Last season before his injury, Rajon Rondo shot 24 percent from three. The season before that 23.8 percent. Before that 23.3 percent. His career high season was 31.3.
Until now — Rondo is taking more than twice as many as he has before and his hitting a very respectable 36.4 percent of them this season. He’s not consistent from everywhere on the court — he’s 5-of-20 from the right side — but he is 6-of-11 from straight on and is shooting the ball with confidence from the spots he likes.
When Rondo was out with his ACL injury reworking his mechanics and becoming a three-point threat was a goal, something coach Brad Stevens talked about with the Boston Herald.“Ultimately you never know how that’s going to work itself out, but that was kind of part of the big picture plan is using that rehab time to spend even more time shooting the ball,” the Celtics coach said of Rondo’s time on the way back from ACL surgery. “That’s the one thing that’s been pretty consistent since he’s gotten back is his outside shooting, both from long 2 and from 3. And I think that all the time that he’s put in is paying itself off.
“I think he’s put in a lot of time on his own, I think he’s put in a lot of time with (assistant coach) Ron Adams, and it’s good to see that because when you work at it, you want to be rewarded for it. So it’s good to see that ball going in for him.”
Rondo was always a dangerous playmaker with great vision, but teams played off him and tried to cut off passing lanes, daring him to shoot.
His overall shooting percentage and his true shooting percentage are down this season because he is struggling to finish inside (shooting just 39.5 percent inside 8 feet). However, he is shooting a solid 47.5 percent from the midrange to go with his improved three point shooting. Eventually he will get his touch back around the rim.
Which means wherever he is playing next season (and the one after that) he will be a much more dangerous, complete offensive player than before.
