So...now do you see why Rondo can be frustrating?

[sed522002]

I'm curious as to how many of you guys have ever done higher level athletics for an entire season, over several seasons, then had relatively serious reconstructive surgery, then gone back to that same athletic activity.

My guess is not many, by the comments.

[ssspence]

Where's Tim? I clicked into this thread (finally) assuming there'd be 47 quadruple-quoted responses frrm him. He on vacation or something?

I'm literally concerned.  I don't know if I can survive without Tim balancing things out.  It's kind of like a Batman/Joker relationship.  I'm pretty sure he's Batman.  We need Batman.  Where Batman at?



 

I have always thought of you guys more like this:

Nice one. TP.

[D.o.s.]

I'm curious as to how many of you guys have ever done higher level athletics for an entire season, over several seasons, then had relatively serious reconstructive surgery, then gone back to that same athletic activity.

My guess is not many, by the comments.

Right. Well then. I have, insofar as I snowboard ~100 days a year and had my lead knee scoped (aka the Westbrook surgery) before last season. Coming back from that took be about a month and a half of riding to feel comfortable on... after about two or three months of rehab.

I don't make as much money as Rondo, I didn't rehab as hard as Rondo, and I'm not nearly the athlete he is... but I'm still paid to snowboard. And even riding seven days a week, four-to-six hours a day, I still didn't trust my knee 'til around the 45 day mark, which is anywhere from 180-270 hours of "actual activity." Not "walking, running, practicing, etc."


Obviously this is all anecdotal, but so far Rondo has played about hour of basketball.

One hour.

[CoachBo]

Twice.

Several things I couldn't do immediately.

Shooting fouls wasn't one.

83 percent from the line before. 83 percent from the line after.

[D.o.s.]

Yeah, he's never going to be a great free throw shooter. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably doomed to disappointment.

[pearljammer10]

Where's Tim? I clicked into this thread (finally) assuming there'd be 47 quadruple-quoted responses frrm him. He on vacation or something?

I'm literally concerned.  I don't know if I can survive without Tim balancing things out.  It's kind of like a Batman/Joker relationship.  I'm pretty sure he's Batman.  We need Batman.  Where Batman at?



 

I have always thought of you guys more like this:

Both of these are brilliant.

[kozlodoev]

Obviously this is all anecdotal, but so far Rondo has played about hour of basketball.

That doesn't have much to do with shooting free throws, though.

[D.o.s.]

This thread has covered a lot more ground than just free throws, I think?

[Sketch5]

I think the OP needed to attack this differently. He made it out to sound like It was all Rondo's fault they lost because he couldn't hit his last two free throws. Bit of a cheap shot on a guy coming back from a major injury only in his 3rd game. Usually when a guy comes back like that he looks decent to good for a couple games and then come back to earth and looks bad for a few game and then starts rounding out after a few more games.

Bit of a cheap shot on a guy coming back from a major injury only in his 3rd game by the OP.

If you want to point fingers, what about Greens 15 points on 5 for 15 shooting or Sully's 12 on 4 for 12 shooting? If they both hit half their shots, it's most likely a win. Green didn't even get to the line once.

Bass led the team in scoring in 18 minutes, and Humps was a beast with 14 point and 13 boards.

Rondo's FT shooting is his weakness, nothing new. But to jump on a guy 3 games in on FT that didn't really make a difference in a game is pretty weak.

[PhoSita]

Rondo is not, never has been, and probably never will be a very good free throw shooter.

That is a serious weakness considering that he has the ball in his hands most of the time, and certainly seems to want the ball in his hands at the end of the game.

It's not a weakness that completely overshadows his greatest strengths.  Not by any means.  But it's a valid criticism of him to raise whenever people tout him as a player to build around.

[RRNoLookPass]

Rondo has always been a weak offensive player.  To expect him to suddenly improve now that he's past his prime is ridiculous.

He's a really good player, but he needed a certain system and team to be successful.  He needs lots of shooters.  KG and Bass were consistent mid-range shooters.  Ray was the best 3-point shooter alive.  Pierce was one of the most versatile offensive weapons in the league.  Those guys spread the floor and kept defenses honest.  It allowed Rondo to penetrate inside and have the option to kick it out to an open shooter. 

I've yet to see any reason to believe Rondo can be successful in a "share the ball" free-flowing offense.  He's somewhat of a liability shooting the ball.  Defenders will never take him seriously.  It puts added pressure on his teammates to score.  This team doesn't have the scorers.  I don't know how Rondo will get his assists when his teammates don't hit their shots.  This goes back to those debates a couple years ago... John Wall vs Rondo.  The argument was that Wall would get as many assists as Rondo if he wasn't surrounded with offensively inept players.  The argument was that Wall had as many assist-qualifying passes as Rondo, his team just didn't convert the shots. 
I've always been curious to see what Rondo would do without his hall-of-fame teammates and a coach tailoring an offense to his strengths and weaknesses.  I always thought there was potential for Rondo to be exposed a little.  So far, he looks like crap, but there's a lot of factors playing into it.  Gotta give him some time to get back into the swing of things.  If we have patience, I still think he can be a 12/8/5 guy

27yrs old and Rondo is already past his prime? Wow, that's news to me. I guess Chris Paul, Al Jefferson, LeMarcus Aldrige, and Lebron James are all past their primes too then? The kid Is still in his prime, and should remain in his prime until he is at least 30, just like most other superstars.


And yeah, why would Rondo be successful in a freeflow share the ball offense? His transition game sucks, and he just hates sharing the ball too. 

As for defenders not taking him seriously....that's fine with me. He can just continue knocking down mid-range jumpers in their face at a high percentage, just like he did the past two seasons.


I agree that it will be interesting to see how Rondo plays without his fav hall-of-famers around him, but I think he will prove all the doubters wrong as soon as he gets himself back to full health and into a groove.
But who says he no longer has a coach tailoring an offense to his strengths and weaknesses? If anything, Stevens is going to do Just that. Doc used to overly obsess over controlling the play-calling sometimes. Stevens has already stated numerous times that Rondo is smart enough to see things and audible on the fly, so he will give him plenty of freedom to make reads.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Rondo is not, never has been, and probably never will be a very good free throw shooter.

That is a serious weakness considering that he has the ball in his hands most of the time, and certainly seems to want the ball in his hands at the end of the game.

It's not a weakness that completely overshadows his greatest strengths.  Not by any means.  But it's a valid criticism of him to raise whenever people tout him as a player to build around.

CELTICS BLOG DEMANDS WE TRADE HIM NOW! 

[Greenback]

The contract extension offered to Rondo has to be smoke to cover up Rondo's poor play.  Its time to acknowledge that Rondo has always been overhyped, cut our losses and move on.  By all means, don't spend big money for D league performance!

[Sketch5]

The contract extension offered to Rondo has to be smoke to cover up Rondo's poor play.  Its time to acknowledge that Rondo has always been overhyped, cut our losses and move on.  By all means, don't spend big money for D league performance!

You do realize he had a major injury and hasn't played for a year, and you expect him to have it all together physically and mentally? And he has almost an entire team to learn how to play with, where the other teams are in regular season gear and he's in preseason gear.

Even Jordan looked horrible for Jordan when he first came back, could barley dunk. And he didn't have and injury to over come.

Give me a break...

[pokeKingCurtis]

The contract extension offered to Rondo has to be smoke to cover up Rondo's poor play.  Its time to acknowledge that Rondo has always been overhyped, cut our losses and move on.  By all means, don't spend big money for D league performance!

Can't tell if serious or just sarcastic.