This drives me nuts about Andre Jackson!

[DW1361]

In all honesty, most times as he has driven to the hoop it clogs up and he has been great at making a good decision without picking up the ball. I think perhaps they need to spread out the defense to help open lanes. Donny Marshall was great getting down court in anticipation of a rebound, but Jackson is crashing the boards and making again very goods decisions with the ball. Andre will get a triple double. If Newton can do it, then he can do it better.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

In all honesty, most times as he has driven to the hoop it clogs up and he has been great at making a good decision without picking up the ball. I think perhaps they need to spread out the defense to help open lanes. Donny Marshall was great getting down court in anticipation of a rebound, but Jackson is crashing the boards and making again very goods decisions with the ball. Andre will get a triple double. If Newton can do it, then he can do it better.

There were times yesterday where he had a line and just decided to pass it instead (and I believe it worked most of the time). But it’s kind of hard to drive when scoring is your last option. If the lane is there he needs to take that every time, then pass it if necessary.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Should be effective and not affective in DH’s quote, I believe.

Pedantry aside, it is a bit odd that he doesn’t really ever lay the ball up after driving to the rim. He dunks, he does the 8 foot one handed pull up….but he doesn’t ever just get by his man and lay it in.

What was he like offensively in HS? Obviously he didn’t have much in the way of a jumper, but did he attack the rim?

You are correct. Blame the writer. Dan said it out loud.

Jackson learning to draw contact on his drives would go a long way to solving our problems. He slides, shifts and contorts his body to avoid it, which means (a) no foul and (b) degree of difficulty on the shot goes up. He has to start shielding the ball, taking the contact and then scoring.

 

[ctchamps]

Reasons why Andre might be hesitant:

Teams are packing the lane to neutralize Sanogo and since Dre is not perceived as an outside threat or a good midrange shooter it's typically his player that does the sagging.

He was stripped driving to the basket often (relative to his attempts) driving to the basket last year.

He's been called for charges on the fifty fifty block/charge calls. Given his defense is so valuable we need him not to be sitting on the bench for significant minutes as a result of foul trouble. I felt that his early two fouls was the primary reason for the Hopkins play/Providence loss.

So working on his outside shot, and even more importantly his mid range shot, are out of necessity all he could do for now.

As an aside it seemed to me that in the Creighton game Andre was positioned more at the baseline near the hoop than in other games. As a result it prevented Kaluma from doubling Adama out of concern for a quick pass to him for an easy dunk leaving Kalkbrenner to guard Adama alone. This may be the way we counter teams in the future to help Adama and reduce some of the liability of Andre's shooting. It could account for some of the reason Adama did well and Kaluma had 10 defensive rebounds.

 

[HooperScooper]

Should be effective and not affective in DH’s quote, I believe.

I was going to correct it when I copied the quote over to here but that's what Mike Anthony wrote so I just left it.

 

[Ratso]

I love that he had no hesitation taking 3’s. ben simmons anyone?

 

[navery12]

 

[Ratso]

i think we all agree there’s no real post season w/o AJ

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Andre, please take your guy to the rim occasionally!

Okay, so I know Andre is practically a god on this board, so let me say first, he's a great player who fits this team perfectly. I was a little frustrated with him last year, because when he was playing with other non-shooters, his athleticism wasn't enough. This year though, on a team with many other shooters and scorers, his contagious hard work and freakish athleticism is a tremendous asset. Having said that, I have always said that if I'm coaching against UConn, part of the scouting report would be, if Jackson gets the ball, don't worry about rebounding position or being in help positions, cut off the passing lanes. He passes the ball 90% of the time.

I actually charted the first half of the Georgetown game. He touched the ball on offense outside of the restricted area in the frontcourt 25 times. The options are pass, dribble, shoot. He shot once from the outside. The only drive to the basket that resulted in a shot was the one where he got the ball on the break and dunked. It was really the only good option. The other 23 times resulted in a pass. 11 times he put the ball on the floor, and the only resulting shot attempt was that one dunk on the break. Every other time he drove towards the basket, the result was a pass. He has the ability to take people off the dribble. He has the ability to sky over guys. I can't imagine why he doesn't get to the hoop and score off the dribble more. I think it's a combination of being unselfish and being uncomfortable with finishing.

I don't think he should shoot from the outside much until he develops his outside shot more, there are just too many other better shooters. But, when he gets the ball on the perimeter, he should be a threat to drive more and get to the rim. To play in the NBA, he's going to need to be able to do it. The great thing is though, this team doesn't need it that much.

Would you feel better if Bryce Hopkins took all those three point shots, and make them, instead of Jackson? How about when Hopkins went to the FT line and made every single one, can Jackson or Sanogo make the same claim? Your fascination with the rim is puzzling, rim’s don’t win basketball games, points do.

 

[jake14mw]

Would you feel better if Bryce Hopkins took all those three point shots, and make them, instead of Jackson? How about when Hopkins went to the FT line and made every single one, can Jackson or Sanogo make the same claim? Your fascination with the rim is puzzling, rim’s don’t win basketball games, points do.

Sorry, I'm not sure really what you're getting at here. My point is simple. Currently, when he gets the ball on offense, he is predictable. He will pass 90% of the time. He is a simple defensive assignment when he has the ball in his hands. You don't need to guard him against the three, and if he puts the ball on the floor you know he is going to pass it. Now if he was a a lumbering type of 4 or 5 player, that would be perfectly fine and understandable. But he is an explosive athlete. He seems comfortable with the ball in his hands. Why he doesn't assert himself more and capitalize more on the skills he has is the question.

