Dear Coach: Play Jones More

#1
armchair

armchair

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#1
If I'm Warlick--and, yea, I'm not and what do I know--I'm working Jones in the 4 spot with an eye on giving her more playing time and Graves less. Jones has all of Graves physical attributes and more--she one of the best athletes and defenders on the team, good rebounder--and she has more of an offensive game than Graves. Or maybe I should say she seems to have more offensive potential than Graves--that seems clear. She had comparable numbers to Graves against Kentucky playing HALF the minutes.

Vols BADLY need someone inside who can take a little of the scoring pressure off Harrison, and Jones has a lot of upside. To be sure, she's raw--a total diamond in the rough. She is good perimeter /defensive/ player, but not so good on the perimeter offensively--turnover prone. I think she could do some damage inside--get offensive rebounds and put them in the basket, which Graves struggles to do. Graves plays very stiff with the ball; Jones is more fluid and has a pretty decent jumper, too--exceptional athlete. There looks to be serious potential; it is just a question of finding the right offensive fit for her and working her tirelessly--and then hoping it comes together before she graduates. Thoughts?
 
#2
#2
armchair said:
If I'm Warlick--and, yea, I'm not and what do I know--I'm working Jones in the 4 spot with an eye on giving her more playing time and Graves less. Jones has all of Graves physical attributes and more--she one of the best athletes and defenders on the team, good rebounder--and she has more of an offensive game than Graves. Or maybe I should say she seems to have more offensive potential than Graves--that seems clear. She had comparable numbers to Graves against Kentucky playing HALF the minutes.

Vols BADLY need someone inside who can take a little of the scoring pressure off Harrison, and Jones has a lot of upside. To be sure, she's raw--a total diamond in the rough. She is good perimeter /defensive/ player, but not so good on the perimeter offensively--turnover prone. I think she could do some damage inside--get offensive rebounds and put them in the basket, which Graves struggles to do. Graves plays very stiff with the ball; Jones is more fluid and has a pretty decent jumper, too--exceptional athlete. There looks to be serious potential; it is just a question of finding the right offensive fit for her and working her tirelessly--and then hoping it comes together before she graduates. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Jones is a great athlete for sure but she cannot shoot for sh#t. Maybe she can develop her shot in time.
 
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#3
#3
Interesting theory but I feel the opposite. While I DO like Jones tenacity on defense and think she has a decent shooter's touch, she just always seems lost to me on offense and I get really scared when she has the ball feeling like she's going to be part of a turnover.

Graves is a phenomenal player who hadn't lived up to expectations some of this season PARTLY due to expectations being so high and also in part due to injury IMO, but she has been coming around nicely lately. And, even in a game like last night where she didn't score a lot, she still had 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 0 turnovers. It seems like a lot of her shots just haven't fallen that normally would and she hasn't got the benefit of the doubt in a lot of the officiating, but that'll even out in the long run - just short term bad luck.
 
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#4
#4
BigOrangeD said:
Jones is a great athlete for sure but she cannot shoot for sh#t. Maybe she can develop her shot in time.
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I agree. She really hustles, but she has no ball skills at all. She shoots bricks; she can't pass; she can't catch; she simply can do nothing with the ball in her hands. I love to watch her on defense, but when she gets the ball, I just say, "Oh, no!"
 
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#5
#5
Right idea, wrong position, OP.

Jones has it all and the more she plays the more her shots and O will continue to develop. But she is a 3 that is a good rebounder and slasher to the basket that works well in space. So she can really use her in the full court, transition game as well as half court sets. On D she can play point down to the 4 - so switching her in man or having her out front in the zone can be very effective with her quickness and length.

She can spell Graves at 4 for brief periods when the match-ups are right, but most of her minutes should come from Burdick.
 
#7
#7
first she can't JUMP! She and Carter are the two best elevators on the team.
She is rough but very much an athlete. Have you reviewed her three point shooting this year? 8-15, her shooting percentage otherwise is in the same range of Burdick, Reynolds, Massengale at below .40.

