Ex-Wildcats summer league play raises expectations

Published 12:00 am Thursday, July 26, 2012

LAS VEGAS — There were plenty of high-octane rookies displaying their skills during the Las Vegas Summer League, but one less high-flying act played to boffo reviews.

Terrence Jones proved to be one of the league’s top rookies, averaging 16.2 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds for the Houston Rockets.

The 6-9, 250-pound former Jefferson High and Kentucky standout shot .500 from the field and displayed toughness and consistency, scoring in double figures in each of his five games.

“I really like Terrence,” said Houston head coach Kevin McHale, a Hall of Fame player at Jones’ power forward position. “He did a great job for us this week. He got better every game.

“He has a nice base to work with. He has to keep moving his feet defensively and to improve his shooting some, but he has a good feel for the game. I really like the way he plays.”

Jones is one of four rookies who give the Rockets hope for the future after they cleared the deck of several veterans off of last year’s team in anticipation of an attempt to have salary-cap room to land Orlando center Dwight Howard.

In the June 28 draft, Houston took Connecticut guard Jeremy Lamb with the 12th pick, Iowa State forward Royce White at No. 14 and Jones at No. 18.

The three were featured on the Rockets’ summer league squad along with center Donatas Motiejunas of Lithuania, a first-round pick a year ago who played in Poland last season.

All four rookies performed well in Las Vegas, a portent of good things to come in Houston even if Howard isn’t part of its future.

“I had fun,” says Jones, the state’s player of the year and a McDonald’s All-American as a senior at Jeff. “Coming in with some guys I know who are in the same situation as me — all of us brand new to the NBA — was a great experience. We learned from each other, gained chemistry, and it helped us win games.”

Jones would have been a likely lottery pick had he chosen to come out to the NBA after earning freshman All-America honors at Kentucky. He has no regrets about staying and helping the Wildcats win the NCAA title this season.

“I wanted to go when I felt the situation was right,” Jones says. “Out of my freshman year, with the lockout, I just felt it was too iffy. I wanted to go back and win a national championship.

“I accomplished the goal I set for myself, and now I’m on to my next journey.”

Houston, which amnestied power forward Luis Scola to clear salary-cap space, seems a good fit.

“I wasn’t worried too much about where I went,” Jones says. “I was hoping to get into the right situation. I’m loving my team.”

Jones isn’t a leaper and doesn’t possess great quickness or athleticism, but he is good athlete with plenty of savvy and toughness. He is a good ballhandler and passer for a player his size.

“He has a nice body on him, is a pretty versatile player and seems like he has a good work ethic,” says New Orleans coach Monty Williams, who worked out Jones prior to the draft. “And he won a national championship with (the Wildcats). He was a glue guy for them. There’s a lot to be said about that.”

Jones, who can shoot the 3-pointer and is solid from 15 to 17 feet, played some small forward but seems a natural power forward.

“I played both during summer league,” the big left-hander says. “I learned a lot playing both positions here. I’d like to be able to play any position the coach needs me to play. Being versatile is a plus.”

Jones says he can’t wait for the start of training camp in October.

“I’ll be more ready for the NBA,” he says. “I’m more ready now than I was before summer league. It prepared me. I’m going to try to keep learning, keep getting better.”