It's not like this issue is a secret, or a unique take by me. This article is all about how he can handle how teams are playing him:

Defenses daring Andre Jackson to shoot. Can UConn men's basketball guard take advantage of opportunity?

UConn's Andre Jackson was 1-for-7 from the field Wednesday against Providence as teams have played soft defense, daring him to shoot.

www.ctinsider.com

Hurley: “When people are playing off you, there's different things you can do,” Hurley said. “We can screen lower for him. You can get a head of steam for the guy that's playing soft on you. You don't have to run him over. You can play off of his hip. I think he's still finding his way. We're at the mid-point of the year and I think he's still trying to find the best way for him to be affective, offensively.”

Also from the article, ...in the blink of an eye, Jackson blew past Hopkins for a two-handed slam while Hopkins was whistled for a foul.
It was the type of downhill play — no hesitation, no messing around — that Jackson’s offensive game is built for. It isn’t ideal for him to get lulled into taking 3-pointers.

“I think it's just being more aggressive and being more aggressive to score the ball,” Jackson said of looking for opportunities similar to the dunk. “A lot of times when I play, I'm looking for others, so sometimes when I'm coming off different things — just making the right play, not necessarily the play I may see. Sometimes it's there for myself... "

His overall approach to the game won't and shouldn't change I don't think. He will probably always be a pass first guy. Nothing wrong with that. But his passes will be even more effective if he finishes around the basket more.

 

[Rico444]

Sorry, I'm not sure really what you're getting at here. My point is simple. Currently, when he gets the ball on offense, he is predictable. He will pass 90% of the time. He is a simple defensive assignment when he has the ball in his hands. You don't need to guard him against the three, and if he puts the ball on the floor you know he is going to pass it. Now if he was a a lumbering type of 4 or 5 player, that would be perfectly fine and understandable. But he is an explosive athlete. He seems comfortable with the ball in his hands. Why he doesn't assert himself more and capitalize more on the skills he has is the question.

I agree with your overall point, but the bolded line I'll disagree with. First of all, you're only talking about the halfcourt, because there's nothing simple about guarding Andre on the fast break. Secondly, just because you know he's likely to pass the ball doesn't mean you know where he's passing it. Tyler Kolek can't shoot at all and yet he somehow averages 8 assists per game.

 

[BuffaloHusky]

I thought since the beginning of the year that Andre had to average about 12 points a game for us to be elite and I was wrong because I didn't account for the bench being so effective. Given that, I still think we need to unlock some of his skills and I immediately thought of Andre in pick and roll in the dunkers spot with Hawkins or Newton which I don't think we have seen. It would only work on the wing as the big would need to be above the foul line but someone should have a dunk or three as the court would be completely spread for Andre on the roll.

 

[Punkbo]

I think we all basically agree on AJ. He’s an unbelievable athlete who defends incredibly well and has great court vision, but should be more aggressive attacking the rim. We all just have a different view on how to accomplish this. I like the idea of having AJ and Newton play alongside each other so that they can share ball handling responsibilities, but also have another facilitator on the floor to provide spacing and help them score.

In my opinion, AJ’s numbers should be similar to Marcus William’s numbers: use his court vision to maximize assists, but also take 8 or 9 shots per game. Most of these for AJ would be close to the rim: dunks, layups and floaters. To keep the defense honest, he probably will also have the opportunity to take 2 or 3 three-point attempts per game. While he’s a great rebounder and distributor, I think we all agree that he also has the ability to score 10-12 points per game.

 

[REB1094]

I agree with your overall point, but the bolded line I'll disagree with. First of all, you're only talking about the halfcourt, because there's nothing simple about guarding Andre on the fast break. Secondly, just because you know he's likely to pass the ball doesn't mean you know where he's passing it. Tyler Kolek can't shoot at all and yet he somehow averages 8 assists per game.

Andre has thrown a ridiculous no-look, full speed, underhand pass twice this year perfectly on the money. I feel like he even knows defenders expect a pass but he’s so good at getting it where it needs to be before anyone can react to it

Random thought, I remember seeing a few plays from the Brooklyn Nets this year where Simmons has the ball and KD runs up to him to get a handoff. Simmons passes, then screens KD’s man who is chasing. Wide open jumper because Simmons’ man is sitting in the paint because they know he won’t shoot. Would be fun to see that action with AJax and Hawkins

 

[jake14mw]

I agree with your overall point, but the bolded line I'll disagree with. First of all, you're only talking about the halfcourt, because there's nothing simple about guarding Andre on the fast break. Secondly, just because you know he's likely to pass the ball doesn't mean you know where he's passing it. Tyler Kolek can't shoot at all and yet he somehow averages 8 assists per game.

Yes, I was specifically concentrating on the halfcourt offense, but even on the break, when he is bringing the ball up, he rarely attempts to get to the basket. That one is even more puzzling. You would think that he would be able to get that "head of steam" that Hurley refers to.

 

[Palatine]

(I also posted this on the Hurley thread)

Remember Dre's freshman year. He threw the ball all over the place trying to make spectacular plays. But it taught him how to become a great distributor.

This year it's three point shooting. I think he will develop a pretty good outside shot because of his his wiliingness to take them this year. It is his process.

The next step in his evolution will be attacking the basket. He has to add this to his game. But it won't happen until he commits to it. Currently, he gets into the lane to create. When he set his mind to getting into the lane to score, when he becomes eager to it, that is when he will become an all around offensive player.