Top Dogs Podcast: The Andre Jackson Conundrum

[Chin Diesel]

Feel similar. Team needs Andre to get back to that killer mentality. I do agree that having teams simply leave you wide open from 3 could do a number on you psychologically, especially if you aren't a great shooter. I get what Viper is doing, keeping Maverick out there despite poor play. Trying to get his confidence back in training at Top gun so that he's back to form against North Korea. We need him to be the best form the Navy can be.

Great analogy reaching back to the original Top Gun.

 

[aburks41]

He had 8 rebounds and 4 assists last night, he still provides a lot of value despite being a poor offensive player. At the event last week he said he was going to start going to the hole more. The problem is he charges often when he does that. I still think the staff needs to get him more easy baskets down low with alley oops and post ups.

And that charge problem stems from the fact that defenses have a 10 foot space to get set in good defensive position because Jackson is getting the ball at the 3 point line. He needs to be at the foul line or within 15 feet of the hoop so the defense doesn't have that type of cushion on him to get ready to draw a charge. That is on Hurley to figure out where best to put him, because the 3 point line clearly isn't working.

 

[Jaydumo20]

I'll take a listen.

That said, I don't think anyone realistically had an expectation that he was going to be a big time shooting threat, but it's undeniable that he's a liability on offense now. When the team was firing on all cylinders it's true that he had a huge part in that with his passing and his defense, but now that teams know exactly what his offensive game is he's too predictable on offense and his defense has declined considerably. I'm sure, as you allude to the podcast suggesting, that his and the team's recent struggles have affected his game negatively, and I hope he can turn it around and return to being the ultimate role player that he was earlier in the year.

Me too. 100%

 

[auror]

And that charge problem stems from the fact that defenses have a 10 foot space to get set in good defensive position because Jackson is getting the ball at the 3 point line. He needs to be at the foul line or within 15 feet of the hoop so the defense doesn't have that type of cushion on him to get ready to draw a charge. That is on Hurley to figure out where best to put him, because the 3 point line clearly isn't working.

But then we're clogging the lane for Sanogo/Clingan/Newton drives.

 

[kansashusky]

He had 8 rebounds and 4 assists last night, he still provides a lot of value despite being a poor offensive player. At the event last week he said he was going to start going to the hole more. The problem is he charges often when he does that. I still think the staff needs to get him more easy baskets down low with alley oops and post ups.

Turn overs are the killer. He had more than assists last night. Trying to do too much. Just needs to play within himself.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I need to listen to a podcast to tell me that he can't shoot?
To explain what I'm seeing with my own eyes?

My answer to both questions you asked is, "No."

I'm glad that your interest has been piqued enough to say you'll give the podcast a listen.

If nothing else, doing so respects the intent signaled by the Title of the thread and the OP. Working from the same starting point creates an opportunity for fans to team up. We want it from the players, so why not from ourselves?

 

[JT-55]

In the undefeated stretch we were all applauding him for doing all the other non-scoring things that were helping us win. We didn’t care that he wasn’t scoring because we were winning with him being the ultimate role player. We’ve lost that guy, partly due to criticism like the above, coming from every which way. I do suggest you listen to the podcast. Also drop the expectation that he was or is supposed to be a big time shooting threat.

In the undefeated stretch teams weren't playing him like they are playing him now. The sagging off of him didn't start till Big East play and that extra defender in the paint is making it more difficult for the offense. He/Coaching staff need to figure out a way to make him an offensive threat that is atleast respected by the other team.

To the second part...If you are at games and yelling or groaning when he misses a shot then I agree that is not helpful but to critique his play (not personal his play) on a message board feels like fair game.

 

[Storrs South]

I'm not as worried about Andre putting the ball in the hoop as I am about the passing, rebounding, and defense.

The rebounding never went away so that's good.

The passing has been a mess. For every incredible pass he makes, there are 3 ill advised ones.

The defense has been OK but Javon Johnson went off last night and he was the only guy that needed to handled and didn't get the job done. He thrives in the full court press which was used sparingly if at all last night. This team continues to go under screens and get burned giving up open 3s. A couple times he did a good job on dribble penetration.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

My answer to both questions you asked is, "No."

I'm glad that your interest has been piqued enough to say you'll give the podcast a listen.

If nothing else, doing so respects the intent signaled by the Title of the thread and the OP. Working from the same starting point creates an opportunity for fans to team up. We want it from the players, so why not from ourselves?

didn't listen.
don't need to, cuz it's not a 'conundrum.'
ur 'superior fan' shtick, seemingly started after ur recent hospital tale, is lame.
mebbe u should change the accusation from 'casual fan' to 'shamelessly casual fan' like someone did over at the football board this past season.
don't break ur legs parachuting on another poster's thoughts so much. also lame.
boolah, boolah.

 

[August_West]

Wow, what a great podcast episode. I just listened to 30 minutes about where UConn is that I totally 100% agree with. That is not easy. I really suggest people give it a listen. He touched on two topics that I agree are the main keys for this team to be successful.

