Tyus Jones, PG, Duke (SI Big Board: 18) Jones isn’t considered part of the elite echelon of guards in this class. Whereas the Guangdong Southern Tigers’ Emmanuel Mudiay and Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell are viewed as surefire top-10 picks, many project Jones to be selected outside of the lottery. Jones doesn’t possess great size for his position and is not an elite athlete, but he makes up for physical deficiencies in other areas. Jones is a skilled distributor, possesses a tight handle and has a great feel for the game. He displayed so much poise under pressure during his lone season at Duke—which concluded with him leading the Blue Devils to a national championship and being named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player—that he earned the nickname “Tyus Stones.” Jones may not be capable of playing starter’s minutes in the NBA right away, but he should thrive in a reserve role. http://www.si.com/nba/2015/06/23/nba-draft-sleepers-rj-hunter-tyus-jones-justin-anderson-jp-tokoto
Strengths: Excellent lead guard skills Makes clutch plays High basketball IQ Good three-point shooter Excellent free-throw shooter Great assist-to-turnover ratio Weaknesses Not an elite athlete at his position Doesn’t have great size Needs to gain bulk and strength NBA projection: Draft analysts have projected Jones to be taken in the late teens or early 20s of the first round. He’ll have a solid career because true lead guards are hard to come by. His skills as a playmaker will make him valuable; he’s excellent at making sure the right people get the ball in the right spots. 2014-15 Season Jones made the All-ACC third team and was also chosen to the league’s All-Freshman team after becoming just the second freshman in Duke history to score 400 or more points and pass for 200 or more assists. His 217 assists rank third in school history, as does his single-season free-throw percentage (.889). His 144 made three-throws are second among Duke freshmen. Key statistics: 11.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.9 tpg, 1.5 spg, 33.9 mpg, .417 FG, .379 3PT, .889 FT Cool statistic: Jones’ assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.86:1 was a Duke freshman record. Reminds me of: Trey Burke What Insiders Say Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski “He is projected to be a first-round pick. He’s going to get a lot better, but people have already seen him and know how he handles himself, especially in pressure situations and in the biggest games. He comes through like a champion. I loved coaching him, and I believe he’ll be an outstanding professional.” What Outsiders Say North Carolina coach Roy Williams "I'm tired of saying this, but congratulate Duke. Tyus was 12 for 12 from the foul line [with] seven assists and one turnover ... Really a good basketball team." David Aldridge's Big Board 2015: Point Guards: | Rank: No. 6 TNT Analyst David Aldridge breaks down the top prospects at each position Listed at 6-foot-1, Jones may be a hair or two shorter. And that will cause problems if he chooses to come out early. He's not the fastest guard in the world, and if a little guy doesn't have great speed with the ball, his pro prospects suffer. But Jones will get a look because of his winning pedigree. "He's athletic and he's little," one scout said. "But he's really good. You keep talking yourself out of him, and they're 30-4, and in the big games he's a (handful)." A general manager echoed that scouting report: "If he comes out, he's the best point guard in the Draft," he said. http://www.nba.com/draft/2015/prospects/tyus_jones/#nbaProspectPlayermetricsModule
http://www.bazegod.com/sports/2015/6/22/tyus-jones-kasparovs-point-guard HOME/ SPORTS/ GAMES/ TV/ PODCASTS/ CONTACT US Sports Tyus Jones: Kasparov's Point Guard June 23, 2015 Author Note: This is my final piece for BazeGod. I was offered a partnership which included the Editor-In-Chief and lead writing positions at a start-up, Daily Zeitgeist. Our site is not quite ready for launch, but this piece was too time sensitive to waste. If you would like to be notified when the site is finally live, feel free to follow DailyZeitgeist on Twitter. I would like to thank both the site and its readers for allowing me to share my early work, and the opportunities at Canis Hoopus, and now Daily Zeitgeist, that followed. Thanks again — Joseph Gill. There aren’t many top-tier, pass-first point guards coming out of the NCAA these days. That’s why Jahlil Okafor was so set on teaming up with Tyus Jones during their college decision making process. By the fall of their sophomore years in high school, Jones and Okafor had already agreed that they would be attending the same college as a ‘package deal.’ It was a fantastic deal for Jahlil. He got to play with an elite point guard who was able to feed him for easy baskets and could be counted on to shoulder some of the scoring load as well. On Tyus’ end, he teamed up with the most dominant big man in the 2014 graduating class, who also happened to be a longtime friend from USA Basketball junior teams. Jahlil was a nice target for dump downs, blessed with dependable hands and a veritable catalogue of moves and counters with his back to the basket, as well as a willing passer when faced with a double team. Though Jones’ basic stats of 11.8 PPG, 5.6 ASP, and 3.6 RPG on 42/38/89 shooting splits don’t leap off the page, it’s the context of how he accumulated them that’s important. Okafor was dominant this season, but his game is not very diverse. Okafor is far from a ball-stopper (he averaged only 2 seconds per touch this season), but a premier post-up big man is always going to cause some collateral damage to his team’s penetration. This dynamic creates a lack of spacing, and has torpedoed star-studded teams before, such as the ill-fated 2012-13 Lakers. Or the similarly ill-fated 2003-2004 Lakers. Fortunately, Coach K is too good of a coach to allow that to happen, and unlike the Lakers, he is known for recruiting selfless players who embrace personal sacrifice for the sake of the team. It’s tough to talk about Jones without mentioning Okafor. When Jahlil was on the floor, Duke’s offense revolved around getting him the ball as deep in the post as possible. For Tyus, playing with his childhood friend meant accepting a slower pace and a more deliberate style of play. This approach turned Duke’s offense into the 4th best in the nation, and helped them win the National Championship, but several players had to sacrifice in order to achieve this level of success. Okafor, who averaged 17 points per game on 66% shooting, never gave Coach K much of a reason to doubt the approach. It speaks to the team-oriented approach of Tyus Jones that he was willing to sacrifice his prefered style of play, and the brilliance of Coack K that he was able to run an offense than kept everybody happy. Duke proved that a team can win a national championship even without showcasing one of their marquee players in his most optimal role. Tyus is a player who thrives in chaos. When everybody is scrambling, Jones’ perfect passes cut like a knife to the softest part of a defense. According to DraftExpress, Duke was the 8th best transition offense in the NCAA. Jones, who led the nation the transition assists with 86, was the biggest reason why. Tyus’ fast break playmaking is especially noteworthy because Duke wasn’t a team that was built for transition. Outside of Jones and Okafor, the other 3 starters were a converted point guard masquerading as a shooting guard (Quinn Cook), a 6’6” small forward (Justise Winslow), and a 6’9” garbage man power forward (Amile Jefferson). Out of those 3 players, only Winslow is an above-average finisher and transition threat. While Okafor isn’t a prototypical floor-running big, to his credit, he did run the floor hard this season. Still, if you put this group of players on the floor with an average freshman point guard, nobody would be talking about their ability to score in transition. Tyus Jones was far from an average freshman point guard. Tyus is a maestro in transition. Most players have tendencies which can be predicted and taken advantage of, but Jones seems to have found the perfect equilibrium on multiple spectrums. Cautious and aggressive, creative and fundamentally-sound, as well as trusting and assertive. He always seems to make the correct pass, even if it doesn’t lead directly to an assist. Every pass, be it a 15-foot chest pass to Quinn Cook in the corner or a bounce pass that skips past 3 defenders’ ankles to hit Justise Winslow for a dunk, is the exact same: The ball arrives mid-stride, with some heat on it, in the perfect location, at the exact moment its receiver is the most open or in the best position to score. Basketball players at all levels, and 3 