Dahntay Jones gets under opponents’ skin
ATLANTA Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew said there were a lot of reasons why he was happy to have Dahntay Jones on his team.
When he was held out of a game or others times when he has played sparingly six times since arriving from Dallas in a trade for Anthony Morrow on Feb. 21, Jones has played between two and seven minutes he has not pouted, even though he has struggled with it.
Drew said he has found Jones engaging in the locker room and trying his hardest to get up to speed on the team’s offensive and defensive systems. Most of all, though, Drew and general manager Danny Ferry said Jones’ acquisition has helped to fill a big void in the role of a perimeter defender a role that thrust Jones into the center of a high-profile controversy late last week with one of the league’s biggest stars.
“Dahntay, he’s a terrific defender,” Drew said. “Not that they won’t score on him but he’s going to make them work for it.”
Said the 6-foot-6 Jones: “That’s bee
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Dahntay Jones fouled Kobe Bryant, NBA says
Dahntay Jones should have been whistled for going underneath Bryant, a league review said.
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Kobe Bryant Is None Too Pleased With Dahntay Jones. Somewhere Bruce Bowen Is Giggling
Kobe makes a very valid point by being upset with Dahntay Jones, as undercutting jump shooters has been a huge problem in the NBA for years. Kobe mentioned in his postgame presser that he felt he Dahntay “Jalen Rose’d me,” and it is very true. Check out this article from the LA Times in which Jalen Rose admitted (ten years later) on a Grantland podcast that he intentionally hurt Kobe Bryant during Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals (Video here, fast forward to the 2:25 mark). The issue isn’t the tight defense, it is the undercutting the shooter.
Bruce Bowen has made a career out of trying to end other players’ careers, and it was celebrated like he was some sort of defensive genius. Unfortunately there were no rules against his tactics, so they couldn’t call him for his dirty play. One way or another the issue still needs to be addressed and as it sits now the Mamba is out ‘indefinitely thanks to an intentional or unintentional dirty play.
The Lakers lost on the last second miss by K…
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Video: Kobe Bryant got hurt and thinks Dahntay Jones pulled a ‘Jalen Rose’
The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a difficult defeat last night the Hawks, but more concerning is the loss of Kobe Bryant to injury. Bryant rolled his ankle and suffered a severe sprain on the final play of the game, as he came down awkwardly on his game-winning shot attempt. It appeared as if Dahntay Jones undercut him when he challenged the shot, causing Kobe to hurt himself. This made Kobe angry, and accused Jones of doing it on purpose and referenced the 2000 NBA Finals, when Jalen Rose did something simialar. Kobe said he ‘Jalen Rose’d me.’ Here is Kobe talking about the play and video of it, followed by the play that Kobe referenced from the 2000 Finals, with Jalen Rose admitting that he did it on purpose. There is no way to know if Dahntay Jones did what he did intentionally. It certainly looks like he was just trying to get in Kobe’s face on the play to challenge the final shot. Kobe, to a fault, lets his competitiveness get the best of him, and shouldn’t be accusing anyone of…
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Kobe Bryant Is Right, Dahntay Jones’ Defense Was a Dirty Play
Kobe Bryant is right.
I couldn’t put it any better than that. He’s just right, Dahntay Jones’ foul that wasn’t was dirty.
In the waning moments of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Black Mamba went up for what would have been a game-tying shot. He then came crashing down to the floor with what Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reported was a severely sprained ankle that would keep him “out indefinitely.”
Naturally, Bryant was angry, furious even, later telling Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that Jones’ tactics don’t belong in the game:
In an email to Yahoo! Sports late Wednesday night, Bryant said that Jones “threw his hip and lower body into mine on the shot. That’s a foul with 100 percent certainty. Dirty and dangerous play. Doesn’t belong in the game.”
Kobe also took to his Twitter account to vent his frustrations, definitively concluding that Jones fouled him and it should have been called.
Jones took to his own account to defend, to justify what had happened. He believed that the contact was initiated by Bryant and that there was no wrong doing on his behalf.
Is he kidding?
Much of what Jones wrote was true. I’m sure he respects Bryant, and the rules have changed. He was also correct to note that the tape doesn’t lie. And it doesn’t.
Looking at the “tape,” Kobe does indeed roll his ankle when he hits the floor, but he only hits the floor because he lost his balance. Jones meandered his way under Bryant ever so slightly, and he landed awkwardly.
Before you berate me with baleful amounts of aspersion, understand that I’m not saying Jones’ intention was to sideline Kobe per se. Let’s not pretend that his was a happy accident, though.
Jones’ initial attempt to contest the shot was clean. Why? Because he didn’t really contest it. He barely lifted his feet. In fact, he only lifted one foot.
My problem is with him seemingly feigning momentum. He continues to make his way into Bryant’s shot long after he releases ball. And why? Was it his momentum? From not really moving?
Yeah, right.
Jones had no business continuing to traipse his way toward Kobe. He should have turned his head (which he did) and pursued the rebound (which he didn’t).
As far as Bryant’s supposed leg kick goes, it didn’t even graze Jones. Dahntay closed out from the side of Kobe, and the Mamba’s (slightly) extended leg did nothing. Absolutely nothing.
This isn’t about what Jones did to Bryant in 2009, nor is it about some misplaced loyalty I have (I hail from New York, if you’re curious). It’s about Kobe being right.
This play was dangerous, laced with dirty.
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Kobe: Jones hurt me on purpose
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is out indefinitely with what the team called a severe left ankle sprain suffered in the closing seconds of Wednesday night’s 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Bryant twisted his ankle as he came down from a 3-pointer and landed on Hawks defender Dahntay Jones
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Kobe Bryant thinks Dahntay Jones injured him intentionally like Jalen Rose
Kobe Bryant suffered a sprained ankle at the end of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, and the Lakers star thinks he was injured intentionally. Bryant was hurt attempting a game-tying jumper on the baseline. He was fading away from the basket as he shot the ball, and he landed on the leg of Hawks guard Dahntay Jones. Bryant went down immediately and was in pain. He left the game and had X-rays which were negative. The Lakers said after the game that Bryant was out indefinitely with a “severe” ankle sprain. The story gets much more interesting from there. Bryant said after the game that he thought Jones hurt him intentionally like Jalen Rose did in the 2000 NBA Finals. Rose, then with the Indiana Pacers, stuck his foot out to intentionally hurt Bryant during Game 2 of the Finals, causing Bryant to miss the next game with a sprained ankle. Below is video of Bryant calling Jones’ injury intentional, and Rose, currently an NBA analyst for ESPN, admitting that he inten
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Mississippi’s Jones out for season with injury (Yahoo! Sports)
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi forward Aaron Jones is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Tuesday’s loss to Kentucky.
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Creighton’s Josh Jones: Giving up basketball hurts (Yahoo! Sports)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As hard as it is for Creighton’s Josh Jones to give up basketball, he says it’s not worth risking his life to keep playing.
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Creighton’s Josh Jones quits because of heart condition
Jones fainted before the Dec. 6 game at Nebraska and underwent surgery 12 days later.
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