Her defense on the perimeter - is similar to Nikki A. 6'2" and athletic.

poor passer for sure. Her shots against Ky were all good shots and didn't fall but her moves to get open demonstrated her athletic ability. The ole cliche about repetitions, and minutes in game situation - she needs more.

I remember how "all-knowing" boarders ragged on Alicia Manning in her early years at UT. too XYX can't TVP, doesn't PLq
 
#8
#8
Not a bad idea. Jones and/or Burdick will be moved to the post when all of these more talented guard/wing types get here next season. I can't see either of them keeping Tucker, Carter, Massengale, Reynolds, Nared, or Middleton off the floor. We are thin at post too.
 
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#13
#13
armchair said:
If I'm Warlick--and, yea, I'm not and what do I know--I'm working Jones in the 4 spot with an eye on giving her more playing time and Graves less. Jones has all of Graves physical attributes and more--she one of the best athletes and defenders on the team, good rebounder--and she has more of an offensive game than Graves. Or maybe I should say she seems to have more offensive potential than Graves--that seems clear. She had comparable numbers to Graves against Kentucky playing HALF the minutes.

Vols BADLY need someone inside who can take a little of the scoring pressure off Harrison, and Jones has a lot of upside. To be sure, she's raw--a total diamond in the rough. She is good perimeter /defensive/ player, but not so good on the perimeter offensively--turnover prone. I think she could do some damage inside--get offensive rebounds and put them in the basket, which Graves struggles to do. Graves plays very stiff with the ball; Jones is more fluid and has a pretty decent jumper, too--exceptional athlete. There looks to be serious potential; it is just a question of finding the right offensive fit for her and working her tirelessly--and then hoping it comes together before she graduates. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

You better sit back down. Graves is third on the team in FG percentage, second in total rebounds. Jones is worst on the team behind Burdick and Massengale in FG percentage at 36%. Jones is a great athlete but she doesn't play to her strengths. She needs to get in there and just bang it. She thinks she's a shooter and she's not. Both she and Burdick have similar games-they need to get rebounds and defend and get points from scavenging.
 
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#14
#14
Also, Jones tends to lose the ball in the traffic quite often. She is a better defensive player, but not near Graves offensively. Graves' offense suffers only because of the difficulty in getting her the ball.
Just my opinion (and I will never try to tell Warlick what to do).
 
#15
#15
I think JJ has one of the prettiest and smoothest shots of any player. The shots just haven't gone in. She can sky. I hope her accuracy and ball-handling improves. With the talent coming in she may get lost in the shuffle.

Get it all together, JJ. I am rooting for you.
 
#16
#16
Bodeydad said:
I think JJ has one of the prettiest and smoothest shots of any player. The shots just haven't gone in. She can sky. I hope her accuracy and ball-handling improves. With the talent coming in she may get lost in the shuffle.

Get it all together, JJ. I am rooting for you.
Click to expand...

That's part of her problem. She values style over substance. Graves and Jones should both substantially improve next year. Graves will be a banger inside.
 
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#17
#17
Seemed like her shooting was better last year, but I haven't looked it up or anything. I would like to see her get more time, but y'all are right, there's a logjam next year. Would love to see more Nia, too.

Has anyone heard if JJ has a concussion from the UK game, or just what happened?
 
#18
#18
armchair said:
If I'm Warlick--and, yea, I'm not and what do I know--I'm working Jones in the 4 spot with an eye on giving her more playing time and Graves less. Jones has all of Graves physical attributes and more--she one of the best athletes and defenders on the team, good rebounder--and she has more of an offensive game than Graves. Or maybe I should say she seems to have more offensive potential than Graves--that seems clear. She had comparable numbers to Graves against Kentucky playing HALF the minutes.

