<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Freddie Jones has been one of those NBA players whose potential hasn?t quite equaled production. Now, after a summertime trade from Indiana to the Toronto Raptors, the rose may get a chance to blossom. ?I haven?t been this excited about playing basketball in a long time,? says Jones, the former Barlow High and University of Oregon guard who signed a three-year, $11 million contract as a restricted free agent with the Raptors. ?It?s a new beginning for me. I feel like I?m getting back to the style of play I want to play.? The flamboyant 6-4, 210-pound Portlander averaged 9.5 points and 27 minutes off the bench in his fourth season with Indiana in 2005-06, but felt a trifle stifled in the control game coached by Rick Carlisle. ?That wasn?t conducive to my style of play,? says Jones, 27, the dunk champion during All-Star weekend in 2004. ?It stunted my progress a little bit, but I have no complaints. I enjoyed playing with the Pacers. I was getting minutes, and I loved my teammates. But Toronto feels like a better fit for me.? Jones and point guard T.J. Ford are the Raptors? big offseason acquisitions to go with franchise player Chris Bosh. ?Once they re-signed Chris and added T.J., I knew (the Raptors) were a team I was going to look at harder,? Jones says. ?I?m not sure what they have in mind for me, but I?ll do what I can in training camp, and I?m sure Coach (Sam) Mitchell will find the most effective way to use me.? Jones remains a fixture in the Portland community, making the city his offseason home. He has raised money for charity the last three years through the Freddie Jones Summer Slam music and sports event and recently has created a foundation that will include a Sept. 6 and Sept. 7 benefit at the Nike Factory Store on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to help single-parent households. ?My parents (Frederick and Beverly Jones) have been married for 35 years, so I?m blessed,? he says. ?But my sister is a single mom with my 15-year-old nephew, and that?s how I got into (the Nike benefit). I want to do what I can for this community, which has embraced me and supported me. Portland is always going to be home.?</div> Source
I'm not a fan of undersized shooting guards, especially ones that can't shoot, but I think that Fred Jones has a good chance to make a pretty big impact off the bench and bring back some of the excitement that was lost when Vince was a Raptor. As long as he stays productive and doesn't do things that he can't do, I'd be pretty satisfied.
I wouldn't say he "can't shoot", he's a decent shooter, though nothing special in that area. Also though undersized he's quite good defensively, at least he was on the Pacers because Mike James was also quite good defensively before coming to our team.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">“Once they re-signed Chris and added T.J., I knew (the Raptors) were a team I was going to look at harder,” Jones says. “I’m not sure what they have in mind for me, but I’ll do what I can in training camp, and I’m sure Coach (Sam) Mitchell will find the most effective way to use me.”</div> ...........................
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> "The flamboyant 6-4, 210-pound Portlander averaged 9.5 points and 27 minutes off the bench in his fourth season with Indiana in 2005-06"</div> I wish he was 6-4.
Who cares how tall he is, as has been shown time and time again, height means very little at the end of the day. Allen Iverson for example is only 6'0, and averages 30.0+ppg a season.
Iverson also has a huge wingspan which makes up for his lack of height. Point taken though, there are plenty of guys who you can use as examples who have overcome being undersized.
Jones may start in a few games, but he'll be a 6th or 7th man at the worst. But I'm really looking forward to his dunks because we haven't really had an explosive dunker since VC.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Fever:</div><div class="quote_post">...........................</div> I'm not sure if the reason you highlighted that is the same as what I thought when I first read it, but that's funny.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting asdf:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm not a fan of undersized shooting guards, especially ones that can't shoot, but I think that Fred Jones has a good chance to make a pretty big impact off the bench and bring back some of the excitement that was lost when Vince was a Raptor. As long as he stays productive and doesn't do things that he can't do, I'd be pretty satisfied.</div> So you don't think guys like Wade and AI are effective? Jones isn't nearly as good as either but, he's a better shooter than both, and he's a good defender.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">So you don't think guys like Wade and AI are effective? Jones isn't nearly as good as either but, he's a better shooter than both, and he's a good defender.</div> did you just say that fred jones is a better shooter than AI and Wade?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TheFreshPrince:</div><div class="quote_post">did you just say that fred jones is a better shooter than AI and Wade?</div> I read it over a couple of times, and I think he just did.
A better pure shooter, yes. He can't create his own shot as well as the other two, but he's definitely a better 3pt. shooter. There is a difference between being a better scorer and being a better shooter. Neither of you watched Jones at all last year, because the guy can shoot. Is it also blasphemous if I say that Mike Miller is a better shooter than AI? I hope not.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">So you don't think guys like Wade and AI are effective? Jones isn't nearly as good as either but, he's a better shooter than both, and he's a good defender.</div> I never said that Wade and AI suck, I'm just saying I don't like them since I just have a personal bias against undersized shooting guards. Edit: There are exceptions though.
How much are you guys expecting Jones' to average this year? I'm not to keen about his game so I really don't know what to expect! haha
I'de say 13-15 ppg. He averaged 9.6 ppg last year, and that was in Carlisle's slow it down offence that didn't fit Jones style of play at all. With the Raps being a fast break team and Jones being a great finisher, I expect his ppg to go up at least about 4. Also, when Jones started last year his ppg went from 9.6 to 11.4, and he might get to start this year if Parker doesnt get the starting job, or be the 6th man.
15 is a little high i think...he'll be comming off the bench, and if he's avg'ing 15ppg he could possibly be 6th man of the year. i dont see that kind of productivity from jones id say 10-12ppg is realistic.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Premium:</div><div class="quote_post">15 is a little high i think...he'll be comming off the bench, and if he's avg'ing 15ppg he could possibly be 6th man of the year. i dont see that kind of productivity from jones id say 10-12ppg is realistic.</div> If he is coming off the bench, what do you see the starting line up at the start of the season as?
the guys garuanteed to be in the starting line up are Bosh, Peterson, Nesterovic and Ford. The last spot is between Fred Jones and Anthony Parker, and MAYBE joey graham if he has an incredible pre season, but its probably between jones and parker.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting virve119:</div><div class="quote_post">So you don't think guys like Wade and AI are effective? Jones isn't nearly as good as either but, he's a better shooter than both, and he's a good defender.</div> I guess we can see who is a better shooter between Wade, AI and Jones with. http://www.nba.com/hotzones/popup.html We can look at the FG% on midrange 2s without the layup FG%, and see true midrange shooting ability. Comparing AI to Fred Jones, AI looks like a superior jump shooter from that nba hotspot thing.
