Houston Rockets: Terrence Jones is Better Than Advertised
When you think of the Houston Rockets, you think immediately of past greats like Hakeem Olajuwon. Then you think of the current stars like James Harden, Dwight Howard and maybe Trevor Ariza, if only because he just signed this offseason. Almost nobody would think of any of their current role players like Terrence Jones, or even pay attention to him. The truth is, it’s time to start paying attention.
On the surface, Terrence Jones is simply a role player. He looks like a guy who the Rockets could replace and keep on rolling because of the brilliance of Howard and Harden. And it might be true, if they get the right player to replace him. However, Terrence Jones is better than people give him credit for. Jones has improved in both of his years in the league and he appears to be a very good complement with Howard in Houston’s front court, providing athleticism and he helps make the offense a bit more dynamic.
On paper, Jones’ stats aren’t as impressive as they would seem.
| Season | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 76 | 71 | 27.3 | 5.1 | 9.4 | .542 | 0.4 | 1.3 | .307 | .581 | .605 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 12.1 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/14/2014.
The fact that Terrence Jones averages 12.1 points per game is quite good, considering his role, as is his 6.9 rebounds. We have to remember that Terrence Jones only gets 27.3 minutes per game, making his numbers a bit more impressive. He makes good decisions, evidenced by his 54.2 percent shooting percentage and he plays good defense, cleaning up some of his teammates mistakes and averaging an impressive 1.3 blocks per game. The rebound totals aren’t as big of a deal because the majority of his minutes come next to rebound machine Dwight Howard.
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Despite that, he still managed to get a solid amount of rebounds. His only real weak point last year was his three-point shooting, coming in at a mediocre 30.7 percent. The fact that he only took 1.3 of them per game shows his overall good decision making with the ball.
His regular stats don’t tell the whole story, however. Here are his advanced stats:
| Age | MP | PER | TS% | TRB% | STL% | BLK% | TOV% | USG% | ORtg | DRtg | OWS | DWS | WS | WS/48 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 2078 | 19.1 | .577 | 14.1 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 8.2 | 18.3 | 119 | 105 | 4.6 | 2.7 | 7.3 | .169 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/14/2014.
Terrence Jones’ Player Efficiency Rating (PER) was just shy of the top 20, coming in at an excellent 19.1. His True Shooting Percentage (TS%) and his Win Shares per 48 minutes (WS/48) were both also just shy of the top 20, with 57.7 percent and .169 respectively. Jones did have an elite Offensive Rating (ORtg) of 119, good for 12th in the NBA, as he was sandwiched between the Pelicans’ Anthony Davis and the Suns’ Goran Dragic, both of them being absolutely fantastic players. While his 7.3 total Win Shares (WS) were a bit underwhelming, it’s attributed to his relatively low number of minutes played compared to other starters.
With all of the praises out of the way, Terrence Jones did exhibit quite a few weaknesses. Most of these can be attributed to his inexperience, as he still is a very young player. It’s easy to forget that someone is only 22 years old when he is 6’9” and over 250 pounds. Jones would sometimes get lost defensively, leading to his rather mediocre 2.7 Defensive Win Shares (DWS) and he sometimes would try to make plays he has no business in trying to make, and he would force the action quite a few times inside of the paint.
With all of that said, Terrence Jones had a stellar year last season for Houston and he was an important part in the Rockets’ 54-win season, doing all of the little things that the team needed him to do offensively, and using his superb athleticism to his advantage on defense. If Jones’ first two seasons are any indication, he could very well improve even more. If Terrence Jones can become even better on his long range shot, the rest of the league had better take notice. Otherwise, the Rockets will steamroll through a lot of teams who try to double-team Harden or Howard and leave Jones all by his lonesome.