Santa Cruz Warriors: 2017-18 exit interview with Damian Jones
Recently back with the Golden State Warriors, Damian Jones takes time to reflect on his season with the NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.
At the end of last season, Damian Jones of the Golden State Warriors said that he didn’t think he was going to spend extensive time with the Santa Cruz Warriors — and with good reason.
For a rookie, Jones looked solid throughout his 31 regular season games in Surf City last year, averaging 11.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 2.1 blocks on 58.0 percent shooting.
He remained with the Sea Dubs through their postseason run, averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 2.7 blocks on 58.6 percent shooting over the course of three games.
Back in Oakland, Jones had appeared in 10 games over the course of the 2016-17 season on per game averages of 1.9 points and 2.3 rebounds on 50.0 percent shooting.
Overall, Jones looked to be on the right track, and the fact of the matter was Golden State’s frontcourt situation was up in the air going into the 2017 offseason. To be specific, no one was entirely sure as to whether guys like Zaza Pachulia, David West or JaVale McGee were coming back, which in turn would have blown the door wide open for Jones.
Eventually, the Warriors signed Pachulia, West and McGee for another year, pushing Jones back down the rotation. Understandably so, Jones’ game visibly needed a bit of polish around the edges, so another developmental season with Santa Cruz wouldn’t hurt.
Unlike the season before, Jones was by far the healthiest player on the Sea Dubs roster, starting in each of his 45 games with Santa Cruz. He finished the year on per game averages of 15.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 blocks (2nd in G League), shooting a league-high 68.1 percent from the field.
However, despite Jones’ consistently strong play throughout the G League season, a plethora of injuries and a great deal of roster overturn led to the Santa Cruz Warriors finishing with a regular season win/loss record of 23-27.
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For just the second time in Santa Cruz Warriors history, the Sea Dubs would not be playing in the postseason. Even more disappointing is the fact that Surf City began the year as one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
Putting things into perspective, Jones says that just being able to play was beneficial for his overall development.
“As long as I’ve been in Santa Cruz, I’ve gotten the opportunity to play more…,” Jones said. “It’s better than just chilling out here (Oakland) and not really playing.”
“I spent most of the season down there, got a lot of experience.”
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And the great thing about playing at Kaiser Permanente Arena? The fans are just as passionate as the ones at Oracle Arena.
“The fans down there in Santa Cruz, they’re pretty lively; I mean, they’re always pretty lively,” Jones said. “It was like 50-something straight sell-outs, so that’s a good thing.
The fans come out to the games similar to out here at Oracle Arena and they just show their support, and it’s just great. Makes it a great atmosphere for G League games.”