People are too harsh on Robert Jones. He missed some layups last night but he is still shooting 50% this season and 54% in his college career. By comparison, our beloved Jared Homan was only a 44% shooter. He missed more layups than Jones.
Hason Ward
- Thread starter Willyd125
- Start date
Oh I agree. Maybe unplayable is not the correct term.. Having a negative impact maybe? I'm not saying Bob shouldn't have played last night, I was saying that his offense was hurting us.
It certainly is, but if he's out of position causing the team to give up easy points too often, it can negate those steals.
I'm not trying to say Ward isn't good, I think he's looked pretty good so far. I'm just speculating on a likely reason he does not get more playing time.
Unplayable was the wrong wording on my end. I love Bob and what he brings to the team. Last night though he was pretty bad.
Ward & Jones play the same position, but they aren't the same player, Jones is a banger with some low post moves. Ward is not a physical player- he's quick & can get off the floor. Ward has a similar skill-set to Osunniyi.
If TJ is trying to give opposing teams different looks in the post, based on the opponents players- it becomes a question should Ward take minutes from Osunniyi or even Tre King? Not should Ward take minutes from Jones.
Against OU, I think Jones gives ISU a physical body against Tanner Groves who is 6'10" & 240lbs.
Ward is a terrible offensive player, its not about prioritizing offense. Its about an 8 min stretch with no points where Bob was pretty bad.
By bad, that might be true if one looks at shooting %.
Bug did Jones play bad defense? Did he not rebound? Did he not body up against Groves in the paint?
Also OU played 4 guards for 144 of 200 minutes last night. So there wasn't going to be a lot of minutes for Ward, Watson or Jones off the bench.
Lampkin would shove Ward into the stands. He's not going to do that to Jones. The problem I see is that if TCU isn't on a fast break, Jamie Dixon runs pick and roll every single possession. He always has. Jones getting caught on a switch on Miles is a disaster waiting to happen. That's where guys like Ward and King can help...they can stay in front of guards. But then if we go small, Lampkin will eat those guys for lunch inside. That's why TCU is so good. They may well win the conference.
I'm not saying he did everything horribly last night but overall he played below his standard of play and because of that saw less minutes than he maybe otherwise would've. The last two games, Bob has played some of his lowest minutes of the year. The season lowest was UCONN.
What all three of those games have in common is that Osun played well and Bob didn't necessarily play that well.
I like what Bob can bring but he just didn't have it last night. Concerning that they didn't feel comfortable going with Ward with Bob struggling.
I'm fine with Bob not contributing much on offense in the box score as long as the ball isn't getting stuck in his hands in the post and wasting several possessions trying to post him up. If he gets going with some putbacks and has a good matchup try a post up or two and see if it works. Otherwise he should just set hard screens and go rebound.
Man I watched the whole game and I never once said, "damn Jones doesn't have it, he's killing us". Has he played better? Probably. But he was solid like always. Sometimes our expectations are the actual problem, and I am as guilty as anyone.
I think the key to getting it to him in the post is to provide a different look to the opponent. The key is then for him not to force it just because he gets the ball. Sometimes him catching it will open things for a shooter or cutter.
Yeah I don't mind giving it to him. The ball just can't stick in his hands for a few seconds. Either make your move or pass it out
Basically. pretend like the 2020/21 season didn't happen from a player eligibility perspective. So any player who competed during 2020/21 gets 5 years of play & 6 years to do it.
Unfortunately as fans, we can't pretend 2020/21 didn't happen.
He was +9 as well. Shoon ended up -6. I know a lot goes into that number, of course.
Ward, Jones, Grill, and T King have a year remaining if they choose..
Jones had a terrible game last night but it's going to happen
His offensive rating was 2nd worse involving anyone who played for either team. King was the worse.
His offensive rating was 2nd worse involving anyone who played for either team. King was the worse.
