Is James Jones The Weak Link?

[azirish]

I know that Diaw gets a lot of grief for not playing as well as he did last season, but he still contributed as an extra ball handler when Barbosa was in without Nash. I would not be suprised to see Diaw make a comeback.

I'm not so optimistic about Jones. Overall he seems to be a nice player, but his regular season stats were simply not strong enough for a starter.

James Jones
Phoenix Suns
Position: F
Height: 6-8 Weight: 220
College : Miami (Fla.)
Player file | Team stats
2006-07 Statistics
PPG 6.4
RPG 2.3
APG .6
SPG .37
BPG. 55
FG% .368
FT% .877
3P% .378
MPG18.1

His rebounding during the regular season was a pathetic .127 per minute and his playoff scoring was only 5.0 ppg. He's considered to be a good defender (though hardly lockdown), and is mostly a catch and shoot guy who doesn't make his own shot.

This poor offensive proedcution resulted in D'Antoni would move Bell to SF even though he's even worse as a rebounder. That's not much of a solution.

I'm not convinced Jones is going to get a lot better. Diaw shows signs of being really good in the midst of bouts of passivity, but Jones rarely stands out in anything he does (baring a few weak side blocks).

I'm not advocating dumping Jones. He's useful, but I think the Suns need to upgrade that position if they are going to play small ball to any great degree.

Overall, the king of player I'm looking for is someone with solid offensive skills, plays tough defense, and can rebound. On a team with Nash, there is no room for another player who is not a strong defender, which is why I reject every socring machine suggestion that comes up in the draft thread. But they need more offense than Jones offers along with the ability to rebound.

 

[sharkman]

I think Boris is the weak link now that Amare is healthy. Diaw had an incredible year when Amare was out as an unconventional center on a running team. With Amare, where does Boris play? He's too soft to be a power forward...and he's a liability on the boards. Small Forward? We've got Marion. SG? He doesn't shoot well enough from the outside.

I think the Suns gave him his deal because they weren't sure if Amare would come back the player that he has...and now we're stuck with $9mil per year for a guy without a position.

Boris is versatile, so he could come off the bench to relieve a number of positions...
...but I'd like to see energy off the bench (offensively or defensively) ala Barbosa during the regular season. Diaw is a lot of things, but energetic he's not.

 

[azirish]

Going into next season, I think that Jones is the guy most likely to drop out of the rotation if they do anything in the off season and is the guy most likely to get traded.

 

[sharkman]

Going into next season, I think that Jones is the guy most likely to drop out of the rotation if they do anything in the off season

Well sure...are they going to drop a guy who makes $9mil per year and admit it was a mistake?

and is the guy most likely to get traded.

He's the easiest to trade...small salary...can play a little defense...can shoot a little.

What is Boris Diaw's position on the Suns? I just can't see a good long term fit unless he's the center when Amare sits.

 

[Covert Rain]

I am done with James Jones. He is way too inconsistent. He has had plenty of time to establish himself. I could care less if James every plays another game in a Suns uniform again.

 

[Gaddabout]

It's too bad Boris and Barbs can't spend the summer working on their two-man game together. If those two can develop any kind of chemistry, the second unit would be dynamite ... and Barbs could look more than one-dimensional.

 

[Errntknght]

D'Antoni needs to lay down the law to Boris this offseason - number 1, rehab his back so thats less of a factor; 2) get in shape and stay there; and 3) put on some muscle. For fun he can work on his mid to long range shots.

I don't think there's any question that Mike likes Diaw because he combines the skill needed for small ball with almost enough size and strength to play the frontcourt. Since he's not likely to grow taller the only hope of getting past 'almost' is to add strength. Of course, there's still a flaw in that plan - the Spurs - because a little more strength isn't going to make him capable of guarding Duncan. It may not be a fatal flaw as long as we have someone like Kurt to be the primary defender againd TD and Boris contributes much more than we saw this year when he does take the floor against them.

 

[Covert Rain]

D'Antoni needs to lay down the law to Boris this offseason -

Couldn't agree with that more. D'Antoni needs to stop treating Boris like a son and more like a step son from your cheating ******* ex-wife. It's time to take the kid gloves off. Bottom line is that if Boris doesn't come into camp in the best shape of his life, he should sit at the end of the bench.

 

[TucsonDevil]

D'Antoni needs to stop treating Boris like a son and more like a step son from your cheating ******* ex-wife.

BTW, James Jones sucks. He doesn't impress me even a little. I think there are other teams that would like what he brings, but I would rather have a stiff 6'10" guy come off the bench... If all JJ brings is rebounds and defense - I would rather have those rebounds come from a big that can box out, and clog the lane. That would do more to stop Tony Parker from driving to the basket than JJ trying stop him up top.

 

[azirish]

BTW, James Jones sucks. He doesn't impress me even a little. I think there are other teams that would like what he brings, but I would rather have a stiff 6'10" guy come off the bench... If all JJ brings is rebounds and defense - I would rather have those rebounds come from a big that can box out, and clog the lane. That would do more to stop Tony Parker from driving to the basket than JJ trying stop him up top.

Jones is a solid but hardly lock down defender, a three point specialist that hits 37% for three and is a below average rebounder. Nice enough if he can regain his shooting stroke as a backup, but he's just not starting material.

I think Boris could become much better than he was this past season, but I can't see much upside with Jones. Fortunately, athletic wings are probably the strength of this draft so the Suns have a shot at getting someone who can play.

 

[elindholm]

James Jones looks like the weak link only because he never should have been put in the situation in the first place. He's a $3 million player, not a starter on a championship contender. If Diaw weren't such a weenis or if D'Antoni would have played Thomas the way he was supposed to, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[azirish]

James Jones looks like the weak link only because he never should have been put in the situation in the first place. He's a $3 million player, not a starter on a championship contender. If Diaw weren't such a weenis or if D'Antoni would have played Thomas the way he was supposed to, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Before game 1 I was pushing for KT to start. Just as I predicted, Amare got into foul trouble and you just can't deal with Duncan if you are forced to double the low post every time.

However, against almost every other team, the track meet team is very effective. Marion is a lot more effective on the offensive end because he's too quick for most PF's to defend him and his rebounding/shot blocking/ steals are enough to offset his size disadvantage. The problem is that Amare is just not capable of dealing with a few low post guys, which makes using Marion at PF a problem.

Oddly enough, the problem with Diaw starting is that it moves Marion back to SF where he is good, but not enough of an offensive threat to make up for Diaw's preference to pass rather than go to the basket. Everyone talks about how Boris may not be compatable with Amare, but I suspect it may be more that he cannot be in the lineup with Amare AND Shawn at the same time. Last year he played "center" and had TT as a guy he could pass to for shooting.

If my theory is correct, finding a better offensive threat at SF (especially someone who can defend and rebound) so Marion can move to PF and Diaw come off the bench would make a huge difference. It would not solve the Suns problems with the Spurs, but would reduce the need to move Bell to SF and give the team more effective depth.

 

[cly2tw]

George,

Marion for JRich and Pietrus solves your problem. We just need at least one more C/F that could play 10 min in the mode of Elson, Oberto.

 

[dodie53]

diaw needs to work in his outside shot and ball handling..

he can come off the bench with LB..