Is Rondo Too Worried About Assists?

[Bankshot]

What's his problem?  One day he plays great, the next day he plays like he's sleepwalking through the game.

I've mentioned this before, but I've noticed him walking the ball up the court, pounding the all until there's about 6 seconds left on the clock before he decides to finally pass the ball.  It's like he's waiting for someone to get open so he can pass them the ball and get the assist.  When he does this though, the defense gets set against the Celtics and by the time he passes the ball, Davis is the only one open besides himself.  He's not pushing the ball and not getting the ball to Ray or Pierce earlier in the shot clock.

And several threads about Davis's shots go up seemingly after every game, but no one mentions Rondo's part in it.  Some shots he's passing to Davis because he wants him to shoot it, but several times last night, it was given to Davis with the shot clock running out because Rondo was holding onto the ball for so long.

Not only that, he will get right under the hoop and pass it out instead of taking the easy points.

Is he worried too much about assists?

I'm not bashing Rondo or want him traded, etc.  This is just bugging the heck out of me.

Maybe his ankle is still hurting, or maybe just tired from all the games played in so little time.  Or maybe things get back to normal when KG returns, that's what I'm hoping. 

[housecall]

TP,its a few things with Rondo...first,his ankle(s)are still bothering him among a few other things.He's not moving as quickly as he normally does.Remember,Rondo has feet problems as well(plantar fasciitis)and from what ive heard it can take awhile for it to fully go away.Lets face it without KG this team is not nearly the same on both ends of the court.The energy,the defense,his presence put a certain amount of fear into some opponents.KG is a beast when 100%healthy.IMO

KG's consistency is something thats hard to replace in a  starting rotation.After awhile the 9-10boards,the 15 or more pts are missed night after night.They could get away with it for a short period but teams adjust to his not being in the rotation and usually take advantage of it.

[xmuscularghandix]

Every once in a while there's an extreme case where he passes up a wide open layup and pass is it off, but the whole team is guilty of over passing. It's better to have a point guard who's a little bit too worried about assists, than one that's worried about getting points. I don't have a problem with Rondo's style... and like Housecall said above his ankle may still be bothering him, that'd definitely effect his driving to the hole.

[Bankshot]

I understand his ankle may still be bothering him, but that's no excuse for holding onto the ball, practically dribbling out the clock until there are only a few seconds left before he decides to pass.

[mmbaby]

When I look at Davis getting all those shots like you talked about, it doesn't make sense, especially when he's in a slump, and I could tell by watching him that he didn't want the ball several times.

I really think Rhondo is fantastic, but something is not right lately. Yes, he might be worried about assists or maybe Doc told him not to shoot so much. It's impossible to know right now.

You are one of the only people pointing out how he is waiting too long to pass the ball on plays and I think it's an excellent point.

[housecall]

I understand his ankle may still be bothering him, but that's no excuse for holding onto the ball, practically dribbling out the clock until there are only a few seconds left before he decides to pass.

Maybe a little indecisive at times...these types of problems cropped up last season with Rondo and thats why i never understood the hesitation on Danny's part to find a true veteran backup pg.Nate serves a purpose but just isn't what the team needed only.  

[pearljammer10]

Im more worried about Rondos lack of penetration than worried about him assisting too much.

[greenpride32]

Don't like the play where he is 20-30 feet in front of everyone and he waits 5 seconds for the trailer to show up.  One of these times somebody on the other team is going to hustle back.  I think it's pretty obvious he's trying to go for assists; this just being extreme example.

[Spilling Green Dye]

During the regular season I think he's definitely going for assists.  I doubt that will carry over too much in the playoffs though, but I do think he likes being recognized for the assists more than anything else.

[GreenEnvy]

In a word: absolutely.


There is no getting around his fascination with assists, but why? Is it merely for leading the league or averaging 13-14 apg? Or does he want to get everybody involved and be selfless?

Regardless the reasoning, it's not working right now. Maybe KG makes a huge difference, we will see soon enough.

[ManUp]

He isn't playing aggressively and I'm a little upset that Doc hasn't been calling him out on it.

[kenmaine]

A few points-

1) None of us know if or how much Rondo(or any pro athlete) is really hurting.
2) If Rondo drives and tries to score, a couple of bad things can happen.  He can get fouled hard and maybe injured. And he can miss the foul shots.
3) I think most of his teammates are very happy to have a point guard who would rather pass than shoot.

And I really believe that Rondo is probably smarter than most of us out here and has fed all this into his computer brain, and is constantly upgrading his game plan to maximize his positives and minimize his negatives. He realizes he's not a great shooter, but does everything else so well that he's become one of the top pgs in the NBA without really having a shot.

And one other thing- when it's needed he can and does score.

[KungPoweChicken]

Inconsistency has been the mark of Rondo's career thus far. I don't know if it has anything to do with assists, but some games he noticeably plays harder than others, which, to me, is unacceptable.

[Spicoli]

What's his problem?  One day he plays great, the next day he plays like he's sleepwalking through the game.

I've mentioned this before, but I've noticed him walking the ball up the court, pounding the all until there's about 6 seconds left on the clock before he decides to finally pass the ball.  It's like he's waiting for someone to get open so he can pass them the ball and get the assist.  When he does this though, the defense gets set against the Celtics and by the time he passes the ball, Davis is the only one open besides himself.  He's not pushing the ball and not getting the ball to Ray or Pierce earlier in the shot clock.

And several threads about Davis's shots go up seemingly after every game, but no one mentions Rondo's part in it.  Some shots he's passing to Davis because he wants him to shoot it, but several times last night, it was given to Davis with the shot clock running out because Rondo was holding onto the ball for so long.

Not only that, he will get right under the hoop and pass it out instead of taking the easy points.

Is he worried too much about assists?

I'm not bashing Rondo or want him traded, etc.  This is just bugging the heck out of me.

Maybe his ankle is still hurting, or maybe just tired from all the games played in so little time.  Or maybe things get back to normal when KG returns, that's what I'm hoping. 

TP. I said the same thing in the game thread. It's obvious that half of BBD's shot attempts are on him, and the other half are on Rondo, simply because Rondo is failing to get the offense into it's set on time, and BBD is the last person he can throw it to before the shot clock expires. Another complaint i have with Rondo is, when he does give the ball up, he just stands there. He doesn't move. That would be fine if he could shoot, but otherwise he should be moving and cutting. Rondo was lazy last night. He has a lot of nights when he's lazy.

[papa shuttlesworth]

In a word: absolutely.


There is no getting around his fascination with assists, but why? Is it merely for leading the league or averaging 13-14 apg? Or does he want to get everybody involved and be selfless?

Regardless the reasoning, it's not working right now. Maybe KG makes a huge difference, we will see soon enough.

I think it is sometimes a very good idea for the point guard to wait to give the assist rather than score themselves.  If a player (particularly Ray, Paul or KG, but anyone) is having a rough shooting half/game/week, then waiting a few seconds on a fast break and then setting them up for an easy dunk or layup is a great idea. 

This is all speculation, since I'm not an NBA player, but I would assume that getting a few easy looks boosts players' confidence and helps them score later. 

Obviously messing up the game plan to focus solely on stats is a bad idea, but there are definitely times where passing up a scoring opportunity to get a teammate involved is okay.