Laughable. We're talking about our team. This team won 56 games in the regular season and beat Dallas 4-1 in the first round of the playoffs. And we're discussing which player(s) are not playing as hard in this series as they were when we won 56 and then tromped Dallas. Terry was an inadequate defender all season. Not because he wasn't paying with all the energy he can muster but because he's old and doesn''t have vast energy reserves. Not to mention he's been a poor defender because of lack of lateral mobility for his career. So in light of the original question and understanding what players are capable of to begin with there is no evidence that Terry is all of a sudden this series playing without energy. There is good evidence that Terry is even more dialed in now than he was during the regular season. Just look at his numbers. What a farce comparing Terry to a league full of great point guards when the question wasn't about that. Once again its everybody else's fault but Jones. Because he's such the hustler. Duuuuuuuuh
I picked jones for that "twosandwich-esque" lack of attempt at that one rebound after Dwight went out of position trying hard for the block. I like the guy, but he either quits, or has no sense.... just sitting there watching under the basket while the ball bounces right by him.
and who did cp3 go by initially without resistance on that play. looks whose directly behind him as a result and watching as well
Even the best players will pull it in when they realize they have an unwinnable strategy. Kevin Garnett checks out when that happens. Even the Spurs check out. When a team gets so far down even the best players start taking crazy gambles and chucking because they have no choice. Blaming this series (which we are most likely going to lose) on Harden is a joke. You Jonesers need to look in the mirror and finally realize Jones hurts us in the playoffs. We're playing 4 on 5 on both ends with him right now and its the playoffs. But you'll probably continue to hold fast that Jones is going to be this beastly player someday. And you'll probably justify 2 post season failures with excuses like it's Hardens fault and Jones is young and we need to develop him. Good luck with that. In the meantime we have wasted 2 seasons of Hardens and Dwight's prime.
What does helping off of Blake have anything to do with missing his defender and ball-watching, something he did way more often last year? You didn't even bother offering a counterpoint to Harden taking some possessions off and standing around looking completely disinterested. He's clearly sulked at certain points of the game. It's not even debatable -- only to someone in complete denial of what's being observed. The only crock here is your continued foolish bias and vitriol aimed at a specific role player for whatever reasons. Nobody's saying Terrance Jones is an all-star. Clippers are a terrible matchup for him like Portland was last year. He gave us very solid and important minutes in the Dallas series. Nothing in his play suggests a lack of energy. He just sucks against big teams with top tier talent at C/PF.
Isn't there some stat that explicitly shows how James Harden runs the least per game on the team and is close to last in the entire league?
James Harden is playing the exact same way he has played for 3 years against the Clippers. They over shade so he can't drive and it always works because nobody else moves or can create. I don't see why people expected this series to be different. Jones is garbage. I've tried to be patient but his defense continues to absolutely kill us. When it comes to defensive awareness he is completely retarted, he can't be gone quick enough. D-mo is on another level completely.
Pretty much the only stat that favors Smith here is the -20 vs. the -48, but Smith has played less minutes anyway so not a totally fair comparison. I just see Smith's body language as being worse than Jones, he doesn't hustle on defense at all, and self destructs the offense sparking huge Clipper runs. Smith was better in the 1st round, the 2nd round, not so much, it shows with the less minutes played.
Smith is not starting. There's one starter whose numbers have plummeted in the playoffs and whose lack of defense and rebounding intensity is too great to ignore. And the one area we need him the most (rebounding) he is totally missing in action in this series. It's funny reading people dancing around the pink elephant in the room.
Helping off on Blake. Because Terrence can't check him. Harden can't guard everybody. Shouldn't have to explain this. He has the highest usage on the team. You betcha he's gonna take a play or two off. He did it throughout the season. As did (and do) Lebron, Curry, Russell, and all the best players do. No he hasn't. Now you're trolling Harden. Beyond ridiculous. You can't rewind a single play that he sulked. Unless you're gonna say he sulked in the regular season. At least you make that admission. It'll probably take you another couple seasons when he's making 4-8 million per season before you realize he's a boat anchor.
Cool, but this has nothing to do with the question you posed in the poll - ENERGY. Jones' rebounding and defense hasn't tanked because he is trying less hard. It's because he's being massively overwhelmed by players that are far superior to him in terms of strength, athleticism, and overall basketball talent. Not surprisingly, you turned this thread into nothing more than a "JONES SUCKS" thread despite the misleading poll question. So pathetic and yet predictable.
In my opinion, if one player is playing with little energy- the team energy as a whole suffers. Defending: Harden needs to step it up. Austin Rivers?? Jeeeez. Perimeter D =o ! Offensively: Harden may show positive statistical evidence, but the flow starts with him. When pressured, his passing sufferers- concurrently the lack of offensive movement makes passing difficult. Team energy and rythm becomes the issue. Strategy: We have to play this game straight up, with no expectations from the way the game is being called. We have to run them out of energy, make those point blank shots, and most importantly keep our mind in the game vs loosing composure. Free throws.
Rebounding and defense are the obvious barometers of energy. Right now, it is obvious Jones SUCKS! And you can't even say it.
energy isnt jones' problem. and he's a very talented young player. his issue to me is seemingly not knowing how to handle playoff pressure and defend an elite player in griffin. he plays scared, kinda like an actor being on a big stage for the first time ever in his life.
Not even close to the truth. How are you supposed to rebound when you're going against players that are superior to you in height and athleticism? As long as the other player matches Jones' energy, the other guy gets the rebound most of the time. Same goes for being able to score over Jones. The offensively skilled and superior athletic player will be able to score over him. Not surprising. You're confusing lack of talent and athleticism with a lack of energy. There's a reason Jones looked significantly better against Dallas than the Clippers. It's not a simple matter of Jones turning on and off an energy switch. Everyone on this thread understands this except for you apparently.
yeah this is what was pretty much expected as it turned into another jones bash by OP, as the poll specifically is talking about ENERGY.
I think Jones lacks bball IQ. It's not that he doesn't try is that in 3 years in the league he hasn't learnedto play team defence. Harden on the other hand has regressed to his last year defence. I was happy this year with the effort he put in becoming better in defence. Now it's back to terrible. Sad.
