Tag: herbert jones

Former Alabama star gets high school jersey, number retired

The Alabama great recently had his high school jersey retired.

One of the greatest players in Alabama Crimson Tide basketball history, star forward Herbert Jones was back in the state earlier this week, as the current NBA and New Orleans Pelicans standout saw his high school jersey and number retired at Hale County High School.

Prior to Alabama, Jones suited up at Hale County during his junior and senior seasons of high school, with that span headlined by a strong 2016-17 season where he averaged 16.5 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 4 APG to earn Class 4A Player of the Year honors, as well as lead the Wildcats to a state title.

Coming out of Hale County in the 2017 recruiting class, Jones was ranked as the nation’s No. 146 overall prospect according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, as well as a three-star prospect. Jones also ranked as the nation’s No. 30 overall shooting guard, as well as the No. 4 player in the state of Alabama.

At Alabama, Jones was a four-year player with the Crimson Tide, averaging a combined 7.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.2 APG, and 1.3 SPG while starting in 101-of-129 games. The forward’s best year in Tuscaloosa was his senior season in which he averaged career-high’s across the board to win SEC Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors.

A second round pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Jones has so far spent every year of his professional career with the New Orleans Pelicans where he is a one-time NBA First Team All-Defensive selection.

Herbert Jones finishes fifth in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting

The Alabama basketball legend is one of the top defenders in the NBA

Former Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball star Herbert Jones finished fifth in the Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting according to an NBA press release.

Jones is best known for his uncanny ability to guard all five positions for the New Orleans Pelicans and is widely regarded as the best perimeter defender in the NBA.

Each player who finished ahead of Jones in the voting is a 7-foot rim protector which allows them to collect gawdy stats. Jones on the other hand is required to defend multiple positions and match up against his opponent’s best player more times than not.

Congratulations to Herb on his incredible achievements in the NBA.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on X (Twitter) @Blackwood89.

14 most surprising omissions (Tyrese Maxey!) from the 2024 USA Basketball men’s player pool

Unless these players denied invitations, these are some very shocking decisions by Team USA.

USA Basketball announced a 41-athlete player pool as candidates for the Paris Olympics roster. Eventually, 12 players will make the final cut.

Among the 12 names that we initially projected to make the roster after the 2023 FIBA World Cup, 11 appeared on the first list. Those players were LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges.

A few notable All-Stars to also earn invitations include Chris Paul, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Trae Young, Jrue Holiday, De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jarrett Allen.

The other players were Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Scottie Barnes, Jalen Brunson, Alex Caruso, Aaron Gordon, Josh Hart, Tyler Herro, Chet Holmgren, Cam Johnson, Walker Kessler, Bobby Portis, Austin Reaves, Duncan Robinson and Derrick White.

Two players who we did not include in our surprising omissions were Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. While both of these players may have helped the team on the court, they have faced off-court issues that made invitations unlikely — plus Morant is currently injured.

Otherwise, these were the most surprising omissions from the list:

Hot mics caught the NSFW reaction from Herb Jones after a foul call on Jose Alvarado

Let’s just say Herb Jones didn’t agree with this decision.

During the victory over the Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado was called for a foul and his teammates didn’t like the call.

The guard was defending Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards and he was called for a foul as the wing drove toward the lane. Alvarado didn’t appear to make illegal contact with Edwards but it didn’t matter.

Perhaps nobody had a better view of the possession than Pelicans ace defender Herb Jones, who was standing nearby when the call was made. After the call, hot mics picked up Jones complaining to the referees about their decision.

Warning: This clip contains language not suitable for work.

As the broadcasters noted, it was impossible to not hear the microphones pick up Jones’ reaction to the call.

Fortunately, it didn’t cause any problems for the Pelicans and they were able to continue to earn a convincing victory over the Timberwolves.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1373]

8 best contracts from 2023 NBA free agency, including the Austin Reaves deal with the Lakers

Austin Reaves isn’t the only player on a great contract, though.

