Don't know enough about him, but it kind of stands out that he has never been on a winning team. I think he was more of a SG than a PG, too. He's kind of like a Barry without the brains, maybe?
Gucci if you are to say that Damon Jones shouldn't be signed .. just because well "he is just not starter material" then you should do just a tad bit of research on the guy. Granted you can't watch the games he plays, but you CAN infer that he was the starting point guard on a team that featured absolutely nobody worth noting sans Michael Redd. Keep in mind he averaged 4.67 assists to one turnover, was number 2 in the league in that ratio, and this was on a team that was picked to be in contention for one of the worst teams of all time. I can tell you have a personal affection for Derek Fisher, and that may well be justified, I like the guy myself, however you should also take note of Damon's exemplary play. People that love Derek Fisher love his heady play, tenuous defense, and big shot making ability. I love him for those qualities if he plays for us. People that love Damon Jones love his DISTRIBUTING, low turnovers per assists, and his vision with slightly higher than average shooting. Yao isn't as adept as Hakeem was as far as scoring against double and triple teams, YET. In the meantime, I'd rather pick Damon Jones and use his playmaking ability with the lower turnovers that will get Yao better passes in transition and in the half court sets. I'm not sold on Fisher's playmaking ability. If we were to run the offense the same way we did while Hakeem was here, I'd be more inclined to have Fisher and DJ on the same playing field. However with Yao shouldering alot of the offensive load, this will enable Tracy McGrady to display more help defense with the point guard. So if Damon Jones isn't as polished as Derek Fisher's, I can rest knowing Tracy has his back. Additionally, having a distributing point guard will also help Tracy's game offensively, where he wont have to drive against double and triple teams. I say pick Damon Jones.
what is with people's fascination with fisher. he hasn't done anything without shaq and kobe and this past year he didn't do well with them around. he's not horrible at any aspect, but he's also not very good at anything either. he's a serviceable player and there a ton of those guys in the league. he's an okay jumpshooter and defender at this point in his career and you could even argue below average after this past season.
Ok, let me say a few things here... 1. I was in Milwaukee last year. Wasn't too enthuiastic about the Bucks, but I did see 6 full games on TV, one full game in person, and parts of others, so I think I know a thing or two about the guy's recent play. 2. Jones DOES NOT have "great vision." Trust me. Wanna know why? As you noted, the Bucks basically had one noteworthy player, Michael Redd, as well as other excellent outside shooters, these being Van Horn/Thomas, E. Strickland, and Kukoc. Meanwhile, Joe Smith was their only guy who was even sort of a post-up threat. Soooo.... Jones' job ended up being making very SAFE, EASY passes around the perimeter to shooters. T.J. Ford, meanwhile, had way more turnovers because he would actually drive by people and throw passes that went for layups rather than jumpers. However, the Bucks played better when he was in the game. T.J. Ford DOES have great vision. Don't get mesmerized by that 4.67 number. You gotta consider his style of play. 3. Since Joe freakin' Smith was his post presence last year, I'd say he knows considerably less than, say, Derek Fisher about feeding the post. 4. He's a very, very average defender. 5. He's a crappy ball handler for a point guard. The sad thing is, at this point I think he's one of the better options. Daniels would be my ideal, and I would probably opt for Fisher over Jones, but just barely.
He's almost depiseable as Karl and Pippen, but how do you root for someone that pisses you off everytime he was on the court flopping. I would hate for him to use that cheap crap as a ?Rocket. I mean play real defense, you son of a biscuit, then I can like you. Least of all, average 10 assists a game and I will be content, but at least quit being beaten by all the crossover dribbling points in the league and play real defense. That's all.
What's worse is if he does this as a Rocket, chances are he won't get nearly the favorable calls he did as a Laker. The Lakers were 3 x champions. We all know better and more popular teams get more calls- the same way superstars are treated differently. It's an unwritten but fairly blatant bias. Who can forget the LA/Sacramento series or the LA/Minn series. We haven't won squat with this team. Fisher's flopping charges will suddenly become blocking fouls. And as he gets older, he'll lose a step or two which will make the flopping even more obvious. People often ignore nuances that determine whether something is very succesful versus something awful and ineffective. Fisher will play the exact same way, get more fouls rather than draw charges and people will wonder, "What's wrong with his defense?"
