Looking back at Dahntay Jones' season with us so far. It's been very good and he's definitly playing up to his standards, if not much better than what many of us thought. I'm looking forward to the rest of the reason having him in our lineup. We are now on a 4 game win streak with him starting at SF mainly because Troy's been out. I don't see anything changing in the lineup even when he returns.
I'd also think it's safe to say that I can go get myself a Jones #1 jersey. He's not going anywhere. (knock on wood)
Here are his very impressive stats up to date.
PPG - 16.4
RPG - 4.10 (OFF-0.6, DEF-3.6)
APG - 2.0
FG% - 0.464
FT% - 0.787
Minutes - 33.4
I put up a recent blog entry on Dahntay's impact on the team.
Some videos are at the bottom as well. (If it doesn't work, it's on the link)
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I'd also think it's safe to say that I can go get myself a Jones #1 jersey. He's not going anywhere. (knock on wood)
Here are his very impressive stats up to date.
PPG - 16.4
RPG - 4.10 (OFF-0.6, DEF-3.6)
APG - 2.0
FG% - 0.464
FT% - 0.787
Minutes - 33.4
I put up a recent blog entry on Dahntay's impact on the team.
Some videos are at the bottom as well. (If it doesn't work, it's on the link)
Sudden scorer Jones giving Pacers big lift
Conrad Brunner
November 13th
They knew they were getting an intense competitor, a defensive stopper on the perimeter, a veteran who had played a key role in the rapid, dramatic transformation of the Nuggets from a high-scoring novelty act into a championship contender primarily because of stronger commitment to defense.
What the Pacers didn't know they were getting in Dahntay Jones was an offensive weapon.
Jones' scoring – he is averaging 15.0 points, second on the team, and shooting .464 from the field – has been the most pleasant surprise of the early season, a welcome bonus given the injuries that have wracked the Pacers.
He'll face his original NBA team (of sorts) when the Celtics make their only visit of the season to Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday night. And in bringing up that particular nugget of information, perhaps we should realize that his scoring shouldn't be that big of a surprise.
Jones was, after all, a first-round pick, taken No. 20 overall out of Duke in 2003 by the Celtics, who promptly shipped him to Memphis in a multi-player deal that brought Kendrick Perkins to Boston. He led Duke in scoring (17.7) as a senior and was an honorable mention All-America.
"Anybody in the NBA has been a scorer at some point in their life," said Jones. "We belong to a league where a certain number of people are called on to score. If you come into the NBA, you've scored the ball before, it's a matter of whether your team is going to let you score or help you score.
"A lot of times you come into the league with a main guy on a team and you have to complement him. This is a situation where it's equal opportunity and we have a bunch of guys who all scored the basketball at some point of my career.
"I'm a basketball player. There's a reason I was fortunate enough to get to this level. I can play both sides of the floor. It's just a matter of what's necessary for my team. Last year, I only averaged five points but if you look at my team, that was necessary. I was more of a buffer to keep everybody happy and under control.
"You have Carmelo (Anthony) who needs 20 shots a game, you've got Chauncey (Billups) who needs 15, you've got Nene who needs his touches, Kenyon (Martin) wants his touches, J.R. (Smith) comes in and shoots the ball 15 times a game. If I compete with them for shots, then the machine's not going to work, so somebody's got to be big enough to take a back seat."
With former Duke teammate Mike Dunleavy out and Brandon Rush struggling to find his rhythm, Jones has been asked to assume a larger role in the offense, to become more of a playmaker. He's adjusting to spending much more time with the ball in his hands but has generally handled the responsibility well.
To O'Brien, it's not unlike the scenario that encouraged Dunleavy to thrive after he arrived from Golden State.
"We were happy to pick him up because we thought he would bring a certain defensive mentality and he has. Our thought was that, a little bit like Mike when he was at Golden State, maybe not used for whatever reason to his maximum, offensively," said O'Brien. "In Mike's case, he's a very good guy moving without the basketball and he was kind of a spot-up guy on his previous team.
"Dahntay, when you have the likes of Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony and Nene, they're great, great scorers. We run a passing game. We thought with Dahntay's intelligence and background at Duke, where they run a movement offense, that he had some abilities offensively that maybe were not tapped at the professional level.
