NBA.com great article on Rondo

[Drucci]

Check it out : http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/steve_aschburner/12/16/rondo/?ls=iref:nbahpt1

It's nice to see Rondo get national recognition. Also, it begins with his strategy of not touching the ball until it has bounced for a while on inbound plays, and what are the benefits of this strategy. It's really a great article, here are some quotes, but you should read the whole article (not very long anyway) :

"Me? That's really kind of irrelevant right now," Rondo said. "It is what it is. I'm happy with my situation. They can get all the accolades and awards. I just want a ring. Bottom line. That's going to make my summer go a lot easier."

"I don't know, I thought he was good before the deal," Rivers said. "I thought he came into camp with an amazing attitude, an amazing approach to the game. He's become a leader on our team. That's the step he's taken this year. Last year he was a player; this year he's a leader. Our guys now want to follow him -- that's huge."

"With the veterans that we have here, it gives him a cushion," Garnett said. "He doesn't necessarily have a lot of responsibility to score. But he has a big responsibility in keeping everything intact. He'll get on your behind when you're not doing something. In the huddle, he'll say something and if he feels like you're not listening to him, he'll grab you. He's aggressive, and his aggressiveness fits this team. He has all the confidence in the world to talk to us with some sense, where he's not just talking."

I especially love the fact that Rondo is getting after his teammates to get their attention and urge them to focus. It's funny how quickly the roles seem to have reversed between The Big Three and Rondo. And it's really a gift for fans to follow the Big Three so effective and in great shape while, at the exact same time, Rondo (and Perk) are starting to reach parts of their potential.

[Roy Hobbs]

Nice article.  My only two quibbles:

1) I still am not in love with rolling the ball up the court.  It's fine in certain circumstances, but I think from time to time Rondo sticks with it too long (and that burned us on at least one play in last year's playoffs); and

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

Other than that, it's nice to see Rondo get some recognition.  Even though the media talks about the "big three", I think that this will be the year that Rondo makes the All Star team, and Ray is left off.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Statistics don't show what type of jumpers he's taking. There has been much less hesitation taking jumpers, and he's taking more frequent jumpers off the dribble, particularly pull up jumpers. That wasn't something he did frequently, if at all, in previous seasons.

[Amonkey]

I think his jumpshots are looking good for two reasons:

1) When they go in, they look good.  It's usually nothing but net, which tells me that he's been watching his form and practicing that shot.  It seems like he's got more confidence on that shot too.

2) Just the fact that he's shooting them.  It doesn't matter if he's not making them (as long as it's not a forced shot), if he is shooting them and can make a few of them, that's gonna make the PG have to make some kind of run at him.  That'll leave the option of either going to the bucket or leaving the option of one of our big man sneaking into the paint and get a pass from him.

[BballTim]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

[MidwestGreen]

I absolutely love the rolling the ball down the court.

Because I have only seen it be a problem like maybe once in the past 3 years.

[Roy Hobbs]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% on jump shots has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his jump shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

[kozlodoev]

Statistically, his eFG% has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

Then again, this will not be unexpected. Since he's not a three-point threat, taking more jump shots will almost invariably hurt his eFG, since a jump shot is typically a lower percentage attempt as compared to a layup.

[Roy Hobbs]

Statistically, his eFG% has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

Then again, this will not be unexpected. Since he's not a three-point threat, taking more jump shots will almost invariably hurt his eFG, since a jump shot is typically a lower percentage attempt as compared to a layup.

The stats are measuring his eFG% on jump shots, not overall.  Therefore, they're comparing apples to apples.  I modified my original post to clear up any confusion.

[BballTim]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

  Has it? It's tough to argue this because it's hard to find any granularity in any of the sites that have stats like these. The best I could really come up with was nba.com hotspots. If you look at his shots between the inner circle and the 3 point line (or the middle 2 concentric circles) he's at 50% over the last 10 games while he was at 40% before then. If you include the 3 pointers he's at about 41% the last 10 games after being at about 30% for the first 14. Either way it's been about 25% better over the last 10 games than the first 14. Small sample sizes but I could live with that (aside from the threes).

  His efg% on those 2 point "jumpers" was 40% last year, which is right where he is now. But again he's been better than that lately. Last year he was 15-48 on threes and this year he's 2-16 so that could use some work. That's what accounts for the dropoff.

[Roy Hobbs]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

  Has it? It's tough to argue this because it's hard to find any granularity in any of the sites that have stats like these. The best I could really come up with was nba.com hotspots. If you look at his shots between the inner circle and the 3 point line (or the middle 2 concentric circles) he's at 50% over the last 10 games while he was at 40% before then. If you include the 3 pointers he's at about 41% the last 10 games after being at about 30% for the first 14. Either way it's been about 25% better over the last 10 games than the first 14. Small sample sizes but I could live with that (aside from the threes).

  His efg% on those 2 point "jumpers" was 40% last year, which is right where he is now. But again he's been better than that lately. Last year he was 15-48 on threes and this year he's 2-16 so that could use some work. That's what accounts for the dropoff.

