Jones was undeniably the x factor against the Spurs last year. He was a big matchup problem for them with his athleticism. I still remember how he came out and balled on Christmas day last year. In the four wins last year... 20 and 11 21 and 9 21 and 14 10 and 16
The thing that I like about jones the most is that he doesn't need the ball in his hands (touches/shots) to be effective. He'll impact the game in many ways. He's athletic, can run the pick n roll, finishes strong in the paint, he can shoot, block shots, rebound, runs in transition and he's got great handles for a PF. DMOs great too. His defense has improved a lot but he NEEDS his touches in the post to be effective.
I miss Terrance Jones. Yeah I said it! I hope he gets well soon and is able to come back and continue to develop as a player. There has been lots of negative talk about this young man. Talk about how easy it was for him to play alongside Harden and Howard and that any player in the league could just step into his role and be just as good or better. That without the attention those two draw, he wouldn't look so good. All the while people simply ignored how he had multiple 30 point games playing alongside Asik when Howard was out towards the end of last year. That he pretty much maintained the same averages and efficiency during the 10 games that he played in which Howard was out. I'm still holding out hope that Smith can figure this out, but as of today, TJ's production from that starting 4 spot has yet to be replaced. D. Mo has made strides, but has played much better overall without Howard with only a few exceptions. That said, being able to play without the ball and still contribute offensively is certainly a skill. Jones is a guy you never have to run plays for and he can still get you 20 points.
There were so many game last year where he was player of the game playing next to Howard. We would get off to some very fast starts with his energy, and he is solid rebounder. I wish he had a jump shot but he can still work on it. But as of now he's a more athletic, efficient, & less TO prone than smith. Only thing smith is better at is positional defense.
It's really simple...... Jones doesn't help us win..... He helps us blow teams out. Without him we don't seem to have have ability anymore no matter how good harden plays..... Jones is one of my favorite rockets and one of the few players I felt like we had to have out of that draft.... Hopefully now more fans will appreciate what he brought to this this team. His greatest asset is clear to me at this point and that is that he could finish.... And finish with the best of them.... We need that now desperately.....
TJ reminds me of Carl Landry during his emergence. He basically catches teams off guard with his athleticism and his motor and makes them pay before they realize who he is. Of course, that's where the comparison ends but only because Landry really became something special as his skills developed (of course, TJ is still younger than Carl was as a rookie). Jones is definitely a feast or famine type of player due to his skill/BB IQ limitations but the fact he seemed to drop 18/12/3 blocks on someone (with most of it coming in the first half of the game) every three or four games last season makes him dangerous.
So much this. Especially the bolded. This is why he is valuable to this team, and until Smith/DMo figure this out, is why he is the BEST starting PF on this team. Not the best player overall, but best fit in the starting lineup.
Mchale on 790 sounds very optimistic about T Jones return. Said a couple weeks then quickly corrected himself. Said he is now running. Reading into his comments, the 4 week assessment seems to be the target.
Funny how last season Terrence Jones was a poor man's Josh Smith. Now, ot seems that Josh Smith is a poor man's Jones. Jones' career averages would be about Smith's best season.
