People (ahem, Chuck) have been getting on Rajon Rondo lately. Some of it is warranted, some of it isn't. The latest criticism of him came last night when he either (a) took way too many shots and disrupted the flow of the offense or (b) didn't take enough shots in the 4th quarter and disrupted the flow of the offense.
So went back and looked at every one of his 27 shots to see how much Rondo dominated the ball, and whether it's his fault Paul Pierce and Ray Allen never could get it going.
Shot #1: 11:22 1Q. Missed jumper in the lane
The play started with Ray running off a couple of screens, getting the ball and then giving it back up to Rondo, who then found Pierce on the right side. When Pierce had nothing, Rondo took it himself with the shot clock running down.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #2: 6:50 1Q. Transition lay up (goaltending call)
He was all alone in transition.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #3: 6:22 1Q. Transition lay up
After a Detroit miss, Rondo brought the ball up the left side of the floor. With Detroit defenders backing off, he just kept on going and took an uncontested lay up.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #4: 6:03 1Q. Lay up (and 1)
After a Detroit miss, Rondo came up the left side in transition. Jermaine O'Neal picked a guy off in the lane. Ray Allen may have briefly been open on the right, wing but a defender got in the lane quickly. Rondo took it to the hole and drew the foul. Paul Pierce walked up the court and never made it into the play.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #5: 3:41 1Q. Post move lay up
The Celtics rebounded a Mickael Pietrus miss. Chris Wilcox set a pick and Rondo used it to get into the post. Once there, the Celtics cleared out. No Pistons collapsed on Rondo to double, so there was no passing lane to anyone. Rondo finished with an easy reverse lay up.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #6: 3:20 1Q. Missed transition lay up
Rondo got the ball off a miss and pushed it up court. He tried to do a step-around move to get past the defender but it didn't work. Ray Allen was running with him and Chris Wilcox was trailing the play. Rondo forced the issue a little on this one, and probably should have slowed up a tick to find the trailer. Hard to totally fault him for being aggressive on a fast break, but I've seen him slow down on plays like that before to find another finisher.
Verdict: Questionable play
Shot #7: 2:42 1Q. Transition lay up
Ray Allen got the ball on the right side off a miss and fired a skip pass to Rondo on the left. Rondo easily beat his one defender for the lay up.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #8: 1:09 1Q. Post move lay up
The Celtics ran a play to specifically get Rondo the ball in the post. Again, no one doubles, leaving Rondo alone to work on the defender. The Celtics clear out and let him work, leaving him to score.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #9: 29.8 1Q. Missed jumper
Rondo calls for a clear out and just takes the jumper without any ball movement. This was a 2-for-1 situation so a quick shot was called for… but Rondo had the ball in his hands with 37 seconds left and should have called for a play to get a shooter open.
Verdict: Questionable play
Shot #10: 6:24 2Q. Pick & Roll lay up
Rondo sets the pick for Paul Pierce, who is the ball handler on this play. Both defenders go to Pierce, who passes to Rondo. Rajon pulls his patented behind the back ball fake to get in for the lay up.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #11: 4:35 2Q. Missed transition lay up
Rondo gets the bal on the left side from Pierce after a Detroit miss. Rondo attacks and misses the transition lay up but he also missed JaJuan Johnson racing up ahead of the play and, as he's taking the shot, Ray Allen springs open in the corner. Rondo was determined to shoot on this one.
Verdict: Bad play
Shot #12: 3:20 2Q. Made 3
Rondo sets the offense and uses a pick to get to the right block. He hits Paul PIerce with a pass, but Pierce bobbles it and is forced to pass back to Rondo who takes the 3 with the shot clock winding down.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #13: :44 2Q. Missed transition lay up.
Rondo ran off of a made basket. He beat just about everyone but forced a lay up. If we're being hyper-critical of Rondo, you can say he should have just continued along the baseline and found Pietrus trailing the play for a jumper.
