What % do you want your PF to shoot? DMo had it rolling down the back end of his season - shame he got hurt, he was stroking it. Jones shot 35% last year. That's pretty good. Neither guy was dominant, neither guy looks out of place as an NBA starter. Hopefully one of them (or both!?) makes that kick this season, and we laugh about JSmoove bailing us out by leaving.
Stats aren't everything. DMo seems more consistent. Jones has some great games, but he also disappears during some key stretches, like in the playoffs. DMo has that sweet hook shot, and he was hitting 3s very well before the injury. That's important on this team (one reason I'd like to see Ryan Anderson in a Rockets uniform). You watch how they've developed when each has had the chance to start, and you get a much better feeling about DMo.
I agree overall that we will have a solid 4 man rotation without Smith, but a few things the stats don't tell. Dmo has the ability to play 4 and the 5, obviously how effective he is at the 5 is highly dependent on who the other 5 is. Often Jones can be sticky with the ball, while Dmo is consistent at moving without the ball, moving the ball quickly. Also I think Dmo has shown to have a better potential when it comes to defending other 4's one on one. Not saying Dmo is elite or even reliable yet but I've seen better glimpses. I'd say Dmo keeps the starting job, Jones comes off of the bench. Jones is a better spark, but the argument can be made we need Dmo's solid post game with the bench. If we get Lawson, Jones on the bench no doubt.
It is Jones' help defense that is really lacking, whereas D-Mo contributes more and is good in this area. Jones' offense has always run hot and cold as he often disappears during games. Often you don't even notice he is on the floor for most of the game. This usually happens against the better PFs, but sometimes his concentration is just not there against inferior competitors too. D-Mo is different. He seems to always find a way to contribute. Whether scoring in the post, or facilitating by moving the ball from the key, he is more consistent in finding ways to impact the game.
I love these types of threads. People will always dress up the player they like and speak negative about the player they dislike. They will never observe those stats with an open minded point of view. ThatboyNick I surely hope both players play at the level we know they can play at this season. Hopefully both of them rebounds from their injured riddled season. Both of them have to improve on their notable weaknesses in order for us to be more successful.
D-Mo defense at the 4 is on a completely different level than Jones. D-mo was forced to play the 5 a lot last season, where he was over matched having to protect the rim and rebound against guys bigger than him. Most of D-mo's advanced numbers don't look spectacular because he played out of position so much. PnR defense and switching are a 4's biggest defensive responsibilities, and D-mo is one of the best in the league at that, while Jones is pretty terrible. You can't determine that from a box score stat, because there is no stat for rotation. D-Mo also doesn't get bullied in the post the way Jones does. Assuming Capela and Howard are able to handle 90% of the minutes at the 5 next year, D-mo will get to stay at his natural spot at the 4. I've given up on Jones defensively, I keep hoping for improvement, but he just doesn't seem to be smart enough to grasp NBA defensive concepts.
DMO was most consistent rocket for a majority of last season. I remember every game I thought, this time DMO will suck, he has to finally suck, he has to have a bad game, but it literally never happened. If he didn't shot over 50% in some games, the defense was still there, the amazing doubling of a guard in a corner at the 3 was there, sick help D was there. DMO was showing up in every game. Jones can't even stay consistent for couple of quarters. He got destroyed by every single PF in every PO series he played, not counting Dirk's corpse. Show me a video where Jones outplays some of the elite PFs or Cs in this league. DMO's highlight videos are nothing else but dominating every single NBA big in the post. I didn't even read the original post, because it has an agenda to diminish DMO. Dude obviously doesn't watch rockets games, or watches them the wrong way. There is a reason Morey couldn't find a first round pick for Jones prior draft. There is a reason why Morey didn't trade DMO when DMO was getting DNPs and looking awful while getting couple seconds on court his second year.
I'll never understand the Jones hate. The guy has had a series of injuries; one that was career threatening. He spent his first year in the D. When he's had his opportunities he's shown improvement. He had a bad playoffs but I think people forget he hadn't played much all season. The people that want to get rid of Jones for peanuts will regret that point of view in a couple years. I think the kids only like 23 or something. He needs consistent minutes on the court, and that will breed confidence. When Jones is playing with confidences he's a very good player.
hte jones hate comes from everyoen thinking he shyould be a starter quality player. he's a perfect backup pf and spot minutes at center in small ball lineups. but smith >>>>>>>>> jones, thats why a lot of cfans wanted him traded.
quantitative data are great but don't tell the whole story. jones isn't a good 1-1 defender in the post or against a face-up. dmo is a good defender against both. jones can't score in the post or off the dribble, while dmo is our best post player and one of the few guys on the team that can create his own offense.
