Offseason questions: Is the stage set for DoJo's breakout season?
Earl K. Sneed writes that the third year might be the charm for Dallas Mavericks guard Dominique Jones as he attempts to crack coach Rick Carlisle's rotation.
Offseason questions: Is the stage set for DoJo's breakout season?
He’s been the forgotten man on the Dallas bench through his first two seasons.
Shipped in and out of the NBA to the Development League during each of those campaigns, guard Dominique Jones has had a hard time cracking Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle’s rotation. But maybe the third time is the charm for Jones and this is the year that all changes.
Following three seasons at South Florida, Jones earned First Team All-Big East honors and an All-American honorable mention as a junior, finishing 15th in the nation with a scoring average of 21.4 points to go along with 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.7 steals an outing.
The 25th overall pick by Memphis in the 2010 draft before a trade to Dallas then starred in the Las Vegas Summer League before his rookie season, making the All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.
But the young guard immediately found himself in a veteran-laden backcourt when the ‘10-11 season began, seeing limited playing time as the team marched to the championship.
Jones has averaged just 7.7 minutes for the Mavs in the last two seasons. The 6-foot-4 combo guard averaged just 2.7 points on 39.7 percent shooting and 12.5 percent from behind the 3-point arc, in addition to 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists last year in his 33 appearances (one start).
But oh, what a difference a summer makes.
Gone are the likes of Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, two veterans that manned the backcourt duties in previous seasons. That could leave the door open for Jones to finally see significant time on the court, despite the additions of Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo and Dahntay Jones, the drafting of Jared Cunningham and the re-signing of Delonte West to go along with Rodrigue Beaubois in the backcourt.
Again, Jones showed the ability to run both the point and play off the ball in summer-league play, making the All-Tourney squad for a second time after averaging 16.4 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 boards per game in the Mavs' five matchups. And with an open competition pending once training camp begins in the fall, Jones could impress Carlisle even more, enough to make him a valuable contributor in the ’12-13 season.
“Yeah, we like Jones. He’s worked very hard early this summer and worked on his shot,” Carlisle said in an interview with NBA TV last month. “He’s a guy that can play two positions … and he’s a playmaker. He makes basketball plays and he can guard people, so we like him.”