"We really believe he's going to grow his offensive game continuously as a Pacer. A very aggressive guy and he will use that aggressiveness and also become more of a playmaker. So as a result we get a guy not only a guy with an attitude on defense but a guy with a very aggressive attitude on offense."
The Pacers have won three in a row since Jones moved into the starting lineup, which became small out of necessity when Troy Murphy went down with a back injury. Whether he remains a starter when Murphy returns remains to be seen but his early impact has been measurable in ways both tangible and intangible.
"Most of the game is confidence and when you win (three) in a row, you get some confidence," he said. "You get a boost."
In his case, you give one, as well.
Conrad Brunner
November 13th
They knew they were getting an intense competitor, a defensive stopper on the perimeter, a veteran who had played a key role in the rapid, dramatic transformation of the Nuggets from a high-scoring novelty act into a championship contender primarily because of stronger commitment to defense.
What the Pacers didn't know they were getting in Dahntay Jones was an offensive weapon.
Jones' scoring – he is averaging 15.0 points, second on the team, and shooting .464 from the field – has been the most pleasant surprise of the early season, a welcome bonus given the injuries that have wracked the Pacers.
He'll face his original NBA team (of sorts) when the Celtics make their only visit of the season to Conseco Fieldhouse Saturday night. And in bringing up that particular nugget of information, perhaps we should realize that his scoring shouldn't be that big of a surprise.
Jones was, after all, a first-round pick, taken No. 20 overall out of Duke in 2003 by the Celtics, who promptly shipped him to Memphis in a multi-player deal that brought Kendrick Perkins to Boston. He led Duke in scoring (17.7) as a senior and was an honorable mention All-America.
"Anybody in the NBA has been a scorer at some point in their life," said Jones. "We belong to a league where a certain number of people are called on to score. If you come into the NBA, you've scored the ball before, it's a matter of whether your team is going to let you score or help you score.
"A lot of times you come into the league with a main guy on a team and you have to complement him. This is a situation where it's equal opportunity and we have a bunch of guys who all scored the basketball at some point of my career.
"I'm a basketball player. There's a reason I was fortunate enough to get to this level. I can play both sides of the floor. It's just a matter of what's necessary for my team. Last year, I only averaged five points but if you look at my team, that was necessary. I was more of a buffer to keep everybody happy and under control.
"You have Carmelo (Anthony) who needs 20 shots a game, you've got Chauncey (Billups) who needs 15, you've got Nene who needs his touches, Kenyon (Martin) wants his touches, J.R. (Smith) comes in and shoots the ball 15 times a game. If I compete with them for shots, then the machine's not going to work, so somebody's got to be big enough to take a back seat."
With former Duke teammate Mike Dunleavy out and Brandon Rush struggling to find his rhythm, Jones has been asked to assume a larger role in the offense, to become more of a playmaker. He's adjusting to spending much more time with the ball in his hands but has generally handled the responsibility well.
To O'Brien, it's not unlike the scenario that encouraged Dunleavy to thrive after he arrived from Golden State.
"We were happy to pick him up because we thought he would bring a certain defensive mentality and he has. Our thought was that, a little bit like Mike when he was at Golden State, maybe not used for whatever reason to his maximum, offensively," said O'Brien. "In Mike's case, he's a very good guy moving without the basketball and he was kind of a spot-up guy on his previous team.
"Dahntay, when you have the likes of Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony and Nene, they're great, great scorers. We run a passing game. We thought with Dahntay's intelligence and background at Duke, where they run a movement offense, that he had some abilities offensively that maybe were not tapped at the professional level.
"We really believe he's going to grow his offensive game continuously as a Pacer. A very aggressive guy and he will use that aggressiveness and also become more of a playmaker. So as a result we get a guy not only a guy with an attitude on defense but a guy with a very aggressive attitude on offense."
The Pacers have won three in a row since Jones moved into the starting lineup, which became small out of necessity when Troy Murphy went down with a back injury. Whether he remains a starter when Murphy returns remains to be seen but his early impact has been measurable in ways both tangible and intangible.
"Most of the game is confidence and when you win (three) in a row, you get some confidence," he said. "You get a boost."
In his case, you give one, as well.
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