THIS ! I was very impressed with TJ's over all game last night (except for a few ill advised 3 pt atts), he was hustling his ass off, rebounding like a machine, passing well, putting the ball on the floor well etc etc. My only major fear with him is when he has to go up against the stud PFs in the league (see above list), but then most other PFs in the league struggle against that group of players. We could have used Adrien a bit for his defense and hustle against some of those guys, but wouldn't have gotten much in return on offense so... Hope TJ can at minimum improve even marginally against some of those guys...
No question! I like DMo and wanted him to improve but he is really not good. Yesterday what I saw was a Rockets bench that will be fine, except at power foward.
Terrence Jones is exactly the type of player this team needs...off the bench. Jones and his hustling, athleticism, ball handling etc would be the perfect energy guy to go with our 2nd unit. He should not be a starter right now though -- I don't think he is good enough. He has earned that spot mind you, but only relative to the lack of talent at the 4 on this team. The great 4's in the Western Conf. consistently beat him up, and I am afraid they will continue to do so. The backup guard spots and the PF position are clear weaknesses on this team, and I think they must be improved for this team to advance in the playoffs. I am hoping Morey uses the NO pick, Terry's contract and other assets to find a way to get a legit starting PF -- because Jones is a really good player for this team, and is exactly what we need. But good teams with deep benches have players like him as their 6th or 7th man -- not in their starting lineup.
I was curious if this was true or not, or just a case of massive confirmation bias. So I went through his game log and got his PTS, REB, MIN averages against all Western playoff teams from last year. I didn't get his FG% numbers because screw that. Against Western playoff teams he averaged: 12.2 PTS, 7.3 REB, 30.3 MIN in 20 games For the season (as a starter) he averaged: 12.7 PTS, 7.3 REB, 28.6 MIN in 71 games His season averages are ever so slightly better for the season over the averages against the playoff teams, though I would argue that with a small sample size and high amount of variance from game to game that you can't draw too strong a correlation there. Notably, he destroyed SAS. Against them he averaged: 18 PTS, 12.5 REB, 37:45 MIN in 4 games. What I see is a young player who was inconsistent night to night, but routinely showed amazing potential, eg. last night. I also think the (apparently widely accepted) notion that he only plays well against bad teams to be patently false.
This don't make any sense whatsoever. Why can't you just say T. Jones had a good game last night. Every freaking game counts whether you agree to it or not and T. Jones had his share of good games last season. Especially against the Spurs who won the NBA Championship. Can we not let the season play out 1st around here anyways. Good grief, you been blabbering about this for 3 years now. Man let it go, T. Jones is the Rockets starting Power Forward. Another thing stop acting like you know the formula on how and what it takes to win a championship. Jones might not have shoot the three ball well but he did everything else outstanding. Give the man some credit!
He fit pretty dam good with them. Didn't they win over 50 games last season. Come on dude chill out with the nonsense. I surely hope you didn't think we was going to win a Championship last season.
Good post. Jones is NOT the problem. The lack of a backup big is the issue. It is the same story as last season - Asik, for all that he can do as a backup C, is NOT a 4. Doesn't guard them well. What the team needs is a legitimate 'bruiser' for the backup 4 spot. I am quite surprised we let go of Adrien, personally I thought he would be the 'poor mans' solution to the problem - a 'banger' who could play alongside Jones or Howard.
As we all can see Holic is stuck in his ways. No matter what we say, he will always disagree with anything positive, when it comes to T. Jones. Jones had a great game last night and this dude will not give him his props. Year 1 Holic's argument was Jones will never be in the 8-9 man rotation. He will also be traded Year 2 Holic's argument was Jones don't have the skills required for a Championship caliber team. He will be traded Year 3 Holic's argument is Jones doesn't fit well with Harden and Howard. And he is not a PF for a contending team. He will be traded Bwhahahahah
Also check out his numbers against Anthony Davis. Also remember that TJones is only 22. There were 22 year olds (Doug McDermot) drafted this past summer. Unless we are getting a proven all star caliber PF like Bosh leave TJones alone and give him a chance to develop.
Did you watch the games? Did you watch the Portland series? LOL And he's only a second year guy now I suppose.
Year 4 Jones will be too expensive in free agency because he's too good. He will be traded Year 5 Jones is better than Rubio. He will be traded (for Rubio) Year 6 Changes his username back to jpotmac and bans himself again.
It's funny how you think the Rockets should trade the farm for a failed experiment like Rubio on the basis that his offensive game will improve, but you ignore that natural progression with TJones even though he's younger and has played better.
I know you know how basketball works. It's all about match-ups. LMA is long, athletic and can do it ALL. One of the most skilled bigs in the game. T Jones was a beast last night and is a damn good player. Eat crow and move on.
McHales & Morey often talk about spacing and pnr defense at the 4. The Rockets went all in after Bosh who does the former and is best in the league at the latter. Unfortunately for Jones those are two areas he's poor at. Even now "Upgrade" Ariza is an example how fit can trump talent/potential.
_asketballhollic give it up. LOL. The rockets went full throttle balls to the wall after Chris Bosh this off season and struck out. Jones is the PF at this time so deal with it LOL.
1. Rubio is not a PF. 2. I do not believe the Rockets should trade for Rubio on the basis that his offensive game will improve. My basis for trading for Rubio is: 1. He is an elite defensive point guard. 2. He is a restricted free agent and may sign for the qualifying offer, thereby allowing us to pursue another max free agent while we get a year out of him for less than $7 million. 3. His offensive game will make Harden and Dwight and a PF that can shoot the 3-ball absolutely lethal. 4. Rubio shores up our greatest weakness as a team. That being lowering the amount of turnovers and raising the amount of steals. Our steal/turnover ratio last season was the worst in the league. ---------------------------------------------- get your facts straight.
_ump shooter, the Rox don't have a 4-man that can shoot the 3-ball consistently and don't have a chance to win a championship until they get an upgrade at the 4. Deal with that.
It is about matchups. And apparently you aren't interested in winning a championship. I am. And that's why I maintain that we cannot win a championship unless we get a 4 man that can shoot the basketball and we get an upgrade defensively behind and alongside Dwight at the 4/5 spot.
