Dojo: Swish or Miss?

There's been a lot of hype about Dominique Jones as training camp begins to start rolling. The word is that coaches think he can be a true contributor this year, helping out at the guard spot. The problem is, as of course most of us know, his jumper. Jones has the defense, has the athleticism, has the ability to drive and finish, is great at dishing the rock, and isn't a lazy, selfish kid who needs maturity. If he could add "jumper" to that list, Jones would have been a top five pick -- the full package (though without a love affair with the referees, he may never equal his often used comparison Dwyane Wade).

So what's the deal? Coaches are known to exaggerate, but at the same time, Carlisle never sounded as excited last year with Rodrigue Beaubois as he does this year with Dominique. Perhaps Carlisle has finally learned his lesson from Tayshaun Prince and Roddy B, that rookies can actually be part of a rotation if they're good enough. Perhaps its just talk, so that writers like me say he might be over his giving-rookies-meaningful-minutes-phobia.

But is he good enough to get into the rotation? Personally, for me, it comes down to his position the Mavericks decide to play him at. Dominique was a shooting guard in college. He handled the ball a lot, but he was a shooting guard for that team. As he transitions to the NBA, I think it will become obvious quickly that without a jump shot, Jones is not fit for that spot. I mean, come on, its called shooting guard! That would imply some ability to hit a jump shot, and though its not so bad that Dojo and Haywood are getting the same jump shot rating in NBA 2k10 (did you see some of Haywood's 'jumpers' late in games last year? I mean, despite Dampier's faults, he would at least MAKE garbage time jumpers), but for the NBA, his shot is not consistent enough. I can remember the single jumper that Jones knocked down in Summer League (in double digit attempts) and it was wide open from the free throw line. With what we saw, he is going to struggle to hit the open jumpers he will find when he's the third or fourth option on the floor, much less be able to punish defenders for playing off of him.

Because of this lack of a shot, Jones would be a much better fit playing point guard, in my opinion. He's a good passer off the dribble (from what I saw in Summer League), he can handle the ball, and he scores by athleticism and penetration. Hmm, remind you of anyone? What about Russell Westbrook? Derrick Rose? Rajon Rondo? Rodney Stuckey, Eric Maynor, or Tyreke Evans? What about Tony Parker as a rookie? Even Jason Kidd had a lackluster jump shot as a rook. If you have explosiveness and the ability to score off the dribble, you can survive without a jump shot (even Ramon Sessions, who doesn't strike me as being "explosive" per se, played 1700 minutes last season and made a single three pointer).

Meanwhile, this idea fits right into the Mavericks plan (more like my plan for the Mavericks, but I think they're smart enough to realize this too). The shooting guard spot is crowded, with Butler, Terry, Beaubois, and Stevenson all likely to get some minutes there. At point guard, however, we have the exact opposite of a minutes crunch: we are actually trying to reduce the minutes Kidd plays there. I think Mavericks universally agree that Barea is not an 18 mpg option backing up Kidd; 10 or 12 mpg sounds much more feasible. The Beaubois PG experiment has been benched, and Terry hasn't played PG is several years, so whose left to eat up those 6-8 minutes that are just kind of floating? Give Jones those minutes there, and its a near perfect fit (perfect being Barea growing five inches, turning black, becoming a 44% three point shooter and starting at point).

Oddly enough, this doesn't have to be the permanent position for Jones. Beaubois still projects as a point guard, so 3-5 years down the road, where he's learned the pass-first mentality, and Jones has developed a jump shot that has to be respected, it is totally possible that they may flip positions. Or perhaps they stay at "point" and "shooting guard", but Beaubois takes more and more of the ball handling over time.

No matter how the future shapes out, though, one thing is clear: Dominique Jones has the skills needed right now to be a backup point guard in the NBA. And if he can get past the Carlisle rookie minute block, who knows how much his role might grow as the season progresses.