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I don't see how anyone can be truly
disappointed with the Cavaliers selection of Luke Jackson with the tenth
pick in the draft. If one is looking at the Cavaliers current
starting lineup and contemplating a compliment for the Big Four then Luke
Jackson's skill set fits to a tee. The Cavaliers desperately needed
a player that can spread the floor with three point range by spotting up
as well as being able to run off screens to catch and shoot.
Luke Jackson can do that for about 50 million dollars less than
Wally Szczerbiak. The Cavaliers also needed another versatile player
that can handle the ball, pass and be an unselfish team player that knows
how to play and the words "handle the ball, pass, and unselfish"
have never been applied to Szczerbiak. It is those aspects of Luke
Jackson's game along with his athleticism that need to translate to the
NBA to justify being a top ten pick and not just another Jason Kapono.
Speaking of athleticism, since very
few others will say it openly I will and that is Jackson has been unfairly
cast with "White Guy Syndrome." People see a floppy haired
white guy who played all the way out in Oregon and stereotype him as Woody
Harrelson's character in the movie White Men Can't Jump. The same
knocks were applied to Harry Potter stunt double Kirk Hinrich going into
last year's NBA draft. The truth is Luke Jackson graded out to the
Cavaliers and at the Chicago Pre-Draft Camp as one of the better athletes
among the top prospects. When tested, Jackson's vertical leap of 36
inches was higher than that of Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Kirk Snyder and
J.R. Smith. His 13 reps of the 185lb bench press were more than Loul
Deng, Josh Childress, Andre Iguodala, J.R. Smith and Dwight Howard.
During the lane agility tests that measures lateral quickness Jackson's
time of 11.1 seconds was better than Josh Childress, Loul Deng, Ben
Gordon, Andre Iguodala and Josh Smith. Now these tests don't mean
everything as when you actually get on the floor in games Iguodala and J.R.
Smith are more explosive leapers but what it does show is that Jackson has
more than enough athleticism to compete in the NBA and won't have to
strain to touch the bottom of the net when he jumps.
Maybe the most intriguing part of
Luke Jackson is his competitiveness and self assuredness as a player.
If you are a draft junkie that scours the Internet for information of
clandestine player workouts you would have read stories about Jackson
holding his own or flat outplaying more highly touted and athletic players
fueling his meteoric rise in the NBA draft. In Chicago, he told
Cavaliers coach Paul Silas, "Coach, I can play." When
Silas told him that LeBron was going to kick his butt Jackson retorted,
"Bring him on." It is the kind of attitude the Cavaliers
also need. Luke Jackson appears to be that happy medium between the
shrinking violet that is Kedrick Brown and the megalomania that was Ricky
Davis. I don't foresee Jackson passing up any big shots late in
games and I have been begging the Cavaliers to find a killer from outside
for several years. Someone from the mold of Mark Price rather than
Wesley "The Milk Carton" Person who would make three pointers
all day until the last six minutes of the fourth quarter when he promptly
disappeared. If the Cavaliers are to eventually get past the Pistons
and/or the Pacers they must continue get mentally tough as a collective
group and one way to add that is to get mentally tough players.
Hopefully, Jackson will be the kind of player that after he gets
"bowed" by a Ron Artest or Corliss Williamson will come back
down and bury a jumper and then ask him if they want another one.
The Cavaliers aren't expecting
miracles from Jackson but they firmly believe the kid can play.
There is some speculation that the Pacers will heat up the trade talks for
Jackson again if they strike out in their attempts to land Tracy McGrady
but since Jackson is a player the Cavaliers wanted and needed the price
will have to be Ron Artest from Indiana to pry him away from Cleveland.
It will, however, take some time for Jackson to settle in here in
Cleveland. It took Carlos Boozer and Andre Miller half a season to
secure starting spots for the Cavaliers and if Jackson is what the
Cavaliers believe he is then he should eventually overtake Ira Newble or
Kedrick Brown as a starter. Defensively, Jackson does have
legitimate concerns. Outside of Stanford not much defense was played
in the Pac 10 conference and even less was played at Oregon. Just
about every rookie struggles with defending coming into the NBA and
Jackson has a ways to go coming from a program that didn't really seem to
stress defense like a Michigan State or Pittsburgh. He will be
tested like any other rookie but Jackson's athleticism if it is as
advertised should allow him to get better and eventually hold his own.
The onus will be on Paul Silas let Jackson to play through some of his
defensive mistakes as he did with LeBron James and Carlos Boozer if
Jackson's strengths are ever to develop as a presence on the team.
Overall, the Cavaliers goal this
summer was to increase the talent from 5-12 on the roster and the
additions of Luke Jackson and Sasha Pavlovic are a good start. But,
in order for them to eventually make a difference they have to be able to
get on the floor otherwise the Cavaliers will have the same deficiencies
as last year. Jackson and Pavlovic have to be more than Eric
Piatkowski and Matt Bullard but players you can ultimately play big
minutes because they bring more to the table than spot shooting. If
Jackson and Pavlovic can be part of the core to go along with James,
Boozer, Z and McInnis it will help give the Cavaliers a chance to be good
for a long time.
`'He can shoot it, handle it and pass it,'' said Cavaliers general
manager Jim Paxson.`` I just don't see how he can fail.'' - Akron
Beacon Journal June 25, 2004.
OK Pax, I'll hold off on FireJimPaxson.com................for now.
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