The Detroit Pistons have been without Reggie Jackson a lot over the last couple seasons. He makes this team better. Does he make the Pistons an elite team?
Reggie Jackson has missed a lot of games over the last couple of years for the Detroit Pistons. The last time he was healthy for a full season, the Pistons were in the NBA playoffs.
Vince Ellis from the Detroit Free Press recently published an article on the future of Stan Van Gundy.
Van Gundy spoke about Jackson and his impact.
"“When Reggie’s been healthy over the last three years, this has been a good team,” Van Gundy said."
Ellis’ article also mentioned some key numbers to analyze. The Pistons are 70-54 over the past three years when Jackson is healthy.
That makes them a playoff-worthy basketball team. But how good does it make them?
I get the idea that Van Gundy thinks much higher of Jackson than he should. This isn’t the first time that he’s made it seem like Jackson’s health is the reason they underachieved throughout a particular season.
A healthy Reggie Jackson makes the Detroit Pistons somewhere between a six and eight seed in a hypothetical playoff situation.
It’s hard to believe with the roster they have it’s any higher than that. There’s more that this team needs than Jackson.
You can’t seriously believe this team is competing with the likes of Boston, Cleveland, Toronto, and Philadelphia.
Here is the problem
There’s something wrong with the current equation that Van Gundy has in his head.
The first part is Reggie Jackson himself. I admitted that he makes this team better. I don’t think he takes this team to extreme heights.
For the most part, the NBA is a point guard-driven league. There are multiple examples of that and I don’t think it’s necessary to explain the obvious.
What do point guards thrive at in the NBA? Shooting well and facilitating the ball.
Reggie Jackson has never been an exceptional shooter. For his career, he shoots just 32 percent from the three-point line. He shot just 30 percent from long-range this season.
The league average this season was nearly 37 percent. There’s no other way to put it. This is a three-point driven league now.
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You need your starting point guard to be able to stretch the floor with the ability to shoot the ball.
If he can’t do that, he needs to be an elite finisher around the rim. Jackson is not that by any means.
As a facilitator, Jackson does an adequate job. He averaged 5.3 assists per game this year.
The biggest issue with Jackson is that he doesn’t do anything that is great. He can score, defend when he wants to, and create some opportunities for his teammates.
The second problem with Van Gundy’s equation is that teams that compete for titles in the NBA need stars.
The Pistons finally have a star and that is credited to Van Gundy for making that happen. They need more than just Blake Griffin.
I don’t see Andre Drummond or Jackson elevating their individual games to what would be considered star level. They are just good players. Not players you build around.
Van Gundy is right when he says that Reggie Jackson makes this team good. Is this organization content with just being good?
The fans want great. They want banners and championship rings. Reggie Jackson doesn’t do that for this organization.