point shooters especially, will attest to the value of a crisp, rotating pass that hits them right in the hands. These are the intangible benefits that shave off tenths of a second and often make the difference between an empty possession and a made field goal. Tyus’ passing ability and timing this season helped turn the halfcourt-inclined Okafor into a chunkier DeAndre Jordan-esque terror running up the gut. If Okafor ran, Tyus would hit him in the bread basket, and all Jahlil had to do was keep the ball high and slam it. No dribble, no need to be fancy, just catch and finish. Wings Justise Winslow and Quinn Cook also benefitted from Tyus’ playmaking, with Winslow getting the ball as he cut to the rim and Cook being rewarded with wide open jumpers. Every so often, Tyus would catch the defense playing for the dish and beat them by taking it to the rim himself. As for how Jones always seems to get the ball to the right place at the right time, it appears that he has already developed skills normally reserved for elite NBA distributors. Jones is playing a version of basketball chess that would make Garry Kasparov proud, consistently figuring out how a single misplaced pawn could unravel the king ten moves down the line. Opponents not sprinting back, opponents not communicating and those just a few feet out of position—Tyus vultures them all. Watching it is a thing of beauty. Following a Florida State miss late in the first half during Duke’s 73-70 victory on February 9th, Jones rebounds the ball directly under his own hoop and the shot clock resets to 35 seconds. He knows teammate Quinn Cook was the only defender on the right side of the court when the shot went up, so Cook is about to be streaking up the right side of the floor. Tyus pushes the ball up the middle of the court immediately, surveying the rest of the floor as he takes his first of three dribbles, confirming that Cook is in fact at a full sprint, and behind his man. The nearest defender to Cook, Seminole Jarquez Smith, appears to be laboring, running at roughly 85-90% speed. As Smith begins to throw his hands up, trying to lazily dissuade a lob over the top—a universal sign for “I’m exhausted”—Cook cuts from the sideline towards the rim. Jones, approaching midcourt, rifles a 40-foot bounce pass between two defenders, hitting Cook right in the pocket. Their reactions to Smith’s mistake are so in-sync they could have been telepathically linked. Cook takes a dribble to gather himself, Florida State’s last defender back is forced to foul—but the undersized shooting guard drops in the lay-up anyways. The shot clock reads 31. Duke has gone the length of the floor for a layup in only 4 seconds, with merely 4 dribbles. Tyus can run a fast-break like he’s watching the game live from an overhead television feed. His ability to survey the entire floor at a full sprint while constantly monitoring nine other players appears effortless. He does all of this while protecting the ball, and hiding his intentions from defenses until the very last moment. While everybody who grew up playing NBA Live and 2K assumes it’s as easy as waiting until the right moment to press a button, the reality is much different. Running the break is a juggling act, and Jones rarely falters. In the half court, much like transition, Tyus’ ability to instantly pick up on subtle mistakes leads to open looks for cutters, rollers, and spot-up shooters. He understands that the ball is a magnet for both the defense’s movements and eyes. Every skill a point guard needs is employed effortlessly and expertly. He changes pace unpredictably. He uses his eyes to look off the helpside, like an All-Pro quarterback. He switches up passing angles and styles, fundamentally sound but willing to make the flashy play so long as it’s also the best play. He makes excellent use of every fake in the book—shot, pass, jab, pivot. Tyus Jones has perfected every nuance of the point guard position. To a casual observer, Jones’ tiny movements with the ball might seem whimsical and irrevelent, but that’s actually not the case. Every single move is calculated. When he hesitates coming off a ball screen, Tyus is forcing a defender to either stall in no man’s land, drop back to cut off the roller, or else play up on him. No matter which outcome a defender chooses, Tyus will make the correct decision. If he pump fakes off a skip pass, it’s always perfectly timed so