Every day we are going to look at an individual performance and examine just what happened.  Was it just a spectacular performance?  Was it poor defense?  Was it brilliant playcalling?  Find out here.

Rajon Rondo’s Triple Double

Today we are going to look at Rondo’s triple double from Sunday afternoon.

The Points

As per usual, Rondo was able to get most of his points (and his shots in the paint).  He was 1-1 from 3 (he banked that one in), and was 1-2 on long jumpers.  This is where the Raptors’ defense failed.  You want Rondo to shoot from the outside.  He is a better shooter this year than previous years, but you would still rather him taking jumpers instead of getting in the lane for most of his shots:

Here Paul Pierce gets the ball, and as this happens, Rondo starts to sneak around the defense, cutting backdoor almost unseen.

Pierce gets a screen as Rondo continues his cut.  Paul Pierce is such a threat with the basketball that everyone on the Raptors have to focus on him.

Pierce finds Rondo down low, and this is where the Celtics want to get him the ball.

This is because Rondo is a very good finisher down low, and the more baskets he gets down there, the better he plays.

The Assists

Another way Rondo benefits from having quality teammates around him is in terms of assists.  He has quality scorers all around him.  That isn’t to take anything away from Rondo’s passing ability though:

Here, Rondo gets a kick-out and he starts to attack the basket.  Here is where the Raptors defense makes a mistake.  Rondo does a hesitation dribble, faking a shot.  If Rondo wants to shoot it from here, let him.  There is no need to challenge the shot, and when Bargnani does, it gives Rondo an opening to attack the basket.

Rondo gets Bargnani on his hip, and he gets into the lane.  This is where he creates the most problems for his opponents.  Teams need to rotate to help him out and that leaves openings for his teammates.

As Rondo rises up, Turkoglu is on the wrong side of Rasheed Wallace.  Rondo notices this…

…and he floats a nice easy pass for Wallace.  Wallace makes the catch and finishes at the basket.

The Rebounds

This is the facet of Rondo’s game that most impresses me.  He isn’t a big PG (like Mark Jackson, Baron Davis, or Jason Kidd) that you equate with getting rebounds, but somehow he is always getting a ton of them:

Here, Rondo drives to the basket, forcing Chris Bosh to help out.

As Bosh helps out, Rondo kicks it out to Rasheed Wallace, who attempts a three pointer.  Another reason that Rondo gets a lot of rebounds is that he usually isn’t the man responsible to drop back on defense.  This is because most of his scoring plays and passes have him end up in the lane, so everyone there are other Celtics responsible to get back on defense.

Because PGs aren’t really used to boxing out, there is no real technique here, and Rondo is allowed to stand untouched as the ball approaches the rim.

The ball comes off the rim and bounces right to Rondo.  A little lucky?  Sure, but if there is someone boxing him out, that rebound doesn’t go to him.

Alright, I am going to experiment with another recap style.  Here, I will be breaking down one game in depth (the best game in my opinion), one game a morning.

The game I wanted to take a deep look at was the Magic-Raptors game.  I thought it was interesting that the Raptors beat the Magic at their game.  They hit 9 out of 20 threes, and looked real good on offense.  They also played some defense (which is enough for them), holding the Magic to just 29% shooting from deep.

What The Raptors Did Right

Good Looks At The Basket

The Raptors got a ton of good looks, and a lot of it had to do with them forcing the ball up the court.  Also, they got the ball into the middle of the floor, forcing the Magic defender’s to react, and putting them in tough positions:

Jarrett Jack really pushed the tempo all night.  Here, he gets to the middle and forces the Magic to collapse on him.  4 Magic defenders clog the middle, and Matt Barnes is the 4th.  He sinks in a little too deep, and gives a lackluster effort at the basketball, reaching in with his left hand.

Jack does a good job of hitting the open man (Antoine Wright), and Wright makes the catch ready to shoot.  There is no defender near him, and that allows him to step into the pass, make the catch, and pull up for the shot,

He gets the shot up before Barnes can effect it, and he knocks it down.

What The Magic Did Wrong

Poor Defense/Rotations

This was a common theme throughout the game.  The Magic got their rotations mixed up a couple times, and even after they recovered the effort wasn’t really there to stop the Raptors.

Here, Chris Bosh fumbles the basketball, and as he recovers Vince Carter comes over with the double team.  A lot of teams have a rule where you double team on the first dribble.  From what I know, teams like to double on the first meaningful dribble (one that attacks the basket).  Bosh is bobbling the ball backwards, and he dribbles it to recover.  There is no double team required here.

Carter’s double team forces the Magic to rotate back, and their is some confusion on the rotation.  Either Carter needs to rotate back to Jarrett Jack himself, or Jameer Nelson needs to slide up to Jack as Carter rotates to DeRozen.  Here, Nelson stays put expecting Carter to return to Jack.  It would work, except Carter starts to rotate towards DeRozen.  So the Magic have two guys going towards a man a pass away, while nobody goes to pick up the man with the ball.

Jack makes the catch and starts to drive.  Now if Carter or Nelson cut off Jack’s drive, they could probably force a pass and try to recover.  Nobody goes to pick up Jack though.  They both seem to be worried that Jack is going to make a pass to DeRozen…Vince Carter is pointing at him though.

Jarrett Jack gets into the paint and still nobody picks him up.

Vince Carter finally starts to to defend, but it is too late, and Jack is able to finish with the lay-up.

Dwight Howard’s Turnovers

Dwight Howard turned the ball over 9 times.  A lot of them were self-inflicted:

Dwight gets the ball in the post, but he isn’t really in great position (he is too high up and too far away from the basket).

He still tries to feel for is defender, and after a quick dribble, he kicks it out.

The idea is for Dwight Howard to get a repost.  However after making the pass, he doesn’t really establish better position (it’s not like he is going up against a big guy in Bargnani – he should be able to bully him).  Nelson gives the ball back to Dwight too quickly, and doesn’t give him enough time to establish better position.

Howard starts to drive middle, but because he is in the midpost instead of the lowpost it is easier for the help to come…

…so Dwight tries to spin baseline.  He is too far away from the basket though, and he needs to take a few more dribbles.  The ball gets knocked away from him, and it bounces off his leg and out of bounds.