Spurs Brazil
04-07-2008, 03:45 PM
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/thiel/357984_thiel07.html?source=mypi
Bobby Jones' bags stay packed
By ART THIEL
P-I COLUMNIST
The conclusion of the college basketball season automatically prompts speculation about which freshmen are one-and-done, which seniors will cash in at the pro level on the four-year drill (Brandon Roy) and which dreams will die upon discovery of just how good NBA players are.
What no one quite imagines is the NBA career Bobby Jones has experienced. Because no one has been through it.
Eighty-nine games into his career, the former high-energy forward from Washington has a single-season NBA record.
"When I saw Brandon today, I said, 'I have an NBA record -- what have you done?' " Jones said Sunday, laughing over the phone an hour before his San Antonio Spurs took on Roy's Trail Blazers in Portland. "All-Star Game appearance? Big deal. I got a record."
When Jones signed a 10-day contract on, appropriately enough, April 1, the Spurs became his fifth NBA team in the 2007-08 season. The record was four, and Jones' total doesn't count his most recent team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBDL (that's South Dakota, for those poorly versed in the outer rings of the hoops universe).
Jones is the heavy-lidded king of the Velcro duffel bag. Zippers take too long.
Assume a defensive stance, Bobby. Then assume you're gone.
He's everywhere, and nowhere.
"I'm not going to lie to you, man -- it's frustrating," he said. "The last three teams didn't work out ... not to be negative, but I've learned not to expect anything."
Jones and Roy were co-captains of the 2005-06 Huskies team that went 26-7 and reached the NCAA tourney's round of 16 before losing in overtime to Connecticut in Washington, D.C. He started 106 of 125 games and was a three-time winner of the team's hustle and defensive player of the year awards. He finished 20th on the school's scoring ladder.
At 6 feet 7 and an ultralean 215 pounds, Jones wasn't going to make it in the NBA on his power game or offensive skills. But almost every team has some need for a scrapper with some hops and stops.
Which perhaps explains why he's already been with almost every team.
In 2006, he was a second-round pick of Minnesota, which traded him on draft day to Philadelphia. He should have picked up on the foreshadowing.
Jones played in only half of the Sixers' games, with five starts, and then was traded over the summer to the Denver Nuggets. He seemed like a George Karl kind of guy -- a long, multiposition player who doesn't need to be browbeaten to play defense.
But he was cut loose Jan. 6, which is when his career was put on AM scan.
He signed with Memphis on Jan. 10, where he had his best game -- 20 points and 13 rebounds in a 124-100 whipping of the, ahem, Sonics.
Nevertheless, he was given the boot Jan. 28. With no imminent NBA prospects, he hooked up Feb. 9 with the NBDL team in Sioux Falls. On Feb. 26, he was called by Houston for five games. Released March 6, he signed March 12 with Miami to another 10-day deal, which lasted until March 21.
Then Jones was back to South Dakota for a bit before the Spurs rang him up. But not before he played one of his five Skyforce games in a Charlotte Bobcats uniform. Seems it was NBA parent-team night, complete with themed gear.
Even in the remote precincts, Jones made every effort to stay upbeat. An itinerant NBA player never knows who's watching.
"We've been talking about that every game since he got here: Enjoy it while he's here, because he's a hot item right now," Skyforce coach Nate Tibbetts told the local paper. "The great thing about Bobby, he always says, 'Coach, I'll be on the first plane back if I don't stick.' And he said the same thing this time."
No one in Seattle who knew the gracious, relentless kid from Compton, Calif., suddenly the man of a thousand colors, would have expected otherwise.
"It's pretty difficult, but I love doing what I'm doing," he said. "Every team that brings me in tells me they're interested, that they like me. Then something happens, and I wonder what I did wrong, or was it just the situation.
"This isn't what I envisioned, but maybe in five or 10 years I can look back and laugh about my second year."
