Jones’s rim attempts and on-ball defense were the secret ingredient in AI’s turnaround season. His craft as a ball-handler is as good as it gets in-state. He drilled his fair share of threes too, but his insistence on cooking his man off the bounce and getting to the baja balanced out their shotmaking from distance. The energy he brought on defense fueled the Tigers in critical moments. Even when he didn’t directly force a turnover, his ball-pressure sped teams up and kept them out of sync.

Jones’s rim attempts and on-ball defense were the secret ingredient in AI’s turnaround season. His craft as a ball-handler is as good as it gets in-state. He drilled his fair share of threes too, but his insistence on cooking his man off the bounce and getting to the baja balanced out their shotmaking from distance. The energy he brought on defense fueled the Tigers in critical moments. Even when he didn’t directly force a turnover, his ball-pressure sped teams up and kept them out of sync.