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Richmond Basketball Introduces Scholarship Freshmen

Why is Josh Jones not a 2G? He is about 6-4, has a decent handle with the ball, but really I think his strongest trait is his shooting. Last year he shot 30% from 3 with only 52 attempts. He didn't real see much time during the season until the last half of the season. Agreed - I don't think he is a star in the making, but I could see him starting the game, and then getting about 22-25 minutes a game as Mooney might mix in a frosh and also play with a bigger lineup that moves Trey to the 2 and puts Allen at the 3.
 
Josh Jones is a career 55% FT, 39% FG, and 32% 3P, but yet he seems to have lots of supporters. What do his supporters see in him?

Unless he makes big strides this year, we don't have a successful season unless the newcomers keep him far down the bench.
 
Josh to me is a bit of a tweener, not a true 2 guard, not a true 3. He is not a "true" 2 guard because his handle while decent, he is not the type of player you would trust to bring them ball up against a pressing team or a straight up press. In my book a guard is someone who has the ability to do that. Also a good 2 guard is someone who has a great jump shot (see Darien Brothers/Gonzo). Josh is known as a shooter but his stats have yet to bear that out.

I like Josh's game and frankly would like to see him play more over Trey because I think he has a higher upside and certainly is a better offensive player than Trey (Trey is a better defender/rebounder though). Would like to see both of them get the bulk of their minutes at 3 and ideally one of our freshman is able to step up and get major minutes at the 2. Are the freshman ready to do that, I don't know though.
 
I am not a huge Josh Jones supporter, I just think he is our best option at this time. And we really don't need him or anyone in that spot to be a stud or star for this team to be successful. You already have ShawnDre - reigning 6th man of the year for the league, and then I think everyone will agree the expectation is that Cline and Allen will be our other two main scorers alongside ShawnDre. Then you throw Trey Davis into the mix, who although he can't shoot - will continue to be our best defender and slasher and should be able to get 6-8 points a night with 6-8 rebounds. Wood - he seems to be a question mark at this time, but if he can provide some timely shooting and give us decent rebounding and similar output to Davis - we should be fine.

I think at this time - we just need someone who can be solid on defense, be a threat to shoot on offense, and be more of a role player at this time. And without seeing any of the frosh and with Jones having played more towards the end of the season, I think Mooney gives him the first opportunity to win that spot.
 
Trap, I agree with your assessment. I don't see Josh as some star in the making, but I do think that he has shown he can play at a higher level when given the minutes to do so. Josh seemed afraid to make a mistake much of the year last year, with the exception of the end of the year when he ANO's injury forced him into a larger playing role.

I also think a player can grow and Josh certainly has the athletic skill set to be a good player.
 
We have quite a few guys that would seem to have great potential. Hopefully one or more can turn that into production this season.

Known Quantities:
ShawnDre, Terry, TJ, Trey, Deion,

Potential Guys:
Josh Jones, Julius, Jesse, Marshall Wood, Friendshuh, Fore, KoVien

From this list, we really will need at least two of the "potential" guys to step up and be contributors. Fore seems to be lost in the discussion here, but I can see him being a solid contributor this year 15-20 minutes per game in the back court. He seemed like he was going to be athletically/physically/mentally ready to play minutes early last year. I am excited to see what he brings this year.
 
I don't look at Josh as just a three, although I think his game is closer to a SF role than a SG role. This is mostly based on his handle, which while ok, isn't probably guard quality. I think he has a nice 3 point shot, but hasn't shown great success with it (albeit on limited attempts).

He could very easily end up being a good 2G for us, there just hasn't been a lot of evidence that this is where he fits if there isn't another ballhandler on the floor.

As for Khwan, I expect him to get decent minutes, but mostly backing up Shawndre, or in two PG sets, which would maybe net him 15mpg.
 
I could see a steady rotation of ShawnDre, Trey, Josh, and Fore for the guard positions. I think it is safe to assume ShawnDre will likely play 32+ minutes a night and close to a full game in tight games since he is our most experienced ball handler and that is how Mooney has handled our PG the last few seasons with Anderson, Lindsay, Anthony, and now ShawnDre. Expect him to only come out for a brief rest in tight games.

