People bang on this guy but all he's done is given us something solid at the 4 spot in basically his 1st year...... The guys had to come in and learn basically 3 positions which means 3 different set of defensive rotations. He was basically a rookie on a team where he was in the center of a lot of trade discussions and not even knowing if he'd be on this team. Jones was THE player I wanted out of that draft and he's played pretty darn good as of now and will only get better. 12pts, 7rbs and 1.5blks isn't stats that should be taken lightly.....
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I really want to get excited about Terrence Jones. Offensively he's already valuable and shows a lot of potential for growth. But his defense smh, his defense is such a liability. And it's a liability at a position where defense is a priority. Lazy perimeter D can be compensated for to a degree, but once somebody is in the paint, mistakes mean buckets. From what I've seen it's rare for a poor position defender to become a good one, but I sure hope I'm wrong, because he clearly has the talent IMO.
I knew it wouldn't be long before Basketballhollic chimed in on this thread. Look guys, don't buy into his infatuations. This is the same dude that pined for the longest time for Derrick Williams and Jason Smith as the answer. This year's Derrick Williams is Ricky Rubio and this years Jason Smith is Ilyasova. He wanted to trade Jones and D-Mo back in October of 2013 because they currently "weren't in the rotation". Ersan Ilyasova, while a decent player, doesn't really solve much of anything for the Rockets. He's a stretch 4 who doesn't consistently stretch the floor (2 seasons under 30% from 3, and 2 good seasons over 40% from 3). He doesn't facilitate the ball, he doesn't rebound at a high clip (about 6 a game on par with Jones), and he doesn't play with power inside the paint. He's an OK defender but lacks the size to matchup to guys like Dirk, LMA, Z-Bo, etc. At the very least Jones is a capable power finisher around the rim, can pass & move the ball, has some low post moves that are slightly under utilized, and can run the floor. Teams don't play off of him from long range like they game plan for with Rubio. Teams last year actually guarded Jones out to the 3 point line last year. He didn't hit a good deal of his shots, but he's going to get about the same respect as Ersan at the end of the day. Teams are going to live with a slightly contested 3 from Ersan or Jones rather than give up a Howard dunk or a Harden open drive to the rim. That's just life for the Rockets right now unless they were to acquire a true stretch 4 that made the 3 ball almost more deadly than a Howard shot around the rim or Harden drive. As Ilyasova is a more experienced player, and he does have the 3 ball most likely connecting at a higher clip, its possible that if they were on the same team they would start Ersan over Terrence. However if you are looking to make a large trade that will gut assets, and there is even the slightest questions as to whether or not the player you are trading for is even going to beat out the player you are wanting to upgrade from. Dont F-Ing make that trade. And I didn't even get into the ramifications of taking on his contract (locks the Rockets out of summer of 2015).
cmon this guy is terrific...this was basically his rookie season....do we need him to go elswhere like Dragic and Lowry in order for us to learn to truly appreciate his greatness?
strengths: strong finisher. above average for a PF at attacking off the dribble above average for a PF at shooting 3's good weakside shot blocker. rebounding (when dwights not in he does very well) playing next to dwight, the two most important things are the 3's and the weakside shot blocking. dwight is the primary post defender, and jones is good at coming in to help protect the rim. with dwight the primary post option, jones is above average for a PF at 3's although when compared to legit 3 point shooters he's very below average. when dwight is out of the game he provides a solid post game but is even better as an offensive option when taking other bigs off the dribble. weaknesses: 1-1 defense team defense (switching/rotations/positioning) ft shooting the defense and ft shooting may not ever get better. those are two things that guys either have or don't. its rare to see large improvements in these areas. getting to the next level improve the 3 point shot. it will make him invaluable next to dwight, but also will make him tougher to guard off the dribble. bulk up and become a good post defender. if jones was the primary post defender, it would save dwight some fouls, and allow dwight to play the role of weakside help defender. dwight is incredibly smart on defense, and freeing him up to roam and help where needed would be a luxury. bulking up for jones to become a better post defender is also WAY easier of a fix than teaching him how to make the proper rotations to play help defense.
All he needs to do is work on his set shot. His FT% and 3PT% are linked, if he improves one he'll improve the other. The only other thing I hope he does is get better at team defense. Don't care if someone is a good/bad individual defender, as long as they can play team defense we're fine. Given it's really going to be his second season and he went through a lot of character building/demolishing experiences this past season, I think we're going to see very early on whether he'll progress with confidence or regress because of the pressure. He's a great second year player. Lots of effort, tries to move well. He has a will to improve and help as much as possible so I can see him breaking the pattern and making a big jump if the chips fall right. It will be a nightmare defending him if he can hit 35% from 3pt range.
Too many are basing TJ's defensive issues on the Portland series. We waited too long to adjust and bring help when Aldridge got ball in the mid post. TJ is going to be a helluva player sooner than later. I wont be surprised to see him average 18/9/1.5 blks.
No we aren't, he sucked defensively all year. He is truly awful, among starters he is probably the worst defensive PF in the NBA. Given how important frontcourt defense is, that makes him the biggest defensive liability on the team, even worse than Harden. He doesn't help or rotate properly, and he rarely boxes out. He has to get better, a whole lot better just to be average.
We will see if he improves defensively but that has a lot to do with the entire team buying into playing defense as a whole too. Mchale is terrible to me.
Personally I don't believe in RPM, and TJ is a good defender with potential to be better to me. Aldrdge can't defend him either...it's just that we don't do it often given options in 2 stars.
You nailed it. People also need to realize how young Jones still is. Saying he is the worst player in the N.B.A at anything is laughable.
I remember a lot of people complaining about his defensive woes and wanting a replacement in the form of Millsap. However, if you examine Jones' physical tools, he is bigger, taller, and longer than Millsap. So it can be concluded that Jones' deficiencies on the defensive end don't come from a lack of size or athleticism, but rather knowledge of the game from a defensive perspective (likely due to coaching, and accountability from the coaching staff) and simply lack of experience (this was his rookie year guys)... I expect HUGE things from his this year, thats one of the reasons I think Morey and the staff are being patient. They realize that a 21 year old rookie who was essentially the 5th option on a 50+ win team who averaged 12 and 7 is likely due for a big season now that he has a year under his belt and more offensive work load. Any arguments to this point?
This was not his rookie year, no matter how many times you guys say it he has been in the NBA for 2 seasons. And you are absolutely right, he clearly has the physical tools, but lacks awareness. From what I've seen awareness is something you have or you don't, it can't really be taught. D-Mo, who came into the NBA at exactly the same time, age is inconsequential, and D-Mo showed massive improvements on the defensive end, Jones if anything got worse. That's not to compliment D-mo either, this is all about how bad Jones was.
There's more to defense than physical attributes. Millsap as a rookie played better defense than his veteran frontcourt teammates Boozer and Okur, despite that fact that he was shorter than either and that Okur just came from a defensive powerhouse in Detroit. Some players are just more physical than others and know how to play great D, they don't have to be coached to do it. I've seen plenty of terrible shooters improve their jumpshots, but have rarely seen a terrible defender become a good one. I don't think Morey is being that patient with Jones. We tried to sign Bosh to replace him in the starting lineup. Jones would have gotten a lot less playing time.
I honestly think he just needs to workout to get bigger/stronger in the post. He needs to add more "sand in his pants", too many times he just got ABUSED on the low post/ block. If he added some lower body strength, I believe he can improve his 1-on-1 defense at least a little bit. Plus a 2nd full year starting along side Dwight should improve his overall team defense, at least I hope!
Already LOL not only that neither one of these jokers can guard him and probably couldn't score on the man.