At the moment, he's in a great spot with the savviest crew in the league. He's not really an injury replacement, though reserves Robert Horry and Brent Barry haven't played in a while because of hurts. The Spurs simply had an empty roster spot, and wanted to take a look at Jones, whose game fits what the Spurs prefer, for the summer league and beyond.
However brief his run with the champs, he also can watch a guy who has taken Jones' game to its ultimate expression. Bruce Bowen, a skinny but indomitable defender, played for five teams in his first five years before becoming a key cog in the Spurs' success. At 36 with an improved offensive game in his dotage, Bowen is Jones' template.
"He's been doing something right," Jones said. "I watch his tendencies, pick his brain. He probably sees a little of himself in me. He proves that every team needs different people to do different things."
In all his travels this season, Jones is still averaging a decent 12 minutes a game. A couple of his college weaknesses have improved: He's hitting 34 percent of his threes and 78 percent of his free throws. He's also bullet-proofed his outlook.
"Very seldom does one player play his whole career for one team," he said. "A lot of great players bounce around. It has to be good timing for you to stick.
"Everyone -- old coaches, teammates, friends and family -- all tell me to stay positive and be thankful. So I do. Sometimes I talk to my high school teammates who are out of ball and they say, 'Man, I wish I could get one 10-day contract.'
"Keeps me humble."
The line between humility and futility is thin, but Jones isn't near that threshold. Once you've been to South Dakota, you learn about far horizons.
BASKETBALL JONES
Bobby Jones has played for six teams this season -- a record five in the NBA, and one in the NBA Development League.
Sept. 10, 2007: Traded from Philadelphia to Denver.
Jan. 7, 2008: Waived by Nuggets.
Jan. 10, 2008: Signed to first of two 10-day contracts by Memphis.
Feb. 9, 2008: Acquired by Sioux Falls of the D-League.
Feb. 26, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by Houston.
March 12, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by Miami.
March 23, 2008: Re-acquired by Sioux Falls.
April 1, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by San Antonio.
P-I columnist Art Thiel can be reached at 206-448-8135 or [email protected].
Bobby Jones' bags stay packed
By ART THIEL
P-I COLUMNIST
The conclusion of the college basketball season automatically prompts speculation about which freshmen are one-and-done, which seniors will cash in at the pro level on the four-year drill (Brandon Roy) and which dreams will die upon discovery of just how good NBA players are.
What no one quite imagines is the NBA career Bobby Jones has experienced. Because no one has been through it.
Eighty-nine games into his career, the former high-energy forward from Washington has a single-season NBA record.
"When I saw Brandon today, I said, 'I have an NBA record -- what have you done?' " Jones said Sunday, laughing over the phone an hour before his San Antonio Spurs took on Roy's Trail Blazers in Portland. "All-Star Game appearance? Big deal. I got a record."
When Jones signed a 10-day contract on, appropriately enough, April 1, the Spurs became his fifth NBA team in the 2007-08 season. The record was four, and Jones' total doesn't count his most recent team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBDL (that's South Dakota, for those poorly versed in the outer rings of the hoops universe).
Jones is the heavy-lidded king of the Velcro duffel bag. Zippers take too long.
Assume a defensive stance, Bobby. Then assume you're gone.
He's everywhere, and nowhere.
"I'm not going to lie to you, man -- it's frustrating," he said. "The last three teams didn't work out ... not to be negative, but I've learned not to expect anything."
Jones and Roy were co-captains of the 2005-06 Huskies team that went 26-7 and reached the NCAA tourney's round of 16 before losing in overtime to Connecticut in Washington, D.C. He started 106 of 125 games and was a three-time winner of the team's hustle and defensive player of the year awards. He finished 20th on the school's scoring ladder.
At 6 feet 7 and an ultralean 215 pounds, Jones wasn't going to make it in the NBA on his power game or offensive skills. But almost every team has some need for a scrapper with some hops and stops.
Which perhaps explains why he's already been with almost every team.
