Chucking his signature headband en route to the locker room, it was clear that frustration had peaked for Mookie Jones during the Cornell victory two weeks ago. Minutes he thought belonged to him were played out by somebody else.

As SU players celebrated what their coach called the team’s best win of the season, a disgruntled Jones ambled toward the locker room refusing to shake hands, aggravated at the lack of time.

‘It’s harder for me,’ Jones said. ‘A lot of people don’t understand my pain, you know? …I just wanted to know where did I stand on this team, and if I wasn’t playing, it had to be a good enough reason.’

That was two weeks ago. Since the subsequent falling-out after Cornell, Jones has resurrected his play over the last three games. The 6-foot-6 guard has registered 34 points and has played valuable minutes off the bench in each contest. Saturday’s 12-point, three-assist performance, in Syracuse’s 101-55 drubbing of Maine, was no exception.

‘He’s worked hard,’ Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He’s shooting the ball well, and he works hard every day. He’s getting the opportunity to get in there and do some things.’

After the public display of his grievances, Jones’s teammates said they talked to him about the implications of his actions. Storming out on the team wouldn’t make things any better, and expecting retributions for his improved game couldn’t improve him as player.

Instead, they told him, he just needs to play uninhibited. Take the chances as they come.

‘We talked when he came back and we told him, ‘Go out there and do what Coach told you to do, go out there and have fun more than anything. Quit thinking so much. Just go out there and play your game,” junior forward Wes Johnson said. ‘And he went out there and he’s doing it.’

When the buzzer sounded to signal his entrance just six minutes into the game Saturday, Jones agreed that his demeanor was better. Tucking in his shirt and jogging toward his spot at the ‘2 guard,’ Jones gave one last look to Boeheim for some final instruction before going to work.

Almost immediately after checking in, Jones picked Maine’s Mike Allison clean for a steal and dished to a surging Kris Joseph for the dunk to put the team up, 23-6.

On the next possession, he took a handoff from DaShonte Riley at the top of the key and drilled a 3-pointer. After a made Black Bear basket, he came back and drilled another triple, giving him six points, a steal and an assist in two-and-a-half minutes.

‘That’s where I’ve been at for a while,’ Jones said about his game. ‘And it got better over this year, but it’s hard to see when you’re not playing, so as I play I’m trying to get a point across and show coach that I can really play out there.’

Jones added two more 3-pointers and a pair of assists to round out 20 minutes of play, his most all season.

Right now, he said he’s still not where he needs to be. Playing time against Colgate, Columbia and Maine is different than playing time against Memphis and Florida, something he’ll use as a determining factor for his happiness.

But for the time being, his teammates said this is the Mookie Jones they’re used to. Johnson saw it in Jones’s eyes after he checked in early and nailed his first 3-pointer. A gesture over to the bench proved a symbol that Jones is on his way back to being the player he wants to be.

‘After he hit that first three, he came back and he looked at me and shook his head,’ Johnson said. ‘And so I think he’s understanding.’

ctorr@syr.edu

Published on December 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm