Terrence Jones shows some great footwork

Terrence Jones, with his 29 points and 13 rebounds, had a very nice coming out party in his dominating performance against Oklahoma. He showed several impressive skills for a freshman but I was most enthralled with his footwork in the paint.

Ball fake

This seems simple but most freshman are used to dominating lesser competition and being able to finish over any defender. Take a look at the third video (first poor possession) of Jared Sullinger I discussed (see here). Sullinger tried to power over the defender and got blocked.

In this clip, Jones drives to the basket but sees the help defender coming over to challenge the shot. He comes to a jump stop and gets the defender in the air.

This gives him the open space he needs to take the layup uncontested. Could he have scored regardless? Maybe, but his footwork to come to the jump stop, control himself, give the ball fake and finish is impressive and will be useful later (read, in the NBA).

Up and under

Similar to the above move, Jones drives the lane under control and gives a little ball fake to get the defender in the air and off balance.

Jones then pivots past the defender he got off balance for an open layup. He shows good footwork to stay under control and not travel.

Again, Jones could have tried to go up against the defender. He may have made the layup that way but by using his good footwork, he got an easier attempt at the basket.

Post move

Jones only made one basket from posting up but it helped prove my point that Jones has some great footwork, especially for a freshman.

He catches the ball a little off the block but backs his defender down to the block. He is trying to get to the middle but notices his defender is shading that way.

Jones then pulls out a drop step, starting with his right foot and turning to the baseline. He then uses his right foot as a pivot foot, leaving the defender behind as he elevates for a short jumper.

A simple move yet an impressive move for a freshman. After contrasting Jones with Sullinger, its clear that Jones footwork is alot more refined than Sullinger. Even though Jeff Goodman left him off his top 25 freshman list, Jones has been impressive so far in this young season.

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