the defender closing out thinks the impending swat will send the ball into the 5th row. Instead, Tyus pulls it back and maneuvers past the overzealous D, daring the rotating help defender to be a hero. If a defender gambles, Jones burns him. If he hangs back, Tyus will gladly knock down a confident mid-range jumper. Tyus Jones’ complete indifference to any preferences is his best quality. The essence of Tyus’ game is that he is a wildcard—the coolest, most composed and calculating wildcard in recent memory. He is equally comfortable when a defender goes under the screen as when he goes over. He is just as confident shooting a floater as looping around the rim like Tony Parker, continuing to probe the defense and extending the play . This is most apparent in the pick and roll. His 50/50 splits with passing vs. shooting (according to DraftExpress, it’s 55/45 in favor of passing) are something you don’t usually see out of point guards picked in the top 20. When a ball-handler is so close to equilibrium, it’s impossible for defenses to force his hand. The equal willingness to shoot or pass is a hallmark of great NBA P&R ball-handlers. In fact, Jones is already a great pick and roll point guard, capable of helping an NBA team right away. According to DraftExpress, his points-per-possession as a P&R ball-handler was the 2nd most efficient in the nation, and the most efficient among major conference players (PPP of 1.175 as passer, 1.115 as shooter). This stat is incredible considering that Jahlil Okafor only registered 12 possessions as the roll man, scoring 21 points. In lieu of Okafor, Jones ran his pick and rolls mostly with Amile Jefferson, backup center Marshall Plumlee, and occasionally Winslow. When Tyus hit the roll man, their combined PPP of 1.25 would be tied for the 3rd highest in the NBA among players with over 100 possessions according to NBA.com, behind only Tyson Chandler, DeAndre Jordan, and Tristan Thompson. Jones probably won’t hit that level in the pros right away, but it is an interesting benchmark. As a freshman, Tyus Jones was the best P&R point guard in the nation despite his two main rollers averaging a combined 8.3 PPG. That statistic isn’t an indictment against either Jefferson or Plumlee. The two combined to shoot 65.9% from the field on almost 200 attempts—only 0.5% worse than Okafor. Instead, it’s a commentary on how heavily Duke relied on Okafor posting up rather than Tyus’ P&R game. Even though they won the national championship, there’s significant evidence that Duke’s offense was better in Tyus’ hands than Okafor’s. As I wrote for Canis Hoopus a few months ago: “Out of players who played more than 300 minutes for Duke this year, Okafor ranked 6th out of 9 in OTrg. Obviously other variables went into that number, but it's still unnerving to see that a player who is marketed entirely on his offensive abilities throw up that kind of dud. Furthermore, that number was only slightly better than Duke's number as a team (119.9 vs 119.4), and is dwarfed in comparison to Tyus Jones’ (125.0), Quinn Cook's (129.6), and—albeit in a considerably smaller sample size—Marshall Plumlee (142.7).” Not only did Marshall Plumlee have the highest ORtg on the team, he had the 2nd highest ORtg in the nation out of players who played more than 250 minutes, and the highest in a power conference. In fact, Plumlee’s mark is the highest for a center since the NCAA started tracking the stat in 2009-10. While many factors went into this, including Okafor exhausting defenses, the biggest factor was Plumlee’s play style. All Plumlee looked to do was run the floor, set good screens, and roll hard, and it worked very well. When Plumlee entered the game, Duke finally achieved some semblance of spacing. Instead of Okafor clogging up the lane looking for post touches, if Plumlee wasn’t setting a screen or rolling, he was trying his hardest to stay out of the way while making himself a target for dump downs. He couldn’t give the team 17 a night with nifty post moves, but he was able to give Jones and the rest of Blue Devils a ton of space in which to operate. The best evidence of this trend occurred when Duke played Notre Dame on February 7th. The Fighting Irish would supply two of Duke’s four total losses on the season, and had just beaten them 10 days prior. You can imagine Duke’s sense of dread when Okafor had to sit after picking up his 2nd foul with 11:57 