2012 NBA Draft and Offseason Blog

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Perry Jones - More Risk or Reward? - June 26


Of all the NBA Draft prospects who've seen their stock slide since the college basketball season has ended, Baylor's Perry Jones III could be the one hurting the most. Despite the success of the his Bears this past season, Jones has gone from a potential top-five pick to somebody who will likely fall out of the lottery.

Highly-touted coming out of high school due to his freakish athleticism for a 6'11" player, Jones just has not lived up to the hype and potential. He had a solid, but certainly underwhelming two-year stint in Waco

At the NBA Draft Combine, Jones was asked if going through the draft process has helped crystallize any supposed misconceptions about his game. "I hope so. I don't know what they're thinking, but hopefully watching them work out helps them clear up some things," he replied.



Among the biggest concerns regarding Jones' game is that he has a reputation for being too soft since he often prefers to hang out on the perimeter rather than use his height and length to post up defenders, who are usually smaller than him. Floating around outside of the paint doesn't help the former Bears' mid-range game, which leaves much to be desired.

Jones isn't naive to the fact that there are many doubters regarding his ability to smoothly transition to the next level. "I don't have a motor," he mentioned as the criticism he's heard. "I'm too laid back. I don't have an energy. I get down on myself when I miss shots," he continued.

There is also the debate as to whether Jones projects to be a small forward or power forward at the next level. He has tried to sell himself as a three during workouts, but has fallen short in his attempt to convince scouts and general managers of just that.



Still, Jones hopes his performance at the Combine was enough to impress some NBA team. "I think I showed a lot more energy than they expected. It's something that's not a strength, but I can make it a strength. I can work on it this summer instead of getting down on myself after missing a shot; move on to the next one. That's what the great players do: they miss a shot; keep shooting. They have confidence in themselves. And I believe my confidence has grown since I left school."

Jones' confidence may have grown since the college basketball season ended, but his NBA Draft stock has not. It will be interesting to see how much of a slide this risk-or-reward prospect will see Thursday night, and which team will roll the dice hoping that he finally taps into his massive potential.



Recent NBA Draft and Offseason Blog Entries:

James Harden Trade Analysis - 10/29
What Will the USA Basketball Team Look Like at 2016 Summer Olympics? - 8/15
Dwight Howard Trade Analysis - 8/10
Restricted 2013 NBA Free Agents - 7/29
Unrestricted 2013 NBA Free Agents - 7/28
2012 NBA Offseason Winners - 7/23
2012 NBA Offseason Losers - 7/21
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/13
Outstanding 2013 NBA Draft Trades - 7/12
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/10
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/6
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/4
Atlanta Hawks' Trades Recap - 7/3
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/2
2012 NBA Draft Winners - 6/30
2012 NBA Draft Losers - 6/30
NBA Trade Analysis - 6/28
NBA Trade Analysis - 6/27
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Perry Jones - More Risk or Reward? - 6/26
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: John Henson One of NBA Draft's Most Overrated Players - 6/25
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Vanderbilt to See Three Commodores Taken in NBA Draft - 6/22
Wizards-Hornets Trade Analysis - 6/21
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Doron Lamb: Stepping out of Kentucky Shadows into NBA Draft - 6/20
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Memphis' Will Barton Sneak into 1st round of 2012 NBA Draft? - 6/19
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Baylor's Quincy Miller Made a Mistake by Entering NBA Draft - 6/16
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Duke's Austin Rivers live up to the hype in the NBA? - 6/15
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor Be a True NBA Point Guard? - 6/14
2012 NBA Draft Lottery Odds Breakdown - 5/30
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Winners - 3/19
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Losers - 3/18
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Five Players Likely to Be Traded - 3/8
2012 NBA Draft Outstanding Trades - 12/25
NBA Offseason and Draft Blog - Home

Leave a comment Name Comment Verification: click on image to refresh it   Fitz 06-18-2011 01:51 am xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 29     23 Well the Tristan Thompson article is good. The Hamilton Article has one mistake.In the 1st paragraph it says, "there are concerns about him about him being dialed in..." You put "about him" twice. Walter 06-17-2011 01:52 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 20     22 Haha thanks for that. I definitely won't hate you for it. It's hard to proofread at 2 am. Fitz 06-16-2011 03:46 am xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 17     20 Yea i understand. Gotta make that paper ha. Btw, in the last paragraph of the Singleton article it needs to say, "never will BE a star". Right now its says, "never will a star". I decided I'm gonna keep gonna keep correcting your articles until you start hating me Walter 06-14-2011 01:28 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 20     29 Haha definitely not my morals. It's what the advertisers and Google want, and since this is my main source of income, I have to do as they say. Fitz 06-13-2011 02:17 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 23     22 Yea I figured it was probably just bad grammar on Liggins' part but I figured I would correct it just in case. You cant say anything with a** in it or sh*t and a few others such as d*ck and so on and so forth. I understand if you have to do it because of advertisers and things like that, but I hope it's not because of your morals haha Walter 06-13-2011 01:42 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 17     20 Thanks, Fitz. I made some of the corrections. Two of them were wrong though because that's how the quote was said. You should never fix the grammar in the quote if that's how the player said it. What specific filter are you talking about? Fitz 06-11-2011 11:55 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 22     19 *Hands instead of hand. Haha i f'ed up while correcting your f ups. And you need to get rid of the bad language filter on here imo. It's annoying Fitz 06-11-2011 11:52 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 26     19 Walt- Well the first sentence did say Every year i scratch at instead of scratch my head at, but i guess u just fixed that recently. In the 3rd paragraph you say "the extremely talent bunch of recruits coming to Kentucky...". It should be TALENTED bunch 5th paragraph- "We had other guys who more highly recruited than me..." Should be "other guys who WERE more highly recruited than me" 7th paragraph- "but he never showed a consistency in attacking the basket." you need to take out the A. 8th paragraph- Hands instead of hands in " I didn't have the ball in my hand a lot" I'm not trying to be a grammar nazi btw. Just trying to help out. JimB 06-11-2011 09:13 am xxx.xxx.xxx1.14 (total posts: 1) 17     23 I believe he'll get drafted. His offense has improved year after year, he keeps improving his all around game and is reasonably athletic. I watched him play a lot at KY and his D is top notch. What team wouldn't want a wing player to come in off the bench and defend tirelessly and well, rebound, scrap for loose balls, and score if left open. He's the perfect player for that role, and a team first player as well. 2nd round to the Knicks or Celtics.... Walter 06-11-2011 01:15 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 18     18 Where are the errors? Fitz 06-10-2011 03:30 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 20     23 Walt, did you really edit this? Because there are still a ton of errors. If you ever want someone to proofread your stuff I'll be more than happy to. It's part of my job so I know what I'm doing. And trust me, you need it ha. Walter 06-07-2011 01:28 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 27     25 LOL nice pick-up, Jay. I didn't notice that when I edited it. Jay 06-05-2011 02:51 am xxx.xxx.xxx.226 (total posts: 1) 18     23 Lol "an honest guy without an honest opinion,". Was that a typo or just a hilarious flub by Morris? nycsportzfan 05-28-2011 01:57 pm xxx.xxx.xxx7.20 (total posts: 1) 22     25 Faried Sucks??LOL ya, the all time college rebounder, really sucks..lol Good analysis, moron. vbsiena 05-21-2011 09:48 am xxx.xxx.xxx9.94 (total posts: 2) 18     18 Faried sucks. A one trick pony who is on 6'6". Way to undersides for the 4. He's no Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. I don Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 67

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