Rondo Free Throw Shooting 2011

[BballTim]

I think it is laughable that people think it is fine that this team's point guard is shooting 41 percent from the line. And the excuse that he does not take enough foul shots during games -- Please. Again, let me repeat that I think Rondo is one of the 5 best point guards in basketball. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for his free throw percentage to be 41 percent --- I don't care if he had only taken 10 shots. Botton line is he has played 22 games, taken 39 free throws and made only 16. That is awful and unacceptable.

  If it's unacceptable then what do you propose the Celts do about it? Bench him? Trade him? Cut him and eat his contract?

[pearljammer10]

Before you all jump on me, I love the guy and he is the engine that stirs the drink. However, he is shooting 41 percent from the free throw line and has made one free throw in the past 5 weeks. Yes, he missed 2 1/2 weeks, but one free throw made in 2 1/2 weeks is putrid. 41 percent from the line just doesn't cut it. I thought he would get better from the stripe, but apparently it just isn't in the cards. Could a potential league MVP ever shoot this poorly from the stripe and actually win the award? Or more important, can we afford to have him on the floor at the end of important, tight games?

Even worse, he really is not getting to the line at all. Should be getting there much more.

If he keeps getting 14 assists per game I wont be too worried about his lack of getting to the rim.

If opposing PGs are playing him like Ridnour was I will be. It allows them to completely neutralize our post game.

And what Post game were are we supposed to throw at them without KG anyway? Baby? His points are mostly scored from the perimeter side from a few drives here and there, JO has no post presence anymore, and Shaq pretty much gets garbage points because we never really put him in the post anyway.

[Fafnir]

Before you all jump on me, I love the guy and he is the engine that stirs the drink. However, he is shooting 41 percent from the free throw line and has made one free throw in the past 5 weeks. Yes, he missed 2 1/2 weeks, but one free throw made in 2 1/2 weeks is putrid. 41 percent from the line just doesn't cut it. I thought he would get better from the stripe, but apparently it just isn't in the cards. Could a potential league MVP ever shoot this poorly from the stripe and actually win the award? Or more important, can we afford to have him on the floor at the end of important, tight games?

Even worse, he really is not getting to the line at all. Should be getting there much more.

If he keeps getting 14 assists per game I wont be too worried about his lack of getting to the rim.

If opposing PGs are playing him like Ridnour was I will be. It allows them to completely neutralize our post game.

And what Post game were are we supposed to throw at them without KG anyway? Baby? His points are mostly scored from the perimeter side from a few drives here and there, JO has no post presence anymore, and Shaq pretty much gets garbage points because we never really put him in the post anyway.

Shaq, Baby, Daniels, and Pierce all have good post games against many match ups. Even Ray can post up smaller 2s.

KG is far from our only post player. Last time I had access to synergy BBD was scoring the same PPS from the post.

Ridnour/Flynn cannot guard Rondo, there is no reason he should have had only 2 points late in the fourth.

[Bankshot]

Rondo doesn't want to shoot free throws.  That's the only explanation that I can think of.  He's been doing this all year, not just since he was injured. Probably embarrassed about it.

[vinnie]

I think it is laughable that people think it is fine that this team's point guard is shooting 41 percent from the line. And the excuse that he does not take enough foul shots during games -- Please. Again, let me repeat that I think Rondo is one of the 5 best point guards in basketball. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for his free throw percentage to be 41 percent --- I don't care if he had only taken 10 shots. Botton line is he has played 22 games, taken 39 free throws and made only 16. That is awful and unacceptable.

  If it's unacceptable then what do you propose the Celts do about it? Bench him? Trade him? Cut him and eat his contract?

A guy with Rondo's talent and athleticism needs to shoot better than 41 percent from the line. Maybe the Celts need to get him a free throw shooting coach that can help him with what has to be a mental versus a physical problem.

[apc]

That is awful and unacceptable.

Awful, yes. But its clearly acceptable, because he is a top 5 PG in this league.

I don’t think its acceptable, when you are making so much money, you are expected to work a lot harder to improve your game. I don’t get the impression the Rondo works hard on his shot.

[ejk3489]

That is awful and unacceptable.

Awful, yes. But its clearly acceptable, because he is a top 5 PG in this league.

I don’t think its acceptable, when you are making so much money, you are expected to work a lot harder to improve your game. I don’t get the impression the Rondo works hard on his shot.

What makes you think that? There has been a number of reports saying that Rondo works on his free throws daily from Ainge, Cedric Maxwell, ect. It may not translate in the games, but that doesn't mean he hasn't practiced them. I think it's more mental than anything right now.

[Fan from VT]

That is awful and unacceptable.

Awful, yes. But its clearly acceptable, because he is a top 5 PG in this league.

I don’t think its acceptable, when you are making so much money, you are expected to work a lot harder to improve your game. I don’t get the impression the Rondo works hard on his shot.

What makes you think that? There has been a number of reports saying that Rondo works on his free throws daily from Ainge, Cedric Maxwell, ect. It may not translate in the games, but that doesn't mean he hasn't practiced them. I think it's more mental than anything right now.

From what I've read about muscle memory and training for something like free throws, I have little doubt that either
a. Rondo is not spending enough time working on ft's or
b. He is spending time working on ft's but practicing wrong.

If there's a flaw in your delivery, it doesn't matter how much you practice, but any coordinated athlete, if they accepted appropriate coaching, and were willing to stick to the coach's changes, should easily shoot 75% on ft's.

