Herb - "no dollar amount could slow the grind"

Christian Clark article:

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“He just comes out of nowhere,” Pelicans center Cody Zeller said. “He flies around the court. It’s really inspiring for the rest of us to watch him play.”

Fresh off signing a four-year, $54 million deal in June, Jones is going as hard as ever. The 25-year-old forward has racked up 25 steals and 19 blocks in 12 games. The 3.67 "stocks" (steals plus blocks) he’s averaging is second in the NBA, behind only Anthony Davis of the Lakers.

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Eight players in NBA history have averaged 2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game for an entire season. It’s early, but if Jones (2.1 steals and 1.6 blocks) can keep it up, he will join a list that includes names such as Hakeem Olajuwon and Shawn Marion.

“I think the biggest thing for me was after I signed, I never got complacent,” Jones said. “I know it’s not the most somebody has signed for in the NBA. But it’s still a lot of money.

"A lot of people, once they get to the first one, a lot of guys back off the gas a little bit. I just wanted to continue to work hard and show my true love for the game. There really was no dollar amount that could slow the grind down.”

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“The offense clicking isn’t my biggest concern,” Jones said. "I just want guys to come out and play hard and excel on the defensive end. And give everything they have on that end. Then it will open up the world for them on the offensive end.”

The Pelicans have watched that happen in their last five games. Since Nov. 14, New Orleans is limiting opponents to 107.9 points per 100 possessions, the fourth-best mark in the NBA. It ranks second in steals (10.4) and seventh in turnovers generated (15.2) over that stretch. All of that defensive activity has translated into 19.6 fast-break points per game, more than any other team.

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Jones has 14 steals and eight blocks in his last five games. The Pelicans have asked him to guard rim-running centers (Dallas’ Dereck Lively) and speedy guards (Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox). Jones has embraced every challenge thrown his way.

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Is there anyone else in the league who would be tasked with guarding both Dereck Lively and De'Aaron Fox?

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Green has started to describe Jones as one of the team leaders as he speaks up more. Jones is quiet by nature, but he is articulating to teammates what he is seeing on the court — especially on the defensive end.

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This is critical. As we have said, a team's best players have to lead. And Herb is our best defensive player. For him to step up and start telling his teammates what to do on defense is an important step in our long-term success on that side of the ball. Herb's good enough defensively that he can tell Zion and BI what to do. I don't think it's a coincidence that BI and Zion played poor defense when Herb was out and much better when he came back.

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“I always believed if I could stop somebody, I could figure out how to score," Jones said. "As long as I’m getting stops, the offensive side of the ball — you don’t think about it as much.”

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It amazes me that his mindset isn't "Now that I'm already a great defender, I'm focusing more on offense." Nope, he still has the viewpoint that if the defense gets stops, the offense will score enough to win.