Robert Jones Improvement

[CascadiaClone]

Every bball season I pick a player that is my “guy” for the year. This year it’s Lipsey but BRE is right on his heals. His effort is impossible to ignore. The dude just goes out there and works. He has a very important role this year and has been doing an exceptional job executing.

May be some recency bias at work here but would be hard not to put him in my top 10 favorite Cyclones of the last 10 years.

 

[cayin]

Robert "mother fkr" Jones is the man!!! Our inside game is going to be pretty darn good with him and Ward sharing minutes. Each can go hard and we don't have to worry to much about foul trouble.

 

[NWICY]

@Sigmapolis what does this mean in common folk language?

 

[Sigmapolis]

@Sigmapolis what does this mean in common folk language?

Offensive rating (the stat being ranked there) is an estimate of the number of points produced by a player on offense over the course of 100 possessions. You can read a longer definition here.

English translation -- Rob Jones is one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball.

Usually guards dominate this (with some exceptions) by bombing threes. Sometimes the big men can rise up the rankings, though, by shooting a very high percent on their two-point shots, either *not* getting fouled much or getting fouled a ton *and* making their free throws, not turning it over, and generating a lot of extra possessions for themselves or their team through rebounds (especially on the offensive glass).

Squint and you see Rob Jones so far this year in that.

 

[madguy30]

Every bball season I pick a player that is my “guy” for the year. This year it’s Lipsey but BRE is right on his heals. His effort is impossible to ignore. The dude just goes out there and works. He has a very important role this year and has been doing an exceptional job executing.

May be some recency bias at work here but would be hard not to put him in my top 10 favorite Cyclones of the last 10 years.

Easily since the Morris/Thomas/Burton team.

The TJ era has had a lot of 'this is what we do, and this is how we do it' and guys like BRE are what's needed for that.

 

[Peter]

He has a little bit of Steven Adams in his game.

 

[Steve]

When Rob's transfer to Iowa State was announced, much of the reaction on CF was rather lukewarm. There were questions about why TJ would bring in a guy who didn't put up impressive numbers at Denver and wasn't even a full-time starter there. In one of his early interviews, BRE didn't talk about scoring points, grabbing rebounds, or even playing defense. He simply pledged that he would be the hardest worker and the first guy down the court on every possession. His commitment to doing that is what has made him the player that he is today.

 

[twincyties]

BRE might have hit the gym but the biggest change I've noticed is his quickness/footwork. His post moves look smoother and he's way better at staying in front of his assignment on defense. That includes smaller players and guards when they have to switch. He's keeping up more and fouling a lot less in those situations.

Rob is really, really good on the perimeter for someone his size. If you pay attention, he gets switched onto guards quite frequently and rarely does he allow penetration into the lane nor does he foul (on dribble or on jump shots).

A lot of people questioned why he was on the floor in late game situations last year and TJ has said specifically this is why.

 

[cymac2408]

Offensive rating (the stat being ranked there) is an estimate of the number of points produced by a player on offense over the course of 100 possessions. You can read a longer definition here.

English translation -- Rob Jones is one of the most efficient scorers in college basketball.

Usually guards dominate this (with some exceptions) by bombing threes. Sometimes the big men can rise up the rankings, though, by shooting a very high percent on their two-point shots, either *not* getting fouled much or getting fouled a ton *and* making their free throws, not turning it over, and generating a lot of extra possessions for themselves or their team through rebounds (especially on the offensive glass).

Squint and you see Rob Jones so far this year in that.

Or in common folk language - he’s more gooder

 

[cymac2408]

One thing not mentioned yet is he is not getting those stupid fouls of setting those moving screens out top. Those used to drive me crazy. The young man has made me eat crow this year. Do you want to know something? BRE has made me love crow. Like everyone has said he makes it easy to root for him.

 

[CycloneVet]

BRE will make money playing professional basketball at some level. Who would have thought that would be the case 2 years ago. Also will likely be a coach someday if he chooses to. You don’t improve this much without knowing fundamentals and his personality will likely make him a good teacher.

 

[bosco]

 

[Cyched]

When Rob's transfer to Iowa State was announced, much of the reaction on CF was rather lukewarm. There were questions about why TJ would bring in a guy who didn't put up impressive numbers at Denver and wasn't even a full-time starter there. In one of his early interviews, BRE didn't talk about scoring points, grabbing rebounds, or even playing defense. He simply pledged that he would be the hardest worker and the first guy down the court on every possession. His commitment to doing that is what has made him the player that he is today.

From what I recall at the time, BRE was never intended to be this home run pickup; the staff brought him in as a "culture guy" which was badly needed after the end of the Prohm era.

I liked him early on even if he wasn't putting up great numbers. You could see he was doing our "dirty work" and pushing Conditt to be better.

The fact that he has busted his ass and is now a major piece for this team is commendable. When he got here I didn't expect him to go down as one of the all time fan favorites, but that's where we're at.

 

[nfrine]

Robert has done way more for the program than his stats indicate. He has the demeanor that makes him a favorite of both fans and coaches.

 

[tomar1]

While this year might be a bit skewed due to no Big 12 opponents yet, its still remarkable how far he has come since his first year here. Props to him and the coaching staff coaching him up.

Robert Jones - Iowa State Cyclones Forward - ESPN

View the profile of Iowa State Cyclones Forward Robert Jones on ESPN. Get the latest news, live stats and game highlights.

www.espn.com

GP	MIN	FG%	3P%	FT%	REB	AST	BLK	STL	PF	TO	PTS
8	22.1	71.4	0.0	50.0	4.8	0.8	1.0	1.3	2.0	0.5	8.9
33	17.0	47.1	0.0	40.3	3.8	0.9	0.4	0.7	2.7	1.4	5.7
34	12.1	50.0	0.0	29.7	2.4	0.8	0.4	0.4	1.8	0.8	2.9

THis team has bought into the weight room. We bullied Iowa last night. BRE destroyed that Valpo transfer and so did King. BRE is finishing this year around the rim.

I’ve come to not like it when Big Rob is not on the floor! He’s shooting better and his defense has really improved! Great team mate! My wife doesn’t like all the flexing though! LOL!

 

[Cy Guy69]

His first two years here, he had absolutely no business being on the court. He was brought in because we needed bodies at the start of the Otz era. It is nice to see him developed into a serviceable guy.

 

[Frak]

I have no doubt he'll struggle some in conference against bigger and quicker players. But you can tell that he's just improved a ton. When he gets the ball, it's not so clunky. He's obviously put in the work.

 

[HFCS]

Robert has done way more for the program than his stats indicate. He has the demeanor that makes him a favorite of both fans and coaches.

And now the actual stats are starting to look pretty good:
9.9 points per game, 75%FG, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 block, 1.3 steals
53% ft up from 30% first year he was here

Competition hasn't been great but that's pretty solid for only 22 minutes per game.

His PER is all the way up to 26.9 after being 13 last year. Not a perfect stat but generally anything above 20 is a very efficient offensive player.

Lipsey's PER jumped from 16 to 26 so far this year.

 

[HFCS]

I have no doubt he'll struggle some in conference against bigger and quicker players. But you can tell that he's just improved a ton. When he gets the ball, it's not so clunky. He's obviously put in the work.

A lot of it last year was just his touch around the basket. Everything went up so hard off the glass even when he had a good look. His finishing looks like a totally new player.

 

[Big_Sill]

He’s improved, this is also a much better roster for his skill set. Don’t have to run offense through our high post anymore.