Kobe Bryant: 1100 minutes as a rookie Steve Nash: 682 minutes Terrence Jones: 275 minutes Terrence basically played no part for our team last season - he had some chances, then played terrible and got out of the rotation (until one of our other PFs blew their chance...). Show me another player who only netted under 300 minutes his first year (without any injuries) and turned into a star later. Like I said, it is not impossible - it is simply unlikely. And we desperately needed a PF last season.
If you don't think he will be a good player by what you have seen him do on the court fine that is fine and one fans opinion. But to look at only the minutes he played as a rookie as the single most important precursor to his future is... Let's just say willfully ignorant of all the factors I brought up in my post last page. So you think as a 20 year old rookie he should have got minutes over morris and Patterson to drive there value into the ground??? Or maybe no and maybe use the d league to your advantage.
He kind of reminds me of Chris Bosh when he played for the raptors and had that couple of breakout seasons. I can def see that coming from Jones. Hopefully he will be a huge part of our bench next season.
To be fair, I think he had a hand injury that held him out for an extended period. Let's not forget that Jones is very young, needed to mature personally, and also that big men can take more time to develop. I think he has some nice potential, but I just can't see McHale starting him next to Howard just yet. The jury is stil out on him, IMO, but I would not be surprised to see him become a very nice player.
That's exactly how I feel. With all the attention focusing on Harden and Dwight it'll definitely open a lot of opportunities for him to shine.
Nah, what I basically meant is: he looked good in stretches (but not special) and then he looked really bad again. He didn`t earn the starting job - and you can argue he didn`t earn meaningful minutes either. Each of our PFs after the PPat trade looked real bad. The minutes are a reflection of that. Like I said: I hope he does turn into a quality starter - and I believe he can be that. I just say talk about him turning into a star, or even that it is pretty certain that he becomes a quality starter are pretty premature. He has shown flashes so far but didn`t earn meaningful minutes - and usually that means something.
For someone his size, his handles are not bad. Better than average. Plus it's not like we need him playmaking with Lin, Haren and Parsons on the floor. Just move the ball around the horn and dribble pass in transition is about all. He will have no prob handling that.
Jermaine O'Neal: 458 minutes as a rookie, 311 minutes as a sophomore. Andrew Bynum: 338 minutes Ben Wallace: 197 minutes These guys did not play significant roles on their teams their first year. For Bynum and JO, it took a few years. We develop guys differently because we utilize the D-League. If you want to move some arbitrary goalposts around to make it seem like Jones can't succeed, good for you. Bynum's extra 63 minutes of playing time aren't significant at all and the Lakers desparately needed a center.
No they are not unsignificant - and those are good examples. Yes, I believe he could turn into a Jermain O Neal, or Ben Wallace - not really stars, but close to it. I am not on a mission to prove, that he is worthless. I am just reading on here often: "Jones is the next Josh Smith" or "Jones is an all star in the making" - and I just want to point out, how unlikely that is. And I don`t think that he showed a lot during last season - like I said, flashes, but nothing more. I am rooting for him and I acutally really like him - but I would be more than satisfied if he turns into a serviceable starter. I don`t expect any more, although I do hope for more.
I hope he brings the dribble drive back into his game this year. His main issue in the D-League was that he was dribbling too high and would end up turning it over. If he keeps it low, dribbles sharply and speeds it up, he'll have another great weapon because he finishes well around the basket. Go lefties!
