A note on Jason Terry

[JTFan31]

We all agree that he is not the best PG in the league, probably not even top 5, but 1 thing for sure he is lethal and a d@mn good player and PG. Yes maybe I am being biased but once again who made those big shots last night in the 4th? case closed.

This is one of the reasons why they wont trade JT, he creates alot of space between him and his defender, because you have to respect his speed and then again he will pull up with his deadly accurate jumpers. He is all that and a bag of chips, he runs the pick and roll as well as any PG in this league. He either has Reef wide open for a jumper or he has one himself.

I dont know who said he is not a playmaker, because last night he sure did make some plays.

Cleveland commentators were all over JT not saying he is not a true PG and he is really a SG. IMO I like JT at he point, he is good with the ball, thats when he is most effective. If anyone noticed on the Hawks site of nba.com......read the post game quotes from Stotts, he sums it all up. Back to the Cleveland commentators saying JT is not a true PG, they all get this from the analyst and espn and all these other sources saying JT is not a true PG nor a leader. So Smush is a true leader and a PG? he is pretty good, I agree, but I will take JT anyday of the week even when he had a deep thigh bruise over Smush.

[Admin]

There are 2 JTs that you will see playing with the Hawks. (1) is the guy who has to play the point, run the offense, and get the team into position. (2) is the guy who only has to come off screens and is allowed to work in space without the ball. Its very easy to see when watching the Hawks that JT is far better at SG, in fact when he is a SG he is definitely a top 5 SG when you consider how good of a ball handler he is for a SG and well he can score on anyone. JT is a very good player but he just isnt a PG. Sure he can get some nice assist numbers passing to big dog and reed and the others and lately I have noticed JT making the extra pass, but FAR too often he is still jacking up shots 5-8 seconds into the shotclock. Thats fine if he is a SG, but as a PG no way should he be shooting before the ball is rotated around. What you want from your PG is someone to bring the ball up safely, call the play, make sure the guys are in position and initiate it. Usually a player or two will come off screens and he will look for the open man. When JT comes down he tries to break down the defense one on one, then either shoots or dishes off to an open player. Thats NOT what you want from your PG on a consistent basis. Its great that he CAN do that, but if you ever watch Stockton play you can see EXACTLY what you want from your PG. Am I hoping for Stockton? No of course not, but I do want someone who initially looks to move the ball around without even thinking about jacking up a shot without his teammates touching the ball.

You mentioned the Cleveland announcers being all over JT saying he isnt a PG, but do you remember why? Its because of exactly what I just mentioned.

JTFAN I realize that you are pretty biased concerning JT obviously, but maybe you should spend some time watching the best PGs ever and you will see one thing in common, how they get their teammates involved BEFORE trying to get their own shot off. If you want us to be mediocre and inconsistent then sure JT at the point is fine. He will continue to post 17/8 averages, which statistically is pretty good, but we wont win against the good teams consistently. However if you bring in a pass first PG who is good defensively, like I think we are going to do with Snow, just watch how good JT will be as our SG with a real PG to get him the ball. There wont be a better outside combo in the league at SG/SF than JT/Dog either and with Reef in the post and a good rebounder in Nazr (assuming its Theo for Snow/filler or pick) we would be a much better team. Honestly I dont see us trading JT because we dont have any chance at getting equal value in return and if we allow JT to only worry about scoring we are going to be dangerous.

[KB21]

Do you consider Steve Francis to be a great point guard?

Just want to get your view of point guards in general and not just JT.

Jason Terry is at his best when there are no parameters put on his game. You can't make him a "PG" and expect him to play well, just as you can't make him a "SG" and expect him to play well. Playing Jason Terry and trying to make him into a pure PG takes away his aggressive scoring nature, but playing him as a pure SG takes the ball out of his hands and doesn't allow him to be the playmaker he is.

Jason Terry plays his best when he has the freedom to look for his shot and create for others. He's no different than any of the "new breed" of point guards like Steve Francis, Baron Davis, and Jay Williams.

[unknownjdb]

Very good point.

[Admin]

I do not consider Francis to be a top PG, or someone I would want running my team if I had the option to get a Stockton or Baron Davis. Davis to me is a PG. He has the ability to see the passing lanes and most importantly he gets the ball to his teammates at the best possible time (when he wants to). His downside is that he seems to take plays off against the weaker teams. Concerning Francis, well he is a great scorer and big dunker and all, but he isnt much for getting the offense into gear for the Rockets. I have watched them play almost as much as Atlanta and I can tell you that when Moochie is playing the point the offense looks much more like a pro offense. Not saying I would rather have Moochie than Franchise, but just showing that I dont consider Franchise to be a PG.

