Rajon Rondo = Celtics’ Shaq? Rondo Practices Free Throws Following Loss To Suns
It’s tough to be Rajon Rondo.
Seriously – Rondo is the sort of player who has the ability to both lead the Boston Celtics to win games they have no business winning, and to help blow late leads in games the Celtics absolutely should have won.
So far this season, we have already seen Rondo throw away the ball in the waning seconds of a loss in Dallas, fail to get a shot off in a heart-breaking loss to Cleveland, and most recently absolutely build a house of bricks at the free throw line in a four-point loss to Phoenix Monday evening.
It’s hard to criticize him – anyone who watches these Celtics knows that Rondo had a huge hand in allowing the Cs to even be within striking distance of those teams – but then again, when it comes to the way he contributed to Boston’s loss to the visiting Suns, it is easy to see why so many fans were screaming in my ear about why Rondo cost the Cs the game.
Two for ten. That’s what Rajon Rondo shot from the free throw line Monday. Put another way, Rondo missed eight of the ten FREE THROWS – you know, that part of the game where you stand 15 ft from the backboard, entirely unguarded – that Phoenix gifted him.
Raise your hand if you are pretty sure you could shoot better than that from the charity stripe. Uh-huh.
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At least Rondo knows he has some work to do – rumor has it that he headed to the Celtics’ practice facility immediately following Monday’s loss to work on his shot – but by now it’s pretty clear that Rondo will always be the player opposing teams try to foul in late-game situations. Even if you ignore Rondo’s 30% success rate at the line this season – if you ask me, that’s a pretty tough thing to ignore – the man is a career 61.6% free throw shooter.
What does this mean for the Boston Celtics? If they want to win games, the Cs need to use Rondo as a decoy late in games, and consider getting someone like Evan Turner into the games in order to handle the rock. I know that Turner is nowhere near the assist machine and creator that Rondo is – but at the end of a close game, there are less transition opportunities and more traditional half-court sets and isolations being run. Allowing Rondo to handle the rock in close contests is going to burn the Celtics more often than not, as he is either going to rely on his shaky jumper, and see the other team resort to Hack-a-Rondo, neither of which are desirable options for Boston.
I appreciate your efforts, Rondo, but the Celtics would be wise to consider limiting your touches in the dying moments of one-possession games this season.