SQ4 Perry Jones III—Enigma or Afterthought

It is hard not to get excited about a free trial of a player with such alluring physical assets. That said there are certainly a number of aspects to his game, and person, to encourage one to pump the brakes. Interestingly, some of the most criticized parts of his play, and persona, give me the least pause; while some of the more nebulous grumbles seem to me more discouraging.

On paper, PJ3 seems tailor-made for the power three, a role player for which Danny has searched unsuccessfully the past decade. He has great size and length, for a four much less a three; excellent mobility and agility; good speed both straight-line and lateral; and the ability to score both outside and at the rim. Yet he plays without with a lack of assertion that negates much of what should be an overwhelming physical edge. His former coach tried to employ him as a Swiss-army-knife defender, and he did a pretty impressive job as the primary defender on some of the elite players in the league. On the other hand, when off the ball he has a reputation of losing track of his assignment and missing help rotations. His outside shot seems to have excellent range, good form, and is taken with confidence; sadly, thus far this confidence is not born out by any resulting efficiency. While he is a good finisher at the rim when on the move, his physical gifts have not translated into an effective or efficient post-up game.

Like Russia, Jones is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma—but who better than Brad Stevens to unwrap this versatile tool and free the beast. Scott Brooks, his former coach at OKC, did his best Doc Rivers imitation in his disdain for rookies, or youth for that matter. In spite of some impressive practice performances Perry was firmly slotted into the small slice of playing time remaining after MVP candidate Kevin Durant ate his fill. Then when veteran role players were acquired, Brooks sat both Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones who languished on the bench until each was dumped in Luxury-Tax avoidance moves this summer. A title contender with a veteran coach with a penchant for veteran players? I'm pretty sure I have seen that play out before. Undeveloped (too little coaching), dispirited and dis/mis-used, first-round talent whose lights were barely lit and then stifled under a basket--heck, I'm a little sorry the Thunder wouldn't pay Danny to take Lamb also.

Jones got his chance to emerge from Durant's shadow last year when Kevin was recuperating. He had a great game, a couple of good ones, and then suffered a severe knee contusion that kept him off the court for weeks; by the time he came back, other solutions were in place and then the acquisition of a couple of veterans pushed him permanently to the bench. Many sniff with disdain and proclaim that PJ3 got his chance and failed to take advantage—I read it as he got a chance and after a solid start, he fell to the injury bug and then to the tried and true(?) “limited vets are preferable to unproven youth” folly.

Of more concern to me are the failures in off-ball defense and missed rotations. After three years these basic defensive fundamentals should no longer be a mystery, in fact they should be an ingrained habit. We are only one year into the James Young experiment and we've certainly seen the sad result of a flat learning curve, but after three years you expect a player to figure it out, if they are ever going to do so. The “Celtics Way” and Stevens Ball are predicated on understanding the big picture and the individual's shifting role in both the offensive and defensive schemes. This isn't basketball 101 where "arrrrgh, me beat you," is the whole story. This is advanced basketball and the chain is only as strong as the weakest link—i.e. you can scarcely afford weak links. If I had to name the two highest-impact facets of the Brad Stevens era, I would choose BBIQ and character. This may ultimately be the litmus test that eliminates Jones, and Young, from the Celtics parquet party.

Another caution that worries me is Jones' lack of developing a post-up game. I see a lot of Jeff Green in PJ3 and while not every player needs to be an alpha dog, your more talented players do need to leverage their advantages to best benefit the team. Slightly less concerning is the lack of improvement in his efficiency shooting outside. I see that as more a factor of confidence (if the shot is not “broken”) that can improve with opportunity and experience.

The final fly-in-the-ointment is Jones' knees. The human anatomy puts enormous strain on these fickle joints and basketball increases the strain, and danger, exponentially. The same knee that was surgically repaired was the site of the severe contusion that laid him low almost as soon as he got his big “chance.” We need look no further back, or afield, than Leon Powe to find a career lost to knee problems. While we haven't heard the dread micro-fracture phrase, Jones' meniscus issues have already led to one arthroscopic surgery. Here is hoping that this worry is a non-issue.

I think it is safe to say that watching this Perry Jones III story play out in camp, and perhaps the season, will be one of the most interesting aspects of this fall. By Christmas (or the first game) PJ3 may be no more than a footnote (and a second round pick in Danny's pocket). On the other hand no off-season pickup has more potential to pay huge dividends, in which case the cost/reward disparity will be off the charts.

62 days to camp

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