THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 6, 1995 TAG: 9502060136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Mike Jones is like a volatile stock: You never know from one day to the next how he's going to perform.
For the most part, Jones has been bullish in his senior season as the Old Dominion basketball team's shooting guard. As the Monarchs prepare to play Virginia Commonwealth tonight in their final nonconference game at Hampton Coliseum (7:35 p.m.), Jones is ODU's second-leading scorer with 16.4 points per game.
He is also first on the team in steals (1.8), second in 3-pointers per game (2.2) and 3-point shooting percentage (.412) and third in free throw percentage (.761) and assists (2.0). However, he is also first on the team and second in the league in turnovers (3.4).
``He tries to make things happen, and that's good,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``But there's a fine line between that being positive and negative. Mike is so competitive and so pumped up, he has to relax a bit and let the game come to him.''
Through five Colonial Athletic Association games, Jones was doing just that. He averaged 22.8 points and shot 49 percent from both the field and 3-point range early in league play.
But the last three games have been a bear market for Jones, who has averaged 5.7 points and shot 29 percent from both the field and 3-point range.
He showed signs of an upturn Saturday in ODU's loss to James Madison. Jones had 12 points and made 5 of 9 field goals. Against East Carolina and Richmond, he had a total of five points on 2-of-15 shooting.
``He is a streaky shooter,'' Capel said. ``The one good thing is, he continues to shoot. When you're a shooter, that's what you have to continue to do.''
Jones bristles at the streaky label, but he understands why people view him that way.
``Since my numbers have gone so much up and down this year, I guess it's a fair assessment,'' Jones said. ``But I don't think that's true.''
Jones scored 31 points against Tulane, followed by two against New Hampshire. He had 84 total against American, William and Mary and the first meeting with James Madison. But he followed that streak with 17 total points against Richmond, East Carolina and Madison again.
By comparison, ODU leading scorer Petey Sessoms has been held below 16 once, when he had 13.
``I really don't want to say I'm in a slump,'' said Jones, who is almost always the first one on the court shooting before a game. ``I'm taking the same type of shots. I do pretty much the same thing every game day leading up to the game. My head is always there, it's not that I've got other things on my mind.''
Teams have taken to using junk defenses designed to stop Sessoms and Jones, and that's limited Jones' open shots. Capel said while at first Jones felt honored that opponents were using special defenses to stop him, against East Carolina he felt pressure, was impatient and got frustrated.
``I told him he has to not let the pressure show,'' Capel said. ``The negative stuff is something that takes you down. He's got to let it flow down through his body, out his feet and into the floor and let the positive feelings come up through his body and out his fingertips.''
When Jones is feeling it with his shooting stroke, his stock soars. ILLUSTRATION: PAUL AIKEN/Staff
ODU shooting guard Mike Jones hass strugged the last three games,
averaging only 5.7 points.
by CNB