Why was Rondo on the bench at the end of the game?

[fanofgreen]

Rondo was 2-for-5 from 15 feet and longer today.  Certainly, that's not great, but it's probably in line with most players.  (Lebron, for instance, has a .444 eFG% on jumpers.)  Today, the lack of a jumper wasn't the issue.

Going forward, I agree it's a weakness.  However, it certainly wouldn't solve almost all of our teams problems.

He was 2-for-5 from 15 feet and longer, sure that's what the stats say.

But the stats dont and wont show how many he passed up on though.

Thats the point i'm trying to make. how many he passes up although he is wide open.

[BballTim]

Rondo had plenty of opportunities to make plays. He just didn't. And he wasn't passing the ball early on the possession either; he wasted too many possessions dribbling around aimlessly.

Doc Rivers very rarely calls play from the sideline, he isn't Rick Carlisle.

  In the 2nd quarter they were sending a big out for a screen to get Rondo free into the lane. In the 4th they weren't. When he's dribbling aimlessly he's generally waiting for Ray or Eddie to try and free themselves to get a shot. It, as well as when he gives the ball to Paul and heads to the corner, basically takes him out of the play.

  You can say that Doc doesn't call plays and you might be right, but someone decided to run the offense through Paul and Ray in the 4th and it wasn't Rondo.

[fanofgreen]

Im not opposed to Rondo taking shots but i rather see KG become more offensive minded.He seems to defer to much at times.

I agree with that

[snively]

Rondo had plenty of opportunities to make plays. He just didn't. And he wasn't passing the ball early on the possession either; he wasted too many possessions dribbling around aimlessly.

Doc Rivers very rarely calls play from the sideline, he isn't Rick Carlisle.

No there were a couple plays where Rondo had the ball and it took forever to get a play going.  Can't pit it all on Rondo though.  The Ray curls can take forever to get under way and if it gets foiled, the ballhandler's just been waiting around for nothing.  
I don't think you watched the game, buddy. Rondo didn't "dribble around aimlessly," he gave the ball to Pierce and ran to the corner! I don't know who makes the offensive calls, but that was a mistake.

[Redz]

I just wish Rondo would (pardon the expression) "poop or get off the pot" with his jumpers.  His hesitation is a killer.  There was a play in the 4th where he got called for a travel.  On that play he flinched on an open shot from just inside the free throw line, then got called for steps repositioning for a closer shot.  Just take the shot!  He still feels much more comfortable shooting on the run.

He had a bunch of great plays though. 

[Donoghus]

I had went back to DVR to check out the last 7 minutes of the game or so.   Here are some noticeable possessions that involved Rondo.

Between 6:30 & 5:30 remaining, Rondo had two possessions I'd deem poor.  1 was a bad pass that resulted in an out of bounds.  The 2nd was an off-balance floater he tried to take from the left side and bank over Gasol.

With roughly 3:20 remaining, Rondo had another bad possession where they worked the shot clock too long.

With 3:00 remaining,  Rondo had that travel called on him.

With 2:00 remaining, Rondo made a great pass to Perkins who was fouled on the play and converted 1 of 2.

With 1:30 remaining, Rondo missed a jumper what arose out of a slowed down offense set started by a Pierce ISO.

Remainder of the game were that Pierce/ISO stuff we've grown accustomed to.

So I'd say there is some merit that Rondo struggle a bit down the stretch.  He made a couple of bad decisions and seemed to have cooled off.   

Rondo had a heckuva game but I don't think its inaccurate to say that he faultered a bit down the stretch.

[snively]

I took no time to read this because, Rondo is the least of the Celtics problems.  He is playing the best basketball of his young career, and is giving the team a chance to win every night.

But you cant ignore the fact, that if he had a consistent 15 footer, things would be totally different.

Am I blaming Rondo for how the C's have been playing? No

What I am saying, is after 4 years, Rondo's jumper is still a no-show a majority of the time. He still passes up wide open shots, and a lot of problems we are having now, offensively, could be resolved simply by Rondo having a more consistent jumper.

It would definitely improve the offense greatly but we can play that game with most of our players.  What if Ray Allen could beat his man off the dribble in iso situations?  What if Perkins could hit a 15-footer or pass out of a double team? What if KG could be a regular post-up option or regain his ability to take people off the dribble?  

The only starter that you can't really play that game with is Pierce, because he can do a little bit of everything.

We have a team of fairly limited offensive players who have to work as a unit to succeed, and when that fails, hand it to their one jack-of-all-trades and get out of the way.

[Donoghus]

I just wish Rondo would (pardon the expression) "poop or get off the pot" with his jumpers.  His hesitation is a killer.  There was a play in the 4th where he got called for a travel.  On that play he flinched on an open shot from just inside the free throw line, then got called for steps repositioning for a closer shot.  Just take the shot!  He still feels much more comfortable shooting on the run.

He had a bunch of great plays though. 

I agree that hesitation can cost Rondo.  He's the player on the team that you find yourself most asking "Why not take that jumper?" or "Take it to the hole" or "Don't dish it there, finish it!"

I chalk some of it up to growing pains and playing with some all-star talent.

He still had a heckuva, for the most part.

[Chris]

This is an overgeneralization, but I agree.  Doc is still coaching this team like the 2008 team that was good enough to play "their way", and overcome just about anything.  This is a different team.  When a player is hot, like Rondo and Tony Allen, you need to go with them.  I am generally a Doc apologist, but he needs to make some major changes to the way he coaches before this team has any chance to win.

