If Rondo did one thing, he would be our franchise player.

[TitleMaster]

If I see this one thing out of Rondo, then he's a keeper.

He dribbles up the court ... his defender sags off him. Without even flinching, Rondo drains a jumper on the opponent. There's no thought or motive, of waiting for an assist. At that instant, he's the most open man on the court.

Then, during the next possession, and the defender tries the same thing, Rondo does another pull up jumper.

Now finally, they get the hint and they don't leave him alone anymore, now ... Rondo looks for his open man.



And that's it.

[Lucky17]

I imagine Thunder fans feel the same way about Russell Westbrook.

If only he didn't miss on those jumpers.

[GreenFaith1819]

If I see this one thing out of Rondo, then he's a keeper.

He dribbles up the court ... his defender sags off him. Without even flinching, Rondo drains a jumper on the opponent. There's no thought or motive, of waiting for an assist. At that instant, he's the most open man on the court.

Then, during the next possession, and the defender tries the same thing, Rondo does another pull up jumper.

Now finally, they get the hint and they don't leave him alone anymore, now ... Rondo looks for his open man.



And that's it.

Or, you could be a certain PG from the Clips...whose had Tyson, DWest, Blake, Doc Rivers, DeAndre, etc.....all in their Primes.....

....and still be without a Banner.

And they are perhaps only the 3rd best team out WEST, much less NBA.

And I love Doc and that team, btw.

If Rondo did one thing, he'd SMILE more - not shoot.

Shooting, evidently - does not guarantee Banners.

[TitleMaster]

Shooting, evidently - does not guarantee Banners.

A franchise player needs to be able to take a shot.

Sure, for up to 70% of the game time, he can defer that responsibility to his teammates, as he's a PG, and not a shooting guard, and that's fine. Also, we know about his mini-dream shakes and so forth, when he's able to penetrate to the hoop.

Teams will play 5 on 5 for the whole game and not 5 on 4, when crutch time approaches.

[Lucky17]

A franchise player needs to be able to take a shot.

I'd prefer my franchise players to make shots.

Rondo shot 46% on 2-pt FGs outside the paint last year, for his second straight year.

Chris Paul over that time frame: 45% last year, 49% in 2012-13.
Russell Westbrook: 47% last year, 39% in 2012-13.

All stats courtesy of vorped.

[BballTim]

If I see this one thing out of Rondo, then he's a keeper.

He dribbles up the court ... his defender sags off him. Without even flinching, Rondo drains a jumper on the opponent. There's no thought or motive, of waiting for an assist. At that instant, he's the most open man on the court.

Then, during the next possession, and the defender tries the same thing, Rondo does another pull up jumper.

   You should watch more games. I've seen him do that before. Maybe someone will hook you up with a youtube clip.

Now finally, they get the hint and they don't leave him alone anymore, now ... Rondo looks for his open man.

  They still give him space, since he's still a great passer and they still have to worry about his getting into the lane.

[Jailan34]

A franchise player needs to be able to take a shot.

I'd prefer my franchise players to make shots.

Rondo shot 46% on 2-pt FGs outside the paint last year, for his second straight year.

Chris Paul over that time frame: 45% last year, 49% in 2012-13.
Russell Westbrook: 47% last year, 39% in 2012-13.

All stats courtesy of vorped.

Except CP3 can create his own shot on he perimeter and has range out to the 3pt line. I'm sure he can also make more contested or tough shots and defenders don't just sag off of him. To even suggest rondo is a comparable shooter to Chris Paul is why we Celtic fans have such a bad reputation. Be able to respect and recognize other great players and their strengths.

[BballTim]

A franchise player needs to be able to take a shot.

I'd prefer my franchise players to make shots.

Rondo shot 46% on 2-pt FGs outside the paint last year, for his second straight year.

Chris Paul over that time frame: 45% last year, 49% in 2012-13.
Russell Westbrook: 47% last year, 39% in 2012-13.

All stats courtesy of vorped.

Except CP3 can create his own shot on he perimeter and has range out to the 3pt line. I'm sure he can also make more contested or tough shots and defenders don't just sag off of him. To even suggest rondo is a comparable shooter to Chris Paul is why we Celtic fans have such a bad reputation. Be able to respect and recognize other great players and their strengths.

