Rajon Rondo's February

[BballTim]

Pulled this from ESPN insider - overrated / underrated article, I would say it's a little harsh....

Rajon Rondo, PG, Boston Celtics




Eastern conference scout: "Three years ago, I was the only scout saying Rondo is overrated, and I was crucified for it. I was saying he was awful. I think he's a selfish player. He's only going to pass it to you if he thinks he can get an assist. I've seen him come out for pregame warm-ups with his shoes untied, shooting lefty foul shots. For him to come out for a game with that attitude makes me question his work ethic. I've never liked his game.




"If you play with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen at close to their peak, they're going to raise everyone's game. Defensively, Rondo's a bit of a gambler, and I don't think his defense is all that. If I was starting a team and had my choice of any point guard, he would be 40th. I mean it. I'd take some backups before him."

and yet, Rondo is averaging pretty much what he has his whole career for ppg/rpg/apg except he is playing with much lower quality players than pierce/KG/Ray allen now

  Which pretty much means that all of the people who talked about how he was only successful because he was playing with future HOFers didn't have any idea what they were talking about.


  They said during the last game that on the 4 game road trip the team was +9 with Rondo playing and -42 (or so) when he wasn't playing. He's coming around but as others mentioned his lateral movement is terrible. He's not that explosive getting to the hoop either. Both things should be better next year.

[LarBrd33]

I read somewhere recently that there are really no great examples of "shot doctors" having success.  It said something along the lines of... you usually see early immediate results and then the play regresses back to their earlier form.

I hope that's not what we're seeing with Rondo's March. 

After shooting 48%/40%/84% (unbelievably considering the fact he's 28 years old and players don't usually convert to elite shooters in their late 20s), he's now shooting 36%/32%/50% in his first 5 games this month.

Even so, his 3-point shooting (33% this season) has been consistently better.. way up from his career 26% shooting.  His season 67% from the line is a slight improvement on his career best of 65%.   His overall FG% (39%) is way down, but that was to be expected with a bigger role in the offense.

[BballTim]

I read somewhere recently that there are really no great examples of "shot doctors" having success.  It said something along the lines of... you usually see early immediate results and then the play regresses back to their earlier form.

I hope that's not what we're seeing with Rondo's March. 

After shooting 48%/40%/84% (unbelievably considering the fact he's 28 years old and players don't usually convert to elite shooters in their late 20s), he's now shooting 36%/32%/50% in his first 5 games this month.

Even so, his 3-point shooting (33% this season) has been consistently better.. way up from his career 26% shooting.  His season 67% from the line is a slight improvement on his career best of 65%.   His overall FG% (39%) is way down, but that was to be expected with a bigger role in the offense.

  It's not his bigger role on offense as much as the fact that he's still recovering from his knee injury. He's shooting poorly at the rim because he's lacking explosiveness.

[kozlodoev]

It's not his bigger role on offense as much as the fact that he's still recovering from his knee injury. He's shooting poorly at the rim because he's lacking explosiveness.

You have to acknowledge that the explosiveness may never be back to what it used to be, though.

[SHAQATTACK]

If Jason Kidd could learn to shot , then as skilled as Rondo is with his hand eye ,  surely he ll
Improve too.

Shooting is practice ,  1000s of reps,  Ray Allen preached this.  Practice, Practice , Practice.

Obviously shooting wasn't on Rondo list of priorities , same for Kidd ,  but Jason eventually became a deadly three shooter.......and I always thought his form was a bit odd ..but it worked for him.....

I think Rondos shooting skill is here to stay.....don't think his form is so much changed .....he just is more accurate because of all the reps........that is the key to continued success .

[BballTim]

It's not his bigger role on offense as much as the fact that he's still recovering from his knee injury. He's shooting poorly at the rim because he's lacking explosiveness.

You have to acknowledge that the explosiveness may never be back to what it used to be, though.

  Obviously anything's possible. But nothing that's happened points to that. His recovery didn't take overly long, he didn't suffer any serious setbacks, and his post-injury athleticism is still improving. Unless I'm missing something, the "Rondo may never fully recover from his knee injury" argument seems to boil down to "he isn't currently 100% even though he really shouldn't be yet".

[BballTim]

Rondo has been just fine lately.  Still has that great court vision but seems to have added an improved shot.  Now just add two all stars and we are good to go.

Remember when we were lamenting how Rondo + a jumpshot and free throw shooting would be an unstoppable force? Yet here we are, and we're still looking to add two all-stars to the equation.

   We should probably amnesty Rondo if you need to surround him with talented players to contend. The league's chock full of players that can contend single-handedly, especially right after they come back from a serious injury.

[fitzhickey]

Rondo has been just fine lately.  Still has that great court vision but seems to have added an improved shot.  Now just add two all stars and we are good to go.

Remember when we were lamenting how Rondo + a jumpshot and free throw shooting would be an unstoppable force? Yet here we are, and we're still looking to add two all-stars to the equation.

   We should probably amnesty Rondo if you need to surround him with talented players to contend. The league's chock full of players that can contend single-handedly, especially right after they come back from a serious injury.