Vols BADLY need someone inside who can take a little of the scoring pressure off Harrison, and Jones has a lot of upside. To be sure, she's raw--a total diamond in the rough. She is good perimeter /defensive/ player, but not so good on the perimeter offensively--turnover prone. I think she could do some damage inside--get offensive rebounds and put them in the basket, which Graves struggles to do. Graves plays very stiff with the ball; Jones is more fluid and has a pretty decent jumper, too--exceptional athlete. There looks to be serious potential; it is just a question of finding the right offensive fit for her and working her tirelessly--and then hoping it comes together before she graduates. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I not sure what games did you watch and i don`t mean to be a little harsh, But this team plays much better without her. Shes raw and yes a lot of up side but she`s out of control most of the time with lots of turnovers thanks but no thanks !
 
#19
#19
stllvf said:
first she can't JUMP! She and Carter are the two best elevators on the team.
She is rough but very much an athlete. Have you reviewed her three point shooting this year? 8-15, her shooting percentage otherwise is in the same range of Burdick, Reynolds, Massengale at below .40.

Her defense on the perimeter - is similar to Nikki A. 6'2" and athletic.

poor passer for sure. Her shots against Ky were all good shots and didn't fall but her moves to get open demonstrated her athletic ability. The ole cliche about repetitions, and minutes in game situation - she needs more.

I remember how "all-knowing" boarders ragged on Alicia Manning in her early years at UT. too XYX can't TVP, doesn't PLq
Click to expand...

Lets be real her defense is no where near Nikki. Nikki locked down players at the 1,2,3,4, and 5
 
#20
#20
If I was Holly since everybody seems to be taking a turn being her. I would make sure Jones went to some kind of camp over the summer that works on basketball skills, dribbling, shooting, and passing. Jones is such an athlete to be wasting away with the numbers she puts up because she hasn't developed her offensive skills.
If I was Holly number two I would keep Graves off any US National teams and let her work all summer on her posting skills and being able to finish. I would get a 6'5" guy and let her work daily to learn moves to score on him up and under, etc. I have a theory that playing on the US National team hurt her further development this year. She has really had trouble finishing even open shots.
If I was Holly number three I would make sure Burdick worked hard on her long range shooting. I would want her to be ready to take about a hundred threes next season. She probably makes 40 if she takes that many and 40 percent from the three is huge.
If I was Holly number four I would make sure Mercedes pumped the weight and worked on her speed. I would want her lower body to be as strong as she could possibly get it in the six months before basketball practice. She is a good finisher when she catches the ball most of her turnovers are failing to make the catch.
If I was Holly number five I would get on my motor cycle and take me a long two weeks vacation somewhere where people didn't know who I was just to get away from everything she has to put up with during this season.
 
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#21
#21
Jones needs to work on her offensive skills for sure,wasn't she a center in high school? i may be wrong on that,but she is showing some improvement on her shooting as of late,like others have said,she definately needs to work on her ball handling skills come this off season
 
#22
#22
Jones absolutely needs to work on her offensive skills--but her skills are demonstrably better than Graves's right now! She does more--that's the point, and why I think she should be playing more. She has more potential than Graves.
 
#23
#23
Graves main problem is to much thinking. Instead of going up strong in the post she is trying to finesse shots. You have to power that ball up. She can shoot the perimeter shot when she shoots and doesn't think to much. She puts pressure on herself at the free throw line as well by thinking about the shot to much. In high school she was a 75 percent free throw shooter still 15 feet in college. In high school she made a lot of perimeter shots and also three pointers. In those days she had confidence lost it for some reason.
Stay home after this season work on her game. Playing on the US team most of last off season affected her play. She is still 1.45 points per shot attempt which is super. Jones is around 1.00 she is just like Graves to much thinking not enough aggressive play.
 
#24
#24
armchair said:
Jones absolutely needs to work on her offensive skills--but her skills are demonstrably better than Graves's right now! She does more--that's the point, and why I think she should be playing more. She has more potential than Graves.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't go that far. Graves is tough. She had a little case of sophmoritis this year. She's going to be the second coming of Harrison next year. Those two are going to be bangers. I think she might have had some physical issues that have plagued her all season. I see a strong rebound next year.
 
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