The things that make a team win are subtle, and often elusive.

A shooter's touch. A willingness to pass. A defensive stand. A deflected ball. You can try for these things every time out, but you are only going to get them on some of nights. Even if the effort and the skill is always there, the winning still blows in and out of town like a weather system.

Famously, that is how it has been for Portland this season.

The Blazers started 5-12, which is the exact kind of misery everyone predicted for the third youngest team in NBA history.

Then they won 18 out of 19 and were, for a time, literally one of the best teams in the NBA.

Then came a massive road trip, some injuries, and Brandon Roy out for two games of grieving. Over that most recent stretch Portland has been 6-10.

You can point to all kinds of stuff. That most recent 16-game stretch of mediocrity started with a game in Toronto. The Raptors resolved to pretty much give up whatever they had to to minimize Portland's open three-point looks. And the once snappy Blazer offense got a bit bogged down.

More and more of the team's possessions came to end with "Save us Brandon!" And James Jones and Steve Blake -- at the time of the Toronto game, they were both in the top five in the league in three-point field-goal percentage, in large part because they had been so open -- both came back down to earth a bit. Likewise the team's once unbelievable record in very close games -- it's less unbelievable now.

Now every opponent forces the Blazers to beat them with something besides the three-pointer. And they have been working on ways to do that. Lots of different things are being tried (hello, LaMarcus Aldridge) and while many things have gone well, and there have been some very winnable games against good teams like Cleveland and Denver, so far the magic has not returned. You get the feeling that maybe the team just needs a break, after using so much emotional energy to overachieve for so long.

There will not be a magic solution to this problem, other than more teamwork, more grit, more hard work, better defense, and eventually, the arrival and maturation of Greg Oden.

But there is one other little thing worth noting.

James Jones, he of the modest 23 minutes, nine points, and three rebounds, and less than one assist per game, has been there when the team has been good. And he has not been there when the team has been bad. It could be coincidence. But it's getting weird.

David Berri of the Wages of Wins has noted that Jones is having by far his best year ever (which is plain to see in all kinds of statistical categories). Blazer assistant Dean Demopoulos says that not only can Jones shoot, but he directs traffic on defense in a way this veteran team really needs. His free throw percentage is sky-high (which changes late game situations), he makes threes whenever he is open, and he has even made some key defensive plays. But it's surprising, because he'll also go long stretches without touching the ball at all.

All I know is, that if I were Jones' agent, Joel Bell, I would only bring one set of statistics to my meeting with the team this summer, when Jones will be a free agent.

• As of today, when Jones plays 15 minutes or more, Portland is 21-8, which is a 72% winning percentage. That gets you the top seed in the entire Western Conference.
• When Jones plays only a few minutes, or is out entirely with injury the team is 7-15, which is a 32% winning percentage. That puts you back behind the Clippers.

Winning is weird and elusive. And it's never as simple as it would appear in the paragraph above. All the same, when it gets into the important games of the late season, and Portland is battling for a playoff spot, us Blazer fans will really be hoping that James Jones is back, healthy, and 100%.

UPDATE: Word today that Jones will be out longer than expected -- another month or so. 

(Photo by Sam Forencich, NBAE via Getty Images)