Since a lot of you may not be too familiar with Dahntay Jones, here are a few video clips from the Pacers/Nuggets game from 3/1/09. Even in a small amount of clips, I think you'll get an idea of what to expect.
Clip 1:
Cutting to the hoop early in the game. Makes an 'awareness' play and shows his ability to finish at the rim. He's not a great cutter, but neither was Stephen Graham before O'Brien started running plays for him. Since they are similar athletically, I hope O'Brien uses similar plays for Jones
Clip 2:
One-on-one defense vs. TJ Ford. Dahntay spent most of his first half play guarding TJ Ford. He does a great job staying in front of TJ on this play. He'll be the only player on the roster (as it is now) that can stay in front of quick point guards. His work on Chris Paul was great in the playoffs.
At the end of the play though, you do see a breakdown in the pick and roll. Not sure if it's Nene or Dahntay that makes the mistake on this play, but I think it's Dahntay. This may be an issue if he struggles to learn our "system"
Clip 3:
Jumpshot. Don't let his 3FG% last year fool you. He's not a good shooter. Though his % was higher, I felt more confident that Marquis' shot would go in than Dahntay's. Then again, just about every Pacer (not named Marquis) has really improved their outside shot within the past three years.
Clip 4:
More defense on TJ Ford. I think he does an OK job on pnr defense, but his recovery and block on TJ are great. Have I mentioned I love his defense?
Clip 5:
WEIGHTROOM!
Clip 6:
Dahntay mixing it up with TJ. Watch the top of the screen for the entire sequence. Jones starts with a hard bump and then rides Ford to the half court line. A little later, another hard bump that causes Ford to shove him
Jones got into Ford's head, Ford gets the technical, Jones gets the foul. I think he's similar to Rodman in this way.
Btw, Ford's first tweet about his new teammate said this "Congrats to my boy Dontay Jones.. Been cool for 7yrs.. Let's go Pacers.. Need my $ for that tech last yr..lol"
Clip 7
Sequence following technical. On one hand, I think Ford scores his only 2 points of the quarter on this play, and I think he's nearly scoreless because of Dahntay's defense.
On the other hand, Dahntay gave up on this play. I really don't like to see that.
Clip 8
Not working too hard on the pick and roll here. Not sure if we was tired or not, but with his aggressiveness he should've easily made it to Jack. Instead, Jack's got the open look.
Clip 9
Jones with another nice finish near the rim. He won't score a lot, and I expect a lot of his buckets to be plays like this.
Clip 10
More defense on Ford. He basically shuts Ford down on this play. Any time your SG can shut down one of the quickest PGs in the league, he's bordering on elite defender status (at least on the ball).
Clip 11
Another breakdown on defense. Not 100% sure, but again I think it's Dahntay that should've rotated to a wide-open Jack. Jones doesn't appear to fully grasp Nuggets team defense, which isn't that great.
Clip 12
Nothing spectacular here, but he finds Martin for a nice assist. This play happened (imo) because Jones' quickness froze all of the Pacers defenders on this play (esp. after that first dunk).
Clip 13
This clip represents almost all of his positive attributes in one series. He starts off with good defense and a block off of TJ's back which he brings down to the other end and makes a graceful spin move for an easy layup. You get to see his defense, quickness, and athleticism. He's not a point guard, but he's a decent ballhandler and has a knack for freezing the defense. With his athleticism, he has the ability break down defenses in a completely different way than Marquis. Marquis is still more effective (one of the better in the game), but I think we can use Dahntay more effectively than Denver because of our system.
Clip 14
Slightly funny. Dahntay reminding Troy that he's in the game. It's great to keep trying because it will eventually p*ss off your opponent. I love Troy's cranky response, followed by Dahntay's next attempt.
Clip 15
Another one . Nothing big here, but he slaps Brandon Rush on an inbounds play. The Pacers were sorely needing a punk on their team, and they definitely got one.
Clip 16
Dahntay is guarding Stephen Graham on this play. Like a lot of very quick and athletic players, Dahntay drifts too far off of Graham, allowing Graham a wide open look. My suspicion is that guys like Dahntay had always been able to recover defensively in high school and a little in college, and thus never learned to break a bad habit of over-relying on athleticism. We need him to fix this.
Clip 17
Not fighting through a screen. I've seen Granger do this when he's fatigued. I hope Dahntay's just tired here because he has to fight through these.
Clip 18
Can't end on a bad play, so here's the last good one. Jones quickly slides in front of Jack in transition. Jack is surprised to see Dahntay there, and travels. This is a very nice transition defense play. I think Dahntay improves our transition defense because he has such an advantage over most of the league with his athleticism.
