Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
“Blerrrggh!” -Perry Jones III
Yahoo! sports writer Marc J. Spears has taken a long, hard look at this year’s upcoming NBA draft and decided that one big man simply has more talent than the rest. That’s right, Spears tabbed Perry Jones III as the most talented prospect this year. Wait, what?! According to Spears:
There may not have been a college basketball player last season, including Kentucky’s heralded big man Anthony Davis, who had a better combination of skills, athleticism, versatility and size than the Baylor University forward. Jones, who is 6-foot-11, 235 pounds, can dribble, shoot from long range, post up, pass and rebound. He can play small forward, power forward and even some shooting guard. That Jones didn’t show up for the Bears on a nightly basis, the main reason why he is projected as a top-10 pick and not top overall.
The article in no way is disrespectful toward Anthony Davis, in fact regarding him as the standard for talent last year by whom all other players (including Jones) should measure themselves. But to say that Jones could have been a better player than Anthony, if only he’d tried, is really just crazy talk.
I said all through last season that Baylor was the second- or third-most talented team in the league, behind Kentucky and probably UNC. Jones, Quincy Miller, Quincy Acy, and Deuce Bello are athletic freaks that can dominate games on size and speed alone. So don’t get me wrong: I think Perry Jones is a phenomenal player, and one that could be very good in the NBA if he decides to show up game-in and game-out. I just disagree with the favorable comparison to Davis.
In their matchup last season, what Spears calls going “toe-to-toe,” Jones had a good, aggressive game, but still came up short against Davis. PJIII finished with 17 and 8 on 6-14 shooting, to go alongside four turnovers, two assists, and zero blocks. Anthony, meanwhile, got 18 points on only nine shots, which went nicely with 11 rebounds, six blocks, one assist, and zero turnovers. Although Jones was competitive, I wouldn’t exactly call that “toe-to-toe.” Davis was clearly the better player, and had a substantially, and quantifiably better performance.
In my mind, that matchup is comparable to the year before last when the Cats beat the heavily favored Buckeyes. Josh Harrellson and Jared Sullinger were the premier frontcourt matchup in the Sweet Sixteen, and one was clearly expected to do bigger things. Sully came out on top, but the margin was closer than most expected (21/16, compared to Harrellson’s 17/10). You could say that Josh held his own, and did well. Honestly, he had a brilliant game, and gave us the definitive highlight for the year (the ole’ “fastball special”). But clearly Sullinger was better in that game, and very likely better overall. We were just proud of our guy for holding his own against a National Player of the Year candidate.
I think that’s very similar to the case at hand: Perry Jones is great, but the fact that people are impressed that he did better against Davis than people expected, and still came up short, is a pretty clear indication that he simply isn’t as good. He may have had more promise going into the season, and he may, to some minds, have a slightly higher ceiling (though I disagree), but he’s had plenty of chances to show his ability, and has underperformed each time. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result; believing that Jones could be a better pro than Davis is therefore, in my mind, completely bonkers.
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May 27th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Couldn’t disagree more that Jones didn’t go toe-to-toe with Davis at times. Jones’ main weakness is consistent intensity. I remember at times thinking that if Baylor had gone to PJIII more consistently throughout the game, it would have been MUCH closer. Davis did get injured early in the 2nd half, but Jones was one of the few players that was able to get him in foul trouble. To scoff at the suggestion PJIII could be better than AD is a little ridiculous. That being said, I’ll take AD every day of the week because one of his biggest strengths was the consistent effort he always put out.
May 27th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
If PJIII had MKGs heart and work ethic, he very well could rival AntD for the top spot, and would without a doubt be number 2 in the draft, however, he has huge NBA question marks because he lacks those work ethic and mental attributes. Ant D has it all.
May 27th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
“hmmm. Uk football seems to fit the definition of insanity.”
May 27th, 2012 at 2:01 pm
I don’t know if you all remember, but PJIII got almost all of his points right after Davis got hurt. He saw Davis limping around and knew that was the only way he was going to get buckets so he started trying. Perry Jones has a terrible basketball IQ, which is way more of an issue than him being tall and quick is a good thing
May 27th, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Perry Jones III is Anthony Randolph.
Anthony Davis is Anthony Davis!
May 27th, 2012 at 2:35 pm
sullinger did not outplay jorts last year. point blank, period. if you want to talk numbers, sullinger’s extra numbers came when jorts was on the bench and terrence jones was guarding him. that’s simply a mismatch.
May 27th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
but why should i be surprised? it’s corey nichols doing the analysis.
May 27th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
So tired of writers on this site trying to be objective. You’re all UK homers and that’s the way it should be. No “he’s better than our guy” talk. Our 7 guys are the best 7 available for the draft. Point blank period. Stick up for your boys or someone else will.
May 27th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
Harrellson owned Sullinger. Why did you want to write on a sports website when you clearly dont watch sports? If you base your opinions off of a boxscore, you’re basically on the same level as the writer who voted Kevin Jones over Anthony Davis for 1st Team All American.
May 27th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts…..
May 27th, 2012 at 4:03 pm
If I was 7’0″ instead of 5’10″ I would have been pretty good.
May 27th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Good lord … enough with making every other sentence BOLD. HOLY moly, what KIND OF WRITING, is that that? IT IS not NECESSARY to add, SO MUCH bold, or SO MANY commas. Does that, make SENSE, COREY!!!
,,, BOLD ,,,
May 27th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
And most of Jones’ numbers came AFTER Baylor was down by 20+. When it mattered, he was a non-factor. Look it up.
May 27th, 2012 at 5:19 pm
I heard Corey is from Frankfort. Sadly, another reason to be ashamed of my hometown. His writing is that of a fifth grader. It’s embarrassing.
May 27th, 2012 at 5:31 pm
man, dude, you can’t write. Stop it. Or, as you would SAY IT. Stop IT. OKAY.
May 27th, 2012 at 5:53 pm
worst WRITER in the HISTORY of KSR.
And that says a lot.
May 27th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
Well, at LEAST corey wrote SOMETHING that INCLUDED some REFERENCE to UK. That, by, itself, is an, IMPROVEMENT.
But WHY you guys WOULD have a GUY that ADMITS he knows NOTHING ABOUT THE NBA, doesn’t LIKE THE NBA, and doesn’t watch THE NBA, talk, about THE FUTURE of any player IN THE NBA.
No way Jones is better, because in his two years of basketball at Baylor he didn’t show the toughness need to be better than a player like Davis, who does all the little things that doen’t always show up in the box score. So it is not a comparision of box scores that makes the difference Corey.
You REALLY are, CLUELESS, corey,,,,,
May 27th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
Why do you guys have Corey doing analysis?
That is a serious question.
May 27th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
ive heard Corey is a real asshat in person.
May 28th, 2012 at 6:55 am
Marc Spears is obviously trying to be different to get some buzz. If PJ III didn’t show consistent effort in 2 years at Baylor, it is not suddenly going to happen in the NBA. So his absurd speculation is meaningless. It’s like saying….If Renardo Sydney didn’t have a bad attitude and wasn’t 100 pounds overweight, he could be a top 5 pick.
May 28th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
Jorts more then out played sullinger. You can’t look at the box score and tell how the game was played. OSU tried to feed Sully the ball which is why he scored more. Jorts probably didn’t have 2 plays ran for him. His play was the main reason we won the game. If you watched the game and couldn’t see that you have no business writing on a sports site.