Rondo and not getting to the line

[ThaPreacher]

I was doing some research and found the following info from a Feb. 2 RealGM article to be amazing:

How pathetic is Rondo’s free throw shooting in 2010-11? Beyond belief pathetic. In 2010-11, Rondo had made only 33 free throws in 37 games (updated numbers show Rondo has made 54 free throws in 51 games -- still pitiful). In the entire history of the NBA, going back to the 46-47 season, for every single NBA player who averaged at least 35 minutes-per-game—in effect, for most every NBA starting player—there is only one player in NBA history has made fewer free throws on a per-minute basis. Only one player in one season in 65 years. Dennis Rodman in 93-94 with the San Antonio Spurs.

Rondo's free throw attempts per game has declined every season since he has been in the league.  

Chris Paul makes approximately five free throws per game and shoots over 90 percent from the line. Deron Williams has seen his made free throws (per 36 minutes) increase from 1.5 in his rookie year to 5.8 (per 36 minutes) this season, and his free throw percentage has gone from .704 to .844. Derrick Rose has seen his made free throws go from 2.4 (per 36 minutes) in his rookie year to 4.8 (per 36 minutes) in this his third year and his free throw percentage has improved to better than 82%

Great post.  TP. 
Rondo needs to get to the line.  He needs to make free throw.
Or....he needs to dye his hair,  Green and White,  preferably. 

[SalmonAndMashedPotatoes]

Rondo's FTA and FGA are both down from last year, and I'd say part of that is because the team has been completely transformed.  We've taken all the defensive players (Perk, TA, Daniels) and replaced them with offensive players (Shaq, Krstic, and Green).  Rondo's job first and foremost is to facilitate offense and find his guys good shots--and if you give him more weapons to pass to, then naturally he's going to shoot less and the less you shoot the less you get fouled and the less you take free throws.

The other thing that happened is that Rondo got hurt in early December. If you look at the FTA splits per month you'll see that Rondo's FTA shrank to .5 and 1.5 for December and January respectively.  Once his health returned (in February), his FTA shot back up to 2.6 per game, which is right on line with his previous rate from November (when he was last healthy).  Rondo's been playing big minutes in March, and has probably re-aggravated his plantar facsiitis problem as a result and his FTA is back down to 1.6 per game this month.

So, if you put things in context, the makeup of the team has caused Rondo's FGA per game to dwindle by 2 shots per game since last season.  And if you shoot less that means you're going to get to the line less.  Combine that factor with Rondo's injury situation--one which has made his less aggressive taking it to the rim--and it's pretty clear to see why his FTAs are down.  This isn't about Rondo's makeup--it's about the makeup of his team and Rondo's health.

[AlexC45]

Let Rondo rest he will be in good shape come playoff time , thats where he is going to shut up all haters.

[BballTim]

^^^^^^^^^

I got it from this article. Maybe the guy is making up everything, I don't know: http://basketball.realgm.com/article/210586

And, this is the one paragraph comparing him to every other player since 1946-47:

How pathetic is Rondo’s free throw shooting in 2010-11? Beyond belief pathetic. He has made only 33 free throws in 37 games. But that barely begins to capture the enormity of his lameness. In the entire history of the NBA, going back to the 46-47 season, for every single NBA player who averaged at least 35 minutes-per-game—in effect, for most every NBA starting player—there is only one player in NBA history has made fewer free throws on a per-minute basis. Only one player in one season in 65 years.

As far as making a case, that is not what I am trying to do. I was just looking over the past several box scores and saw that Rondo is basically not taking any free throws and I was wondering how that compared to other points guard.

Rondo is a fine defensive player and an excellent point guard. I also think it is fair, however, to point out a valid flaw in his game.

  The stats aren't necessarily wrong, more deliberately slanted to exaggerate a situation. I went back and compared Rondo to other players who started more than 60 games in a season and he wasn't in the bottom 125. Again, the author chose his criteria based on making Rondo's stats look as bad as possible.

  You also have to consider Rondo's game. For starters he takes fewer shots than most point guards and gets more assists. I don't think that this is a problem but I'm sure some will. Also, he's taking a higher percentage of his shots from the outside, which results in fewer foul shots. It's somewhat ironic that yesterday I was in a discussion about how Rondo doesn't take enough outside shots, and now he also doesn't take enough inside shots. I'll practically guarantee that if he takes enough outside shots and enough inside shots to satisfy people that this blog will be flush with threads claiming that he shoots too much and doesn't pass enough.

[vinnie]

^^^^^^^

I hear what you are saying. My bottom line is that fewer than 2 free throw attempts per game is kind of bizarre for one of the elite point guards.

[BballTim]

^^^^^^^

I hear what you are saying. My bottom line is that fewer than 2 free throw attempts per game is kind of bizarre for one of the elite point guards.

  I agree, but it doesn't bother me a ton. When I read your original post I thought that "How pathetic is Rondo’s free throw shooting in 2010-11? Beyond belief pathetic" was your point, not something that was part of the article that you read. So I'll go along with bizarre or even somewhat worrisome but not beyond belief pathetic.