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Rajon Rondo can participate in non-contact drills and he's moving around "better" but is still "not close" to returning. His focus is obviously his rehab and recovery, thus the comment about the exercise bike being his best friend (other than Brad Stevens of course). But that still leaves plenty of time during the work day to focus on basketball stuff. There's lots of tape to watch, a new system to learn, and all that. But Rondo's always been the kind of guy that picks things up quickly.
So what else can Rondo do with his spare time? How about working on the old jumpshot? You do need your legs for that, but it isn't exactly high impact work and if anything the repetition might be good for rehab purposes. Rondo's shot has progressively gotten better but there's always room for growth.
So it sounds like he's getting some good drilling done by a pretty good tutor.
He’s trying to get there, though. Celtics employees have been impressed by Rondo’s work ethic during his recovery, saying he’s begun to work with Adams every day. Adams has been given credit for helping Derrick Rose’s jumper, so he’s used to assisting explosive point guards who need to improve their form. According to one team employee, Adams works on plenty of technical stuff with Rondo. They sometimes work with the "heavy ball," a weighted basketball often used to extend a player’s shooting range. But Tuesday, they just used the regular ball. Rondo went to several different spots, listening to Adams’ advice in between certain attempts, working up a sweat on that improving knee. He stayed about an hour after practice before finally taking off, declining comment to reporters on his way out the door.
Glad to hear it. Hopefully, if nothing else, he'll get more and more comfortable with his shot and get more confident with it, because he's going to be asked to shoot and score more these days.
Man, can you imagine Rondo with a more reliable outside game? Goosebumps.