I think over all DMo is better than Jones. Having said that, when Jones was inserted back into the starting line-up after his nerve injury he was having one exceptional game after another until the collapsed lung. Not including the game where is lung was collapsed, once Jones was inserted back into the starting line-up he was averaging 16.5 points, 10 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game. Even in the game where his lung was collapsed, he had 10 points and 2 rebounds in just 8 minutes. To show he was not just having good games against lesser opponents here are some of his games. LAC 14 points 8 rebounds 5 blocks CLE 19 points 7 rebounds MEM 21 points 9 rebounds 2 blocks POR 17 points 12 rebounds 1 block LAC 16 points 12 rebounds TJ was playing exceptionally well in the starting line-up once coming back from the nerve injury. He never regained form after the collapsed lung.
I don't think you have been following the conversation Player A: 4 games-- Scores 40 one night and 0 the next 3 games = AVG 10 points a game Player B: 4 games-- Scores 10 in each game = AVG 10 points a game If I were a team I would go with Player B because in the end its about wins and you have a higher chance of winning more games with Player B then Player A In this above scenario player A is T. Jones and player B is D-MO This is not a maturity problem-- Jones isn't going to suddenly care about every game as he ages. His BBall IQ sucks-- that will never be developed. You either have that or you don't People admit that Jones has all star potential. His athleticism ect.. is above D-Mo and thus Jones SOMETIMES has breakout games and then Jones goes missing in action for like 3 games His Bball IQ absolutely SUCKS. Example is Shane Battier, his intangibles and IQ don't show up on the stat sheet. D-Mo is Shane Battier in comparison to Jones D-Mo's stats are consistant. You can COUNT on him performing to expectations while surpassing expectations at times Jones-- you don't know what the F--- you are getting. Is he going to TRY? Is he going to loaf around in his own world inside his head all game?? WHO KNOWS? Because every 3 or 4 games Jones puts in a monster peformance before pulling disappearing acts-- His numbers are very similiar to D-Mo's ^^^ and that is why you cannot compare these two players on stats
I think people misinterpret wanting to trade him for hate. I like Jones and think he'll continue to develop nicely. But if I had to chose I'd Dmo for fit and his post game skills. But jones is no slouch either. It's just that we have two RFA's coming up on FA at the same time and we also have a hole at the PG position. Before Smith left we could afford to lose one PF so trading him made the most sense. It still does if you can find a backup 4 or if one of our rookies surprises us all. If we could address our PG needs without trading jones I'd be all for keeping both if the market doesn't make keeping both impossible.
If Dmo will battle starting PF's and Jones will play against backups results for both players should be good and Rockets should get consistent production out of both, hence, resulting in loads of wins, so i don't see why there is such a hate on Jones, his clearly not good enough to be starter on Rockets team (maybe on some other lower tier team he could be, but not here ).
That's my feelings too. Jones is much more athletic and he has ability but he's very inconsistent. Somedays D-Mo can shoot the 3 and somedays he can't but his post up abilities allow him to be much more consistent than Jones and for me that is the differentiator. One of the primary traits of good/great players is consistency; the ability to deliver at a certain level on a nightly basis. Jones may have the higher peaks that D-Mo but you just don't know what you are going to get out of him from night to night. Jones' career high for points is 36 while D-Mo's is only 26 but if I had to depend on one of them to get me 15 points on a given night then it would be D-Mo.
I wouldn't worry. Once everyone sees D-Mo having the same type of problems they will come around. Truth is D-Mo's defense was only good against certain players. Same as Jones. Neither are consistently good defensive players.
D-Mo's defense was only good in certain scenarios. Mainly when he got to play PF. Seeing as how he should be exclusively playing that position next year, I fully expect him to be great defensively all year long.
people dump on tjones because of his lackadaisical demeanor and how often he just looks lost on the floor. often times during the playoffs he just hovered on the weak side baseline and we literally played 4 on 5 just because he didn't really know where to be. That's a coaching thing as much as it is a player thing. another year of growth, and he should be fine. he can easily be a 14/7 guy on this team even off the bench, which isn't bad at all.
