TORONTO - Atlanta Hawks shooting consultant Mark Price got a good look at his summer pupil Rajon Rondo [stats] on Friday night, and he had to be impressed when the Celtics [team stats] guard made both his 3-pointers.
Rondo had been 3-for-27 on the season coming in, and he’d hit just one of his previous 11. But he was true twice against Atlanta, both coming as the shot clock was winding down, meaning Rondo didn’t have time to overthink the attempts.
“I haven’t gotten to see him too much this season,” said Price, “but when I have I feel like he’s trying to stick with some things we worked on. Obviously when you’re not there to stay on top of things you get a little slippage with some stuff. He got off to a little bit of a slow start this year, but it seems likely he’s starting to pick it up a little bit.
“I just like the fact that he’s sticking with some things,” he added. “I think a lot of times guys, when they struggle a little bit out there, they just kind of say, ‘Well, I’m going to go back to what I was doing before or whatever.’ But I think in the long run it’s going to pay off for him. I can see he’s been doing a lot better from the line lately.”
When asked how far off Rondo was when he first came to see him last summer (they got together three times), Price paused.
“He had a lot of work to do,” he said. “But he’s a hard worker, and he’s a great player. It’s just one piece that’s not there yet, and if he gets that going a little bit, look out.”
And the fact that Rondo can get to the basket even when teams are playing off him lessens the pressure on his jumper.
“I think in some ways that plays into his hands,” Price said. “With a guy that’s this quick, sometimes that’s the worst thing you can do is to give him a free run at you. You’re almost better getting up and playing him and taking your chances there.”
Snow reaction
The Celtics were still shaking their heads about the Atlanta area’s panic after snow flurries and ice on Thursday as they headed out of town yesterday.
Most schools were closed, leaving Celtics PR man Jeff Twiss to shrug a little bit. He’s from northern Vermont, where 31 inches of snow last weekend still failed to get the school kids Monday off.
Feeling hunted
It’s clear the Hawks are loaded for bear when they take on the Celtics, who have been unprepared to match that intensity in two losses to Atlanta this season. They will get another chance tomorrow, but they must first deal with the Raptors this afternoon.
Toronto has won eight of its last nine, the loss being to the C’s last week. But the C’s don’t expect the hosts to be apprehensive, even with six straight losses in the series.
According to Ray Allen, even clubs lesser than Toronto no longer fear the elite teams.
“Everybody feels, you know, ‘We’re going to beat this team tonight and we’re going to turn our season around,’ ” he said. “And we know that. So the teams that we’ve played in the last three years, everybody’s looking to play us and get their team turned around against us because they’re getting the best speech in the other locker room every night. And for us, we’ve got to remember that we are the hunted.”
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