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

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