Rondo can't shoot because his hand is too big.

[mgent]

How big are Dirk's hands?  Mehmet Okur's?  Raef's?  Rasheed's?

The kid has big hands, but so do lots of good shooters (presumably).

The problem with Rondo's hands is that they are not proportionate to his body, arm, etc. Dirk and Okur and all those other talented shooters with big hands have big bodies to match. Rondo is only 6 feet tall, and his hands are proportionate to somebody bigger than Yao. I personally disagree and that if Rondo works hard enough, he will earn a consistent jumper. But his hands are a huge reason he isn't a least able to hit the open jumper.

What exactly is your argument?  They're taller so they are shooting at a better angle?

[greenpride32]

Plain and simple: he doesn't practice shooting.  It has nothing to do with hand size.  If anything larger hands would give you a better grip.

Ever notice how any decent outside shooter also goes at least 70-75% from the line; and this includes bigs who can hit 10-18 foot jump shots.  Then you have guys like Shaq, Howard, Bogut who can't make free throws.  We'll when's the last time you saw them taking any outside jumpshots?  They don't.  Not even little 5 footers.  That's why they can't make a free throw which is about 15 feet out.  All they practice is from 5 feet and in with shots that don't mirror jumpshot or free throw form.

I think Rondo spends most of his time on dribbling skills.  That's why he can do all those fancy dribbles in game that are more for show than effect.

[mc34]

Its part of the problem. But people are ignoring the fact that Rondo's jumper is definately improving. He shot 41% from midrange this year, which is a huge improvement over last year and is slightly better than league average, I believe. His form looks better too. I think its only a matter of time before teams stop sagging off him so horribly. The big problem, in my opinion, is the free throw shooting.

[erisred]

Its part of the problem. But people are ignoring the fact that Rondo's jumper is definately improving. He shot 41% from midrange this year, which is a huge improvement over last year and is slightly better than league average, I believe. His form looks better too. I think its only a matter of time before teams stop sagging off him so horribly. The big problem, in my opinion, is the free throw shooting.

He needs to go find Rick Berry and pay him to turn him into an 80% free throw shooter. So what if he looked like a granny and got laughed at! If he shot 80%+ from the line, Rondo would get the last laugh.

[LilRip]

i feel like this "huge hands" thing is just an excuse. So what if Dirk is taller? Or Yao Ming? I think it all comes down to mechanics and touch, both of which can be taught and practiced.

[LooseCannon]

Rondo already spent a summer working with Mark Price on his free throw shooting.  At this point, I am pessimistic about Rondo having anything more than marginal improvement in that area of his game.

[guava_wrench]

Rondo already can shoot. In practice. If you ever watched Rondo and TA in warmups, you could see that Rondo looked a lot better. TA truly can't shoot and bricks during shoot around.

Shooting jumper after jumper does not necessarily translate to shooting a jumper on one play after running around the court for 5 minutes, as he does in games. There are reasons why elite shooters can sometimes seem so unimpressive in games. One reason is defense. Another other is fatigue. Perhaps you can also add to that rhythm.

The hand size is irrelevant. I have no idea what the argument based on proportion is supposed to add. It seems to me the only possibly relevant proportion is hand in proportion to ball.

I also wonder how much of foul shooting is in the head. Foul shooting gives you way to much time to think about shooting when you should just be repeating your motion. Sometimes we even see guys who can bury jumpers in games games but are below average at the line.

[BballTim]

Plain and simple: he doesn't practice shooting.

  This, of course, isn't at all true if you listen to anyone connected with the team, starting with Doc.

[Bahku]

None of the above.

If you're talking about free-throw shooting, then he just needs to practice more and change his stroke and body positioning. If you're talking about field-goals, then he just needs to shoot more, as he's got a great shooting stroke when it comes to field-goals and tres.

He hasn't taken a lot of shots because it hasn't been expected of him and he sees it as a secondary role, but he can shoot the ball, make no mistake ... he had a 55-point game in high school, and went toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant shooting tres in a game of HORSE at the All-Star festivities last year.

If anything, large hands should help a player shoot better, and if anyone thinks he doesn't practice his shot and free-throws, they're sadly mistaken. He just needs to change his style and stroke at the stripe, and make it a more fluid bodily motion.

[clover]

I think it is primarily a mental thing at this point for Rondo.  All reports are that he has put in the time practicing and you can see when he has good form and when he doesn't.

I'm still hopeful.

[European NBA fan]

This is how his shooting position looks now. It is not terrible, but still not something you should teach your kids.

[clover]

I'd add, it has always seemed to me that he shoots far better from the field when he has less time to think.  That that extra second or two gets him off course to me confirms that his troubles are in his mind and his thinking.

[greenpride32]

But people are ignoring the fact that Rondo's jumper is definately improving. He shot 41% from midrange this year, which is a huge improvement over last year and is slightly better than league average, I believe.

You need to realize these are uncontested shots because nobody defends his jump shot; and it's a very poor percentage given that fact.  Other players in the league can shoot better than that from midrange with guys dangling on them, off balance, moving very quickly to evade defenders, etc.

Rondo's shos are basically a warmup jumper that an NBA pro makes 70-80% of the time.

[BballTim]

But people are ignoring the fact that Rondo's jumper is definately improving. He shot 41% from midrange this year, which is a huge improvement over last year and is slightly better than league average, I believe.

You need to realize these are uncontested shots because nobody defends his jump shot; and it's a very poor percentage given that fact.  Other players in the league can shoot better than that from midrange with guys dangling on them, off balance, moving very quickly to evade defenders, etc.

  You're talking about, who, Kobe and PP and Ray and a half a dozen other players? People seem to think that, aside from Rondo, almost all outside shots are contested. This is far from the truth. KG's a good outside shooter and he take a fair amount of outside shots. People aren't draped all over him when he shoots, he's not off balance and he's not moving quickly to evade defenders. He's far from alone.

[housecall]

From personal experience with having big hands,bigger hands have more to do with grip,control of the ball than touch.Shooting is more about touch and any size hands can develop touch if practiced(reps)enough.