left in the first half after they had jumped out to a 17-9 lead. Surprisingly, what followed would turn out to be arguably the best stretch of basketball Duke would play all year. Over the next 8 minutes, Duke buried Notre Dame with an incredible 26-4 run. With Jefferson and Plumlee platooning at center, the score was 43-13 by the time Jones sat down to catch his breath with a little over 4 minutes left in the game. A Jefferson turnover followed by a Notre Dame three-pointer made sure he was promptly reinserted. When the first half buzzer rang, Duke had utilized a 33-15 run to take a 26-point halftime lead. The stats accumulated with Jahlil on the bench over those final 12 minutes are impressive to say the least: Duke as a whole: 10-13 FG, 5-6 3FG, 8-10 FT, 9 AST Tyus Jones: 1-1 FG, 2-3 FT, 6 AST Forced to adapt to Jahlil’s absence, Tyus got to play the type of up tempo basketball he prefers. There was no reason to swing the ball around the horn, catering to Okafor’s monotonous post-up game. The Blue Devils had plenty of space to penetrate freely, along with the personnel to push the ball in transition. After the game, Coach K christened it the “the best half we've played this season." If there is such a thing as a “clutch gene,” Jones definitely has it. When his team needed him most this year, Tyus always rose to the occasion. Time and time again, Duke put the ball in his hands late in close games, and Tyus almost always delivered. He nailed a pull-up 3-pointer against Virginia in the final 10 seconds to hand them their first loss of the year. Trailing by 7 with 1:30 left against North Carolina, Tyus scored Duke’s last 9 points of regulation, culminating with a tough left-handed layup over 6’9” Kennedy Meeks to tie the game at 81. In their second meeting three weeks later, Jones scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to help Duke run away with the game after trailing at halftime. In the Elite 8, he shook off a 3-9 game from the field to knock down 7 out of 8 free throws in the final 3 minutes to help stave off a furious, last-minute charge from Utah. Finally, Tyus put a cap on a dream season by scoring 19 of his 23 points in the second half, including 8 of Duke’s last 12 points, in their narrow victory over Wisconsin in the National Championship. It’s performances like those that land somebody on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Many pundits fear that Jones’ upside is limited due to his smaller-than-ideal frame, average athleticism, lack of defensive prowess. While those concerns aren’t warrantless, nothing, not even his height, is set in stone considering Tyus just turned 19 a little over a month ago. Although Tyus has plenty of room for improvement on the defensive end, it shouldn’t scare NBA teams off. As Steph Curry has shown, you don’t need to be an elite defender in order to avoid being a sieve. The Utah Jazz suggested that a rim protector is what truly makes a defense when they shot from the 27th to 1st in DRtg by trading Enes Kanter midseason and starting French telephone pole Rudy Gobert instead. How many times did Duncan cover for Parker, or Tyson Chandler bail out Kidd and Barea during Dallas’ 2011 championship season? While Jones will probably struggle on defense as he adjusts to the NBA game, the opportunity to play with an above average rim protector would help cover many of his rookie mistakes. By getting caught up in the physical side of the game, scouts and draft analysts are neglecting the mental aspect where Jones is truly special. While the open windows and defensive lapses that Tyus adeptly preyed on in college will be diminished in the NBA, anybody who has watched Nick Young can attest that they are not absent altogether. The idea that a pass first point guard cannot be a game changer unless he’s a scoring threat on par with Chris Paul or Steph Curry is also highly unfounded. Ricky Rubio’s on-court presence pushed the Minnesota Timberwolves offense from 26th to 7th best in the league this season. Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks, who scored 30+ points only once this season, is another example of a point guard who controls an offense without being a threat to go for 40 on any given night. While the steep learning curve for most rookie NBA point guards might slow him down, Tyus certainly doesn’t have to score 20 a night in order to help his team score. Besides, Tyus’ passing ability and basketball IQ have already defied normal learning curves for years. Tom Schalk, a former teammate of Jones’ at Apple Valley High School in Minnesota and a successful D1 player in his own right (William & Mary), spoke glowingly on the phone to me about Jones, having been a senior when Tyus was only a freshman. “He knows where you’re going to be before you do.” said Schalk, lending his personal insight into Jones’ fantastic anticipation of the flow of the game. When I asked Tom whether Tyus ever missed his for an open layup or dunk during their two seasons playing together, he paused for a half second. “No,” finally came the answer, “I can honestly say I have no memory of that ever happening.” After taking Tyus’ prodigious prep career into account, plus his Most Outstanding Player award in the NCAA tournament and numerous clutch, take-over performances, it becomes clear that Jones could be a hidden gem of the 2015 NBA draft. Watching Duke’s transition offense with Tyus at the helm, it’s hard not to see some shades of a young Steve Nash. The similarities aren’t just aesthetic either. Jones measured 6’2” pre-draft, Nash measured 6’3”. Jones has a max vertical of 32.5 and a half inches, Nash was only able to do 31 inches in ‘96. While Nash was a better shooter, Jones is every bit the passer and floor general at 19 as Nash was at 22. Nash put up better numbers in his final season at Santa Clara, but would it surprise anybody if Tyus was able to average 17 and 6 at a mid major? He was already within striking distance of these stats on a loaded Duke team playing against superior competition. It took Nash until his 5th NBA season at 26 before he was ready to run a team. While Tyus is far from a lock to become the next Nash, nobody expected Nash to have the career he did during his 1996 NBA Draft. Hopefully Tyus will be ready to lead a team before he’s 26, allowing him to follow in Nash’s footsteps as an overlooked, undersized and under-athletic basketball genius whose teams post gaudy offensive stats. Initial reports have Jones falling no further than the 18th pick to the Houston Rockets in Thursday night’s draft. While this pairing sounds great at first, it really is not the best fit for either party. This season, Kevin McHale lacked a traditional floor general and was forced to have James Harden run the offense. Harden responded with 27.5 PPG, 7 APG and the 2-seed. That resume would’ve been good enough for the MVP many years. Do the Rockets want to take the keys away from Harden ? If they draft Jones, will they give him the reins? Dwight wasn’t willing to run pick and roll with Nash in Los Angeles, why would he with Tyus? The Rockets are understandably enticed by Jones, an outstanding player at their weakest position, but he only fills a need on paper. Our gut tell us the Rockets need a point guard, but Tyus Jones is not a particularly good fit for their scheme or personnel. One problem with finding a spot for Jones is that point guard is the deepest position in the league right now. The only three teams with glaring needs are the 76ers, Knicks, and Rockets, and perhaps the Hornets, Kings or Nuggets, depending on what happens with Ty Lawson. On the other hand, the old guard of veteran floor generals is showing signs of imminent decline. Deron Williams appears to be on his last legs with the Nets, and Tony Parker of the Spurs is past his prime. Still, out of those 8 teams, none of them are in the right drafting position to select Jones. Past Charlotte at 9, no other team is looking to grab a point guard until Houston at 18. There is at least one other NBA team that undoubtedly has Tyus on their radar screen: The Minnesota Timberwolves. Jones could become only the 7th Minnesotan to ever play for the hometown club, the first since John Thomas appeared in 44 games during the 2004-05 season. In fact, the last native Minnesotan to play for the Wolves prior to Thomas spent the entirety of his NBA career racking up as many fouls on Shaq as possible. Seriously. This wouldn’t be yet another sentimental move in the same vein of Kevin Garnett’s homecoming. The Wolves have serious reason to be interested in Jones for on-court reasons. Timberwolves starting Point Guard Ricky Rubio has already suffered two serious injuries during his young NBA career. A torn ACL and an ankle sprain so severe it caused complications with surrounding muscles have caused