Sullivan | Jones puts on fiery show for Cards

PITTSBURGH –

Change is a multi-platform proposition with Chris Jones. Slimmed down and speeded up, Louisville's point guard has evolved from a conscience-free scorer to a pass-first playmaker.

His transformation in temperament, though, appears to be more incremental.

"From crazy to a psycho?" was how Rick Pitino put it Sunday afternoon.

He may have been kidding.

Formerly Russ Smith's backcourt sidekick, Jones has inherited Smith's role as his coach's favorite foil. He played 35 productive minutes in Sunday's 80-68 victory at Pitt, scoring 17 points and making nine assists, but he also exasperated his coach by earning a technical foul with his team leading by 16 points and less than seven minutes to play.

In a matter of moments, a resourceful member of Pitt's student section held up a sign that read: "#3 HAS ANGER PROBLEMS."

Presumably, the sign referenced Jones' number instead of his name because Pitt also has a player named Chris Jones. Undoubtedly, Pitt would trade its Chris Jones for Louisville's Chris Jones and throw in a truckload of Iron City beer.

If Louisville's Chris Jones is prone to emotional explosions (and, formerly, to artless flopping in pursuit of fouls), there's also a lot to recommend his game — and a lot more than there was just a month ago.

Since removed from the starting lineup on Dec. 30 for his clumsy flop against Kentucky, Jones has started the new year resolved to play a more mature game. Sunday's game marked the third time in six conference games that Jones was credited with more assists than he made in any game last season. It was the fourth time in those six games that he was able to temper his natural aggressiveness well enough to avoid careless fouls and play at least 35 minutes.

If Jones is a psycho, there would seem to be some method to his madness.

"What's changed?" he was asked Sunday evening.

"Me," he replied.

"For us to make a run for the national championship, to be a Final Four contender, I've got to change my game," he said. "So I just get my teammates involved. Terry (Rozier) came out on fire and I had to find him. I had to get Montrezl (Harrell) back in his rhythm, so that's what I did.

"... I just balance it out. If I feel it that night, they want me to score. But still, at the same time, I want to find my teammates. There's less pressure on my shoulders. That makes me look better and (means) more time for me not to get tired."

Eight days after a dispiriting loss to Duke, the same Louisville players who had demonstrated such miserable marksmanship at the KFC Yum! Center put on a shooting exhibition worthy of Chris Kyle against Pitt. The Cardinals sank 30 of their 46 shots from the field — a season-high 65.2 percent — after Pitino spent a week tweaking his offense to place more emphasis on dribble penetration and less on perimeter shooting.

"We did a lot of good things by getting to the paint with drives," Pitino said. "That was our point of emphasis all week. I thought if we could do that, we'd shoot a high percentage."

Initially, the Cardinals relied largely on getting the ball to Rozier, who sank his first six shots — only one a layup — and finished with 26 points. But Jones dominated the second half with his penetration and his passing. His six field goals included three layups and his nine assists produced five dunks and three layups.

That's pretty much the definition of a distributor. Having trimmed down slightly since last season, Jones has seen a return in his first step. He is driving past more people now, forcing defenses to converge on him at the expense of leaving a Louisville teammate free. This makes for a pretty potent weapon.

"For a guy that size, 7-8 pounds, maybe 9 pounds is a lot," Pitino said. "It enables your quickness. When he lost that weight, he suddenly became a different ballplayer in terms of his speed. He always relied on being a little bulldog and his strength, but now he's got speed."

If other parts of Chris Jones have some catching up to do, he appears to be moving in the right direction.

Tim Sullivan can be reached at (502) 582-4650, by email at tsullivan@courier-journal.com or at @TimSullivan714 on Twitter.