That essentially leaves you with Fore, Jones, and Davis - for 2-3 spots depending on how we play with the big guys. I could see a scenario where Fore and Jones split the time at the 2, each getting about 20 minutes, and providing a brief rest for ShawnDre when needed.
 
you can go back a long time and our 2 has regularly been more of a combo guard who could play the 1 if needed like Kendall (or SDJ if you feel he was more of the 2), Brothers, and Gonzo. we prefer to have two 2 really strong ball handlers, plus a 3 that can help a little.

Josh can be a good player, but he's not that kind of ball handler. same with Trey. they're both more 3 than 2.

that said, we probably can't play both Trey and Josh at the 3. that would leave our backcourt with SDJ and 3 freshmen. that would be surprising. it also might be best. I think the potential is there with Julius, Jesse and Khwan that it could work and it would be exciting. but it's more likely Trey or Josh or both play some at the 2.
 
Josh Jones is a career 55% FT, 39% FG, and 32% 3P, but yet he seems to have lots of supporters. What do his supporters see in him?

Unless he makes big strides this year, we don't have a successful season unless the newcomers keep him far down the bench.

I don't think Josh will be a star, I don't think there are many on this board who expect that. There is a ton of reason to believe he can be an important and solid contributor to the team.

Career 2FG%:
1) TJ Cline: 62.5%
2) Terry Allen: 56.9%
3) Josh Jones: 56.5%
4) Deion Taylor: 51.4%
5) ANO: 50.3%
6) Trey Davis: 48.1%
7) SDJ: 46.2%
8) Kendall Anthony: 43.9%
9) Marshal Wood: 38.7%

Career 3FG%:
1) Kendall Anthony: 41.7%
2) SDJ: 37.8%
3) TJ Cline: 36.3%
4) Josh Jones: 32.3%
5) Terry Allen: 29.4%
6) Marshall Wood: 28.8%
7) Deion Taylor: 28.0%
8) ANO: 27.4%
9) Trey Davis: 22.4%

Josh Jones is a significantly better offensive threat in terms of both 2pt and 3pt range than any other option we have at the 3. That is why people think he will be important, he can help out on offense. He doesn't need to make big strides, if he can put up his career percentages and play decent defense he will be a big boost to our team. When he plays we have another legitimate scoring threat, it helps the entire offense out when we don't have to play 3 on 5.
 
Josh has made 33 baskets in his entire career. that's too small a sample size to determine much. no matter what the percentages say, he's averaged 1.7 ppg so he hasn't been an offensive threat in a Spider uniform yet. hopefully that changes.
 
I don't think Josh will be a star, I don't think there are many on this board who expect that. There is a ton of reason to believe he can be an important and solid contributor to the team.

Career 2FG%:
1) TJ Cline: 62.5%
2) Terry Allen: 56.9%
3) Josh Jones: 56.5%
4) Deion Taylor: 51.4%
5) ANO: 50.3%
6) Trey Davis: 48.1%
7) SDJ: 46.2%
8) Kendall Anthony: 43.9%
9) Marshal Wood: 38.7%

Career 3FG%:
1) Kendall Anthony: 41.7%
2) SDJ: 37.8%
3) TJ Cline: 36.3%
4) Josh Jones: 32.3%
5) Terry Allen: 29.4%
6) Marshall Wood: 28.8%
7) Deion Taylor: 28.0%
8) ANO: 27.4%
9) Trey Davis: 22.4%

Josh Jones is a significantly better offensive threat in terms of both 2pt and 3pt range than any other option we have at the 3. That is why people think he will be important, he can help out on offense. He doesn't need to make big strides, if he can put up his career percentages and play decent defense he will be a big boost to our team. When he plays we have another legitimate scoring threat, it helps the entire offense out when we don't have to play 3 on 5.

And another way to look at the (limited) Josh Jones stats, using points per shot from last year's team:

Nelson-Ododa 179/126 = 1.421
Terry Allen 454/331 = 1.372
TJ Cline 413/314 = 1.315
Kendall Anthony 575/455 = 1.264
Shawndre Jones 360/292 = 1.233
Trey Davis 146/123 = 1.187
Josh Jones 80/71 = 1.127
Deion Taylor 88/89 = 0.989

Combine that with no special defense or ball handling abilities.

Also, you have to look at Mooney's handling of him.
Mooney gave him less playing time than all the others above. Kadeem Smithen was next in line after him. Among the healthy division 1 players on our team, he was a last resort.

