Herb Jones

Profile:

Position: Small Forward

Role: Two-Way Playmaker

Age: 22

Nation: USA

Year: Senior

College: Alabama

Height: 6’7

Wingspan: 7’0

Weight: 206 lbs

Stats:

Herb Jones College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Positives:

• Solid physical profile. His height at 6’7 is nothing special for a wing but he has an impressive +5” wingspan that aids him both on both ends of the court. He is also pretty strong and can handle physicality.
• Impressive athlete. He is explosive, with a strong vertical. He is also incredibly quick for a wing.
• Strong finisher. He attacks the rim hard and goes up with a lot of force and physicality. He uses his long arms to finish around defenders. He is pretty athletic and can rise up well when finishing.
• Solid handle. He is pretty quick with the ball and has solid burst. He has a decent package of dribble moves and can break down defenders off the dribble on his way to the rim.
• Good playmaker. He keeps his head up and makes some pretty solid reads. He does a good job of playmaking on the fly and hitting shooters as he drives to the basket. He also makes some very impressive passes, which bodes well for his playmaking upside.
• Shooting upside. He is not currently a good shooter but he made strides in college and was much improved in his senior year compared to past years. His free throw shooting has also improved from atrocious levels to actually acceptable.
• Great on-ball defender. He is quick laterally and can stay in front of faster opponents. He is also strong and defends with physicality. His long arms allow him to contain opponents and he does a great job at contesting shots. He has excellent potential as a versatile defender who can switch and guard multiple positions.
• Excellent off-ball defender. He is active off the ball and reads the passing lanes. He makes solid rotations and knows when to collapse onto the play. He is solid at forcing turnovers on doubles. He is also a really good shot blocker for a wing and can protect the rim thanks to his length and athleticism.
• Active rebounder. He is a good leaper and can rise up to secure boards with his long arms on both ends of the court. He is very solid at scoring on putbacks.
• High motor. He is incredibly active on both sides of the ball and is willing to make hustle plays to help his team.

Negatives:

• Poor shooter. Despite his improvements, it would be wrong to describe him as a good shooter. His mechanics aren’t perfect; he shoots with a sideways turn to his stance and his release point is slightly to the side of his face. He also looks pretty stiff and not fully comfortable as a shooter. As a result, a lot of his misses are pretty bad misses.
• Not a shot creator. He is not a scoring threat off the dribble from either beyond the arc or in the mid-range. He looks uncomfortable when shooting off the dribble and does not convert at a good clip.
• Poor ball security. His handle is somewhat loose and he has a bad habit of dribbling right into traffic. As a result, he ends up turning the ball over a fair bit.
• Misses on some easy shots. He inexplicably whiffs on some bunnies right at the rim, which indicates that his finishing touch isn’t the best.
• Left hand dominant. He isn’t very comfortable with his right hand and over-relies on his left. Smart defenders can recognize this and exploit it.

Upside:

• Jonathan Isaac
• Draymond Green
• OG Anunoby

Notes:

Herb Jones has a lot of very nice qualities to his game. For starters, he has excellent length with a 7’ wingspan. He is a great athlete with a nice vertical and great quickness. On the offensive end, he is a solid handler and capable playmaker who mostly scores at the rim but has some shooting potential. He is a tremendous defender and while he is more than capable of defending on the ball, his off-ball defense is truly special thanks to his length, athleticism, and high level of activity. He is also a good rebounder, giving him the versatility to play up at the forward position.

Unfortunately, Jones’s biggest weakness is scoring the ball, which is a pretty important skill. He is a solid finisher but his touch isn’t the best. He is an inconsistent shooter who is not yet a reliable threat off the catch. He also is not a shot creator and isn’t impressing anyone with his off-the-dribble shooting. He does a ton of really good things on both ends of the court but his ability to improve his scoring, at least off the catch, will be essential in determining his ceiling as a prospect.