In 2006, he was a second-round pick of Minnesota, which traded him on draft day to Philadelphia. He should have picked up on the foreshadowing.
Jones played in only half of the Sixers' games, with five starts, and then was traded over the summer to the Denver Nuggets. He seemed like a George Karl kind of guy -- a long, multiposition player who doesn't need to be browbeaten to play defense.
But he was cut loose Jan. 6, which is when his career was put on AM scan.
He signed with Memphis on Jan. 10, where he had his best game -- 20 points and 13 rebounds in a 124-100 whipping of the, ahem, Sonics.
Nevertheless, he was given the boot Jan. 28. With no imminent NBA prospects, he hooked up Feb. 9 with the NBDL team in Sioux Falls. On Feb. 26, he was called by Houston for five games. Released March 6, he signed March 12 with Miami to another 10-day deal, which lasted until March 21.
Then Jones was back to South Dakota for a bit before the Spurs rang him up. But not before he played one of his five Skyforce games in a Charlotte Bobcats uniform. Seems it was NBA parent-team night, complete with themed gear.
Even in the remote precincts, Jones made every effort to stay upbeat. An itinerant NBA player never knows who's watching.
"We've been talking about that every game since he got here: Enjoy it while he's here, because he's a hot item right now," Skyforce coach Nate Tibbetts told the local paper. "The great thing about Bobby, he always says, 'Coach, I'll be on the first plane back if I don't stick.' And he said the same thing this time."
No one in Seattle who knew the gracious, relentless kid from Compton, Calif., suddenly the man of a thousand colors, would have expected otherwise.
"It's pretty difficult, but I love doing what I'm doing," he said. "Every team that brings me in tells me they're interested, that they like me. Then something happens, and I wonder what I did wrong, or was it just the situation.
"This isn't what I envisioned, but maybe in five or 10 years I can look back and laugh about my second year."
At the moment, he's in a great spot with the savviest crew in the league. He's not really an injury replacement, though reserves Robert Horry and Brent Barry haven't played in a while because of hurts. The Spurs simply had an empty roster spot, and wanted to take a look at Jones, whose game fits what the Spurs prefer, for the summer league and beyond.
However brief his run with the champs, he also can watch a guy who has taken Jones' game to its ultimate expression. Bruce Bowen, a skinny but indomitable defender, played for five teams in his first five years before becoming a key cog in the Spurs' success. At 36 with an improved offensive game in his dotage, Bowen is Jones' template.
"He's been doing something right," Jones said. "I watch his tendencies, pick his brain. He probably sees a little of himself in me. He proves that every team needs different people to do different things."
In all his travels this season, Jones is still averaging a decent 12 minutes a game. A couple of his college weaknesses have improved: He's hitting 34 percent of his threes and 78 percent of his free throws. He's also bullet-proofed his outlook.
"Very seldom does one player play his whole career for one team," he said. "A lot of great players bounce around. It has to be good timing for you to stick.
"Everyone -- old coaches, teammates, friends and family -- all tell me to stay positive and be thankful. So I do. Sometimes I talk to my high school teammates who are out of ball and they say, 'Man, I wish I could get one 10-day contract.'
"Keeps me humble."
The line between humility and futility is thin, but Jones isn't near that threshold. Once you've been to South Dakota, you learn about far horizons.
BASKETBALL JONES
Bobby Jones has played for six teams this season -- a record five in the NBA, and one in the NBA Development League.
Sept. 10, 2007: Traded from Philadelphia to Denver.
Jan. 7, 2008: Waived by Nuggets.
Jan. 10, 2008: Signed to first of two 10-day contracts by Memphis.
Feb. 9, 2008: Acquired by Sioux Falls of the D-League.
Feb. 26, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by Houston.
March 12, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by Miami.
March 23, 2008: Re-acquired by Sioux Falls.
April 1, 2008: Signed to 10-day contract by San Antonio.
P-I columnist Art Thiel can be reached at 206-448-8135 or [email protected].