Thirty years ago, Kevin McHale could not break into the Boston lineup.
But off the bench, he was one of the best sixth-men in the NBA, a sparkplug who made Larry Bird and company better at both ends of the court.
Paint Joseph Jones into that same role with the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
On Thursday night, Jones who got the start with four regulars on the sidelines, took the Wolves on his back, scoring eight straight points in the fourth quarter to push LU to a 64-52 preseason win over a pesky University of Wisconsin-Stout squad.
Jones buried a three-pointer after the two sides had traded a pair of baskets, then was fouled on another attempt from long distance and hit all three free throws to up the Lakehead lead to double digits, 57-47.
Then, after both sides missed a number of opportunities, Jones calmly sank another pair of free throws, putting the game out of reach.
“My teammates looked to me and I just tried to step up and make plays and just happened to make them at the right time,” said Jones, who led all scorers with 16 points.
Jones, a Washington, D.C. native entering his fifth and final year of eligibility with the Thunderwolves, said he’s ready to do anything coach Scott Morrison asks of him as he tries to help lead the team back to nationals for a fourth straight season.
“It’s whatever coach wants. If coach decides to throw me in the starting rotation and give me a new role, fine, and if not, then I’ll be the same me coming off the bench with a lot of energy,” he said.
Incoming guard Dwayne Harvey, an Alabama State transfer, was impressed with his new teammate's effort and ability.
“J.J., he’s really our sparkplug. He’s really our offence. When we need a bucket, he’s not afraid to take any big shots and he’s really good at getting where he needs to go,” said Harvey, who made 11 free throws, several down the stretch, to finish with 13 points in his second game in an LU uniform.
Coming off a night that saw the Wolves give up 91 points to the visiting Blue Devils, Morrison said he preached defence, defence, defence heading into the Thunderdome rematch.
“We didn’t have our best shooting game, but we grinded it out. A lot of times we just kept the ball alive enough just to hang onto possession. I was proud of the guys coming back after last night’s showing,” Morrison said.
Up four at the half, it was the third quarter that set the stage for the Thunderwolves, their pressing D holding the Blue Devils off the score sheet for the first six-plus minutes and without a field goal until the 8:10 mark, when Jake Polk hit a turnaround jumper to pull UW to within six.
They crept to within a pair, 45-43 after 30 minutes, but ran afoul of the officials in the fourth, a number of calls not going their way that ultimately allowed their opponent to pull away for good.
Court shots: Lakehead's shooting still needs work. The Wolves were just 13-60 from the field, but hit 32 free throws in 40 attempts ... Rookie Joe Hart hit a couple of early threes in the first quarter ... Second-year forward Joseph Nitychoruk fouled out in just nine minutes of action ... LU had 30 rebounds on Thursday, 17 more than they managed the night before ... Alex Oman, who had 23 points on Wednesday, led UW with nine in the rematch ... Yoosrie Salhia, Brendan King, Ryan Thomson and Greg Carter sat this one out.