KB you are right that JT shouldnt have any labels put on him, but his primary function should be scoring and helping the PG out with his ball handling abilities and really playing the passing lanes on defense. He shouldnt have to try and get the offense initiated every time down the court because thats just not the type of player he is. I dont know the stats but I would bet that close to 1/3 or maybe more of the time that JT brings the ball up the court he shoots before a teammate even touches the ball. That is not what you want from your PG, thats my point.

As for Jay Williams, well I dont know about him yet, but I am not all that impressed honestly.

[KB21]

Where I disagree is that I don't think JT needs to be an auxillary ball handler. I think he needs to be the main ball handler, but he needs someone with handles to help him.

[Admin]

Do you consider JT to be a better scorer or initiator?

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On a side note KB, I have started a new Dolphins website that isnt 'live' yet, but will be in about a week or maybe less. I added your draft link to my draft links section at the top. Just thought I would let you know, maybe you will get some more traffic, I dunno. Anyways the URL for my site is

http://www.dolfanz.com/phpBB2/portal.php

[KB21]

I'll answer your question by saying this:

I think Jason Terry has some Gary Payton in him, but I don't know that the coaching staff knows how to tap into that.

I also think Terry's mindset right now is to get his teammates involved early because he will be able to get his late. Look at the past few games JT has played in. Most of his scoring has come in the 4th quarter of games.

But back to Payton, even in his younger days, he had Nate McMillan who could handle the ball and set the offense for a short period of time while Payton played the role of scorer.

I'll add this. If the Hawks decide not to resign Jason Terry, I'm betting that the teams that show the most interest in him will want to play him as a point guard, and it wouldn't surprise me if Seattle goes hard after him. Nate McMillan has stated that he sees some Payton in Terry as well.

[Traceman]

JT DOES need someone to SHARE the ballhandling duties but I think he should be the primary ballhandler. Even if we go out and get an Eric Snow or an Alvin Williams, I still want JT handling the ball as much as possible.

Snow's job in Philly is basically to take care of the ball and play good D and he excels at it. Realistically though, Iverson handles the ball from the SG position every bit as much as he does.

Alvin Williams is a very good combo guard but he is no more of a natural PG than JT is. He does take care of the ball better but he also gets fewer assists and he is not nearly as explosive.

JT's game is very similar to Payton's in that both can slide over to the two during the course of the game and create a different look for the D to have to defend. Both are good scorers who are most effective creating for their teammates when they are being offensively aggressive themselves. I'd LOVE to see JT and GP playing together because I think GP could help JT take his game to that next level by showing him when to aggressively look for his shot and when to look to get his teammates involved.

I also agree with you that I would rather see Reef traded than JT. I think we will be able to sign JT next year to a longterm contract with a starting salary of around $7 million. That is roughly half of what we will pay Reef. Reef might be better but he is not twice as good.

[JTFan31]

Good points trace and KB. My point is basically is that JT is at his best when the ball is in his hands, yes maybe he is not J. Kidd nor J. Stockton, but he is d@mn good. Some of us critisize JT because we all think he is not a natural PG. He is not a natural PG, he is the new breed at point, the ones that can run the offense and score just as well. I'll take JT over to start at the point right now before alot of PG's in this league. But yet we critisize his pg play, because the analyst has always put that label on him not being a pg.

Now answer me this, if Lon would of never put him in that sg spot, and live and die with JT at the point there wouldnt be all this hype of JT not being a pg.

[Guest]

Davis to me is a PG."

Well he had a great year last year but this year

he had a few games were he even failed to get

a assist.How can true PG's go games and not

get any assist?

[cyman3]

all PGs arent NATURAL PGs but only PGs because of their height.

The only players that can pass or make plays happen better than scoring are players like Stockton, Andre Miller, Nash, and Snow (hes not a scorer).

Davis, Francis, Iverson (at one point he was a PG), Wesley (just like Iverson), Marbury, etc... are all like Jason Terry!

they can score and have above average handles.

all im saying is that WE DO NOT need the traditional "pass first, shoot second" player at PG. The NBA has changed since the early years.