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Season review: Stephen Jackson

Quixem Ramirez — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:00:24 +0000

Jun 06, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Stephen Jackson (3) reacts after scoring against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half in game six of the Western Conference finals of the 2012 NBA playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

The profile
Minutes: 23.8
Points: 8.9
Rebounds: 3.9
Assists: 2.0
FG%: 40.5%
3P%: 30.6%
FT%: 81.5%

The (advanced) profile
TS%: 52.9%
USG%: 19.5%
PER: 13.1
Offensive PPP: 0.96 (94th)
Defensive PPP: 1.00 (437th)
Offensive rating (points per 100 possessions): 98
Defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions): 100

The prevailing image I’ll take away from Stephen Jackson’s season is his voracious willingness to continue shooting, attacking and rebounding in spite of his surroundings. You should expect this kind of mental strength from elite players but not from role players. Role players always take a back seat. Role players generally succumb to the pressure and delve away from their strengths, highlighting their weaknesses. That’s what happened to Danny Green. And Matt Bonner. And Tiago Splitter. The list goes on.

Jack is an outlier to this expectation. He thrives in an unsettling environment and perverse situations — though it should be noted that he struggles with poor teams. His shining moment, unsurprisingly, was in the Spurs’ final game. He didn’t allow the Thunder defense to disrupt his shot. Once he corralled the ball after Parker or Ginobili defeated the defense at the point of attack, there was no doubt. Jack was letting the ball fly. On that night, the ball and rim had a beautiful, undeniable, reciprocity. The ball was going to find the rim just like Jack was going to find a way to stem the tide and hopefully ignite the Spurs’ No. 1 offensive attack.

The latter, of course, did not happen. The former happened quite often and, on the rare instance where the ball didn’t find the twine of the net, Jackson was at the line because Oklahoma City was forced to close out quickly and abruptly. It led to a couple of fouls against a jump shooter behind the 3-point line. A cardinal sin. Even though it’s never a good idea to foul a jump shooter, there over aggressive close outs were justified because Jack could not miss. He finished with 23 points on 6-of-7 shooting. An outstanding 3.29 points per shot attempt. Looking back, I wish he could’ve taken 35 shots.

Or perhaps what I’ll remember most is his smile in the face of adversity. He was relishing the moment, basking in it and tearing apart the Thunder defense like no other San Antonio perimeter shooter could. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was to no avail but, still, the performance was indicative of his indomitable psyche.

Yes, Jack received an ill-advised technical because of his reputation. He merely gave a look to Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks. The technical infuriated me obviously. It was an act of precaution. Delving deeper, though, I believe they called the technical because they don’t understand Jack. They didn’t understand he had good intentions in this instance. They didn’t understand that, at this stage of his career, a brawl was highly unlikely. It’s a part of his maturation as a player and a person.

Maybe it’s his candor or previous transgressions that did him. But don’t let them fool you: He’s a great teammate and a valuable cog for the San Antonio. Jonathan Abrams highlighted Jackson in a brilliant extended feature for Grantland. Conveniently, it was right before his explosion in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Here’s the money quote:

”A lot of people mistake my passion for the game with being a thug or a gangster,” he said. “I’m far from that. I’m just a guy who come up in the hood and came from nothing and made something and hasn’t changed. I’m still going to be in Port Arthur all summer walking around with no shoes on, eating crawfish, barbecue, going fishing. I’m going to be the same guy, and I take pride in saying that because a lot of NBA players are not touchable. They’re not real. But I take pride in being a regular guy that people can walk up to and I’m not Hollywood. I want people to understand that that’s the person I am and I’m not changing for nothing.”

Yes, he’s not changing. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

***

Performance of the year: June 6, 2012 at Oklahoma City. W 107-99.
The line: 32:04 MIN | 6-7 FG | 5-6 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 23 PTS | -4

Is there any doubt? This was Jackson’s shining moment as the Spur this season. When the deck was stacked against San Antonio and a hostile crowd was breathing down their necks, Jack knocked down six 3-pointers and drew two fouls off 3-pointers after the defense aggressively keyed on him. Afterwards, Jack was extremely professional and he accepted the loss for what it was: a loss to a superior team.

