This is ridiculous. It happens that the individual game of Jones is good while his teamplay is below average to average but is getting better. It's not turrible. Period. You get him at least 30-40 games of regular season to determine whether he can actually play in a team format.
NBA is still about 1 on 1 mostly. If you want to watch complete teamball 24x7 please turn to Euro Basketball. While I agree that the Rockets incorporate a more team orientated style, the league is still about 1 on 1 basketball and allstar level players.
Do you think a team with goals of contention will wait around for 30-40 games for one of its starters to learn team basketball?
To be honest I could care less what style of basketball I watch, although I do prefer to watch winning basketball. It is McHale that's the one who prefers team basketball, especially when we are talking about one of your role players. And really especially when we are talking about your worst role player. He better be playing some team basketball, if he's going to suck to begin with.
Yeah, because they didn't define goals in the first year of Howard and Harden. Goals were from next year on would be Conference Finals and Finals. This year's will be 2nd to 3rd round if possible and we'll see approach. First year of a new team will always be about finding the final roster to contend.
There isn't really a thing that stands out in Dmo's arsenal as of now... Tons of Euro players can play teamball but only the best individual players among them can succeed. At this point Jonas Valanciunas has a better chance of becoming an NBA player and even a star because of his game and the environment he is in.
He moves the ball decently and plays in the flow of the game. He has a good feel for the offense, and generally avoids running into his teammates. Sure, those aren't necessarily elite skills that 'stand out', and that's why he sucks. But he sucks a little bit less than the other guy, because you can say none of those things for Jones. Sure, and Dirk has a pretty good chance of becoming an NBA player too, but I'm not sure what either of them have to do with the discussion at hand, which is Dmo vs. Jones. Not Valanciunas or Dirk.
Sucking? Really? Players and coaches were impressed with Terrence Jones' game since the end of last season. He continues to improve, staying longer in Dleague, training with Howard and Harden in LA. Dmo was the one of the guys who went to the National team, did not practice with the starters. He did not play much there either. I don't get your hate here when everyone on the team is praising Jones. Even if that's just to up his trade value. Lol
I don't know if you watched the game but DMo started the game and was in the game for eight minutes or so until he was replaced by Jones. During that time Anthony Davis who is a pretty good pf had the green light to try and score on DMo. He shot 5 or 6 times against DMo and didn't score. I would like DMo to be the starter but I need to see more, I do think he played better with the starters than Jones did. Jones was in the game with Howard and Harden and he was taking more shots then they were, he's not talented enough to be doing that.
I flew out of my chair when I saw your post, but I checked and TJ only shot 27.3% on 3-pointers in the month of April last year, so not sure where you got your numbers about his 3-point percentage. His free throw shooting is a liability as well. I like Jones alot, but his spotty outside shooting, poor free throw shooting, and inability to see the floor (yet) means that he is not ready to be a starting PF on a championship contending team. Not that DMo is either, but DMo is closer, as he does not bog down the offense and had an excellent looking free throw stroke in the first game. Again, I like both, and I believe that defense (and rebounding) wins championships, so if Jones can just improve his vision and offensive awareness, I could see him overtaking DMo, but not at this moment in my book.
He fouls out too much. That is another way of disrupting a unit because the coach has to sit him. Well he does something above average. My point is that your thread about Dmo vs. Jones is not necessary because it is well known that the Rockets are looking for a veteran PF. This is one of your threads to lure posters to bet their money on a topic that is marginally important to the future of the franchise. We used to draft tons of PFs that we don't develop and that are average.
36-37% he shot in Summer League Orlando. ' 27% he shot from 3 overall last season in which he did not play much. Less than DMo.
Haha. I think you are making me out to be a bit too devious. Not sure how 'luring' posters to bet their money benefits me in any way. But okay. I do agree with you, though. In the long run I don't see either of these 2 as the Rocket's starting PF. I would hope not, since I just said they both 'suck'. However, we are not talking about the long run. We are talking about now. And for now, one of them is definitely going to be in the rotation, and in fact will be a starter. A fact, Jack. And I think that is worthy of discussion.
I need to revise my assessment here. Jones shot 76.5% from the free throw line last year. I did not realize that he was that solid from the line. If Jones keeps up this percentage this year, I put him equal to DMo at this point in time, and extremely close to surpassing him. The difference between the two is so slight at this point that a signficant advantage in free throw shooting to one or the other is enough to tip the scales. Both have improved from last year and seem to be working hard, so I can't wait to see how the season develops. I feel good about our PF position. It is too much to expect an all-star at every position. I'm also waiting for Greg Smith and Asik to get back in to see their level of improvement, as both of them can man the 4. Our PF position is solid right now, and with 4 young players working hard, I would be in no position to trade for a big name (unless a superstar comes along).
I am leaning towards DMo too, for the reasons you say, and I agree both he and TJones are raw still. But it's early to draw final conclusions, I think. Brewer/Casspi/Garcia still have a lot to prove in my opinion. I like Casspi's hustle ad shooting a lot, but we don't know if he can perform the way he did consistently, or how well he will mesh with the starters. And McHale's comment about his D has to be taken into account. Brewer, I see flashes of things that seem really great, surprisingly including his interior passing in traffic (which we saw in that clip from scrimmage and again in that nice assist to Casspi in game 1), but he's been mostly quiet. Garcia, injured. So there are still a lot of variables at play. Plus, TJones was bound to be nervous in game 1. So much good was said about TJones' improvement this summer (by Howard/Lin) that I still hold out the possibility he was nervous in game 1, and still has more to show. But yes, right now, if I had to choose between DMo and TJones, it would be DMo. And it is not where I expected to be before game 1.
Stray thought, but I think T. Jones and DMo's status could be affected by what happens with Casspi. Casspi and DMo seems to overlap in their skills (outside shooting, ability to drive), as well as weaknesses (defense). For the balance of the rotation, I could see the team going with TJones if Casspi plays a bigger role, and going with DMo if Casspi is the odd man out.
