http://www.chatsports.com/houston-r...e-Jones-The-Answer-At-Power-Forward-2-8188245 Houston Rockets: Is Terrence Jones The Answer At Power Forward? With all the hoop-la and attention on the Dwight Howard signing this offseason, the Houston Rockets still do not have a definite starter at the power forward position. By far the weakest and least productive position for the Rockets a season ago, the same can be said of that on paper at this moment. Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas, and Omri Casspi are the only power forwards Houston has, while Greg Smith can fill in at both the center and power forward spot. But the Rockets need a stretch-4 to complement Howard, and it looks like Jones is slowly separating himself from the pack. Coming off an impressive showing at the Orlando Summer League, Jones was named to the All-Summer League First Team after averaging 15.8 points, 7 rebounds and 2.5 assists over his four appearances. He was the No. 7 overall scorer. Now, even his teammates are noticing his improvements during their summer workouts in Los Angeles. “From my own standpoint the guy that’s really stood out from an improvement standpoint is Terrence Jones,” Jeremy Lin said. “He’s been playing really well. He’s confident, he knows he belongs and I think as a result we’re seeing him do things that he couldn’t do last year. He’s definitely grown as a player.” Grantland’s Brett Koremenos carefully observed Jones during his summer league games: “Dwight Howard is all the rage in Houston right now, but with his signing (and even before it) the development of Terrence Jones has become a key story line. The Rockets offense hummed along last year thanks to an emphasis on spacing the floor and getting high-efficiency shots — 3s, layups, and free throws — early in the shot clock. The best offensive results for Houston often came when some type of stretch 4 (Marcus Morris and then later Chandler Parsons) was inserted into the lineup. When one of those two played power forward, it brought a player into the frontcourt that could be a threat from behind the arc and also attack the rim off the bounce. Parsons, however, can’t be expected to man that position for an entire season, which is where Jones comes in. When given the opportunity to attack a closing defender, Jones has showed off an ability to attack in straight-line drives with both speed and power to great results. His finishing could use some work, as Jones virtually never uses his off hand (he’s had one right-hand attempt by my unofficial count), and it costs him a handful of layups and three-point-play opportunities. But even with that drawback, Jones has easily been one of the best players here at summer league and is making a strong case to belong in the Rockets rotation.” While Jones did average 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 23 minutes when he was re-called up to the Rockets in April, there were still times that he looked raw, indecisive, and inconsistent. But he has all the tools and skills to be the power forward that the Rockets are looking for, so don’t be surprised if he gets first dibs with the starting lineup over Motiejunas, Casspi, or Smith when training camp begins.
not trying to be a buzzkill because I love TJ, but 15.8 points, 7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in the summer league are not good enough numbers to start in the nba
I hate to break it to you but it is good enough to be part starting and sharing it with Parsons, Smith, Moti.
Glad to see TJ doing well. He'll be a good player rather starting or coming off the bench. He should have a breakout year playing next to Howard.
Exactly, but his defense is alright, and that's what he brings to the table. If they want guys who can score, they'll play Casspi or DMo, if they want the best defender at the 4, they'll go Jones.
Meh. Bleacher Report BS. Random opinion crap based on someone else's opinion. Why do people post these?
the front office clearly made the right decision in jettisoning patrick patterson in order to free up minutes for the young pf's.
thats how much lebron averaged in the summer league when he played guess he doesnt have the numbers to start in the nba
Yeah I think TJ is gonna be the guy. Could be a heated competition between him and Dmo though. I'm confident that one of those guys will step up and be a solid starter. If I was betting though, I'd say TJ wins the spot.
I don't think paying Patterson would be a problem seeing as how he's not very good. I think the fact that he's not very good and he was getting in the way of guys with much higher upsides was the problem.
The only problem I saw with tj was he didn't know our offense and when he shot a 3 he got smh'd. Defense, attacking and rebounding I liked but the homie wasn't given the green light to shoot it. Dmo in the other hand is the opposite. Weak, slow, and meh shooter. Get ready for another disappointment.
I'd agree with you in the regular season, but these guys are building for the playoffs. Aldridge opens up worlds of possibility on offense. Especially in the playoffs when defenses tighten up.
