Great stuff from Lloyd:
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8. James Jones should get a lot of credit for tonight. Jones played 15 minutes tonight after playing 15 minutes all season. He made his first two shots (both 3-pointers of course) and scored eight points to infuse a little life into a second unit that needed it since Mike Miller was out with a concussion. Miller, incidentally, had already sent a congratulatory text to Jones by the time he got back to the locker room after the game. Miller remained in New York overnight with a concussion.
9. This is the fourth consecutive season that Jones’ playing time has steadily dwindled. He was a key rotation piece in Miami his first year there during the 2010-11 season, but then he has appeared in 51, 38 and 20 games each of the last three years. He’s on pace to appear in about 20 games this season.
10. But instead of complaining about a diminished role, Jones has overhauled his game and mindset to embrace it and thrive in it. He shows up to practice and takes shots cold without really warming up, since that’s his role in games. He shows up to practice and tries to be efficient, making a high number of shots on a low number of attempts. He said he prefers not to know when he’s going in games because he always wants to prepare the same way. So before Friday’s game, Blatt just warned all of the bench players to be ready since Miller was out.
11. “It was hard at first when you’re a rotation guy, but as you get older you realize being efficient is more important than just logging a heavy amount of minutes and playing time,” Jones said. “I take pride in being able to do something that’s very tough for most people to do.”
12. Jones’ impact on this Cavs team goes far beyond the 30 minutes he has played. He is incredibly intelligent, he’s a true professional and he approaches the job the right way. Jones was one of the first veterans to walk into the Cavs locker room and cut out some of the bad habits, such as guys eating or stretching during film sessions.
