Just for Laughs: Celtic X-factor Rondo gets beaten in shooting drill by 8th grader

[Arby's Roast Beef]

I don't want to completely disparage Rajon Rondo -- the kid definitely has some upside -- but he's clearly the weakest link in the Celtics' new-look starting five. Why? Quite simply, he can't shoot. Like, at all. From Jackie MacMullen in the Boston Globe:

One day last spring, I was waiting to do a postpractice interview with Pierce, who was receiving treatment in the training room. There were only two players left in the gym: Rondo and Doc Rivers's eighth-grade son, Austin. Rondo, his shirt off, had assistant coach Kevin Eastman feed him the ball for 100 jumpers. With nobody guarding him, Rondo hit 52 of them. Minutes later, Doc's son duplicated the drill -- only he knocked down 70.

A professional basketball player was beat by an eighth-grade kid? Now, I'm guessing Rivers' son inherited a set of stellar shooting genes, but still, he's in eighth grade! But fear not, Celtics fans, Rondo is striving to improve ... kind of:

Shooting is all about two things: confidence and repetition. This summer, Rondo said, he has not allowed himself to quit for the day until he's buried 250-280 jumpers.

Wait, is "250-280 jumpers" supposed to sound impressive? I'm sorry, but it's not, especially with Gilbert Arenas on a mission to make 100,000 jumpers this summer, including 1,500 a day. Rondo is settling for less than a one-fifth of the makes Arenas does each day -- and Arenas is already good! No wonder the team is willing to go after 41-year-old guards who can still shoot -- I wouldn't be surprised if Reggie Miller works on his shot more than Rondo does even two years into retirement.

SOURCE: http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/08/08/rajon-rondo-was-beat-by-an-eighth-grader/

No offense to Rondo, but he seriously needs to improve that shot. They say that shooting is the easiest attribute to improve upon, and if he can make that open shot off double teams of Allen, Pierce and KG, then that would give the Celts a serious boost. Aside from that, his wingspan, hands, athleticism, anticipation skills, defensive ability, and even playmaking skills are all be coveted. That kid's a physical freak of nature.

 

[Superman]

SOURCE: http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/08/08/rajon-rondo-was-beat-by-an-eighth-grader/

No offense to Rondo, but he seriously needs to improve that shot. They say that shooting is the easiest attribute to improve upon, and if he can make that open shot off double teams of Allen, Pierce and KG, then that would give the Celts a serious boost. Aside from that, his wingspan, hands, athleticism, anticipation skills, defensive ability, and even playmaking skills are all be coveted. That kid's a physical freak of nature.

You have to have the attribute, to begin with. Rondo doesn't.

 

[BMiller52]

From what I've heard, the form and stuff on his J is horrible. All the practice in the world isn't going to help if you're doing it wrong. I'd know. He needs to rework(however you say it) his whole shot. Then he can start practicing.

 

[Bricklayer]

Given that making 250-280 jumpers probably takes Rondo at least 1000 shots, the total number of shots he and Gilbert are putting up this summer might not be too far apart. (as an aside, not sure I believe the Arenas number is more than just an egotistical motormouth yapping his gums again -- that's the biggest amount I've ever heard, and you might seriously be in danger of developing tendinitiis or some such doing that every day. Would take many hours of nothing but shooting. If you hit a shot every 10 seconds, never stopping to rest, that's only 360 in an hour, so you would have to hit a shot every 10 seconds for 4 hours straight without a break just to get close. Not TAKE a shot mind you, hit a shot. You factor in misses, breaks, etc. you'd be lucky to get out of there in less than 6 to 8 hours of pure shooting every single day, even before any other workouts. Sounds like it could be puffery to me.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

This story is absolutely pointless. Rondo is not a strong shooter but that hardly means a thing when he is not going to be expected to be taking many shots on this team. Besides that, I'm sure we all knew the guy in high school that never missed an unguarded shot in practice but had no game outside of that to reach a higher level of competition. These drills don't have any correlation to actual play at the NBA level when nearly every shot is contested. And for all we know Rondo was shooting at his worst spot on the court and it happened to be the Rivers kid's best, its also pretty reasonable to assume that the Rivers kid didn't participate in the practice before hand and wasn't suffering from any fatigue.

