Is Rondo really getting better?

[Roy Hobbs]

Stats are deceiving.  Particularly pace stats, such as per-36 minutes.  Last year, Rondo clearly improved in 2 major areas...floor leadership, and consistency.  He took the next step to leading the team, and controlling the tempo consistently. 

Yep.  Rondo has been steadily improving, although there are individual parts of his game that haven't seen much improvement (i.e., his shooting.)

[2short]

Well when I first saw him in his rookie preseason games I was excited about his potential.  I did not consider him to be an upper nba point guard at that point, unproven raw athlete. So many aspects of his game have improved since that point.   Every year I feel there are less and less point guards I'd trade him even for.  The list to me is now Deron Williams & Chris Paul, that's it.  I feel he is the third best pg in the nba and he LEADS a team with hall of famers, not an easy task.
This isn't baseball, don't get mired in stats.

[BballTim]

Stats are deceiving.  Particularly pace stats, such as per-36 minutes.  Last year, Rondo clearly improved in 2 major areas...floor leadership, and consistency.  He took the next step to leading the team, and controlling the tempo consistently. 

Yep.  Rondo has been steadily improving, although there are individual parts of his game that haven't seen much improvement (i.e., his shooting.)

  I think he's showing some improvement with his jump shooting even though his percentages aren't really increasing. In 08-09 it seemed like those outside shots were a last resort and never the play that he wanted when he took them. Last year, especially in the playoffs, he had no qualms about taking the shot when he wanted to.

[Bankshot]

He has improved in some areas, but I don't think his shooting has progressed all that much.  It has been 4 years and I expected more improvement than he's had in that area by now.  I'm afraid his shooting is never really going to improve to an acceptable level.    I'd be ecstatic if he does it though.

[kozlodoev]

In 08-09 it seemed like those outside shots were a last resort and never the play that he wanted when he took them.

In 08-09, yes. But in the championship season there was a designed play where Rondo was the second option: posting up Garnett on the left block with Rondo lurking around the weak side baseline. If double-team came off of Rondo while Garnett made his move, the ball moved to Rondo who took and drained that jumper with regularity (.460).

This play, inexplicably, disappeared from the Celtics arsenal in the two subsequent seasons, and I always wondered why, because it seemed to work great.

[kozlodoev]

He has improved in some areas, but I don't think his shooting has progressed all that much.  It has been 4 years and I expected more improvement than he's had in that area by now.  I'm afraid his shooting is never really going to improve to an acceptable level.    I'd be ecstatic if he does it though.

I am hoping he will end up like Jason Kidd, who was never a reliable three-point option, but was quite the clutch shooter throughout his career. Rondo is showing a little bit of a knack for hitting big shots, too.

[ballin]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

[BballTim]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

  If you check out his "shot locations" from hoopdata, he hit about 47% of his shots from 10-15 feet, and about 50% from 10 feet and in (but not at the rim).

[Rondo9dunx]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

  If you check out his "shot locations" from hoopdata, he hit about 47% of his shots from 10-15 feet, and about 50% from 10 feet and in (but not at the rim).

Yea he's around 76% at the rim.

[ballin]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

  If you check out his "shot locations" from hoopdata, he hit about 47% of his shots from 10-15 feet, and about 50% from 10 feet and in (but not at the rim).

By midrange I meant inside the 16-23 ft. category, where he shot an abysmal 33%.

[FallGuy]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

  If you check out his "shot locations" from hoopdata, he hit about 47% of his shots from 10-15 feet, and about 50% from 10 feet and in (but not at the rim).

Yeah, he ability to finish from sub-10 feet has seen serious improvement. 33, 43, 40, and 50% in his first four years. The naked eye sees this too with his improving combination of runners and bank shots.

He's also a lot better at the rim - 64% now versus 54% in his first year.

It's his shooting from the mid and long range that is preventing him from being a superstar.

[BballTim]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

  If you check out his "shot locations" from hoopdata, he hit about 47% of his shots from 10-15 feet, and about 50% from 10 feet and in (but not at the rim).

By midrange I meant inside the 16-23 ft. category, where he shot an abysmal 33%.

  True, but he only takes like 2.3 shots a game from that range. If he made one more shot every 6th or 7th game he'd be at a respectable 40%, but would that make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things? He needs to improve from that range (although he was pretty good from there the previous two years) but we'll never want him taking a ton of shots from that range.

[guava_wrench]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

I haven't seen him "jacking". His midrange jumpers tend to be one that a decent shooter shouldn't pass up. Nothing obvious there.

In 2008 he had that baseline midrange shot. That is completely gone from his repertoire.

The most telling aspect of his lack of development isn't captured in stats. It is the number of open midrange jumpers not taken. That really hurts the offense.

[BballTim]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

I haven't seen him "jacking". His midrange jumpers tend to be one that a decent shooter shouldn't pass up. Nothing obvious there.

In 2008 he had that baseline midrange shot. That is completely gone from his repertoire.

The most telling aspect of his lack of development isn't captured in stats. It is the number of open midrange jumpers not taken. That really hurts the offense.

  I'd like to see him take a few more shots to keep the defense honest, but they're going to give him that shot his whole career. If they guard him closely at 20 feet he'll get to the rim every time and have a much higher percentage shot. One of the main goals of the Celts defense is to force the opposing offense to take those 16-20 foot jump shots because it's the least efficient shot for most of the players in the league. He needs to improve from that range, and it would help the team if he did, but you don't want to fall into the trap of doing what the defense wants you to.

[guava_wrench]

It's obvious from watching the games that Rondo's mid-range shooting %'s have regressed because he's been jacking more shots from mid-range. It's sort of a good thing (because he's building confidence) but he shouldn't be overconfident. He should still never shoot a mid-range shot if he's being contested.

I haven't seen him "jacking". His midrange jumpers tend to be one that a decent shooter shouldn't pass up. Nothing obvious there.

In 2008 he had that baseline midrange shot. That is completely gone from his repertoire.

The most telling aspect of his lack of development isn't captured in stats. It is the number of open midrange jumpers not taken. That really hurts the offense.

  I'd like to see him take a few more shots to keep the defense honest, but they're going to give him that shot his whole career. If they guard him closely at 20 feet he'll get to the rim every time and have a much higher percentage shot. One of the main goals of the Celts defense is to force the opposing offense to take those 16-20 foot jump shots because it's the least efficient shot for most of the players in the league. He needs to improve from that range, and it would help the team if he did, but you don't want to fall into the trap of doing what the defense wants you to.

There is no way they play off him like that if he is burying those jumpers regularly. They would defend him tight and count on help defense.

The Celtics contest those shots. There is a big difference.