Spurs rookie Tre Jones logged only three minutes on Saturday, but that time on the court proved to be rather meaningful.
San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones logged only three minutes on Saturday night, but that time on the court ended up being rather meaningful for the second-round pick.
That would be because his brother, Tyus, was also on the court with the Spurs facing the Memphis Grizzlies. The occasion marked the first time the two brothers squared off against each other in the NBA after Tre was drafted this year.
The contest on Saturday was actually the second time the two teams met this season, but Tre did not appear in the first game, which was the regular-season opener on Dec. 23. Tre called the opportunity to play his big brother a dream come true at the time, and even called Tyus his biggest role model.
During his time on the court, Tre recorded two points as the Spurs fell to Tyus and the Grizzlies, 129-112. Tyus finished with eight points and eight assists.
The moment proved to be very special for the Jones family. The two brothers each dreamt of not only making it to the NBA, but also facing each other on the court. With the first meeting checked off, Tyus can take the early 1-0 advantage in head-to-head matchups…
As the Utah Jazz now resume basketball activities, there are major issues they need to fix regarding stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
As the Utah Jazz now resume basketball activities, there are major issues they need to fix regarding stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
After so much time off due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be a lot to iron out for all rosters. But the recent gap also exposed some harsh truths about the two best players on the Jazz.
In a recent story, Tim MacMahon reported that Gobert feels he should receive more lobs from Mitchell (via ESPN):
“Gobert rarely hesitates to let teammates know if they miss him when he is open around the rim. He’ll occasionally point up during play in animated fashion, sometimes as he is running back on defense, to note that a lob should have been thrown … Gobert knows his lobbying for lobs wears on teammates to the point of being counterproductive, like the wide receiver who gripes at the quarterback after every play when a pass isn’t thrown his way, regardless of the pass rush.”
Gobert led all NBA players with 306 dunks recorded last season, according to Basketball-Reference. But even when including alley-oops layups, the big man paired with Mitchell for only 28 lob connections during their 2018-19 campaign.
Considering that Gobert attempted 125 alley-oops in 2018-19 (17.6 percent of his total attempts from the field), this is certainly a major offensive focal point for the two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
As such, McMahon continued, the two players have specifically worked on their “lob chemistry” in individualized practice sessions to further avoid the blunders like the one seen above during their game against Denver back in January:
“Utah coach Quin Snyder and his staff have attempted to help facilitate that trust, especially between Mitchell and Gobert. That duo have had dozens of two-man workouts under the watch of coaches, with a focus on ironing out intricacies of their pick-and-roll partnership and lob chemistry. They also occasionally join coaches – usually some combination of Snyder, Jensen and Johnnie Bryant, the assistant who works most with Mitchell – for small-group film sessions at the team’s facility.”
Gobert made 16 alley-oops following passes from Mitchell, per NBA.com. This accounted for 4.5 percent of his total field goal count, down from 5.9 percent last season. This would average out to approximately 0.36 connections per 36 minutes when looking at their total time spent (1607 minutes) on the court together, down from 0.48 last season.
For a better understanding of how that compares to other lob threats around the league, we looked at the top combinations on this play type. Brooklyn’s Spencer Dinwiddie assisted DeAndre Jordan on 46 alley-oop opportunities this season. This means they averaged 2.76 alley-oops per 36 minutes shared (599 minutes) on the floor.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
While these two players are no longer on the same roster, Houston’s James Harden and former teammate Clint Capela were also successful on 46 of their alley-oop possessions. Capela, now on the Atlanta Hawks, was able to catch 1.53 alley-oops per 36 minutes that he played alongside Harden (1,082) in 2019-20.
Other prolific pairings in the NBA this season include Dinwiddie-to-Jarrett Allen (40), Trae Young-to-John Collins (36), LeBron James-to-Anthony Davis (34), Chris Paul-to-Nerlens Noel (33) and Elfrid Payton-to-Mitchell Robinson (33).
The data makes it clear that there is certainly room for more lob connections between the two players. However, considering how rare these opportunities are even for the most prolific duo, perhaps there are other aspects of offense to worry about in Utah.
HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.
