Reggie Jackson has had a season that has been nothing short of dreadful for the Detroit Pistons. It’s time to bring it to a merciful end.
30 minutes before the Detroit Pistons tipped off against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Stan Van Gundy informed the media that Reggie Jackson would get the night off. Considering the fact that Van Gundy is vociferously against resting healthy players, this is a major indicator that Jackson has in fact been battling with complications stemming from the knee tendinitis that has haunted his season and the team as a whole since September.
According to the gathered media, Jackson was not pleased about this development, but there’s no question that he hasn’t been the same player this season as he was a year ago.
Per Rod Beard of the Detroit News:
"“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time. It’s hard to put a percentage, but he’s been playing at probably about 80 percent and as we get into this stretch of games in March where we’re playing a lot, the fatigue is making it worse,” Van Gundy said.“We were at a stretch in the year where it wasn’t fair for him that we were running him out there and putting pressure on him. He’s seeing things he should be able to do and he just can’t do them. He’s not feeling pain, but he can’t make the plays he wants to make and we’re putting him out there.”"
Jackson has endured a lot this season on many fronts. He hasn’t been the player he’s used to being when he’s on the floor, and away from the floor derision from fans and media criticism affected his focus. It’s been a brave new world for Reggie Jackson, and an unwelcome one at that.
His statistical impact has been devastating on the Pistons this season. Of all players who have appeared in 50 games or more, playing 20+ minutes per appearance, with usage rates over 25%, he has the second-worst true shooting percentage (51%) and effective field goal percentage (46.8%) in the NBA.
He has the worst on-court offensive rating (101.7 points per 100 possessions) of any player who meets the above criteria, and he has the fourth-worst on-court defensive rating (110.5). That yields the NBA’s worst net rating at -8.8, which is a full point worse than that of the Los Angeles Lakers, the NBA’s worst team net rating.
Playing Jackson further can only aggravate his knee more, and his on-court impact is severely negative as he battles his lost athleticism. Shutting him down for the season can get him a couple extra weeks of rest going into the offseason. The Pistons’ future is largely predicated on a healthy Reggie Jackson being the Reggie of old, and they get nowhere close to that goal by throwing him to the wolves for the final eight games of this lost season.
Next: How should the Pistons evaluate the season?
Van Gundy has indicated that he will not play Tuesday night against the Miami Heat at the Palace, but it’s time to go a step beyond that and commit to shutting him down for the rest of the season for Reggie Jackson’s own sake.