NBA Talk: Analyzing How Dahntay Jones Fits With Indy

I first found out about the Dahntay Jones hype with Indy in this article at BleacherReport.com when a friend of mine, Bhavik Darji, posted an article about the rumors of him coming to play for the blue and gold. Then other articles kept coming and coming until I knew Jones was coming to play at Conseco Fieldhouse. That's when the Pacers said goodbye to Marquis Daniels and they needed someone to help out Mike Dunleavy and Brandon Rush. As I was on vacation in India, so far for two weeks, I wasn't able to check out anything between July 8-11 involving Indy until I came on the computer on the eleventh. I just then found out about Jones signing with Indy. Jones signed a four-year $11M contract. So he was the one to help out B-Rush and M-Dun (stupid name for Mike Dunleavy, I know). Let's break it down with Jones. I like his chances with Indy. This is the NBA Talk. Well, as Bobby Roberts has said at PacersPlace.com, Jones will be teaming up with Mike Dunleavy again since their playing days at Duke. Larry Bird confirmed to the press (including us!) that he was going to make this off-season for Indy active, something you really don't see from this team. Well, Jones was the start, and the Pacers look come for more. They have already signed Tyler Hansbrough as well, so we know he is on the team as well, which creates a nice spark for the team in this year's off-season. And Dahntay in, the rotation will change as well: PG: T.J. Ford/A.J. Price/Travis Diener SG: Brandon Rush/Dahntay Jones SF: Danny Granger/Mike Dunleavy PF: Troy Murphy/Tyler Hansbrough C: Roy Hibbert/Jeff Foster Although Jones won't start, he will bring some light to the Pacers off the bench as he does play pretty well like he did with the Denver Nuggets during the 2008-09 season as he averaged about five points per game. About five points per game, not what you think is awesome but seriously, it was off the bench. He created a spark in Denver and could pass it on here in Indiana. Then in the Playoffs, that is when he shined. He averaged seven points per game while being a huge contributor to Denver making shots and playing soem amazing defense. PacersPlace.com said he is an amazing defensive stopper, and it's something Indy needs: He is known as a defensive stopper, something that the Pacers needed last season. They gave up 106.2 points per game, 28th in the league. Jones was a big reason for Denver's change in philosophy last season. They improved on their perimeter defense, thanks to guys like Jones and Chauncey Billips. See? Although the Pacers were a scoring machine on offense, leading the league in first quarter points, their defense just hasn't reached the mark as they allowed so many points which made them fall to the bottom of the NBA charts in defense. That's probably why they fell only one spot short of the Playoffs last year (god damn those Pistons! Just kidding). With Dahntay Jones coming off the bench after B-Rush is tired after what I hope is that he is putting on a show, Jones will make a bigger one, on defense. As Mark Travis of ButTheGameIsOn.com has said (in which I totally agree with him on), the Pacers can be big contenders in the Eastern Conference by how their roster looks so far. We'll see what happens, with this defensive stopper in Jones. And what do you know, defense wins championships. And maybe that's why Dahntay Jones is in Indy, to bring them one.