Real talk incoming: I just don’t feel like the Heat’s best path to victory is by starting Derrick Jones Jr. at the power forward position. That’s real talk right there. For real. Unfiltered.
In fact, starting Jones at all seems like kind of a stretch. He looked good in exhibition games, I guess, showing off his new long-distance shooting touch, but for the most part he’s still just a really skinny dunk machine. I know Miami is dealing with injuries right now, but is the situation really so messed up that he’s one of their best options to start games?
I guess this is the team that started the utterly ineffectual Luke Babbitt way too many games two years ago. Lineups are so hard when you don’t have three superstars at your disposal.
It may sound like I’m hating on Jones right now, but I promise I’m not. It’s just, you know, I know what he is, and what he is is a guy who even the Suns didn’t feel like they could make useful. Hating or not, I don’t know why I’m typing all this critical stuff out when he just went out and had the best scoring game of his career. The Wizards were unprepared for the ferocity with which he was attacking the basket. I’m getting some Corey Brewer vibes from him, and I say that in the best way possible. You shouldn’t need to be reminded of how many points that particular spaz scored in a single game.