Last year was Rondo's worst ever FT% and his PPG were down from the previous two years as well.
Clearly it got into his head last year and then he started avoiding going to the basket in a way that could get him to the line. If he can just get his head back to where it was a year or two ago, he'll be better off.
It's hard to ignore all of his health problems when you look at things like that.
Do you really think his bout with plantar fasciitis early in the year is what kept him from making his FT's and had him avoiding FT's?
I think that his jump shooting went downhill in the spring when he had that hand injury. I think that the plantar fascitis had a lot to do with his not diving as much. I think that at least some of the drop in his ft% was because he rarely went to the line.
For much of the year Rondo wasn't shooting as much as in the past because he was having such an easy time getting his teammates good shots. So while he's getting fewer shots than the year before, he's also making an effort to work on his jump shot. He's taking (and making) more outside shots while taking fewer shots overall, so clearly the number of drive will go down. Is that somehow a less likely explanation than he's afraid to get fouled?