Comments on: I’m slightly worried about Jonas Jerebko’s view of himself

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:57:44 +0000

@brgulker:
I agree with your take on him focusing on making himself better in the interest of his contract/career.
I disagree that those two aspects you mentioned were his weakest. His jumper is broke. If he could shoot more reliably, that would make it easier for him to put it on the floor.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:11:18 +0000

I feel the exact opposite, to be honest. I love what he said. I think we’d all do well to remember that Jonas is on the 2nd year of his rookie deal — and that deal doesn’t pay much, relative to other NBA salaries. In addition to fighting for a starting spot, he’s fighting for a contract, for his career.

My opinion is that Jonas’ future is at SF, whether that be with the Pistons or somewhere else, and apparently, he does too. Obviously and appropriately, he worked on the pieces of his game that would make him a more viable SF in the NBA.

It’s not his fault that Dumars put together one of the worst frontcourts in the league, and it’s silly to think that we should expect Jerebko to adapt the improvements he wants to make to his game (at least at this point in his career) around that disastrous frontcourt. Jonas wants a career in the NBA, and there’s no reason to fault him for that.

In short, good on Jonas for working on the two parts of his game that are obviously the weakest.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 15:13:16 +0000

@detroitpcb:

I would say 'makes no sense' is a bit strong. It makes some sense. The overwhelming majority of good looks Jerebko had last season were from 15 feet and out. If he's a threat to hit those open looks at a higher clip, it makes him more valuable to the Pistons. They need guys who can stretch the floor. They don't have many -- Ben Gordon if he gets his stroke back, Villanueva if he's on. Prince, McGrady and Hamilton are so-so from distance. Daye can hit it, but it's unlikely he'll play much. If the Pistons could have Jerebko stretching the floor, he'd be much more valuable. I think that's all Dan was saying.

And being able to hit those shots consistently would do wonders for opening up opportunities for him to put it on the floor.

By: detroitpcb

detroitpcb — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:33:31 +0000

this whole article is absurd. JJ needs to be a threat on the floor, especially if he is again paired with Ben Wallace. He needs to be able to put the ball on the floor, hit the mid range jumper, and the stationary three. it sounds like he worked on exactly those elements of his game that he needed to work on. I don’t see his emergence as an offensive threat taking anything away from his hustle, defense, and rebounding. Long term, JJ is probably a three in this league, though he will play the four this year. And a three has to be able to put the ball on the floor. Even at the four, his quickness and mobility gives him an advantage over the bigger players he will be matched with if he can put the ball on the floor.

Your analysis makes no sense.

By: Laser

Laser — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 05:58:13 +0000

this doesn’t worry me too much. i trust this guy not to go too far outside his game. the only thing i remember from last season that worried me was his sweeping skyhook, a shot i saw him attempt a bunch and make once. it’s like, i’m sure that’s “his shot” (he even said as much in that chat), but it just never seemed to fall in games. but if he wanted to work on that shot, so be it. he earned the shots he took, even the bad ones.

thing is, i don’t think it’s necessarily the best thing for him to bulk up too much. “if it ain’t broke…” and all that. maybe i would have liked to hear that he worked on his three point shooting, but i don’t think there’s anything wrong with what he said his offseason focus was. jonas as a better shooter and ballhandler is a good thing in itself.

in a hardly-related matter, i play basketball as a hobby (and occasionally in organized rec leagues), and i’m sort of a jerebko type. i’m not very skilled, but i’m a hard worker, team player, and i take pride in my defense. when i’m working on my game, i focus on my weaknesses (which happen to be ballhandling and, to a lesser extent, shooting). but i stay within my game when i’m playing competitively. i’m not going to go crazy and take a bunch of shots, because i’m a garbage man and i know it. but it can’t hurt to work on those basic skills, and once the confidence comes, use them in-game. i have a feeling he’ll do the same.

i think he gets unfairly marginalized as a “hustle guy” (whereas i am very fairly marginalized that way). he’s got a good stroke, even if it’s the slowest release since marcus camby. and i just plain trust him. also, if he ends up getting away from his game, he’ll sit. that might be the one advantage to having thirteen guys who are equally average; there’s always a maxiell waiting to step in and play his role. we’ll see if it becomes a problem.