Dmo and TJ needs to stay health for us to be compete for the top spot in the west....if they are out for any long period in the season we will be on the bottom half of the playoff seeding.
It's been said like 20 times in this thread that stats don't mean much. Gotta say it again, I guess. Jones has PF size on paper, but on court he gets pushed around big time by PFs. He can't keep up with the best PFs.
Dmo is the better player IMO because he knows how to pass and makes the right play extremely quick. The ball never sticks in his hands unless he's in a iso/post up situation. The pf tandem should be solid this year as long as they both stay healthy. I think we should we major growth from a physical standpoint from both, this is going to be their 4th year in the league 3rd getting playing time. This is usually the time that the body matures for the physical pounding and the game slows down for the players. I belive this is what DM and Mchale are banking on when letting Smith go, they know something we don't and I think it's a good sign also that A) jones is working his butt off in a contract year and B) DMO is rehabbing well and should be ready by training camp.
Lol Those aren't stats, they're measurements. Big difference, and measurements mean plenty when determining whether someone is undersized for their position. And like I've said multiple times in this thread though, I agree, stats are only a small part of basketball, but I guess I have to say it again.
While agree it sucks he hasn't shown up much in the playoffs there are some things to be considered. His rookie season he didn't play much, was stuck in the Dleague all year His sophomore season was the first season he got real burn and was put in the rotation, it was his first season playing and his first playoff appearance, and at the age of 22. Aldridge went off, people blamed Jones mostly (Even though Aldridge burned Asik and Howard just as well). This season, his 3rd season, was injury riddled, he didn't play that much and was thrown into the fire of the playoffs against Chandler, Dirk, Griffin, Jordan and Green who have all been pretty healthy (Jones had to play center next to Smith) Jones also had a couple of in playoff injuries (nose bleed and something else I believe) which really stopped his groove. I think it's understandable that Jones has struggled, I think that if he can get a full healthy season in next year that he will do well in the playoffs, but we will see.
Nobody, but idiots are saying Jones is undersized. What everybody is saying Jones defense is shaky when playing against top competition. Not only his personal D, but his help D as well.
So many people forget this stretch. You could easily make a case for Jones being the 3rd best guy on the team. He was playing exceptionally well before the nerve injury, took awhile to get back into form and had another exceptional stretch until the lung injury (in a game where he had 10 points in the first quarter) and never fully recovered from there. Had some good playoff games but largely was bad in the WCF which I guess is causing the hate from a lot of the board. I'd really like him to hoist up some more threes next season, at least one or two a game. He shot 35% in the regular season, less than two percentage points less than DMo. DMo was a terrible three point shooter and he was firing away a lot more than Jones does, suddenly he hit a groove midway through last season. I'd like to see Jones fire away more often and see if he hits a groove. The more he shoots, the more confident he will be, and the more fluid his shot will be.
Last year Jones' defence was great until the playoffs.. against all comers. Wasnt he top 10 opponent fg% amongst big men? 2 playoff fails in a row is the only concern, can he change that? Seems unlikely. But let the man play in the regular season, get his 15 and 8, then trade him for something we need!
That actually is not true. SportVU stats are accurate and telling at times. Buying a SpoertVU subscription allows one to dig deep into defensive effectiveness. NB.com gives a partial, but accurate picture.
Jones has the size, it's just that he's really easy to push around because he has bad footwork and bad defensive awareness. He has yet to show any progression when it comes to the mental side of the game and that's why he struggles. On paper, it looks like he's a decent scorer, but he can't create his own shot consistently. At this point he's just a hustle player which makes for inconsistent performances. That said, who knows? Maybe this is the year when he puts it all together. He could be a poor man's Josh Smith if that happened.
And then this happened . http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/203093/tracking/defense/?Season=2013-14&SeasonType=Playoffs
Lets face it, neither of these guys is currently good enough to be the starter. That is why both play and why we are having this discussion. Jones; When he plays well we seem to win (sniff test). Does not need the ball in his hands, which fits our Harden based team. Problem is he often disappears, inconsistent as hell. X factor, is that due to injury or is that just how he is? Been long enough/couple years and we still don't know. DMo: Better body, can back up center, can get his own shot, has had a fairly steady line of improvement each year, and as near as I can tell he has worked on what the coaches want him to work on. Problems are, that big body does not fit a running team, needs the ball to score, and defense seems worse than TJ's. Seems destined to be second team scoring punch. Of the 8 WC playoff teams, which would our guys start for? Golden State = I don't know, not a clear cut winner Houston - neither won the position outright LA Clips- would not start Portland - Prob start this year (not last) , but not a play off team this year Memphis - would not start San Antonio - would not start Dallas - would not start NO -Weren't we trying to get Ryan Anderson FROM them to play PF for us.
When he started he a average 14-8. That's remarkable for a 4th option on your offense wouldn't you say. There is a lot of starting PF'S in this league not averaging those type of numbers.
You can leave Jones open on the court, as long you rotate back when a box out is needed. Having Jones on the court doesn't help Dwight and James, and others the way having DMO out there does. And this difference will only increase, because I noticed rival players were respecting Jones' mid and long range game much more than DMO's. While your beloved numbers show that DMO is better shooter from everywhere other than dunking distance. At which he isn't that much worse than Jones either. Terrence took 50,8% of all his shots inside 3 feet of the basketball last year. Exact same % as the year before. While only 1/4 of DMO's shots were from inside 3 feet. I'm not saying it's good or bad, but as many mentioned already, Jones can't create his shot the way DMO can, and his mid range and further game is poor, he doesn't even use it much. This makes him very limited offensively when you think about it. If he'd be a focal point on offense, that offense would struggle enormously, because all you had to do is not let Jones get under the basket, box him out, dare him shoot from range (which so far in his career didn't happen a lot. It really surprises me how regular season rivals haven't scouted him enough, but it showed up in playoffs twice now). Jones to me is a more skilled and talented, but less athletic J.J. Hickson, guy who gets solid boxcores most of the time, has poor defense and overall doesn't make his team that much better. I'm DMO only fan, but there was a time when even i thought Jones was a better player. But then he really was and DMO wasn't DMO he is now. Moral of the story: Jones' game excel more than DMO's in Rockets current team(but DMO fits Rockets' needs better, if that makes sense), put DMO and Jones on some other teams and DMO likely would have better stats than Jones, especially on a weaker teams, where Jones couldn't live off superstars, while DMO could even become one. I wish lol
Nice write up but both players are needed and both are great fits to this team. Why can't we all accept that.
Because we can't maintain them both, so there is a need for assurance through discussion that we keep the right one.
Why can't we and it's a good chance both of them will be gone. And we can talk about this until we're blue in the face, Morey and staff will never think like us or take our opinions into consideration.
great for the regular season. doesnt do the same in the playoffs. we got dmo who's on the verge of another breakout year since he wont be playing center. he had similar stats as jones did while playing out of position and at the end of the season with a bad back.