Yep, they have.  Last time we looked at this was on November 8:  http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=32815.0

At that point, his eFG% on jumpers was .379.  You point to numbers later in the thread that showed his eFG% had been updated to .394.  Now, it's at .370.

I've tracked the numbers a bit (but haven't written anything down), and at one point his shooting was in the high 20s, so right now he's on an upswing.  That could be a suggestion that he's got his form down, and that his improvement will continue throughout the year, much like it did with BBD last season.  Certainly, his FT shooting has improved.  However, as of right now, in terms of raw percentages his shooting is almost exactly where it was last year.  We'll see how things even out over the long haul.

As for the hot spots numbers, it could be a suggestion that Rondo is struggling on mid-range jumpers more than he is long range ones; I have no idea.  The overall numbers will be something interesting to track over time.

[nickagneta]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% on jump shots has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his jump shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

We had this same conversation last year with you regarding Baby's outside shooting. Look at the right now stats all you want but the visible progression is there. There's more balance to his shot. He's setting himself straight to the basket. He's keeping the elbow in and his follow through is at the proper angle. And as others have said, the confidence is growing and the hesitation lessening.

You are right. As of right now his numbers haven't improved much. But like Baby when the confidence and repetition caught up to him in the second half of the year, the shots started dropping at a much higher rate, his percentages will catch up with what everyone can see. That he's shooting much better.

[Amonkey]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% on jump shots has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his jump shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

We had this same conversation last year with you regarding Baby's outside shooting. Look at the right now stats all you want but the visible progression is there. There's more balance to his shot. He's setting himself straight to the basket. He's keeping the elbow in and his follow through is at the proper angle. And as others have said, the confidence is growing and the hesitation lessening.

You are right. As of right now his numbers haven't improved much. But like Baby when the confidence and repetition caught up to him in the second half of the year, the shots started dropping at a much higher rate, his percentages will catch up with what everyone can see. That he's shooting much better.

Does the stats take into considerations last second shots, as in end of half halfcourt shots and so on?

[BballTim]

2) I don't think Rondo's jumpshot has gotten any better from last season, and the statistics bear that out.  I am glad to see his free throw starting to regulate itself.

  His shooting has improved quite a bit since his slow start. His 3 point shooting has been bad but he's been pretty consistent aside from that.

Statistically, his eFG% has actually gone down slightly since we last had this debate.  I believe his numbers further dipped since that time, and are now on the up-swing, but as of right now, his shooting is very, very slightly down from last year.

  Has it? It's tough to argue this because it's hard to find any granularity in any of the sites that have stats like these. The best I could really come up with was nba.com hotspots. If you look at his shots between the inner circle and the 3 point line (or the middle 2 concentric circles) he's at 50% over the last 10 games while he was at 40% before then. If you include the 3 pointers he's at about 41% the last 10 games after being at about 30% for the first 14. Either way it's been about 25% better over the last 10 games than the first 14. Small sample sizes but I could live with that (aside from the threes).

  His efg% on those 2 point "jumpers" was 40% last year, which is right where he is now. But again he's been better than that lately. Last year he was 15-48 on threes and this year he's 2-16 so that could use some work. That's what accounts for the dropoff.

Yep, they have.  Last time we looked at this was on November 8:  http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=32815.0

At that point, his eFG% on jumpers was .379.  You point to numbers later in the thread that showed his eFG% had been updated to .394.  Now, it's at .370.

I've tracked the numbers a bit (but haven't written anything down), and at one point his shooting was in the high 20s, so right now he's on an upswing.  That could be a suggestion that he's got his form down, and that his improvement will continue throughout the year, much like it did with BBD last season.  Certainly, his FT shooting has improved.  However, as of right now, in terms of raw percentages his shooting is almost exactly where it was last year.  We'll see how things even out over the long haul.

As for the hot spots numbers, it could be a suggestion that Rondo is struggling on mid-range jumpers more than he is long range ones; I have no idea.  The overall numbers will be something interesting to track over time.

  Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to dispute your statement that his efg% had gone down, I was bemoaning the fact that you can't get any decent splits from those sites. And I agree that he's right where he was last year, but he's also been better over the last 10 games than he was in the first 14, therefore he's been better over the last 10 games than he was last year.

  I would like to point out that the 82games numbers don't really lend themselves as well to this type of discussion as other sites.  (aside: have you tried looking at "shot locations" on hoopdata.com?) If you look at a nba hotspots chart, about 15% of Rondo's jump shots (from 82games) come from the innermost circle, right under the basket. Last year it was about 22% of his jumpshots. That can skew your totals when you're only talking about a few percentage points of variation to begin with, and we're not really interested in those shots when discussing his jump shots.

  And, actually, Rondo's mid-range jumpers are going down better than his long-range shots. He's shown improvement in his longer shots, hopefully it will extend a few feet farther out to beyond the arc.

[Jeff]

thanks for the link