Rondo has worked on his shot

[Gant]

If Rondo corrects his shot and makes people play up on him, he'll blast right by everybody. Couple that with Rasheed and Garnett pulling out the big defenders and it will be devastating.

[Kefa461]

It looks like the form of someone carrying a sack of rice or something. The picture is pretty fitting though. Just look at the looks on their faces, you would almost be able to say that they were appalled at his shooting form

The rest of the league better hope Rondo never gets a shot, because if he does.....watch out. If Doc is right and he is becoming an "average" shooter.....Rondo won't be stopped.

[kgnwally]

I saw the same report. Welsh was down on Rondo's shot at the end of last season as well as Rondo's commitment to improve so he does not toss out compliments lightly.

Again a statement about our pathetic Celtics beat writers that not a single one had a clue about this, arguably second only to KG's health as a central story of the off-season. I googled Rondo and Price and shooting and nothing came up about this at all. Pathetic.

i completely agreewith you on this. why does it seem celtics beat writers cant get a developing story for the life of them? hopefully rondo can knock down those mid range jumpers all season

[sully00]

To be fair if Rondo doesn't say anything about it to anyone how are beat writers supposed to know?

There must have been a dozen interviews with Rondo this off season and every single one of them asked about his jump shot and what he was doing this off season and he never mentioned it.

Most of the time you only hear about these things after the fact, for the specific reason that if for whatever reason it doesn't work out it doesn't turn into a story in itself. If Rondo turns an ankle and doesn't go after he tells everyone he is then the headline is "Rondo decides not to work out with Sharpshooter Price."

Couldn't possibly think of a better guy for Rondo to learn from.

[humblebum]

If Rondo corrects his shot and makes people play up on him, he'll blast right by everybody. Couple that with Rasheed and Garnett pulling out the big defenders and it will be devastating.

This ^

[wigglestrue]

That is the image Celticsblog used for this "article." It took me a second to realize that obviously this picture was taken during the season, but my first reaction was, "that better not be the new form!" His Right arm is at 2 oclock, not in and his left hand is to far up on the ball which causes side spin.

I do believe however that shooting is one of the aspects of the game that really can be taught and improved. You can't teach height or speed. And it is much harder for someone to learn to be aggressive or to play good D I think.

The real question I have about rondo is not if he will improve his shot (he will) but will he still have his drive once we lock him up long term?

We all talked about this before, but his elbow was always in a straight line to the basket. Where it "flies out" or is "at 2 o'clock" is only in relationship to his body. So if his elbow is now "in", then that must mean his torso as a whole is square to the basket, and the cocked arm is totally perpendicular to the shoulders. Basically, he's square to the basket now, if this report is true. Which is better than diagonal I guess, but if you look closely there aren't many shooters who aren't somewhat diagonal to the basket. Squaring up the torso is the mark of many elite shooters, though. Kerr, Price...the typical uber-accurate white-guy gym-rat form.

Anyway, awesome news!

[ParticleMan]

I still can`t get over the fact that he only started working on his shot last year...Just can`t understand that...

Hopefully, we see improvement this season...

He has worked on his shot every summer. Every past summer we heard about how he's taking hundreds of shots per day etc etc. But if he's practicing a crappy form it won't help. Hopefully his form really is better, and he sticks with it. Who knows, I'll believe it when he starts shooting better than 37% EFG on jumpers.

[hickfromfrenchlick]

To be fair if Rondo doesn't say anything about it to anyone how are beat writers supposed to know?

There must have been a dozen interviews with Rondo this off season and every single one of them asked about his jump shot and what he was doing this off season and he never mentioned it.

Most of the time you only hear about these things after the fact, for the specific reason that if for whatever reason it doesn't work out it doesn't turn into a story in itself. If Rondo turns an ankle and doesn't go after he tells everyone he is then the headline is "Rondo decides not to work out with Sharpshooter Price."

Couldn't possibly think of a better guy for Rondo to learn from.

Well, there is a guy named Walter (although nobody calls him that) with the sweetest shooting stroke there is. I think he went to UConn...

Mark Price used to average about 50 ppg when I played with the Cavs in NBA Live '95.

Somebody above asked why Price would tutor a Boston Celtic. The answer is: CASH.

[sully00]

^ But that is like trying to get a screeching cat to sing opera. Let 'em walk first.

Price had a text book shooting form and was a pg as well.

