The Resurgence of Eddie Jones

He struggled. His missed open shots. He was booed. But Eddie Jones persisted despite the noise the rest of the world was making to ship him off. Except the guys that shared his locker room. And the man upstairs who stuck with him. All of them have been expecting this.

I was not one of them. I figured the best thing the Heat could do was ship off the unproductive Heat guard to another team and get someone in return that could play small forward for us. The Heat did just that - they traded Eddie Jones the shooting guard for Eddie Jones the small forward.

Stan Van Gundy looked like a genius. Pushing Damon Jones into the starting point guard position and sliding Dwyane Wade over to SG and EJ over to SF has paid huge dividends. 14, to be exact, and still counting.

But what about Eddie Jones? What has happened? Well, six of the past 14 games, EJ has shot over 45%. For the month of December he is shooting 43% (69-159). Big deal? Well, that is pretty solid actually (compare to Kobe's 39% for Dec. and 40% on the year). But what is even more telling is his three point percentage: 40% for December (27-67) - up drastically from his 29% for November. Also, during this 14 game win streak, has shot 50% or better five times. That is pretty impressive.

EJ has also played very well on the other side of the ball. He has had tough assignments on defense - Kobe Bryant, Peja Stoyakovich - which have usually been bigger than him. There have been charges, clutch rebounds, late 4th quarter shut downs - all momentum changers for the Heat. Eddie Jones has been a stopper on defense and helped to provide stability to the SF position where the Heat desperately needed some. Rasual Butler has become more effective and has gone back to that lethal shooter coming off the bench. Shandon Anderson gives another look at the SF position with tight defense. Wesley Person has been rendered nearly obsolete.

So Eddie Jones has found basketball life once again here in Miami. The team captain did what he does best - be quiet and lead by example. The Heat are better because of it and better because of the resurgence of Eddie Jones.