  CP's a very good perimeter shooter but he's not much of a threat to get into the lane. Both are reasons that teams wouldn't sag off of him. I don't think I'd take any slights on Celts fans compared to other fans very seriously either.

[Celtics4ever]

Easier said than done, if he could do it, he 'd be doing it by now.

[Jailan34]

A franchise player needs to be able to take a shot.

I'd prefer my franchise players to make shots.

Rondo shot 46% on 2-pt FGs outside the paint last year, for his second straight year.

Chris Paul over that time frame: 45% last year, 49% in 2012-13.
Russell Westbrook: 47% last year, 39% in 2012-13.

All stats courtesy of vorped.

Except CP3 can create his own shot on he perimeter and has range out to the 3pt line. I'm sure he can also make more contested or tough shots and defenders don't just sag off of him. To even suggest rondo is a comparable shooter to Chris Paul is why we Celtic fans have such a bad reputation. Be able to respect and recognize other great players and their strengths.

  CP's a very good perimeter shooter but he's not much of a threat to get into the lane. Both are reasons that teams wouldn't sag off of him. I don't think I'd take any slights on Celts fans compared to other fans very seriously either.

It's true I shouldn't take slights so harshly, but over on Reddit I get pretty sick of seeing Heat and Cavs fans talking about how entitled Celtic fans are, because I know from experience talking to many of us we are one of the most basketball educated fanbases in the NBA. It's just when asked to compare our players to other great players, or to be slightly objective I see a lot of crazy comments like the one made in this thread comparing 2pt % of Rondo and CP3.

We all know Rondo has become better at taking and making open 2's when the D sags off, but to compare those kind of jumpers to the kind of jumpers that CP3 is counted on to make and does make seems kind of disingenuous to me. When it comes down to the wire tough shots often have to be made, and Chris Paul makes a lot of tough contested jumpers that I don't believe Rondo could be counted on to make. Much like Pierce used to do with us, CP3 carries that offense. So there is a difference in those shots that simply comparing 2pt% doesn't show, and its a big one.

[BballTim]

Easier said than done, if he could do it, he 'd be doing it by now.

  It's based on a false premise in any case.

[Vermont Green]

I agree that it is not as simple as Rondo just deciding to take the wide open shots that other teams' defenses give him.  He needs to establish himself as a legitimate scoring threat with the pull up jumper in transition but probably more importantly, off of a pick and roll set.  Once he starts forcing the defense to adjust to him (both his man and the other defenders), it will make the other players on the court better because they will have more space.

Making other players better is not just about flashy passes.  Rondo can flashing pass with the best of them.  With his court vision, if he was able to force other teams to double team him off the pick and roll or to otherwise force defenses to adjust to him, he would be able to create more overall offense for everyone else.  And I don't mean assists, I mean a pass that may lead to an assist but more importantly, passes that lead to more passes that lead to easy buckets and open shots for everyone.

Rondo could be that type of player with improved shooting (and please, stop with the 49% shooting stat, every team in the league sags off Rondo because he is not a shooter) and willingness to make the "next" pass, not always hang on to the ball and look for pass that will be an assist. 

Last year was supposed to be the year that he would look to shoot more but excuses were made for him because he was coming back from surgery.  This year is supposed to be the year again.  Rondo looked fully healthy to me last season so I am not predicting a much different Rondo this year.  Others saw it differently and felt he was not full speed.  It is Rondo's time, let's see what he can do.  I am looking forward to the season.

[Jailan34]

Easier said than done, if he could do it, he 'd be doing it by now.

  It's based on a false premise in any case.

Yes getting back to the OP this is one of the times that I agree with you, I've often seen Rondo come down the court and take an open jumper fairly quickly. That's not where the trouble lies in Rondo's shooting.

[Eja117]

If I see this one thing out of Rondo, then he's a keeper.

He dribbles up the court ... his defender sags off him. Without even flinching, Rondo drains a jumper on the opponent. There's no thought or motive, of waiting for an assist. At that instant, he's the most open man on the court.

Then, during the next possession, and the defender tries the same thing, Rondo does another pull up jumper.

Now finally, they get the hint and they don't leave him alone anymore, now ... Rondo looks for his open man.



And that's it.

What if he merely gets a triple double and a win, while playing all-world defense?

[Eja117]

And if Jeff Green would just start grabbing 7.5 rebs a night EVERY night then HE could be our franchise player!