[wigglestrue]

Kerr, Price...the typical uber-accurate white-guy gym-rat form.

And you know what, even Kerr and Price were ever-so-slightly diagonal when squaring up. So if anything Rondo is MORE squared up, but not totally 100%. And his elbow is "in" but again hopefully not 100% "in". As seen in that pic above, I thought the biggest problem was all that hand/palm contact with his right hand, not enough fingers.

[sully00]

Kerr, Price...the typical uber-accurate white-guy gym-rat form.

And you know what, even Kerr and Price were ever-so-slightly diagonal when squaring up. So if anything Rondo is MORE squared up, but not totally 100%. And his elbow is "in" but again hopefully not 100% "in". As seen in that pic above, I thought the biggest problem was all that hand/palm contact with his right hand, not enough [b]fingers[/b].

That right there is the biggest problem is the size of the dude's hands. I think his broken ass form is an offshoot of not being able to get rotation off his fingers.

Either way just hope he fixed it.

[Gant]

The reason Mark Price was helping Rondo was because Rondo called Price and asked. (from an interview on CSN)

[humblebum]

In regards to Rondo's hands, which I agree is the more problematic issue with his jumper (the fact that his palm is touching the rock when he's shooting, not good), does anyone feel that Rondo's body type is similar to a certain great player named Michael Jordan?

Obviously, Rondo is six inches shorter and thus will never enjoy the type of physical dominance that Jordan possessed but pound for pound Rondo just has a strikingly similar body-type to Jordan. Maybe it's just my eyes deceiving me but with the lanky arms and skinny frame, the disproportionately large hands, the speed, the agility, the leaping ability... I mean Rondo just seems to possess many of the same freakish physical and athletic capabilities that Jordan had, again, only in a smaller frame.

And back to the point about Rondo's shot, didn't Jordan have some difficulty developing his shot due to the size of his hands? Jordan never struggled with his jumpshot as Rondo has so I'm not making a direct comparison but I think that with time Rondo will develop a more reliable shot and the confidence to go with it. And then... just maybe it won't seem so crazy to mention Rondo and Jordan in the same sentence. Isn't it nice to dream?

[wigglestrue]

Boo!

- Elbow flies out
- Too much hand on the ball
- Guide hand interferes
- Ball too close to head





























J/K, I remember Jordan having GREAT touch, the ball gliding off his fingertips.

[celticfan42487]

I feel like we read this exact story last season. And during practices Rondo was going to make 100 shots a day as a warm up.

[GuyClinch]

They were probably writing this story in the school paper at Oak Hill.

[sam_I_am]

In regards to Rondo's hands, which I agree is the more problematic issue with his jumper (the fact that his palm is touching the rock when he's shooting, not good), does anyone feel that Rondo's body type is similar to a certain great player named Michael Jordan?

Obviously, Rondo is six inches shorter and thus will never enjoy the type of physical dominance that Jordan possessed but pound for pound Rondo just has a strikingly similar body-type to Jordan. Maybe it's just my eyes deceiving me but with the lanky arms and skinny frame, the disproportionately large hands, the speed, the agility, the leaping ability... I mean Rondo just seems to possess many of the same freakish physical and athletic capabilities that Jordan had, again, only in a smaller frame.

And back to the point about Rondo's shot, didn't Jordan have some difficulty developing his shot due to the size of his hands? Jordan never struggled with his jumpshot as Rondo has so I'm not making a direct comparison but I think that with time Rondo will develop a more reliable shot and the confidence to go with it. And then... just maybe it won't seem so crazy to mention Rondo and Jordan in the same sentence. Isn't it nice to dream?

Jordan was the all time best player because of his dedication to the game and skill level as much as his freakish athletic ability. Jordan had that skill and ability as an 18 year old freshman at UNC and continued to work on it. Jordan came to the NBA with an incredibly polished game. He didn't just run around or over people. He was fundamentally unbelievable and his shooting mechanics were great as a rookie. Sure, his shot was weaker as a rookie and he continued to work on it and improve it. It isn't easy to catch up to guys like that by starting at age 23. Jordan was as much about his skill level as Larry Bird was. Where Jordan was weak early in his career was getting the most out of his teammates mainly because relying on himself was usually the most successful option.

Rondo is a terrible shooter right now by any standard. With dedication he can improve but to be at this phase of his career and be so bad a shooter doesn't bode well.