People really dump on Jones a lot here, I think we tend to forget about how good Jones can be. Motiejunas, on the other side is highly praised by most, which is a little odd considering how similar Jones and Dmo's stats are (even though I know, there's a lot more to basketball then just basic stats). Now Jones was injured most of this year, so i'll just use his 13/14 stats where he played 70+ games, and then we'll use Motiejunas's 14/15 season where he played 70+ games as well Jones 23 years old, 6'9 255 - 76 games, 27.3 mpg 12.1 points - 6.9 rebounds - 1.1 assist - 1.3 blocks - 0.7 steals - 0.9 turnovers - 1.8 fouls Motie 24 years old, 7'0 255 - 71 games, 28.7 mpg 12.0 points - 5.9 rebounds - 1.8 assist - 0.5 blocks - 0.8 steals - 1.7 turnovers - 2.9 fouls Shooting %'s Jones - 54/31/61 - FGA 9.4 - 3PA 1.3 - FTA 2.6 Motie - 50/37/60 - FGA 9.9 - 3PA 1.9 - FTA 2.3 Advances stats Jones - Per 19.1 - VORP 2.2 - TS% 58 Offensive WS : 4.6 Defensive WS : 2.7 Offensive BPM : 0.9 Defensive BPM : 1.3 Motie - Per 14.4 - VORP 1.0 - TS% 55 Offensive WS : 2.4 Defensive WS : 2.3 Offensive BPM : -.06 Defensive BPM : 0.5 So outside of height and 3 point shooting, Jones was ahead in nearly every category during the 13/14 season compared to Motie's 14/15 season. Jones had a injury riddled season this year, but in the games he did play, he put up similar stats to last season with even a improvement in shot blocking and 3 point shooting. Where Jones get most of his negative image from is his terrible playoff run this year, but given the circumstances of all the injuries he had throughout the season, it may be a little understandable that he would struggle when tossed into the fire of the playoffs (which even in the playoffs he had a couple of minor in game injuries like the nose bleed which screwed up his groove). This thread isn't to insinuate who is better, but rather to say I don't think we've been giving Jones a fair shake when it comes to his value and production, especially when compared to how we praise Dmo. Also, when looking over Jones stats from last year, it helped me care a little bit less about the loss of Smith. If Jones can bring what he brought during the 13/14 season, and Motie his 14/15 season, then I think we'll have a damn good PF rotation this season baring injury or trade. I just hope we don't get hammered to hard when both become FA's next free agency.
People are upset at Jones because he doesn't show up to playoff games. I think he did a good job against Dirk, but who is seriously going to be able to guard Blake or Aldridge on their own? Jones is a good bench big. With more learning he could be a good starter. Motiejunas is a good starter. With more learning he could be a good second option. Keep both.
I know Jones has the rep of being a terrible defender on here due to LMA destroying us in the playoffs, but what stats say TJones 13/14 season is a worst defender then Dmo 14/15? I don't follow any real advanced stats, only the basic ones from nba.com, basketball reference. Here's another comparison, that favors Jones, on defense. http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/203093/tracking/defense/?Season=2013-14&SeasonType=Regular Season http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202700/tracking/defense/
i don't think those stats tell the whole story. Their games are completely different from one another, and the situations they played in this year where completely different. DMo is the better player based on the eye test, though I don't think TJones is worthless.
DMo often gets credit because he was playing out of position for a good portion of the season. It's a plus that he is tall enough to play a 5 but he wasn't as good as he was at the 4.
The ball doesn't stick with DMo. He seems like a smarter player, but then again he averages more TOs too. So yeah, I'm not sure who's better although I'd prefer we keep DMo if we had to choose.
I completely agree, different seasons, different games, different teammates, different playing styles and stats are only a small part of basketball. But it's not bad for a general comparison, both players played full seasons on 54+ win teams with the Rockets for the most part. I will add this, Howard played 71 games the 13/14 season, as compared to only playing 41 games the 14/15 season. So Jones got to play next to Howard more then Dmo did this season, which probably helps Jones and hurts Dmo's defensive stats. Although at the same time, Jones had Parsons next to him, instead of Ariza which Dmo had... so who knows.
Jones was never the problem. He and Motiejunas have always been neck and neck. Either one could get the starting nod. Now i would still give the nod to Jones because of D-Mo's back injury. Let D-Mo come off the bench still for a while. I like D-Mo better next to Capela anyway.
dmo spaces the floor and can take dwight's post possessions away (and given dwight's waning athleticism, if dwight doesn't start specializing in what he's good at rather than what he wants, he probably won't even be productive above an average role player in 2 years time) and put them to some use, jones just runs the pick and roll, it's all he can do offensively.
DMO can shoot the three at a pretty solid rate and Tjones can't, DMO can create his own shot, and score in the post consistently, while Tjones mainly realies on others to set him up to score I just don't think stats tell the whole story. I think that DMO is way more consistent and reliable all across the board, scoring, defense, passing etc. Each have weaknesses, and I'm not trying to rag on Jones. I think him coming off the bench isn't a bad thing at all. But from watching so many games it seems fairly obvious that DMO is just a much smarter, more consistent player.
I'd prefer DMo based off his post game. But ppl forget DMo hasn't ever played significant minutes in a playoff series. I'm pretty sure as the game gets more physical the less effective he will become. DMo is not a physical player and literally gets pushed around at times
The main asset of Dmo over Jones is his post game. Aside from Harden, Dmo is the only one who can create for himself consistently.
im not an advanced stat guy but since he played a lot of center and his last 4 weeks a bad back, his stats have to be swayed. just by watching him i can tell his defensive rotations are a lot better than jones. i expect him to top what he did last season.
