Dale Jones Granted 6th Year

I'll say it again, there's a decent chance he'll be starting by B1G play.

I'll say this again. I'd be shocked if that was the case. It's great to be excited about DJ's return but let's just recap to get a feel for those odds. He's coming off not one, but 2 ACL repairs. Hes not cleared for contact yet and has not been able to realistically work on rounding out his game. We are 5 months from B1G play and at that point he will be 1-2 months past the 1 year mark of the ACL tear. He's also a stretch 4 which means that he's likely replacing Tyler FREAKING Cook in the lineup? Not quck enough to play 3 or big/healthy enough to bang major minutes in the post. This would also mean he beat out some combination of Uhl, Baer, Wagner, Pemsl and maybe Kreiner coming off rehabbing his injury from the past year. Wow!

How about some realism and just hoping that DJ makes it back to be a strong contributor off the bench and makes it through the season healthy?
 
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I'll say this again. I'd be shocked if that was the case. It's great to be excited about DJ's return but let's just recap to get a feel for those odds. He's coming off not one, but 2 ACL repairs. Hes not cleared for contact yet and has not been able to realistically work on rounding out his game. We are 5 months from B1G play and at that point he will be 1-2 months past the 1 year mark of the ACL tear. He's also a stretch 4 which means that he's likely replacing Tyler FREAKING Cook in the lineup? Not quck enough to play 3 or big/healthy enough to bang major minutes in the post. This would also mean he beat out some combination of Uhl, Baer, Wagner, Pemsl and maybe Kreiner coming off rehabbing his injury from the past year. Wow!

How about some realism and just hoping that DJ makes it back to be a strong contributor off the bench and makes it through the season healthy?

I agree. If he can add depth to the front court, and spell the starters while hitting some 3's and rebounding that would be great for him this year.
 
I'll say this again. I'd be shocked if that was the case. It's great to be excited about DJ's return but let's just recap to get a feel for those odds. He's coming off not one, but 2 ACL repairs. Hes not cleared for contact yet and has not been able to realistically work on rounding out his game. We are 5 months from B1G play and at that point he will be 1-2 months past the 1 year mark of the ACL tear. He's also a stretch 4 which means that he's likely replacing Tyler FREAKING Cook in the lineup? Not quck enough to play 3 or big/healthy enough to bang major minutes in the post. This would also mean he beat out some combination of Uhl, Baer, Wagner, Pemsl and maybe Kreiner coming off rehabbing his injury from the past year. Wow!

How about some realism and just hoping that DJ makes it back to be a strong contributor off the bench and makes it through the season healthy?

That was awfully dramatic.
 
That was awfully dramatic.

Mr Jones himself said he felt like he was 100% 10 months after his first surgery. If this surgery is on the same course, which it sounds like it is, he will be ready to play at 100% by October.... He also stated that his most recent surgeon said the first procedure did not look like it was done properly. The knee was done right this time, fixed by one of the best teams around.

Dale said he was cleared by the doctors to do everything but contact. That means he can work on his dribbling/ball handling, he can shoot, work on conditioning, practice drives to the basket, train with the coaches, etc. Just no pickup games or live scrimmages. But he can do everything else to work on his game. At least on the offensive end.

That is straight from the horses mouth. Could he be exaggerating? Sure. But why would he?
 
Mr Jones himself said he felt like he was 100% 10 months after his first surgery. If this surgery is on the same course, which it sounds like it is, he will be ready to play at 100% by October.... He also stated that his most recent surgeon said the first procedure did not look like it was done properly. The knee was done right this time, fixed by one of the best teams around.

Dale said he was cleared by the doctors to do everything but contact. That means he can work on his dribbling/ball handling, he can shoot, work on conditioning, practice drives to the basket, train with the coaches, etc. Just no pickup games or live scrimmages. But he can do everything else to work on his game. At least on the offensive end.

That is straight from the horses mouth. Could he be exaggerating? Sure. But why would he?

The rub was not if he would make it back to play but predicting that he would start by B1G play is what I think is a stretch. If he does I will eat crow but I am not sure what that says about the season.

It's going to be great to have him back but in my opinion it will be to come in from the bench and knock some threes down and grab a few boards. That's huge by itself.
 
Probably because of seeing his limited action... I have mixed feelings about the additional year.
 
Probably because of seeing his limited action... I have mixed feelings about the additional year.

I'm with you on this one. Coming off the injury I think many expect way too much out of him. The fact was in limited minutes last year it was yet to be seen if he could play D, or carve out more playing time. We needed backup Bigs last year, and he was fighting with Wagner/Uhl/Baer for minutes. Those players all have gotten considerably better since last year, and Jones has been rehabbing just to get healthy. Add in Cook & Pemsl for sure and that is two more who are probably ahead of him currently as well.
 
I'm with you on this one. Coming off the injury I think many expect way too much out of him. The fact was in limited minutes last year it was yet to be seen if he could play D, or carve out more playing time. We needed backup Bigs last year, and he was fighting with Wagner/Uhl/Baer for minutes. Those players all have gotten considerably better since last year, and Jones has been rehabbing just to get healthy. Add in Cook & Pemsl for sure and that is two more who are probably ahead of him currently as well.

I agree we needed more bigs last year. But more importantly, we needed 3 pt shooters. Dale liked to play on the outside, and has a proven outside shot. He can fill both roles. . With the help of Jones, This year we will have both the post players and the 3pt shooters.

You cannot have enough consistent 3pt shooters that are long, 6'8" players who have decent handles and can play on the wing, IMHO. Dale might not ever start, but he will be more than serviceable and play some decent minutes.
 
He's going to be a 5th year senior...turns 23 in December. He's not a high school kid. He's a full grown fully developed adult man. There are a lot of pluses associated with this maturity, development, age, etc. which should not be dismissed IMO.
 
If Jones proves he is healthy this year, I wonder if he will come back the year after. He will be 24 the next year, and there are only going to be so many years for him to make money in basketball whether its the NBA or overseas.
 
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