reason I think Rondo has taken a huge step backwards offensively.

Think giving him that contract might be having the opposite effect.  He's not more relaxed, but under more pressure to prove he's worth the contract.

[LB3533]

He's afraid. The kid is flat out afraid of getting to the line. I'm pretty sure this is also why he has been less then aggressive in attacking the rim.

It's unfortunate when you have a player who can't do something, but it's flat out annoying when you have a player who can do something very well... but just he refuses to do it. Rajon Rondo could attack his defender and get to the line at will, and rack up some AND1's but he just isn't interested in doing that.

Agree.  He's afraid.  Same thing happened to Antoine.  Antoine totally avoided contact so he wouldn't have to go to the line and display his horrible free throw shooting. Same reason I think Rondo has taken a huge step backwards offensively.

Think giving him that contract might be having the opposite effect.  He's not more relaxed, but under more pressure to prove he's worth the contract.

Toine was never this poor at foul shooting.

[Kiorrik]

I would like to understand how Rondo's jumpshot mechanic has improved while his FT mechanic has totally regressed to a point he is even worse than Shaq?! Really ugly and disturbing to see.

It just takes time to adjust to a 'new' shot man. Seriously.

[ma11l]

He'll definitely need to turn his overall shooting around if he ever wants to be a top point guard in this league.  Williams and Paul are both young.  Jennings and Rose are younger and way ahead of him as far as scoring the basketball is concerned.  Jason Kidd has shown that you don't need to be a great shooter to be an elite PG, but you need to at least have your shot respected.  Rajon is nowhere near that.

[Roy Hobbs]

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this from a guard at the NBA level.  Basically, Rondo has switched brains with Chuck Knoblauch.

[Redz]

I would like to understand how Rondo's jumpshot mechanic has improved while his FT mechanic has totally regressed to a point he is even worse than Shaq?! Really ugly and disturbing to see.

Ask Mark Price I suppose.

Tommy and Mike were trying to sell us on the on the "It's gonna get worse before it gets better" theory last night.

[Roy Hobbs]

This was an interesting stat:

Rondo is averaging 10.3 points a game, tied with Wallace for 111th in the NBA. All 110 scorers ranked ahead of him average more free-throw attempts than Rondo (one a game).

That's crazy.  There's got to be something to this "Rondo doesn't challenge the defense because he's afraid of shooting free throws" theory.