Kori Ellis
10-03-2004, 11:50 PM
Jones aims to be Heat's diamond in the rough
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2004/10/04/a7c_heat_1004.html
Monday, October 04, 2004
MIAMI Heat guard Damon Jones kept a mental list of the top free-agent point guards during the off-season, understanding a player's rank in the league is almost proportional to the size of his contract.
Jones found out his league ranking wasn't nearly as high as he'd hoped.
But it's Jones' lower-tier status that eventually led the Heat to sign him the team was hoping for a bargain.
In Jones, Miami believes it might have found someone from the same mold as guard Rafer Alston, one of last season's keys to the Heat's second-round playoff run.
"He's a guy who has been around (six) years, just like Rafer," Heat President Pat Riley said. "A guy who finally broke through."
Jones, who played in the CBA and bounced around among eight NBA teams the previous seven years, is representative of many of the players the Heat has on its roster after sending its starting front court to Los Angeles for center Shaquille O'Neal.
Jones is hard-working, a good shooter and willing to learn. But he has limitations, the same as forwards Christian Laettner, Malik Allen and Udonis Haslem; swingmen Rasual Butler and Wes Person; and guard Keyon Dooling.
For that reason, coach Stan Van Gundy said his starting lineup and rotation is open heading into training camp, which begins Tuesday.
"I go into the season knowing Dwyane (Wade), Eddie (Jones) and Shaq are going to start," Van Gundy said. "Other than that, it's all up for grabs."
Jones is among a group of respectable, but unimpressive, Heat players vying for a spot in what will be an eight- or nine-player rotation early in the season.
"I looked at myself one of the top free-agent point guards out there on the market," said Jones, who averaged 7 points and 5.8 assists per game last season with Milwaukee. "The guys before me got huge deals. It was frustrating at first not being considered. I felt the numbers I put up last season were equal to those guys before me. But every situation my whole career I've always ended up in the right place and I always got my reward."
It's that type of attitude that helped Jones adjust to his off-season disappointment.
As the first tier of free agent point guards signed Derek Fisher to Golden State, Steve Nash to Phoenix Jones nodded his approval.
As the second tier signed Carlos Arroyo with Utah, Jamal Crawford with New York Jones began to anticipate his turn was next.
But when guys such as Alston (Toronto) and Mike James (Milwaukee) signed and Jones had nothing on the table, he got a clear message.
Jones' 5:1 assists-to-turnovers ratio and his shooting ability were attractive to the Heat. He played an entire season last year, appearing in all 82 games and starting 26 while Bucks guard T.J. Ford was injured.
Still, Jones' value was hurt by his journeyman status, as he had bounced around the NBA, playing with New Jersey, Boston, Golden State, Dallas, Vancouver, Detroit, Sacramento and Milwaukee.
The Heat is hoping his time is now, and Jones thinks he and the Heat will be rewarded.
"I've learned a lot," Jones said of his unsettled career and his unsettling off-season experience, "and I'm on a different level as a basketball player and as a person."
By Chris Perkins
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/sports/epaper/2004/10/04/a7c_heat_1004.html
Monday, October 04, 2004
MIAMI Heat guard Damon Jones kept a mental list of the top free-agent point guards during the off-season, understanding a player's rank in the league is almost proportional to the size of his contract.
Jones found out his league ranking wasn't nearly as high as he'd hoped.
But it's Jones' lower-tier status that eventually led the Heat to sign him the team was hoping for a bargain.
In Jones, Miami believes it might have found someone from the same mold as guard Rafer Alston, one of last season's keys to the Heat's second-round playoff run.
"He's a guy who has been around (six) years, just like Rafer," Heat President Pat Riley said. "A guy who finally broke through."
Jones, who played in the CBA and bounced around among eight NBA teams the previous seven years, is representative of many of the players the Heat has on its roster after sending its starting front court to Los Angeles for center Shaquille O'Neal.
Jones is hard-working, a good shooter and willing to learn. But he has limitations, the same as forwards Christian Laettner, Malik Allen and Udonis Haslem; swingmen Rasual Butler and Wes Person; and guard Keyon Dooling.
For that reason, coach Stan Van Gundy said his starting lineup and rotation is open heading into training camp, which begins Tuesday.
"I go into the season knowing Dwyane (Wade), Eddie (Jones) and Shaq are going to start," Van Gundy said. "Other than that, it's all up for grabs."
Jones is among a group of respectable, but unimpressive, Heat players vying for a spot in what will be an eight- or nine-player rotation early in the season.
"I looked at myself one of the top free-agent point guards out there on the market," said Jones, who averaged 7 points and 5.8 assists per game last season with Milwaukee. "The guys before me got huge deals. It was frustrating at first not being considered. I felt the numbers I put up last season were equal to those guys before me. But every situation my whole career I've always ended up in the right place and I always got my reward."
It's that type of attitude that helped Jones adjust to his off-season disappointment.
As the first tier of free agent point guards signed Derek Fisher to Golden State, Steve Nash to Phoenix Jones nodded his approval.
As the second tier signed Carlos Arroyo with Utah, Jamal Crawford with New York Jones began to anticipate his turn was next.
But when guys such as Alston (Toronto) and Mike James (Milwaukee) signed and Jones had nothing on the table, he got a clear message.
Jones' 5:1 assists-to-turnovers ratio and his shooting ability were attractive to the Heat. He played an entire season last year, appearing in all 82 games and starting 26 while Bucks guard T.J. Ford was injured.
Still, Jones' value was hurt by his journeyman status, as he had bounced around the NBA, playing with New Jersey, Boston, Golden State, Dallas, Vancouver, Detroit, Sacramento and Milwaukee.
The Heat is hoping his time is now, and Jones thinks he and the Heat will be rewarded.
"I've learned a lot," Jones said of his unsettled career and his unsettling off-season experience, "and I'm on a different level as a basketball player and as a person."