As the NBA responds to coronavirus, scouting has become more challenging. So we asked Tyus Jones for help evaluating his brother Tre Jones.
As the NBA responds to coronavirus, scouting has become more challenging. So we asked Tyus Jones for help evaluating his brother Tre Jones.
After the 2018-19 NCAA Men’s Basketball season concluded, the point guard tested the waters to be in the 2019 NBA draft alongside Duke teammates Zion Williamson as well as RJ Barrett and Cameron Reddish. One of the reasons that he opted to return to college, according to his older brother Tyus, who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, was to try to make another impact in March Madness.
HoopsHype caught up with Tyus when he was in Brooklyn to play the Nets on March 4. He said that Duke was “ready to go on a run” and that he knew his brother “was going to do his thing.”
Now that the season is over, Tre officially averaged 16.2 points with 6.4 assists and 1.3 three-pointers per game while shooting 36.1 percent from beyond the arc. Those marks helped him secure ACC Player of the Year in 2020.
There is one player nationally with 450+ points, 175+ assists, 100+ rebounds, 50+ steals, 10+ blocked shots:
Tre Jones — 471 pts, 185 ast, 123 rebs, 52 stl, 10 blks#DukeMBBStats
Tre also averaged 1.8 steals per game, securing his conference’s Defensive Player of the Year Award as well.
“I know he is an NBA player. He has been. I’ve known that for a few years now,” explained Tyus. “Obviously, I’ve seen him from a closer perspective. But I’ve known for a few years that he is an NBA player whenever he decides he is ready for it.”
One of his most impressive accolades: Tre had the second-most assists in his conference during both of his collegiate campaigns thus far.
He also averaged 1.9 assists per game in a transition offense, per Synergy Sports, which ranked Top 10 among all D1 players in 2019-20. Duke also played at the fastest adjusted-tempo of any team ranked Top 50 or better, per KenPom.
“He can continue to be who he is but in the league,” noted Tyus. “He is a tremendous leader. He is a guy who can get to his own shots when he needs it. But he can also run the team as a crazy, on-ball defender. He can take any point guard out of the game and make his night long. I see him continuing to be who he is at the next level because he has done at every level.”
Opponents finished 297 possessions when guarded by Jones but scored just 0.66 points per possession on these opportunities. That ranked in the 96th percentile among all NCAA players, per Synergy Sports.
His adjusted defensive rating (89.7 percent) and his steal percentage (2.8 percent) both ranked Top 5 among underclassmen in his conference who played at least 55 percent of minutes possible for their team this year, per Bart-Torvik.
“We both play the game the right way with a high basketball IQ. We are unselfish. We are leaders,” added Tyus. “He has got me on the defensive end. That is just something that I can’t even begin to claim. Tre is one of the best defenders I have ever seen.”
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Wiggins was traded in exchange for D’Angelo Russell, Jacob Evans III, Omari Spellman, a 2021 top-three protected pick and 2021 second-round pick. Wiggins, the former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2014, had played with the Timberwolves his whole career before being traded.
With Wiggins in a new situation, LaVine and Jones spoke on Twitter about how their former teammate could succeed in the Bay Area.
Wig about to thrive in golden state. That’s a great fit
With this most recent trade, the Warriors are even more in flux, particularly heading into next season. Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, two players who emerged as key Warriors this season, were traded Wednesday to the Philadelphia 76ers. Willie Cauley-Stein was traded to the Dallas Mavericks near the end of January.
Wiggins isn’t a bad player, but he hasn’t exactly lived up to his draft spot. Still, assuming Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are back at full strength next season, he will end up being in a role where he does not have to score as many points.
Not having as big a role could allow Wiggins to put up more meaningful numbers and have a better effect on the floor. This season, Wiggins ranked second in scoring behind Karl Anthony-Towns. Wiggins is talented — he’s averaged at least 20 points per game three times, including this season.
But for him, being the No. 1 or even No. 2 option isn’t really ideal, as he’s shot 44.1% from the field for his career while having a career 25.6% usage percentage, according to Basketball Reference.
The Warriors will play the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at Chase Center.
@Tre3Jones pic.twitter.com/f1aBPLMNXv
