Rondo Driving to the Hoop Less?

[bfrombleacher]

Wow. Didn't know his foot situation was that serious, knew he was hurt though.

Another reason for Rondo to get a jumpshot.

[BballTim]

I think the main reason he avoids going to the hoop, though, is that his free throw shooting sucks and he doesn't want to get battered by contact only to put up a couple bricks at the line.

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

[MBunge]

The main problem with Rondo driving to the hoop are those horrible flip shots he throws up at the basket.  They look amazing when they go in but he misses a heck of shots right at the rim because he reflexively uses that flip motion instead of just laying the ball up.

Mike

[greenpride32]

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

You can creatively select statistics to show any point; but my main concern about this issue is Rondo's strength is taking it to the hole and either creating or finishing off the drive.  He is well below averge on the perimeter.  So forget about tendencies of other players, some of who can shoot the ball better than they can drive it (Ray Allen is a G who fits this bill at this stage in his career).  We need Rondo going to the hole; otherwise he just hurts our half court set.

[BballTim]

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

You can creatively select statistics to show any point; but my main concern about this issue is Rondo's strength is taking it to the hole and either creating or finishing off the drive.  He is well below averge on the perimeter.  So forget about tendencies of other players, some of who can shoot the ball better than they can drive it (Ray Allen is a G who fits this bill at this stage in his career).  We need Rondo going to the hole; otherwise he just hurts our half court set.

  I don't think comparing Rondo to every other guard in the league who's played more than a few scant minutes is creatively selecting stats. I was just pointing out that if Rondo was trying to avoid going to the line to the extent people claim then he'd be farther down that list. Some of what Rondo does hurts our halfcourt offense, other things he does (passing, creating mismatches and the like) help the offense.

[mc34]

This is why I think Rondo increasing his FT% is the most important thing. His jumper is not great, but it is serviceable

[manl_lui]

I definitely think Rondo was less aggressive last season than in previous ones due in large part to his season long battle with plantar fasciitis.

I agree with this, i don't think its being lazy, i think this injury definitely limited his ability to drive to the hoop more.

[Celtics18]

I think the plantar fasciitis is way too overlooked by fans in regards to Rondo's past season.  He made steady improvement in his first four seasons, and by the end of the 2010 season Rondo was ranked 26th among all NBA players in efficiency.  I had high hopes for him going into the 2011 season thinking that as he had improved in each of his previous seasons, there was good reason to expect that he could make the jump to a top 15-20 player.

He got off to a great start.  Shaq has to be given alot of the credit for Rondo's amazing start with the assists.  Adding him to Pierce, Garnett, and Allen made it like shooting fish in a barrel for Rondo to rack up the assists.  Rondo didn't have to work as hard driving the basketball and the offense was the best it's ever looked and one of the best in the league.  

Unfortunately, Shaq went down close to halfway through the season, and this would have been the time for Rondo to go back to being more aggressive with the basketball.  He couldn't do it, though.  The feet must have been killing him by that point.  Plantar fasciitis is a condition that really only heals with rest, and he wasn't getting any.

Some other notable players who have suffered from this condition include Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, and Tyreke Evans.  Bryant suffered from it during the '04-'05 season where he only played in 66 games and had one of his poorer statistical seasons and the Lakers actually failed to make the playoffs.  Tony Parker was woeful during the 2010 season when he suffered from it, putting up an efficiency ranking of 14.5 in 66 games.  He bounced back last year, though, and started playing more like himself.  Evans followed his spectacular rookie of the year season by suffering a huge dip in productivity.  An overlooked fact is that Tyreke, too, suffered from plantar fasciitis in his sophomore year.

The good news is that players generally bounce back from having plantar fasciitis for a season.  It doesn't seem to be a chronic condition, and an off-season of rest and staying off the feet normally cures it.  

Keeping my fingers crossed, I expect Rondo to come into next season with two good feet (and a good elbow) and take over where he left off during the 2010 season.    

[ballin]

Two things better happen: Rondo better get healthy again, and he better start driving to the hole more when he does.

Anything less than that and he's nothing more than trade bait to me.

[PosImpos]

I think the main reason he avoids going to the hoop, though, is that his free throw shooting sucks and he doesn't want to get battered by contact only to put up a couple bricks at the line.

