Clank! Clank! That was the only sound Damon Jones was able to hear whenever he shot in his first season as a Cavalier. When his shots would go up, they would very rarely go in.

     September 8th, 2005, Cavaliers sign Damon Jones. Just the year before, Jones had averaged 11.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 4.3 APG. He had played all 82 games with the Heat and started 66 of them. He was a top the NBA in many three point catagories, including: first in the league in three-point field goals made per 48 minutes, third in three-point field goals made, and fifth in three-point field goal percentage, he also ranked fourth in the NBA in assists-to-turnovers ratio. The Cavaliers were excited to sign such a three-point shooting threat. They had been needing this for awhile and would continue to look for one even after the Jones signing. Danny Ferry had said, “Damon has proven himself to be an impact player.”  Coach Brown had said, “Damon will be a great addition to our core group. His character, his ability to shoot the basketball from the perimeter and his playmaking skills will be a solid addition to our team.” The fans were excited as well, it looked like Damon Jones might start as a shooting guard or point guard for the Cavaliers.

     The season kicked off and Damon Jones didn’t. Damon played all 82 games, but only started 7 of them. Everything dropped for Jones, his points, rebounds, assists, and the thing that hurt the most, his shooting percentage. He averaged more minutes than his career average, but all his stats (Points per game, assists per game, shooting percentages, ect.) were all lower than his career averages, and in fact, he shot worse from the free throw line that year than he has in his whole career. Damon Jones, the self-proclaimed “best shooter in the world” was not even a good shooter that year and he had issues with coming off the bench when he was.

     Let’s flash foward to the next season, this season. Damon Jones still isn’t starting, but he knows his place on the bench and he is happy with it. One thing Damon is doing this year is shooting, in fact, he is shooting very well. Damon Jones is shooting 86% from the charity stripe, 42% from beyond the arc, and 45% from the field. Damon Jones is also averaging around 10 points a game and has sparked the Cavaliers off the bench with shooting that LeBron and company can count on. With the new faith in Damon’s shooting comes a new signature move from Damon Jones. After each three point shot, Damon reaches down with his off hand and pretends to twist the handle to a faucet, signifying Jones now “pouring on the threes.”

      Damon Jones has been having some great games as of late, scoring 12 points in a win against the 76ers (shooting 3/5 from beyond the arc). He had another 12 point game against the Raptors this week. He scored 21 points against the Grizzlies the night before.

     Damon Jones has been keeping the faucet running throughout this season. Instead of uncertainty in the eyes of Cavalier fans when Damon shoots, as it was last year, there is now a feeling that the basket is in once it leaves his fingertips. Instead of hearing a “clank,” we now hear a “swoosh.”

-Drake

     After Ilgauskas finishes this season out, he will be 6th on the Cavaliers’ All-Time games played list. After this season is over (assuming Big Z is healthy enough) he will have played over 548 games with the Cavaliers. Now that Zydrunas has entered his 9th year in the league and his second year playing for coach Mike Brown, you would think Zydrunas would have the offense down. Well, coach Brown decided to switch it up this year, doing something Zydrunas isn’t use to- speed.

      Coach Brown has decided to push the ball every chance the Cavaliers get. Using his combo guards effectively, he keeps the offense spread out and moving. Zydrunas is use to playing down low and this new offense is having him move all around inside the three point line. With being a big man and an older man, this has affected his stamina and game play, which we can see in his minutes per game. Only once in his career has he averaged less than he is now. He has been playing sloppy and soft. Not going up strong on offensive put backs, settling for more fade away jumpers (on smaller defenders) than usual, not being a low post threat down low, and other factors that have led him to his lowest points per game in the history of his career. Zydrunas says that this has to do a lot with the new offense. Something is finally starting to click, however.

     Coming off an embarrassing two point game against the Pacers, in a game that the Cavaliers should have won, Zydrunas and the new Cavalier offense clicks. Saturday, November 25th, the Cavaliers play the 76ers. Zydrunas was asked before the game about the new offense, he said, “It’s a new offense and things aren’t the same as in the past. I am not happy with my performance right now.”

    Zydrunas came out of the gate strong. In the second quarter alone, Zydrunas had two diving plays for the ball where he tipped the ball to a teammate to spring the Cavaliers on a fast break and points. He blocked a 76er and then sent the Cavaliers on another fast break which lead to the great alley-oop pass to LeBron James. Zydrunas was playing physical and took the ball hard to the hoop, dunking with two hands on a few occasions. He was boxing the opposing team out and grabbing rebound after rebound. Zydrunas Ilgauskas ended the night with an outstanding 18 point, 5 block shots, 15 rebound game, and 12 of the rebounds were all offensive. “It feels great to be involved in the offense.” He said after the game. Zydrunas tied his offensive rebound career best and found his place in the new offense. Zydrunas looked fresh and moved very well throughout the whole game, he even played close to 36 minutes, far above his season average so far this year.

    Zydrunas Ilgauskas played a great game. Hopefully the offense and himself have “clicked” for good and not just tonight. With play like this from him, a healthy Hughes, and LeBron James being LeBron James, a NBA finals appearance is just around the corner.

-Drake

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