Now this next bit is very unfair, but I could easily see Rondo being too stubborn to accept coaching on free throws and changing his formm/delivery, and just practicing and relying on what "feels right" or "feels natural." But what he's doing now isn't working, he needs to change.

Look at Pierce. He's changed his delivery, and at first it looked weird as hell, but he's gotten much better and consistent since the change.

[BballTim]

I think it is laughable that people think it is fine that this team's point guard is shooting 41 percent from the line. And the excuse that he does not take enough foul shots during games -- Please. Again, let me repeat that I think Rondo is one of the 5 best point guards in basketball. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for his free throw percentage to be 41 percent --- I don't care if he had only taken 10 shots. Botton line is he has played 22 games, taken 39 free throws and made only 16. That is awful and unacceptable.

  If it's unacceptable then what do you propose the Celts do about it? Bench him? Trade him? Cut him and eat his contract?

A guy with Rondo's talent and athleticism needs to shoot better than 41 percent from the line. Maybe the Celts need to get him a free throw shooting coach that can help him with what has to be a mental versus a physical problem.

  So do you expect him to end the year shooting 41% from the line?

[mgent]

I think it is laughable that people think it is fine that this team's point guard is shooting 41 percent from the line. And the excuse that he does not take enough foul shots during games -- Please. Again, let me repeat that I think Rondo is one of the 5 best point guards in basketball. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for his free throw percentage to be 41 percent --- I don't care if he had only taken 10 shots. Botton line is he has played 22 games, taken 39 free throws and made only 16. That is awful and unacceptable.

  If it's unacceptable then what do you propose the Celts do about it? Bench him? Trade him? Cut him and eat his contract?

A guy with Rondo's talent and athleticism needs to shoot better than 41 percent from the line. Maybe the Celts need to get him a free throw shooting coach that can help him with what has to be a mental versus a physical problem.

  So do you expect him to end the year shooting 41% from the line?

I'll bet my money on him finishing the year better than Shaq (16% behind him now).

[j804]

Interesting I read this in the Herald, while were lobbying for Rondo to get to the FT line and finish at the rim more this is just about his shooting in general. Doc and the team does indeed see it as a concern that Rondo needs to a times look for his shot :

“Our whole team tried to get Rondo going,’’ Rivers said. “You could see how they were playing Rondo. We were trying to get Rondo to take shots. We wanted him to take shots. It’s the next step for him. He can make those shots. That’s what so frustrating for our guys. He passed up at least six or seven of them.

“Rondo can make those shots. We just have to get him to make them after a miss and take another because the way they guarded him tonight is the way they are going to guard us in the playoffs. All teams.’’

[BballTim]

Interesting I read this in the Herald, while were lobbying for Rondo to get to the FT line and finish at the rim more this is just about his shooting in general. Doc and the team does indeed see it as a concern that Rondo needs to a times look for his shot :

“Our whole team tried to get Rondo going,’’ Rivers said. “You could see how they were playing Rondo. We were trying to get Rondo to take shots. We wanted him to take shots. It’s the next step for him. He can make those shots. That’s what so frustrating for our guys. He passed up at least six or seven of them.

“Rondo can make those shots. We just have to get him to make them after a miss and take another because the way they guarded him tonight is the way they are going to guard us in the playoffs. All teams.’’

  Link?

[Bankshot]

Interesting I read this in the Herald, while were lobbying for Rondo to get to the FT line and finish at the rim more this is just about his shooting in general. Doc and the team does indeed see it as a concern that Rondo needs to a times look for his shot :

“Our whole team tried to get Rondo going,’’ Rivers said. “You could see how they were playing Rondo. We were trying to get Rondo to take shots. We wanted him to take shots. It’s the next step for him. He can make those shots. That’s what so frustrating for our guys. He passed up at least six or seven of them.

“Rondo can make those shots. We just have to get him to make them after a miss and take another because the way they guarded him tonight is the way they are going to guard us in the playoffs. All teams.’’

  Link?

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2011/01/04/taking_it_away/?page=2

[vinnie]

I think it is laughable that people think it is fine that this team's point guard is shooting 41 percent from the line. And the excuse that he does not take enough foul shots during games -- Please. Again, let me repeat that I think Rondo is one of the 5 best point guards in basketball. That said, there is absolutely no excuse for his free throw percentage to be 41 percent --- I don't care if he had only taken 10 shots. Botton line is he has played 22 games, taken 39 free throws and made only 16. That is awful and unacceptable.

  If it's unacceptable then what do you propose the Celts do about it? Bench him? Trade him? Cut him and eat his contract?

A guy with Rondo's talent and athleticism needs to shoot better than 41 percent from the line. Maybe the Celts need to get him a free throw shooting coach that can help him with what has to be a mental versus a physical problem.

  So do you expect him to end the year shooting 41% from the line?

No, I expect him to continue to shy away from going to the basket to avoid getting fouled and having to go to the line. And I expect him to continue to shoot poorly from the line. Maybe he will get to 60 percent, which is still not acceptable for an elite NBA point guard.

[BballTim]

No, I expect him to continue to shy away from going to the basket to avoid getting fouled and having to go to the line. And I expect him to continue to shoot poorly from the line. Maybe he will get to 60 percent, which is still not acceptable for an elite NBA point guard.

  Just curious, but what exactly is acceptable from an elite NBA point guard? Poor defense? Poor rebounding? An inability to get to the rim? How about not being able to handle the ball, pass, or run an offense as well as Rondo? Are all of those deficiencies acceptable?