Fisher, a fairly good PG with top-ranking heart at least , he won't miss the open shots, and will pass the ball to our bigman with pleasure
Before everyone gets to excited about Damon Jones, you've got to remember he was in the Rockets' training camp in 2001. He wasn't too impressive. After we resigned Moochie, we quickly cut Jones. Partly to give him a chance to latch on with another team and partly because he had a subpar camp. He's a better option than Eric Snow, but I'd still take Derek Fisher over him.
Its been awhile since ive posted on here actually about a yr...Still read it every day though always waiting for a topic worth talking about and actually replying too. The debate of jones being better then fisher or barry being better is kinda crazy in my oppion. Forget stats here for a sec...Everyone in Houston wanted francis out for one reason he couldnt get the ball to Ming..Not because the guy couldnt score or play D...In the debate of fisher the guy knows how to get the ball to shaq he could get the ball to kobe and he did what the team needed to be done to win...stats, you can talk about that all day but the heart and the want to win is what the guy has....Just remeber when the lakers won they had fisher... the rockets won they had smith...bulls won they had paxon,armstrong,kerr depending on the yrs...not too many great point guards there stats wise but players who knew how to get the job done...Hate to tell ya thats fisher...cant remeber the last time i saw jones or barry holding up a ring....
I believe the "ball handing" issue is about when someone pressures Jones defensively (traps). Which is a valid issue. It's not that his offensive distribution or dribbling skills are bad. But I just wanted to point that out. As far as his defense? JVG will take care of any player that does not play D. You can count on that! Antonio Daniels, a 6'4" PG, is still my top pick (FA). Next Snow and Jones. Fisher is a good pick. I did manage to see some of the Laker vs SA game. And one thing caught my attention. Fisher said that Phil wanted him to play the triangle, and because of that, his assist where lower than he could achieve under a pick-and-roll offense. Note, this does not mean that I think that Fisher has good PGs skill in term of distribution. No. You are what you are. Although, I do think he could increase his assist rate to about 5.0 if he played with he Rockets. One note....he's never had higher than 4.4 in his career, and this includes Del Harris/Rambus coaching era. Just wanted to point that out. So, to think that he's going in increase his assist here by a lot is not likely. He's just not that type of PG. Payton's assist went from 7-9 assist per game to 5.5 just by playing under Phil. But this didn't mean that Payton forgot how to DO his passing skill. He didn't. It was just under Phil's triangle he didn't use it as much. He still knew how to turn it on if he needed. Fisher doesn't have that luxury. This comes back to. You are what you are. And Fisher is not a strong distributor, he's older, shorter, and I'm not sure I want to overlook other guards for him. Antonio Daniels seems to have all the things that Fisher has except more. Athletic ability, LOW TURNOVERS (0.9), decent assist (4.2), very good FG% (47), average 3PT% (36) and excellent FT% (84). And he achived these stats on the Sonics. Not the Lakers. i.e. he doesn't have a Shaq to play with (or Yao). Yes, Fisher has experince. I'm not ignoring that. But are you willing to sign him to a four year contract knowing that you passed up Daniels?
It never stopped Utah from getting the calls. Yeah they didn't win a championship, but that was more because they were choking bastards then anything else.
Derek Fisher is a lot like Robert Horry in some ways. There stats don't tell the whole story and they are big time playoff performers. Robert Horry's stats are just TERRIBLE. He's a statistically poor 3 point shooter. He hasn't averaged over 10 ppg since his second year in the league. He can't finish well unless he jams it home. He doesn't have an in between game. It's either 3 pointer or dunk. But he just steps it up during the playoffs. Derek Fisher is a statistically good shooter. Shooting over 40% from 3 point range in 3 of the last 4 years is good. But he performs when playoff time comes. His career playoff numbers are quite a bit better than his career regular season numbers (unlike Eric Snow). The guy is a winner who hits big shots. The biggest difference between him and Horry is that Fisher actually plays hard every game and shows up during the regular season. Derek Fisher is by no means a great player. But he is a good role player for a championship caliber team. Just say no to Snow.
