Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson's five-game checkup
Reggie Jackson has been back on the floor with the Detroit Pistons for five games, and it’s time to take a look at his performance and production thus far.
It’s been an unusual season for Reggie Jackson so far. He missed the first 21 games of the Detroit Pistons‘ 2016-17 season and has spent the five games since his return working to get back into game shape.
Jackson’s has struggled from a statistical standpoint since his return. He’s averaging 12.2 points and four assists per game in 24.8 minutes, and he’s shooting just 35.4 percent from the floor. On the plus side, he’s shooting 38.9 percent from long range, a clip which is better than any season in his career so far.
His counting numbers are a bit more respectable from a per 100 possessions perspective. He’s averaging 25.2 points and 8.2 assists per 100, down from 31 points and 10.2 assists last season. Jackson is also turning the ball over slightly less, from last season’s 4.6 to this season’s 4.1 turnovers per 100 possessions.
His shooting efficiency just isn’t there so far, as his true shooting is a poor 44.2 percent.
Over the five games that Jackson has been back, even though the Detroit Pistons have been just 2-3, he has the fourth-best on/off splits on the team. When Jackson is off the court, the Pistons are outscored by 2.4 points per 100 possessions, while they outscore their opponents by 2.5 when he’s on the floor. That’s a 4.9 point swing.
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In addition, the Pistons’ typical starting lineup of Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris and Andre Drummond has performed very well over this stretch. The Pistons starters have outscored their opponents 113.3 to 103.8 per 100, a net rating of +9.5 points.
While Jackson’s numbers have yet to come around, he’s finding ways to benefit the Pistons, largely because even in his diminished state, he’s only slightly less efficient on offense than Ish Smith. In comparison to Jackson’s 44.2 true shooting percentage (a statistic that takes points scored off field goals, three-pointers and free throws into consideration and expresses offensive efficiency), Smith’s TS percentage is just marginally better at 46.1 percent.
The only real benefit to Smith’s offense over Jackson’s is that Smith’s usage is significantly lower, meaning Jackson is involving teammates in the offense less. The tradeoff there is that Jackson is better defensively than Smith, and his length is a big benefit over that of the diminutive Smith.
It’s easy to get caught up in the handwringing over Reggie Jackson’s mediocre numbers, but remember that it’s not a surprise that a player who went about two months without any kind of NBA-level competition will take some time to get back up to speed with players in a league that’s been going at full speed since virtually the day he was ruled out with knee tendinitis.