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Monday, February 26, 2007
A question about Solo?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you’re anything like me, you woke up this morning still trying to figure out if Amare Stoudemire is human (after his highlight show at Philips Arena last night I’m not so sure) and how a guy that plays just 15 minutes could leave such an impression? That’s right. (I’m not even getting on my Anthony Johnson-Jeff Foster for Al Harrington kick today. Even I’m tired of whipping that horse.)
I’m talking about young Solomon Jones, the Hawks’ plastic-man like 6-10, 230-pound rookie big man, who rarely plays.
His numbers this season are completely pedestrian (2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, 0.5 blocks in 8.3 minutes), as should be expected from a guy who spends most of his time in games watching (he has 19 DNP-cd’s in 56 games). And that’s the question that’s bothered so many for so long. Why doesn’t he play more?
(I’ll admit I’m as guilty as anyone of not paying young fella much attention. I scanned past blogs to see how many times I even bothered to talk about him and realized he’s only made it into text three times prior to now. Flashback, flashback, flashback:
10-25-06 “Solomon Jones is back at practice and if you’re not careful, he’ll dunk on you, too. This has to be the longest human being this side of Dikembe Mutombo. I mean, he’s all arms and legs right now. But once he catches up to his body, look out. And did I mention that he’s a dunking machine?” 11-30-06 “I remember someone here saying Solomon Jones had a chance to make an impact this season. Did you catch young fella’s performance last night? He was good and active in the first half against the Bobcats, though not nearly as exciting as he was in defeat Saturday night in Orlando with his five blocks. What I like about him is that he’s shown no fear in mixing it up around the basket, despite being the slimmest man in the building most nights.”
1-29-07 “Some harsh realities would have to be acknowledged on my part. I’d have to admit to a few mistakes and rectify them immediately. I’d have to come to grips with the fact that no matter how much I want it to be, rookie big men like (Lorenzen Wright, Zaza Pachulia, Shelden Williams, Esteban Batista and Solomon Jones) aren’t going to be capable of playing over their heads on a nightly basis and competing at a high level against the likes of say Dwight Howard and Sam Dalembert, to name just two of the recent higher level big men my team has faced.”)
Jones makes jaw-dropping plays all the time in practice and has since he got healthy late in training camp. But there’s something (other than 25 pounds of muscle and a full understanding of how to play the game at the NBA level) that’s missing.
Quite a bit of what’s missing is the maturity, physical and otherwise, needed to be a part of anyone’s playing rotation. His line from Sunday night’s loss to the Suns is representative of that - as exciting as it was, Jones finished 1-for-3 from the floor with two points, three rebounds, one assist, one steal, two blocks and four quick fouls.
No one can dispute that young fella brings excitement. He’s going to do that because that’s what he is right now. Unfortunately, that’s all he is right now. And that, I fear, is why there isn’t a bigger role for him. But with 25 games to play, I say throw him to the wolves. Put so much responsibility on him (playing time, pressure, whatever) that he has to either rise up to the challenge and prove to you that he’s capable or he goes back to the lab and figures it all out in time for the summer. Because he’s somewhat of a blank canvas right now with a chance to be whatever he’s willing to work hard to be.
It’s up to Solomon Jones.
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