With over a billion dollars spent in NBA free agency this offseason, there are countless players whose contracts will look very different next season.

While it is hard to predict exactly what each player will do when on the court, there are some deals that look a bit more team-friendly than others right now.

After scanning all of the contracts signed using the HoopsHype salaries pages and then cross-referencing some of the data points with our projected Wins Above Replacement Player model (read more on that), here are some players who could outperform their deals.

RELATED: The 5 worst contracts from 2023 NBA free agency, including Dillon Brooks’ bizarre deal with the Rockets

Pelicans’ Herbert Jones had a game-winning sequence so unreal you have to see it to believe it

Not. On. Herb.

Herbert Jones is only in his second professional season in the NBA, but he plays the game like he is a seasoned veteran.

Jones is the type of player whose intelligence and hustle may not show up in the box score. He has an impact on winning as the ultimate glue guy on both ends of the floor, and he is able to make the type of plays that can help turn a contender into a champion.

That was never more clear than in the final few seconds of the Pelicans’ victory over the Thunder on Monday. Jones was utterly phenomenal to seal the deal with this sequence.

The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

First, with 2.3 seconds on the clock, Jones drew a charge to force a turnover. It was his second charge of the night — and one of the many instances where he was disruptive. He also added 3 steals and 4 blocks.

This charge pumped up the home crowd as New Orleans got the ball back, and Jones was tasked with handling the inbound pass. Jones tried something incredibly bold: He threw the ball off the back of Oklahoma City’s Aleksej Pokusevski, then drew another foul to earn a trip to the free-throw line. He nailed them both.

Finally, at the charity stripe, Jones nailed both of his attempts to secure the win for the Pelicans. It was an absurd series of events for Jones, who also played phenomenal defense on Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander throughout the game.

This was the type of performance that will go down on Jones’ resumĂ© when he lobbies for All-Defense consideration at the end of the season.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5x3v4hcz7e10g image=https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=1988262,1897309]

[listicle id=1979749]

NBA fans are furious at Reggie Miller for suggesting Herb Jones hit DeAndre Ayton on purpose

TNT broadcaster Reggie Miller owes New Orleans Pelicans rookie Herbert Jones an apology.

I hate when I watch sports and find myself thinking more about something dumb an announcer said than actually reflecting on the game itself.

But during the fourth quarter of the first game of the series between the Suns and the Pelicans, TNT broadcaster Reggie Miller said something colossally upsetting, and I’m afraid that I can’t let it go.

New Orleans rookie Herbert Jones was making his way back to defend Chris Paul, which was his primary defensive role on Sunday. He did a fantastic job at that, too, as the veteran guard scored nearly all his points when guarded by other players on the Pelicans.

While hurrying back to cover his assignment, Jones made inadvertent contact with Phoenix big Deandre Ayton. Jones’ shoulder hit Ayton in the jaw and the center was left feeling woozy.

Miller took a look at the replay and came away with an assessment: This was intentional. To his credit, Miller played the game at an elite level and perhaps he saw something others did not.

Here is what he said, courtesy of a replay from the TNT broadcast:

“This might have been on purpose. In fact, I think it was. Because there is no need for Jones to rotate over like that. Yeah, that’s on purpose.”

However, when the officials took a look, they did not reach the same conclusion about malicious intent. For what it’s worth, after the game, both Ayton himself and Phoenix head coach Monty Williams said they did not feel that the hit was intentional.

Monty McCutchen, the senior vice president of referee development and training, concluded that Jones attempted to maneuver his way to become the on-ball defender.

He determined Jones and Ayton didn’t see one another, there was no wind-up; then, once contact was made, the rookie then checked in to make sure Ayton was okay.

Miller wouldn’t it go, and continued to spew this reckless take:

“I don’t know, Monty. That’s not incidental contact because Herb Jones knew exactly where he was going and he knew that Ayton did not see him.”

