Has Rondo Ever Sought Out Ray Allen To Help Him With His J?

[Celtics18]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

He also only takes them when he absolutely has to; if he took anywhere near as many shots from there as Arroyo does, his percentage would be much lower.  Rondo is a far cry from making that jumpshot a part of his offense on which he can rely.

  Arroyo takes 3.2 a game from that range, Rondo takes 2.9. Arroyo plays fewer minutes but still Rondo's close to the middle of the pack for point guards in terms of shots per game from that range.

Interesting.  But given how much time each game Rondo spends handling the ball, he doesn't take very many jumpshots.  Most point guards who spend almost the entire game handling the ball for their team (Nash, Felton, Paul, D. Williams, Rose, Westbrook etc) take many more jumpshots than Rondo does.

Arroyo, on the other hand, spends most of his time off the ball and usually catches and shoots when he does get the ball.  So while Arroyo may not have many more attempts per game than Rondo, the percentage of his touches that result in him taking a jumpshot are much higher.

  Sure, those guys take more outside shots than Rondo, but the things that Rondo does aside from taking outside shots (driving and passing) are more efficient ways to score than any of those players shooting from the outside. But it's not really the case that he only shoots from the outside when he has to. And I don't see why his percentage would nosedive if he took a few more outside shots a game even though there's nothing to be gained by such shots.

Again, I'm in concurrence with BBallTim here.

To me, the worst play in basketball is when the team's primary ball handler dribbles around waiting for a play to occur, finds nothing and settles for the outside jumper.  This happens with a majority of teams at a much higher rate than it does with the Boston Celtics. 

When the defense completely sags off Rondo or goes underneath every pick, yes, he has to take that shot enough to keep teams honest, but mostly Rondo is always looking to make a play for a teammate.  This keeps everybody involved, cutting and setting screens to create good offense.

I'll gladly take Rondo's current rate of taking and making jumpers to go along with his mastery as a set up guy playing with four hall of fame scorers.

 

[greenpride32]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

[BballTim]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

  I don't think it's the case that every 20 foot jumper is closely contested. It's certainly not the case when BBD takes them.

[Fafnir]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

  I don't think it's the case that every 20 foot jumper is closely contested. It's certainly not the case when BBD takes them.

I don't have access to wide open shootings stats, though I know some services and teams keep them. I think its likely that Rondo's wide open conversion rate lags well behind other players who shoot around his percentage.

[BballTim]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

  I don't think it's the case that every 20 foot jumper is closely contested. It's certainly not the case when BBD takes them.

I don't have access to wide open shootings stats, though I know some services and teams keep them. I think its likely that Rondo's wide open conversion rate lags well behind other players who shoot around his percentage.

  Probably true, but that's unrelated to what I was saying. While Rondo's hitting 47% of those shots some pgs are under 30% on them. Would you expect defenses to contest all of the shots by those players?

[mgent]

Anyone know his percentage on the next closest range of shots?  Those are the ones he should be taking more seeing as a lot of teams still sag off him when he's at the FT line/12-15 feet.  I'd also like to see him go back to taking that floater from that range as it is a pretty high percentage shot and usually also uncontested.

[Celtics18]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

Does this mean that you would prefer it if he took more contested jumpers so he could miss at a higher rate like Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook?

What sense would that make when he has Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to pass the ball to?

[Celtics18]

Anyone know his percentage on the next closest range of shots?  Those are the ones he should be taking more seeing as a lot of teams still sag off him when he's at the FT line/12-15 feet.  I'd also like to see him go back to taking that floater from that range as it is a pretty high percentage shot and usually also uncontested.

According to the same site, he's shooting 33.3% from 10-15 ft.  He's only taking 0.4 shots per game from that range. 

[birdwatcher]

Rondo has been taking that mid range jumper a lot more this season. It's obvious Doc is trying to get him to take it more and get confident. I'd rather him work on his FT%--he can get to the basket at will, and there's not many who will stop him. I remember in basketball camp my buddy had a decent J but a baaad FT motion. He was instructed to hold the ball closer to his chin, bend the knees less and follow through on his tippy toes. He was always a fantastic FT shooter after that. Rondo has too much action in his motion. He has a "wind up". Maybe he needs to shorten his motion and follow through...

[Celtics18]

http://www.hoopdata.com/shotstats.aspx?team=%&type=pg&posi=PG&yr=2011&gp=0&mins=20

Here's a link to the site that Tim and I have been getting these numbers from so we can all be on the same page.

[TheAuerbach]

I don't know how reliable these numbers are, but according to Hoops Data, Rondo is shooting 47% from 16-23 feet this season.  Only Carlos Arroyo has a better percentage among point guards playing more than 20 minutes a game.

Wow!

But Rondo's 16-23 foot shot attempts are probably the most wide open and unchallenged shots you'll ever see in the NBA.

Two words: Shaquille O'Neal.

[Neurotic Guy]

Ray Allen has that unique combination of being a natural shooter and being obsessed with shooting.  I don't think Rondo could ever be close to the shooter Ray is because he is not a natural shooter and because his focus (which may also be obsessive) is on other aspects of his game.

I understand the point is that Rondo continue to improve, and it is inconceivable to me that he hasn't sought out Ray's advice or watched him to learn.  Everyone, especially Rajon, knows that adding a reliable jumper to his game will make him unstoppable, but his greatness emanates first and foremost from his ball-handling, passing and leadership skills and that is where pririty #1 should continue to be in my opinion.  He's almost a 'good enough' shooter already, and that is all he'll ever need to be given his skill set.

With relatively modest increase in minutes through the years, here are Rondo's per game assist averages for his career:
3.8
5.1
8.2
9.8
13.4