Verdict: Questionable play
Shot #14: 11:46 3Q. Made jumper
The Celtics work the half court offense, Pierce gets the ball and Detroit collapses on him at the free throw line. Rondo was left wide open on the left side so he pulled up for a 10 footer and made it.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #15: 10:25 3Q. Made jumper
The Celtics set up in the half court and Ray comes off the screen and gets the ball. With nothing there, he gets it back to Rondo. Pierces lazily cuts through the lane and sets a screen for Ray on the left, but nothing develops and Rondo takes a jumper with 4 seconds left on the shot clock.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #16: 9:16 3Q. Made turn around jumper in the post
The Celtics clear out for Rondo once again. This time, though, the defense has decided to collapse a little, but Rondo spins baseline and makes the shot. This, though, is the first instance of Pierce being open (sort of) and Rondo taking the shot anyway.
Why sort of? Because everyone is just standing and watching at this point, and Pierce makes no effort to do anything besides watch. However, Rondo could have gotten him the ball as Tayshaun Prince sagged very deep into the lane. Considering part of Rondo's job IS to get the other guys the ball, this would have been a chance to get Pierce a fairly open shot.
Verdict: Questionable play
Shot #17: 8:39 3Q: Made jumper
Rondo brings the ball up, calls for a pick and takes the jumper when the D gave him space. Paul Pierce is standing and watching again, and there was no effort from Ray to get open or by anyone to get Ray open. If we're talking about getting Ray & Pierce in the flow, then everyone is at fault here. Rondo just called for a pick & roll and was clearly not interested in passing, but Ray & Pierce were clearly not interested in getting the ball either. Rondo made the shot, but this isn't what the Celtics offense is supposed to look like.
Verdict: Bad play
Shot #18: 7:47 3Q: Missed jumper
Ray comes off a screen and gets the ball but, after some dribbling to try to find a shot, gets nothing. Rondo gets the ball back and uses a Wilcox screen. Off the ball, Pierce makes no effort to get open, or get into the post himself, or anything. Rondo takes a step-back jumper with 3 seconds on the clock.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #19: 6:27 3Q: Made hook in the post
Another post up play for Rondo. These were working all night long. The thing about these post ups is there is NO off the ball movement to get anyone anything else. Rondo in the post became stand-and-watch time for everyone else. Jermaine O'Neal could have set a back pick and Ray could have gotten himself to a spot… or Paul Pierce could have moved. No one did anything… so Rondo shot it.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #20: 5:44 3Q: Missed transition layup
This truly is the first play of the game where I can say "ok, this is a bad play by Rondo." Rondo had the ball on the break. He had Pierce up ahead of him on the left and Ray on the right. He forced the lay up and missed instead of giving it up to Pierce.
Verdict: Bad play
Shot #21: 2:45 3Q: Made jumper.
Rondo gets the pick from Wilcox and takes the jumper when the defense sags way off of him. No one else touched the ball, but he was on the floor with Dooling, Johnson, Pietrus and Wilcox. None of the other players moved much.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #22: :44 3Q: Missed jumper
Rondo, clearly feeling it, takes the jumper again off the pick-and-roll. Still on the floor with the bench.
Verdict: Good play.
Shot #23: :02 3Q: Missed jumper
Rondo dribbles the air out of the ball and fires a last second jumper. I don't like this play becase it didn't really give the C's any options. Again, no off the ball movement to really speak of.
Shot #24: 5:45 4Q: Missed layup in the post
Rondo passes up giving the ball to Pierce up top so he can take his man in the post. He then forces up a shot that misses. You could argue that he might have gotten fouled, but this was a selfish play. You can also argue that at this point, the C's needed Rondo to be selfish because they'd fallen behind by 9. Still, I'd rather have run that offense for a better shot.
Verdict: Bad play
Shot #25/#26: 1:58 4Q
Rondo uses the Pierce screen to get way into the lane. He fires a pass to Jermaine O'Neal, who gets it right back to Rondo for a wide open lay up. Rondo missed the lay up, but his tip-in attempt was goaltended.
Verdict: Good play
Shot #27: :57 4Q: Missed layup
Rondo takes the hand off from Pietrus and sort of forces a lay up looking for a 3 point play. The C's were down 10 with a minute left and needed a quick shot. This was the best shot available.
Verdict: Good play
There it is. Every play in detail. The biggest problem with the Celtics offense last night, in my opinion, was Paul Pierce, who stood and watched for most of the game. Like I said last night, it looked like he just wasn't there mentally. Rondo's offense mostly came in the flow of the game. He had a couple of bad plays, but the reason Ray and Paul didn't get going was more a function of them standing around and watching Rondo instead of working to get open.
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