So, what would you grade Jack’s season, Spurs fans?

Season grade: B

Season review: T.J. Ford

Quixem Ramirez — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:00:31 +0000

Jan 8 2012; Oklahoma City OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs point guard T.J. Ford (11) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden (13) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena Mandatory Credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

The profile
Minutes: 13.6
Points: 3.6
Rebounds: 1.3
Assists: 3.2
FG%: 44.2%
3P%: 25.0%
FT%: 78.6%

The (advanced) profile
TS%: 51.9%
USG%: 17.2%
PER: 11.0
Offensive PPP: 0.73 (411th)
Defensive PPP: 0.84 (195th)
Offensive rating (points per 100 possessions): 96
Defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions): 104

First off, I’d like to apologize to T.J. Ford personally for skipping his season review. I intended to write these posts in sequential order by last name and, since F comes before G, I have failed in that regard. I realize he will probably never read this post but, regardless, I feel badly. In fact, I wish Ford’s tenure with San Antonio wouldn’t have ended so abruptly.

I have a weakness for diminutive point guards that are generally incapable of scoring for themselves. They compensate their athletic deficiencies by surveying the entire court effortlessly, picking beneficial spots to exploit and, well, exploiting them. But not for themselves. Never. The job of the floor general is to dictate tempo and alleviate the qualms of inefficiency that are inevitable in any NBA offense. Their job isn’t necessary but their mere presence is almost always beneficial.

It’s no surprise that Spurs’ lineups shot better when Floor presided over the court. They converted on 57.3% of their shots, a number that dipped to 54.5% without Ford. Ford assisted on nearly a third of the Spurs’ possessions. In other words, he assisted at a better rate than passing magician Manu Ginobili. Tony Parker led the team in assist percentage, sure, but Ford’s impact was undeniable.

Ford’s tenure with San Antonio represents a little smidgen in his eight year career. He logged nearly two percent of his total regular season minutes with the Spurs. After masquerading as the incumbent backup point guard — don’t get me wrong, his cameo wasn’t completely fruitless — Ford officially retired from basketball on March 12th after hitting the floor hard and laying motionless for a brief moment of time, long enough to startle anyone watching the game. Knicks guard Baron Davis was the culprit. Certainly a jarring experience.

He already had a dangerous history of injuries so you can understand the precaution he took to impede further damage to his body. Ford was drafted seven spots after LeBron James and eight-years later, while James is in his third NBA Finals, Ford is sitting home without a basketball career.

It’s a tragic occurrence in an otherwise promising career. The fact that Ford parlayed his diminutive body and propensity to induce physical contact into 429 NBA games is rather remarkable. He should be lauded for his career, his decision and, most importantly, the life he’ll live without the persistent risk of injury. Ford beat the odds and, though he couldn’t withstand one more season to fulfill the backup point guard role, his time wasn’t for naught.

Ford didn’t leave the Spurs organization without any ancillary help either. His love for basketball left him craving for more. He satiated his desire by accompanying the Spurs’ D-League associate, the Austin Toros, as an assistant coach. He worked closely with 2011 first round pick Cory Joseph which will hopefully reap huge benefits in the near future. San Antonio should be happy if Joseph picked up a modicum of Ford’s court awareness.

”I think I succeeded at beating the odds, of being the little guy, making it to the NBA and lasting as long as I did,” Ford said. “I think I achieved a lot. I know I didn’t have the career I anticipated and everyone anticipated, me having been the player of the year (at Texas). But I think I still had a successful career.”

That you did, T.J. That you did.

***

Performance of the year: Jan. 4, 2012 vs. Golden State. W 101-95.
The line: 19:35 MIN | 4-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 8 AST | 9 PTS | +16

A quintessential T.J. Ford game. Not a lot of shot attempts or rebounds. An elite amount of assists. Stays within himself. By simply appearing on the court, he makes the lives easier for his teammates.

Season grade: D