TJ should be placed in the starting lineup RIGHT NOW... G-Smith is a foul machine and he's better served coming off the bench so he can back up both the 4 & 5 position.
I don't think TJones was better than PPat or Morris at the beginning of the season, and McHale was going to play the best players on the Roster. I think the way they handled TJones was perfect, he got minutes and improved in the D-League, and when they brought him up to practice the coaches were able to see what progress he had made. I wish D-Mo and TRob could have played more in the D-League. TJones is still struggling to figure out where he is supposed to be on the court but he's improving. I hoping that summer league, and then training camp, and then another preseason will get our young PF's ready to make a real contribution.
With all the Jones fever, just want to remind people that OldManRock and some others called this from the get go. :grin:
wait until he comes back to ground before you make any judgement, remember he is playing with the starters, which has DH in the middle for D and Harden, parsons there for O, he just have to do the dirty work
This forum is one of a kind. Is it not acceptable to start a new thread after seven months, or should we always have to check the dates on the first page to make sure we are reading something new? Never seen anything like this before.
With all due respect, TJ still hasn't secured himself a spot at the 4. His issue has always been consistency. Only time will tell if he can maintain his level of play.
He is playing great as a complimentary piece, lets hope he can keep it up as teams start to pay attention to him in their scouting reports. DD
Clearly it only takes 4 games to get yours. How about we say we look at a 20 game stretch from him? I mean, I know that's such a ridiculously high number to measure consistency but what can I say.
If Jones starts getting teams to plan for him they are going to have to play on him more which leads to less pressure on guys like Chandler and Dwight. As long as Terrence doesn't start getting a big head and tries to force his offense, he's going to be a positive for this starting unit. Even if his stats drop off a bit due to defenses planning against him, it should mean that Dwight, & Chandler are getting better looks on offense. Should the Rockets upgrade still???.. its a tough call at this point what will be considered an upgrade now, and at the end of the season. I'd be weary of a guy who is a high paid PF who might not get much PT if he can't beat out Jones. Anything short of Love & Aldridge & I'd probably want them to bring more to the table like versatility, defense, veteran savvy… basically some Battierism. Id still be more than happy adding Millsap because of this, and would love to bring in a versatile veteran like Luol Deng or Batum who can play multiple positions & defend. Not so sure what someone like Ilyasova brings to this team. Ryan Anderson would be nice, but do you really want to pay a guy who might not even start 8+ mil a year for three years? He pretty much locks them out of future upgrades which is what concerns me.
He doesn't really have my stamp of approval yet. Yes, I think we will know more after another 15 games or so. I watched him play his D-League games and I thought he had all the tools to be a solid NBA player. Last year he was kinda lost at times and seemed unsure of himself, even in his D-League games. I'm somewhat surprised at the leap he seems to have made. He has started the last six games and has performed extremely well in my opinion. He's not trying to do too much, and yet he's been making a big contribution. Jones is only 21 years old, which is still very young. I really hope the Rockets don't trade him, but if they do, I think his trade value has skyrocketed.
Teams having to pay attention to him creates opportunities and spacing for other players. That's a good thing and it's not like Jones doesn't pass pretty well.
He is in the front court with Dwight Howard a veteran that can score & help on defense. With asik last year because of his lack of offense we all expected him to score be this lma type guy or no one was happy, this year Howard can communicate what it takes for them to be successful and he can learn from him. Jones just needs to rebound play D and don't ball watch stay moving so he can catch in finish or knock down shots. I see chemistry forming with him and Dwight that's the 2nd alley he has thrown to Howard. If we remember Howard's first interview here on media day. He spoke big about jones and what he thinks he can be, that's who the big fella wanted in the front court with him from the jump. He knew he had the tools and would be open to learning from him down there. Basketball is all about a fit a system, certain players compliment each other, jones & asik just wasn't a good fit down there.
