BOSTON — The immediate question concerning Rajon Rondo is this: How many games is he going to miss for instigating the brawl between the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets?
But the broader question is this: When will people start to appreciate the fact that Rondo is a much, much better shooter than people give him credit for?We saw it in the playoffs last season against Miami, we’ve seen his confidence increase with each season he has spent in the league, yet people remain quick to dismiss that particular part of his game.
It’s like toilet paper sticking to the bottom of a shoe.
“Imagine if he could shoot?”
Rondo has been able to dominate games over his young career in ways others haven’t. He’s fit passes into such tiny places, it would make a contortionist jealous. He’s crafted assists with enough curve and spin that Greg Maddux might feel inferior. And among all his assists (more than 4,500 of them), there have been countless times when he has found oblivious teammates with passes when they didn’t even realize they were open.
We all know this by now: Rajon Rondo is an assist machine. There have been 204 instances over his 542-game career (regular season and playoffs) in which Rondo has left the floor having dished at least 10 dimes. But in 69 of those games, Rondo has also left the floor with a single digit in his scoring column. In another 19, he scored just 10 points.
“Imagine if he could shoot?”
Well, here’s the thing about that.