No offense to Josh Jones -- I hope he proves me wrong this year, but right now he looks too small to play the 3, and shoots too poorly to play the 2. So I think a successful season has 2 of Khwan/Julius/Jesse ahead of him on the guard depth chart.

But, by all means Josh, go become a 40% 3 pt shooter for us this year and make me look stupid.
 
And another way to look at the (limited) Josh Jones stats, using points per shot from last year's team:

Nelson-Ododa 179/126 = 1.421
Terry Allen 454/331 = 1.372
TJ Cline 413/314 = 1.315
Kendall Anthony 575/455 = 1.264
Shawndre Jones 360/292 = 1.233
Trey Davis 146/123 = 1.187
Josh Jones 80/71 = 1.127
Deion Taylor 88/89 = 0.989

Combine that with no special defense or ball handling abilities.

Also, you have to look at Mooney's handling of him.
Mooney gave him less playing time than all the others above. Kadeem Smithen was next in line after him. Among the healthy division 1 players on our team, he was a last resort.

No offense to Josh Jones -- I hope he proves me wrong this year, but right now he looks too small to play the 3, and shoots too poorly to play the 2. So I think a successful season has 2 of Khwan/Julius/Jesse ahead of him on the guard depth chart.

But, by all means Josh, go become a 40% 3 pt shooter for us this year and make me look stupid.
Would agree with all above, except I do think Josh plays pretty good defense. He is pretty average across the board in a lot of these categories (on a limited sample set), he might fare better if he was really solid in any one area, at least in the eyes of the coaches.

I think he has a ton of upside, probably if he finds his 3pt shot or is a threat to penetrate which we don't have much of otherwise.
 
I suspect that one of the newcomers (or some combination of newcomers) will put Josh Jones on the long end of the bench by mid season.

I expect to see him more early in the year (do agree that he will be given the opportunity), but I think lack of production in combination with the need to develop the youth will likely limit Josh's minutes.
 
Josh Jones is a career 55% FT, 39% FG, and 32% 3P, but yet he seems to have lots of supporters. What do his supporters see in him?

Unless he makes big strides this year, we don't have a successful season unless the newcomers keep him far down the bench.
Think that this is right on target.
 
Agree with you Homer, as I've said before, I don't usually project/expect much from freshmen, but I think we are going to see a lot of either Julius or Jesse this year, mostly because of a clear absence at the 2G spot.
 
Josh is a better shooter than Trey and Deion, I am not sure how you could argue otherwise. He is valuable as an offensive upgrade at the 3, a position where we have severely lacked offense for a long time. None of the freshmen (except possibly KoVien) are going to play the 3, they will not eat into Josh's time. I expect to see him more than last year.
 
JJ is a very good defender, once he learned the system. He is long for his height and very athletic/quick. We see TD and DT getting starts and lots of minutes because they can defend. I think we see more JJ this year than in the past, unless Jesse or Julius turn out to be super-studs.
 
I think we saw a different Josh Jones the past 10 games of the year. He was more assertive and confident on offense and I think defensively he is a solid defender. I hope what we saw is a kid's confidence growing and his game beginning to blossom.

Although, I am also reminded that Wayne Sparrow had a similar stretch his sophomore year and then proceeded to be pretty bad his entire Junior year. Josh has more athletic abilities than did Wayne though, so I think his ceiling is higher.
 
Here is write up on Josh from hs:

Josh Jones (Memphis Central HS)

2013, SF, 6-4

Committed to Richmond



Jones is a bouncy athlete with good range on his jumpshot and high versatility on the defensive end. Right now he’s more of a small forward, but if he develops his handle to deal with pressure he can make a seamless transition to shooting guard. He’s a smart player who can be highly effective without forcing the issue. Earlier this year, Jones scored 52 points vs Leron Black and the rest of the White Station crew, and he has a chance to immediately start at Richmond.


Read more at http://www.slamonline.com/college-hs/high-school/10ac-elite-showcase-recap/#dLTUlm0UDX6I3b2t.99
 
Just when Wayne Sparrow was coming on strong in his sophomore year, he broke his wrist (or something like that), and it seems like he was never quite the same player while in a Spider uniform. He was a major disappointment as far as I am concerned.

I think Josh Jones is more athletic and longer than Sparrow was, his handle is better, and the mechanics of his jump shot are much better. I do, however, have to question the article that stated JJ could start immediately as a freshman at Richmond.
 
I do expect a significant contribution from Josh this season.
 
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