 

[VF21]

...You factor in misses, breaks, etc. you'd be lucky to get out of there in less than 6 to 8 hours of pure shooting every single day, even before any other workouts...

Ah, but there's the catch. Maybe he's living in the practice facility for the summer?

 

[hrdboild]

With Gilbert, that's actually not hard to believe at all. He's probably got a little cot in the corner by the ball rack. 100 shots before breakfast, 600 shots during the day, 100 shots after dinner, and the last 200 as a midnight snack.

 

[Vlade4GM]

This story is absolutely pointless. Rondo is not a strong shooter but that hardly means a thing when he is not going to be expected to be taking many shots on this team. Besides that, I'm sure we all knew the guy in high school that never missed an unguarded shot in practice but had no game outside of that to reach a higher level of competition. These drills don't have any correlation to actual play at the NBA level when nearly every shot is contested. And for all we know Rondo was shooting at his worst spot on the court and it happened to be the Rivers kid's best, its also pretty reasonable to assume that the Rivers kid didn't participate in the practice before hand and wasn't suffering from any fatigue.

His shooting is very important whether he takes 5 fg's a game or 15, he has to have that threat so defenders won't hang back and focus on just denying penetration. Rondo is a jump shot away from being a perennial all-star PG IMO. He needs to be putting more work in on his shot than he is.

 

[Bricklayer]

With Gilbert, that's actually not hard to believe at all. He's probably got a little cot in the corner by the ball rack. 100 shots before breakfast, 600 shots during the day, 100 shots after dinner, and the last 200 as a midnight snack.

You're still 500 short.

With Gilbert its more likely he heard somebody say they were going to hit 500, or shoot 1000, or watever, and decided that therefore he desperately needed to one up them before he actually pondered the implications.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

His shooting is very important whether he takes 5 fg's a game or 15, he has to have that threat so defenders won't hang back and focus on just denying penetration. Rondo is a jump shot away from being a perennial all-star PG IMO. He needs to be putting more work in on his shot than he is.

That wasn't my point - my point was the article was nothing more than a dumb cheap shot because the shooting drill doesn't exactly mirror a game situation. Does Rondo need to work on his shot, unquestionably. Just don't use a one-day observation at a post practice workout as proof. And consider the fact that he was the only one at the gym after practice working on his shot as proof that he is actually putting some work in on said shot.

 

[Jer]

Powered by Denver air, anything is possible for Gilbert Arenas

 

[Arby's Roast Beef]

That wasn't my point - my point was the article was nothing more than a dumb cheap shot because the shooting drill doesn't exactly mirror a game situation. Does Rondo need to work on his shot, unquestionably. Just don't use a one-day observation at a post practice workout as proof. And consider the fact that he was the only one at the gym after practice working on his shot as proof that he is actually putting some work in on said shot.

Before I comment on your quote, I would just like to say that I happen to like Rondo--I even wanted him in before Douby in the 2006 NBA Draft. As I mentioned before, he has rare physical tools, the hands of Elton Brand, the length of a PF, and is simply a freak of nature that doesn't come in the draft every day. This is clearly reflected in his rebounding and stealing numbers. Aside from his horrendous shooting, his skill set in terms of slashing, playmaking, and ballhandling are all above par, and he even showed that in college.

Now, in response to your post, his shooting ability definitely leaves a lot to be desired; he has absolutely horrible mechanics sort of like what we saw in our current training camp invitee Mustafa Shakur. And this is reflected even in typical shooting drills: clearly, shooting 52 out of 100 on open shots is poor no matter how you slice it; solid shooters generally make 70 of their open shots, which is like what Doc Rivers's kid did, and pure shooters can easily hit 80 if they are in form. If he can't hit in practice, how do you expect him to hit in a real-game situation with psychological pressure and defenders everywhere? Rondo's rookie numbers all across the board were solid, but if you look at his shooting (41.8% FGs, 20.8% 3FGs, 64% FTs) it's clear that he doesn't have the stroke, whatsoever. 29 attempted threes on 78 games, he barely has NBA three point range. Now, that can improve with added experience and as the AOL writer put it, "repetition", but it seems clear to me that what he does in the gym will have a clear role on what he does on the court.