Rubio to miss significant time in all but 1 of his 4 NBA seasons. Rubio doesn’t play a reckless style of basketball conducive to being often-injured like Russell Westbrook or pre-injury Derrick Rose. But, that really only makes it worse that he’s had so much injury trouble so early in his career. His effect on the team is immensely positive, but it wouldn’t hurt to add insurance. Playing with the Wolves could potentially be a perfect fit for Jones. Assuming they draft Karl Anthony-Towns number one, Tyus could run a pick-and-roll offense directly suited to Towns’ skillset . Playing with a versatile, floor-running center in Towns would be fantastic, not to mention athletic, transition threats like Andrew Wiggins, Shabazz Muhammad, and Zach LaVine. The Wolves’ young core plays to Tyus’ strengths, and vice-versa. An elite rim protector would also help to cover up some of Jones’ defensive shortcomings. Even if Rubio is able to prove he’s healthy and stays in Minnesota, Jones would still be an asset playing off the bench, and possibly even alongside the Spanish virtuoso. This lineup versatility would allow Flip Saunders to call off Zach LaVine’s point guard experiment, freeing Zach to focus more on scoring. While Tyus and the Timberwolves would be a great fit, the Wolves do not currently have a pick in the range Tyus is likely to be picked. A trading partner would have to be found. An ideal trading partner is the Milwaukee Bucks, who pick 17th in the first round. The Bucks’ biggest needs right now are at shooting guard and small forward. For shooting guard, the Wolves have Kevin Martin, who no longer fits with the team’s vision going forward. Martin is an awful defender, which will bother Jason Kidd and defensive-minded assistant coach Sean Sweeney to no end, but he is a still a capable scoring threat and will provide spacing. Additionally, the Wolves have the rights to 27-year old Nemanja Bjelica, who could help address the Bucks’ hole at power forward. The 6’10” Bjelica, winner of the Euroleague MVP this past season, has a fantastic, well-rounded game and is considered one of the best European assets currently stashed overseas. The Wolves also have the 31st and 36th picks in this draft. Some medley of those assets might be enough to convince the Bucks to part with their first rounder, and only one pick before Houston has a chance to swipe up Jones for themselves. If not the Wolves, some other NBA team with a midrange first round pick will be ecstatic to welcome Tyus Jones into the fold. Wherever Tyus lands, let’s hope it’s a team with an uptempo system that puts the ball in his hands early and often. It’ll be exciting to watch Jones play with the spacing and pace that the new NBA allows for and encourages. He won’t need to play for a SSOL Suns reincarnate to be successful, but such a pairing sure would be entertaining to watch. The basketball world has mixed feelings about Tyus as an NBA prospect, but Jones’ stats and accolades don’t tell the whole story. Tyus Jones is a cardinal example of a player whose complete impact does not show up in a box score. This story is just beginning, and anybody who knows Tyus will tell you not to be surprised in a few years if he winds up as a steal of the 2015 draft.
I can see why Morey would like Tyus. He reminds me of Prigs, just younger. Both poised, both winners, neither turn the rock over much.
Tyus Jones = Bobby Hurley/Jordan Farmar Bobby Hurley won in college! Didn't translate to the NBA, however. Same as Tyus who's even slower than Hurley was. Both Duke point guards. In the Lane Agility drill, Tyus recorded the worst time of all guards projected to be drafted. A time even slower than several big men. He has the lateral footspeed of a center. At 6'0.25" with slow feet, he's not going to defend anyone in this league, much less opposing point guards. Lane Agility - Times Jarrell Martin 11.12 Richaun Holmes 11.37 Dakari Johnson 11.50 Rakeem Christmas 11.57 Aaron White 11.62 Bobby Portis 11.71 Jordan Mickey 11.80 Tyus Jones 11.89 6'0.25" with a 26.5" no step vert and slower feet than a bunch of big men. Does not project. Like Bobby Hurley.
Statistically Jones fits what Morey wants. From memory in the pnr as the ball handler his teammates are 1.1 points per possession. This one draft express sentence sums it up Everything I've read makes me feel this kid would scratch, crawl and fight for every minute for this team.