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

perhaps, but he doesn't get to the line nearly as often as he could. 

we've seen games in the playoffs when rondo does play aggressively and scored 20+ points while getting to the line fairly frequently.

i think it's a fair question whether Rondo could ever play that way on a regular basis, though.  i'm not sure he's physically built to withstand that kind of punishment.

[PosImpos]

The main problem with Rondo driving to the hoop are those horrible flip shots he throws up at the basket.  They look amazing when they go in but he misses a heck of shots right at the rim because he reflexively uses that flip motion instead of just laying the ball up.

Mike

Rondo usually has a fg% around 50% and finishes a high percentage around the rim; I don't think his finishing ability is the problem.

[Celtics18]

I think the main reason he avoids going to the hoop, though, is that his free throw shooting sucks and he doesn't want to get battered by contact only to put up a couple bricks at the line.

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

perhaps, but he doesn't get to the line nearly as often as he could. 

we've seen games in the playoffs when rondo does play aggressively and scored 20+ points while getting to the line fairly frequently.

i think it's a fair question whether Rondo could ever play that way on a regular basis, though.  i'm not sure he's physically built to withstand that kind of punishment.

Rondo may never get to the line at the rate of some of the big time superstar scorers in the league, but he was more than respectable at getting to the stripe in the two seasons prior to this last one.

His proclivity to pass rather than look for his own shot coupled with his slight frame (even though he has gotten pretty bulked up for him) are definitely likely to prevent him from ever being a 5+ FTA per game type player. 

That's not necessarily going to prevent him from being a top 20 NBA player. 

[BballTim]

I think the main reason he avoids going to the hoop, though, is that his free throw shooting sucks and he doesn't want to get battered by contact only to put up a couple bricks at the line.

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

perhaps, but he doesn't get to the line nearly as often as he could. 

we've seen games in the playoffs when rondo does play aggressively and scored 20+ points while getting to the line fairly frequently.

i think it's a fair question whether Rondo could ever play that way on a regular basis, though.  i'm not sure he's physically built to withstand that kind of punishment.

Rondo may never get to the line at the rate of some of the big time superstar scorers in the league, but he was more than respectable at getting to the stripe in the two seasons prior to this last one.

His proclivity to pass rather than look for his own shot coupled with his slight frame (even though he has gotten pretty bulked up for him) are definitely likely to prevent him from ever being a 5+ FTA per game type player. 

That's not necessarily going to prevent him from being a top 20 NBA player. 

  He's already a top 20 nba player.

[Celtics18]

I think the main reason he avoids going to the hoop, though, is that his free throw shooting sucks and he doesn't want to get battered by contact only to put up a couple bricks at the line.

  There are 58 guards that have played at least 300 minutes in the playoffs the last 3 years (arbitrary minutes cutoff) and of those 58 Rondo's tied for 20th in FTA/minute. Not the best, but not horrible for a 4th option. He averages 4.2 FTA per 36min, only 7 players averaged over 6. I think claims that he avoids the line like the plague are fairly overblown.

perhaps, but he doesn't get to the line nearly as often as he could. 

we've seen games in the playoffs when rondo does play aggressively and scored 20+ points while getting to the line fairly frequently.

i think it's a fair question whether Rondo could ever play that way on a regular basis, though.  i'm not sure he's physically built to withstand that kind of punishment.

Rondo may never get to the line at the rate of some of the big time superstar scorers in the league, but he was more than respectable at getting to the stripe in the two seasons prior to this last one.

His proclivity to pass rather than look for his own shot coupled with his slight frame (even though he has gotten pretty bulked up for him) are definitely likely to prevent him from ever being a 5+ FTA per game type player. 

That's not necessarily going to prevent him from being a top 20 NBA player. 

  He's already a top 20 nba player.

I was being conservative.

[paulcowens]

I think Rondo had a superb season, DESPITE racking up so many injuries.  The next step, though, depends on him keeping his head in the game more consistently, and being healthier, and HITTING HIS SHOTS BETTER (especially from the line).  If he gets all that going, I expect him to take the ball to the basket very aggressively, as PART of a more complete offensive strategy.   This season, he seemed to save it for the playoffs somewhat, and  I think he actually began to really pick up his basket attack during the Miami series, which made the Cs play much better;  I think that's why Wade took him out (that and the fact that Wade was mad because he tried to take Rondo one-on-one and Rondo poked the ball away from him).