Clip 1:
Cutting to the hoop early in the game. Makes an 'awareness' play and shows his ability to finish at the rim. He's not a great cutter, but neither was Stephen Graham before O'Brien started running plays for him. Since they are similar athletically, I hope O'Brien uses similar plays for Jones
Clip 2:
One-on-one defense vs. TJ Ford. Dahntay spent most of his first half play guarding TJ Ford. He does a great job staying in front of TJ on this play. He'll be the only player on the roster (as it is now) that can stay in front of quick point guards. His work on Chris Paul was great in the playoffs.
At the end of the play though, you do see a breakdown in the pick and roll. Not sure if it's Nene or Dahntay that makes the mistake on this play, but I think it's Dahntay. This may be an issue if he struggles to learn our "system"
Clip 3:
Jumpshot. Don't let his 3FG% last year fool you. He's not a good shooter. Though his % was higher, I felt more confident that Marquis' shot would go in than Dahntay's. Then again, just about every Pacer (not named Marquis) has really improved their outside shot within the past three years.
Clip 4:
More defense on TJ Ford. I think he does an OK job on pnr defense, but his recovery and block on TJ are great. Have I mentioned I love his defense?
Clip 5:
WEIGHTROOM!
Clip 6:
Dahntay mixing it up with TJ. Watch the top of the screen for the entire sequence. Jones starts with a hard bump and then rides Ford to the half court line. A little later, another hard bump that causes Ford to shove him
Jones got into Ford's head, Ford gets the technical, Jones gets the foul. I think he's similar to Rodman in this way.
Btw, Ford's first tweet about his new teammate said this "Congrats to my boy Dontay Jones.. Been cool for 7yrs.. Let's go Pacers.. Need my $ for that tech last yr..lol"
Clip 7
Sequence following technical. On one hand, I think Ford scores his only 2 points of the quarter on this play, and I think he's nearly scoreless because of Dahntay's defense.
On the other hand, Dahntay gave up on this play. I really don't like to see that.
Clip 8
Not working too hard on the pick and roll here. Not sure if we was tired or not, but with his aggressiveness he should've easily made it to Jack. Instead, Jack's got the open look.
Clip 9
Jones with another nice finish near the rim. He won't score a lot, and I expect a lot of his buckets to be plays like this.
Clip 10
More defense on Ford. He basically shuts Ford down on this play. Any time your SG can shut down one of the quickest PGs in the league, he's bordering on elite defender status (at least on the ball).
Clip 11
Another breakdown on defense. Not 100% sure, but again I think it's Dahntay that should've rotated to a wide-open Jack. Jones doesn't appear to fully grasp Nuggets team defense, which isn't that great.
Clip 12
Nothing spectacular here, but he finds Martin for a nice assist. This play happened (imo) because Jones' quickness froze all of the Pacers defenders on this play (esp. after that first dunk).
Clip 13
This clip represents almost all of his positive attributes in one series. He starts off with good defense and a block off of TJ's back which he brings down to the other end and makes a graceful spin move for an easy layup. You get to see his defense, quickness, and athleticism. He's not a point guard, but he's a decent ballhandler and has a knack for freezing the defense. With his athleticism, he has the ability break down defenses in a completely different way than Marquis. Marquis is still more effective (one of the better in the game), but I think we can use Dahntay more effectively than Denver because of our system.
Clip 14
Slightly funny. Dahntay reminding Troy that he's in the game. It's great to keep trying because it will eventually p*ss off your opponent. I love Troy's cranky response, followed by Dahntay's next attempt.
Clip 15
Another one . Nothing big here, but he slaps Brandon Rush on an inbounds play. The Pacers were sorely needing a punk on their team, and they definitely got one.
Clip 16
Dahntay is guarding Stephen Graham on this play. Like a lot of very quick and athletic players, Dahntay drifts too far off of Graham, allowing Graham a wide open look. My suspicion is that guys like Dahntay had always been able to recover defensively in high school and a little in college, and thus never learned to break a bad habit of over-relying on athleticism. We need him to fix this.
Clip 17
Not fighting through a screen. I've seen Granger do this when he's fatigued. I hope Dahntay's just tired here because he has to fight through these.
Clip 18
Can't end on a bad play, so here's the last good one. Jones quickly slides in front of Jack in transition. Jack is surprised to see Dahntay there, and travels. This is a very nice transition defense play. I think Dahntay improves our transition defense because he has such an advantage over most of the league with his athleticism.
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