Avery Bradley recorded an 11.47 lane agility, and is commonly regarded as one of the best 'on ball' defenders in the NBA. George Hill was a 12.2 Kevin Durant 12.33 (!) A tiny stumble or slide in the lane agility test will cost a player. More important is the sprint test to determine their speed. Jones was a 3.32 3/4 court sprint (best PG was 3.02; and your precious Delon Wright was 3.29) - basically there is a struck match between Tyus Jones and other players on the athleticism scale. Sure, he isn't as athletic as some guys, but he is an 'adequate' athlete for NBA level. The more you post about him, the more I'm starting to like the guy! He only just turned 19, has a veterans composure, can run the offence, and has the ability to take and make big shots. If we are really bringing Llull over for the MLE, then I could think of worse results than having Llull and Jones as our PG combo.
Statistics in college is not always accu when you factor this is the Nba .A different Monster. Once in the Nba that statement stands more true. His fight and character gives him a chance....oh it don't hurt hes 18.
To me, if 6'1 guard is going to make it in the nba they have to be really quick and have quite a vertical. If you look at all the short guards in the nba most fit that mold. Even if they don't seem like they have much of a vertical at first glance they usually do. Aaron Brooks has a 40 inch vert, dude has dunked only once in his career. Tyus standing at 6 ft, with a 32 inch vert and not much lateral quickness / explosiveness doesn't seem to promising to me.
No offence intended, but I hate it when rhetoric against a player is simply spouted as if it is fact. Jones isn't 6'0, he is 6'2 by the same measurement that makes everyone else their respective heights in the NBA! Chris Paul is 6'1 by the same measurement that makes Jones 6'2. He isn't AB0 sized (who is 5'11 and 3/4 by the official measurements). Honestly, the only thing standing against Tyus being a very high pick is his sub 35inch max vert.... If he had hit 33 and 38 in the vertical charts, with an 11.3 lane agility and 3.1 3/4 court sprint, do you think he'd be in the lottery? I guess he would be!!
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/writer/ken-berger/25223896/draft-buzz-celtics-trying-to-move-up-heat-contemplating-a-gamble
Tyus Jones also has a very respectable wingspan at 6'5". That actually puts him in a decent spot among NBA point guards. I like Jones but I don't think we are taking him. I don't think the media has gotten Morey's pick right once all these years. Morey always drafts who he think is the BPA, and in the late lotto that we have been in, he has drafted way too many SF/PF/Tweeners. I wouldn't be surprised if we get another SF/PF.
No offense taken, but I did say "To me" implying it was purely my opinion/speculation and definitely not fact or science! lol Also, Jones is 6'0 barefooted, yes similar size to Paul, but again, Paul has a 38 inch vertical and is super quick. I'm sure you can find a some exceptions but for the most part IMO, I think smaller guards have to be quick and explosive to stay in the league. But again, my opinion ONLY, not fact.
Same as Bobby Hurley who was drafted for the same reasons. NCAA tournament darling from Duke. Didn't translate to the NBA the way Tyus Jones won't. Tyus isn't a defender. He doesn't play that end of the floor. Never will. He's not going to "scratch, crawl and fight." Dream on. Successful short guards who stand under 6'1" are always quick and fast. Always. There is no example of a guard under 6'1" who's as slow and unathletic as Tyus ever succeeding in the NBA. He'd be a ludicrous pick. As bad as Bobby Hurley.
As I said, don't take offence (I wasn't having a go at you!) - it is just that the talk of Jones as comparable in size to all manner of midget PGs is a bit crazy!! In reality he is average size (at 6'2), and has a good wingspan, and solid frame. None of the NBA players play barefoot, and so the 'NBA size' is always listed as their height in shoes! Disingenuous to use Jones 'barefoot size' as a comparison to other NBA players, who have a 'recognised height' which was their shoes height! I'm with you on smaller guards re: quickness. But really, PGs of average size and athletic ability can certainly make it, in fact, all manner of PGs make it in the NBA. Being able to play b'ball is a tad more important than physical gifting (although that certainly plays a part)
What about 6'2 or above guards with the same physical gifts as Tyus Jones? Given that is, in fact, his size...