LOL 

[kozlodoev]

Rondo has been just fine lately.  Still has that great court vision but seems to have added an improved shot.  Now just add two all stars and we are good to go.

Remember when we were lamenting how Rondo + a jumpshot and free throw shooting would be an unstoppable force? Yet here we are, and we're still looking to add two all-stars to the equation.

   We should probably amnesty Rondo if you need to surround him with talented players to contend. The league's chock full of players that can contend single-handedly, especially right after they come back from a serious injury.

We should probably ditch the knee-jerk reaction and think about what my post actually meant (yes, I know -- look who's talking ).

[BballTim]

Rondo has been just fine lately.  Still has that great court vision but seems to have added an improved shot.  Now just add two all stars and we are good to go.

Remember when we were lamenting how Rondo + a jumpshot and free throw shooting would be an unstoppable force? Yet here we are, and we're still looking to add two all-stars to the equation.

   We should probably amnesty Rondo if you need to surround him with talented players to contend. The league's chock full of players that can contend single-handedly, especially right after they come back from a serious injury.

We should probably ditch the knee-jerk reaction and think about what my post actually meant (yes, I know -- look who's talking ).

  If you think I misinterpreted your post it probably wasn't that clear to begin with. What were you saying that you think I missed?

[kozlodoev]

If you think I misinterpreted your post it probably wasn't that clear to begin with. What were you saying that you think I missed?

We can all agree that Rondo's shooting somewhat better, correct? And yet, even conceding that he's  not at full tilt yet  that our team is horrible, and that I don't exactly expect him to carry our team LeBron style -- I am somewhat underwhelmed by the results.

[CoachBo]

The scout's evaluation was spot on - until he rolled out the 40th nonsense.

Acknowledging that Rondo's knee will be used as an excuse for him here when he's 42 and not getting the job done running the Toronto Raptors, there are some positive signs with his game - mild improvements in his shooting.

It remains ridiculous, and it always will, to consider Rondo a top-level star worthy of a rebuild-around. If Ainge and Wyc proceed under that assumption, they are going to Pitino this franchise. Again.

He is a good-but-not-great complementary player on a great team. You can direct all the vitriol you want toward professionals for their opinions, but you lose sight of one important fact - you are a Rondo fan, first and foremost. That is abundantly clear. They are paid to be anything but that.

You'll have to excuse me if I assign the professional the most credibility in this debate.

[Tr1boy]

The scout's evaluation was spot on - until he rolled out the 40th nonsense.

Acknowledging that Rondo's knee will be used as an excuse for him here when he's 42 and not getting the job done running the Toronto Raptors, there are some positive signs with his game - mild improvements in his shooting.

It remains ridiculous, and it always will, to consider Rondo a top-level star worthy of a rebuild-around. If Ainge and Wyc proceed under that assumption, they are going to Pitino this franchise. Again.

He is a good-but-not-great complementary player on a great team. You can direct all the vitriol you want toward professionals for their opinions, but you lose sight of one important fact - you are a Rondo fan, first and foremost. That is abundantly clear. They are paid to be anything but that.

You'll have to excuse me if I assign the professional the most credibility in this debate.

When we get better players, Rondo will come down to earth.  He thinks he is better than everyone on the team right now.   Him having the ball in crunch time, while all the defenders backs off, sticking to their man and Rondo can't or has no confidence to shoot = loss for our team, everytime.   When we get another pierce like confident/clutch shooter, he will give it to him and clear space

[LarBrd33]

If you think I misinterpreted your post it probably wasn't that clear to begin with. What were you saying that you think I missed?

We can all agree that Rondo's shooting somewhat better, correct? And yet, even conceding that he's  not at full tilt yet  that our team is horrible, and that I don't exactly expect him to carry our team LeBron style -- I am somewhat underwhelmed by the results.

I don't know if we can all agree on that.   

Rondo's FG % is way down this year... 38% down from 48% last year.  That's awful if it doesn't improve. 

His 3P% is up to 32% from 26%, but so far in March he's shooting 28%

His FT% is up to 66% from 62%... but so far in March he's shooting 50%

Maybe he's slightly improved.  Maybe not.  It's starting to look like he had a hot February.  Let's let him finish out this month and see what "Rajon Rondo's March"  thread looks like.

[Tr1boy]

If you think I misinterpreted your post it probably wasn't that clear to begin with. What were you saying that you think I missed?

We can all agree that Rondo's shooting somewhat better, correct? And yet, even conceding that he's  not at full tilt yet  that our team is horrible, and that I don't exactly expect him to carry our team LeBron style -- I am somewhat underwhelmed by the results.

I don't know if we can all agree on that.   

Rondo's FG % is way down this year... 38% down from 48% last year.  That's awful if it doesn't improve. 

His 3P% is up to 32% from 26%, but so far in March he's shooting 28%

His FT% is up to 66% from 62%... but so far in March he's shooting 50%

Maybe he's slightly improved.  Maybe not.  It's starting to look like he had a hot February.  Let's let him finish out this month and see what "Rajon Rondo's March"  thread looks like.

His shooting looks like it has improved, but it really has not. And when he misses a few, for the rest of the game he will not shoot again