I can’t say whether Jones intended to hit Ayton, but I know during the pre-draft process, the Alabama defensive standout was touted as someone with high character.

Jones doesn’t have a reputation as a violent player. He has collected just two technical fouls and only one flagrant foul during his NBA career thus far, though many felt the one flagrant Jones received last month was excessive.

Regardless, Miller seemingly went out of his way to say Jones was malicious. But as noted by CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn, that sort of rhetoric from Miller could shape Jones’ reputation.

People know Miller, and by proxy, many trust him. Not as many know Jones, so when they hear a Hall-of-Famer like Miller suggest Jones is a dirty player, that is damaging and unfair. I’m not the only one who feels this way, as many NBA fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment in Miller’s actions.

Norman Powell, Darius Garland and other NBA stars to bet on during Friday’s play-in games

A look at some player props ahead of Friday’s play-in games.

The NBA’s Play-In Tournament has a way of keeping viewers on the edge of their toes. We all were invested on Tuesday, whether it was Anthony Edwards bringing the Minnesota Timberwolves home down the stretch of Tuesday’s game against the LA Clippers, or Kyrie Irving’s perfect three quarters against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

But the stakes are higher now — it’s literally “win or go home” for everyone on Friday night, and things are already getting interesting.

For Cleveland, how will Jarrett Allen look in his likely return from a broken finger? Will Bogdan Bogdanovic test out his sprained ankle for Atlanta? And which Clipper is going to fill in for the recently ruled out Paul George (health and safety protocols)?

Here’s what we can expect on Friday night:

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook

[tipico]

Latest NBA mock draft has a pair Alabama players selected

Where does ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft have JD Davison and Keon Ellis projected?

Much like the NFL, mock drafts for the NBA are updated almost daily. Also like football, Alabama is becoming increasingly represented on the mock draft scene.

Early Wednesday morning, ESPN released its all-new NBA two-round mock draft (subscription required) and it featured a pair of Alabama players in freshman guard JD Davison and senior guard/forward Keon Ellis.

Davison is currently projected to be selected by the Miami Heat with pick No. 27 of the first round. If Davison indeed enters the draft and is selected in the first round that would put the Crimson Tide having a first-round pick in three out of the last four NBA drafts.

Ellis is projected to be a second-round selection and No. 49 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans. If Ellis is selected by the Pelicans, he would join fellow former Alabama players Herbert Jones and Kira Lewis Jr. in New Orleans.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to monitor the draft status of both JD Davison and Keon Ellis.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Pelicans at Rockets: Lineups, injury reports, broadcast and stream info for Sunday

On Sunday at Toyota Center, the Rockets will look to pick up where they left off versus the Pelicans in December — when Christian Wood led them to a sixth straight win.

The Rockets will kick off a home-and-home series with the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night in Houston, and if you’re wondering how you can watch all the action live, you’ve come to the right place.

The Rockets were disappointed with their lack of focus and defensive effort in Friday’s blowout loss at San Antonio, but Houston will have another opportunity versus a second team that isn’t currently in the Western Conference playoff picture when the Pelicans visit.

One contributing factor in Friday’s defeat was the absence of starting point guard Kevin Porter Jr., who has played very well in recent weeks but was limited to 11 minutes in San Antonio due to chest congestion. Porter isn’t listed on Houston’s injury report for Sunday, so it appears the expectation is for him to play versus the Pelicans. Returning to Toyota Center could also offer a boost to the Rockets, since they’re coming off a feel-good victory there versus Cleveland in their last home outing.

However, New Orleans enters with momentum of its own on the back of two straight victories — including an impressive 113-105 win on Friday at Denver. Promising rookie wing Herbert Jones scored a team-high 25 points in the win, including 18 in the fourth quarter alone.

In the only previous meeting between the teams in the 2021-22 NBA season, Houston defeated New Orleans by 10 points in early December to secure the sixth win of their historic seven-game winning streak. Christian Wood and Eric Gordon led Houston’s scoring with 23 apiece.