[BballTim]

Think about how many issues would be solved in the way the C's play, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jump-shot.

Just think about it; Think about how our offensive execution would play out, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jumpshot.

What would our record be if Rondo could knock-down a mid-range jumper?

We certainly would have won tonight, Had Rondo not traveled late in the game, and instead took and hit a wide open jumpshot, its very likely the C's walk away with the W.

But its year 4 for Rondo, and he still is passing up shots, and driving into traffic and trying to create. He's improved at creating and making things happen, but how much better would he be, and the C's if Rondo could knock down a 15 footer.

I mean, Rondo is an All-Star now, there is no reason for him to still not be able to make a jumpshot.

Now, imagine if he had a jumper. we might be hearing conversations of the Celtics being on pace to get the 96' Bulls record, instead of, "their starting to get old, celtics need some help, etc. etc)

I believe that most of this teams issues as far as play on the court, would disappear if Rondo could hit a 15 footer.

I'm tired of it, Rondo should have a jumper by now!

  On the year, Rondo's hitting 53% of his jumpers from 10-15 feet. He's right behind Ray Allen from that range and only Ray and Shelden are ahead of him from that range on the Celts. He's worse from farther out but he's improving from that range. Food for thought, but if you look at 2 point jumpshots Ray's at 45%, Rondo's at 41% and Paul is at 38%. They both kill him from beyond the arc, obviously.

[CbrewEra]

How much can you ask for from one player??  If Rondo had a consistent jumper, he may be one of the best point guards of all time.

[fanofgreen]

How much can you ask for from one player??  If Rondo had a consistent jumper, he may be one of the best point guards of all time.

I can ask from that one player, to take and make the shot, when your wide open, instead of passing up that shot, and dribbling back into traffic.

[fanofgreen]

Think about how many issues would be solved in the way the C's play, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jump-shot.

Just think about it; Think about how our offensive execution would play out, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jumpshot.

What would our record be if Rondo could knock-down a mid-range jumper?

We certainly would have won tonight, Had Rondo not traveled late in the game, and instead took and hit a wide open jumpshot, its very likely the C's walk away with the W.

But its year 4 for Rondo, and he still is passing up shots, and driving into traffic and trying to create. He's improved at creating and making things happen, but how much better would he be, and the C's if Rondo could knock down a 15 footer.

I mean, Rondo is an All-Star now, there is no reason for him to still not be able to make a jumpshot.

Now, imagine if he had a jumper. we might be hearing conversations of the Celtics being on pace to get the 96' Bulls record, instead of, "their starting to get old, celtics need some help, etc. etc)

I believe that most of this teams issues as far as play on the court, would disappear if Rondo could hit a 15 footer.

I'm tired of it, Rondo should have a jumper by now!

  On the year, Rondo's hitting 53% of his jumpers from 10-15 feet. He's right behind Ray Allen from that range and only Ray and Shelden are ahead of him from that range on the Celts. He's worse from farther out but he's improving from that range. Food for thought, but if you look at 2 point jumpshots Ray's at 45%, Rondo's at 41% and Paul is at 38%. They both kill him from beyond the arc, obviously.

Yeah, I'm not concerned about anything outside of 15-16 feet.

But i know the stats say he is 53% from that range and stuff, but the stats dont show and tell , how many wide open 10-15 footers he has passed up. Or hesitated on the wide open shot, thus, slowing down the momentum of the offense.

[BballTim]

Think about how many issues would be solved in the way the C's play, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jump-shot.

Just think about it; Think about how our offensive execution would play out, if Rondo could hit a 15 ft. jumpshot.

What would our record be if Rondo could knock-down a mid-range jumper?

We certainly would have won tonight, Had Rondo not traveled late in the game, and instead took and hit a wide open jumpshot, its very likely the C's walk away with the W.

But its year 4 for Rondo, and he still is passing up shots, and driving into traffic and trying to create. He's improved at creating and making things happen, but how much better would he be, and the C's if Rondo could knock down a 15 footer.

I mean, Rondo is an All-Star now, there is no reason for him to still not be able to make a jumpshot.

Now, imagine if he had a jumper. we might be hearing conversations of the Celtics being on pace to get the 96' Bulls record, instead of, "their starting to get old, celtics need some help, etc. etc)

I believe that most of this teams issues as far as play on the court, would disappear if Rondo could hit a 15 footer.

I'm tired of it, Rondo should have a jumper by now!

  On the year, Rondo's hitting 53% of his jumpers from 10-15 feet. He's right behind Ray Allen from that range and only Ray and Shelden are ahead of him from that range on the Celts. He's worse from farther out but he's improving from that range. Food for thought, but if you look at 2 point jumpshots Ray's at 45%, Rondo's at 41% and Paul is at 38%. They both kill him from beyond the arc, obviously.

Yeah, I'm not concerned about anything outside of 15-16 feet.

But i know the stats say he is 53% from that range and stuff, but the stats dont show and tell , how many wide open 10-15 footers he has passed up. Or hesitated on the wide open shot, thus, slowing down the momentum of the offense.

  He doesn't need to take a 15 foot shot every time he's given one. If we let the defense dictate our offense like that our entire offense would be Rondo and Perk taking outside shots. How many layups does he get because he passes up wide open 15 footers? How many assists? Do the stats show that?

[KungPoweChicken]

Doc's inability or refusal to make adjustments in the game will continue to hurt this team.