I wish we woulda kept him. From Monday's Chron: Damon Jones had chosen his words carefully on his way out of town, making sure not to burn a bridge or hurt any feelings. But then he saw the Rockets come to Detroit without Steve Francis, and the frustration of not making the team welled up and slipped out. Jones said as much as he felt for the friends he still has on the team, he had a hard time feeling sympathy for the organization that let him go. "To be honest, I love the guys, it's a fun group to work with," Jones said. "I have some real close friends on that basketball team, but I'm bitter about how the situation went down as far as me getting released. It's evident. I'm bitter." Jones was brought in to fill in for Moochie Norris during Norris' training-camp holdout. He was released soon after Norris signed, though Jones and his agent Lamar Holt said at the time the Rockets released Jones so he could make a deal with the Pistons. They even played Jones in a preseason game against the Pistons to showcase him. Tierre Brown made the team as a longshot and has earned playing time as Norris' backup since Francis went out. Jones started well with the Pistons, but has struggled recently. With Dana Barros' return from injury, Jones was relegated to third team point guard, which has also not set well. "I'm getting tired of every place I go," Jones, with his eighth team, said, "of having to wait for my turn."
Life is so tough on him. He's barely scraping by, making several times more than the vast majority of the fans in the stands, just to play a game. Wah wah wah! I like the kid, but he needs to take a step back & appreciate what he has. The reports that I read indicated that the Rockets did him a favor by releasing him so he could catch on with another team. If we'd kept him & all these injuries hadn't popped up, he'd be sitting on the IR, instead of playing on a pretty good team right now. Maybe he should've signed with Golden State instead of us. I hear that they hang on to their assets, just ask Marc Jackson.
Maybe he was upset because they re-signed Moochie? I mean I think 80% of the posters on this board would take Damon at his contract over Moochie and his horrible contract any day. I could understand him maybe feeling used by the Rockets while trying to negotiate with Moochie...
Damon Jones does not have anything to whine about. Everyone should read Hottoddie - that pretty well sums it up. Given the circumstances Damon sounds exactly like what the Rockets staff reported prior to his release, he just needs to find a suitable home. He would have been a demanding third stringer here, who had skills and could contribute. But we have enough hot/cold roster players and frankly just do not need a whiner. If it is any consolation, I think he has better skills than Mooch, but Mooch is far closer to consistent (read that as: reliable) than Damon ever thought of being.
OP, Thanks for the props. What's the mind set of the front office? Are they going to stand pat with the current roster or, are they looking to make any moves of personnel, once the 15th gets here?
Mooch = Expensive Consistent Crap Damon = Cheap Inconsistent Crap I'll take the cheap PG over "Dribble Dribble Dribble Dish to Someone Else for the Desperation 3" Moochie anyday... I'm sure Damon sat there watching Moochie play like crap and thought to himself, "Damn, I have no clue why they preferred THAT over me..."
