It's not "knocking" him to acknowledge that he's a bat fit with Howard. He isn't a good shooter and isn't a particularly good passer or ball handler. Jones is a tweener forward who is good on fast breaks, but isn't very useful in half court situations. On defense, his lack of size makes it to where Dwight and Jones can't ever switch without creating a huge mismatch inside. Saying he's not a good fit with Howard is a legitimate criticism, but it doesn't take away from the things he does well.
there aren't many teams with two bigs in the league where this is actually true. those days have been over for quite some time
Sure wish we had a great coach like Pop who could utilize both Jones and DMo effectively in starting/changing line-ups, etc., considering they AREN'T one player
the more he gets to the line in a game, i think the more comfortable he'll be. hopefully hell get there a few more times this year. I'm thinking around the 70% range this season
That would definitely be in the right step. I hope Jones has practiced both his free throws and 3 point shot because that will def go hand in hand. I think it's possible that we see 17/9 out of Jones next year.
I'm not saying there is, I'm saying that on defense Jones and Howard can't ever switch because there's no center in the NBA that he could defend. We can add to it that there are also PF's that Jones has no chance defending, but I was just pointing out that if the play progresses to where Jones switches with Howard and has to guard the center, it's easy points/rebounds for the other team. Well yeah, we have Howard and Harden....The team was always going to win a ton of games even with a weak 4 spot.
Duncan/Splitter DeAndre/Blake Marc/Zach Adams/Ibaka Dirk/Chandler Bogut/Lee Asik/Davis Hibbert/West Noah/Gasol Lopez/Garnett Big Al/CZeller Birdman/Bosh Gortat/Nene Days are over, eh???? Look, to be a championship caliber team, you have to be able to play both power basketball with 2 power bigs or spread the floor with a PF that can shoot the long ball. And ideally you have a 4/5 that can do both, play inside and outside...as is the case with guys like Love, Marc Gasol, and LaMarcus Aldridge.
That weak 4 spot won us a quite of few games. That spot probably wasn't top 10 but it for sure wasn't at the bottom of the league either. And Jones numbers from last season puts him around the middle of the PF pack.
This is maybe the 5th or 6th "Hey let's not forget T-Jones!" thread we've seen since Chris Bosh decided to keep his vagina in South Beach. I should know -- I started one of them. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=256732 Steddinotayto did a great job laying out the case for TJ as potentially blowing up this year. I think we'll see fewer poor moments and more overall solid play. And hey, 2Pat or Marcus never busted out for 30, 33 and 36 points in a game during their first two years. Or EVER, for that matter -- the high game for either of those chumps is 24 points. My take in the above-mentioned thread, which I still stand by:
I can live with TJ's jumper, but what he absolutely needs to improve on is his D. His lack of D mystifies me because he played for Calipari and those Kentucky boys are all about the D. Perhaps with the new culture emphasizing D will make an impact. Jones is athletic and skilled enough to be a much better defender, the question is his effort and desire.
Well the first six listed will likely be in the Western conference playoffs next year, so that could be a problem for us. And the list didn't even include Aldridge/Robin Lopez, which we just saw was also a bad matchup for us. They'll probably make the playoffs too.
I don't get why it is so hard for some players to change their mechanics, I feel like it is just a matter of getting a good shooting coach and putting the practice in.
Jones is a very bad defender. Jones is in a fantastic system for power forwards. Jones only shows up half the time. Jones is a space cadet, guy is Slowmile Swift upstairs. Typical Jones defensive play... Parsons:"Switch!!" Jones: "Huh?" ~layup~ Lin and Parsons stare at each other after both may completely unnecessary switches. Dwight Howard looks at the bench perplexed. Snaggle tooth Harden is scoring a layup on the other end and Jones is still looking for where his defensive assignment went. He is limited.
Well thought out post OP Cringe worthy stood out to me most and comparing all previous PFs second year is an interesting picture to paint but... Fit is the big factor.... A big positive tho is TJ being 22 years old and development will happen but at what rate? We have to look at coaching primarily for that and that doesn't make me confident..
Didn't Jones progress a lot from his rookie campaign? Yes he has a ways to go defensively but he improved from his rookie season where he was lost out there. Even though he isn't good at shooting the three ball, around the rim dude money. This season Jones will have a better season than last season.
You can't teach snap, or attentiveness, so I doubt Haren or Jones will improve much defensively. If TJ can become a knock-down three-ball threat-- now, that would be nice; we could simply outscore everyone. Except for the Spurs, of course.
