If you read this site much then you know that Herb Jones is pretty much my favorite player on the New Orleans Pelicans.
How can you not like a second-round underdog who has worked and played his way into a starting role as a rookie and just keeps getting better with every game?
Herb Jones was known as a defensive specialist coming out of Alabama, but has shown an offensive game as well and is putting up surprising shooting numbers that put him in an elite club.
He’s already won over fans of the New Orleans Pelicans but has started to get more attention in the rookie standings and has a great chance of landing on the All-Rookie team if he keeps this up.
He doesn’t put up huge box score numbers but Jones’ game passes the eye test and is also the darling of the advanced stats people who love to crunch the numbers.
Recently he was named as the number one wing stopper in the NBA, and that’s not just for rookies but for the entire league.
Is All-Defense out of the realm of possibility for Herb Jones? Not according to one site.
Herb Jones of the Pelicans named the league’s best wing stopper
According to basketball analytics site Bball Index (subscription required), Herb Jones is currently the best wing stopper in the NBA:
The NBA's most impactful Wing Stoppers on defense, via our D-LEBRON metric:
— BBall Index (@The_BBall_Index) January 24, 2022
1. Herbert Jones
2. Lonzo Ball
3. Jarred Vanderbilt
4. Royce O'Neale
5. Marcus Smart
LEBRON Intro: https://t.co/w5pmQihHyu
Leaderboards App:https://t.co/JKt6RoLcII
You can get an idea of how they came to this conclusion here, where they explain the D-LEBRON metric used for this evaluation.
Jones joins former Pelican Lonzo Ball at the top of the list, which contains some of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.
I do like the LEBRON metric, as it takes into account several factors including traditional stats and advanced ones, though you don’t need stats to see Jones’ impact on the court if you’ve ever watched the Pelicans play, as it is obvious to even a casual fan of the game.
“Not on Herb” has become the rallying cry of the Pelicans’ defense, which has improved modestly this season, mostly because of Jones’ versatility.
It’s nice to see Herb get some recognition outside of New Orleans, where he has already established himself as one of the Pels’ best draft picks of all time.