To me, even more than the Jackson part, the first part was about Newton. I believe the single most important thing that will determine how far this team goes is the play of Newton. This team needs a PG that is a THREAT to get to the rim. If he can make some threes that's a great bonus, but we need a PG that defenses have to worry about stopping. A great point he made was that lately Newton has gotten to line a LOT. In our first four losses, he was 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-2 from the line. In the last 4 games, he's 28-31 from the line. Diarra and Alleyne CAN'T do what Newton can do. They are not options in large doses for a top team. When Newton is playing well, he makes the game easier for everyone on the team. He doesn't need to score 20, but he needs to be the guy that's going to burn teams in the lane if they don't stop him.

His second main point was Jackson. His main point was that Jackson's struggles on the offensive end and having teams not guard him is messing with him mentally, and affecting the rest of his game. I completely agree. Andre Jackson does not need to score much for this team to be successful. We just need him to be "Andre Jackson" His confidence is shot right now. Hurley has two choices, 1) Try to work with him and fix him, and 2) bench him a lot more. These two things are necessarily mutually exclusive. Just benching him however can't be an option. The team needs his defense that he can play and all the other intangibles he brings. Imagine the pressure the poor kid must be feeling. He's supposed to be an NBA player and teams are not guarding him. Hurley needs to figure out a way to use him offensively that includes less of him having the ball on the perimeter. I think they will figure it out, and he'll be back.

One last great point he made was that it was nice to see them try the two bigs at once. It will be nice for the team to have that in it's arsenal. I don't think it will work in long stretches and in many matchups, but it's good for it to be a threat in the right condition.

Great job Rob!

He’s always a good pod on all things uconn. He’s us. With just a smidge more mature restraint.

 

[Jaydumo20]

In the undefeated stretch teams weren't playing him like they are playing him now. The sagging off of him didn't start till Big East play and that extra defender in the paint is making it more difficult for the offense. He/Coaching staff need to figure out a way to make him an offensive threat that is atleast respected by the other team.

To the second part...If you are at games and yelling or groaning when he misses a shot then I agree that is not helpful but to critique his play (not personal his play) on a message board feels like fair game.

Yes. Offensively he is not viewed as a shooting threat. But his defense has fallen off. Our defense has fallen off. We win some of these games if we play the defense we played early on. Check out @auror thread “what has changed”. But I do agree sagging off him has made him fang-less on offense.

To your 2nd point- i disagree. Some are under the assumption that these kids don’t read the media about themselves. They live on their phones and I guarantee they search themselves. Groans at a game when a shot is missed has been happening since the Mayans, fan sites and message boards where the fan base is supposed to support these kids are a newer thing and they aren’t that innocent. If he looks at the last day and a half of threads regarding his play do you think he is bolstered by our support? It’s not mild criticism but in most cases, pure bashing. (For one I site the posts calling for him to play football instead)

 

[aburks41]

But then we're clogging the lane for Sanogo/Clingan/Newton drives.

The defender guarding Jackson is already literally camping in the lane when Jackson is on the 3 point line so what difference does it make?

 

[auror]

The defender guarding Jackson is already literally camping in the lane when Jackson is on the 3 point line so what difference does it make?

Yeah I'm suggesting we do other things to draw that defender out, like using Jackson to set screens (or take him out entirely), instead of compounding the tight space.

 

[UCLJ0211]

Maybe I’m oversimplifying this, but why can’t we run a few lob plays each game to get him some easy dunks? We did it a few times earlier in the season and as our first play in a couple games IIRC. If we could get Newton (or any guard) to get into the paint and lob it up to Ajax we could have a little Hamilton to Brimah 2.0 action!

 

[3rdbass]

The problem with Andre is he can't shoot, has no midrange pull-up game(see that ugly floater yesterday that he got bailed out with the foul on Sanogo under the basket) and isn't really adept at going to the rim and making layups as witnessed by his air ball on that one against Depaul in the first half. For someone with his handle it makes no sense that people on the staff haven't worked with his shooting technique at all. I love his energy and he does have a great handle but he is playing too wild at times on both sides of the court. He needs to control himself and play like Dennis Rodman and get his points close to the basket on missed shots or some posting up. Also, if way open on the 3 pt line he needs to drive and make his man commit and then dish to the big guys inside like he did with Sanogo in the second half. Right now his confidence seems to be very low due to his deficiencies and he is letting that bring down his overall game. We need the old Andre back.

 

[NJHusky]

And that charge problem stems from the fact that defenses have a 10 foot space to get set in good defensive position because Jackson is getting the ball at the 3 point line. He needs to be at the foul line or within 15 feet of the hoop so the defense doesn't have that type of cushion on him to get ready to draw a charge. That is on Hurley to figure out where best to put him, because the 3 point line clearly isn't working.

Exactly…he needs to be moving and closer to the hoop when someone gets him the ball. Expecting him to break a defender down from the 3pt line isn’t in his arsenal yet

 

[kansashusky]

He needs to be Royce White.

 

[my2cents]

His value to this team doesn’t and has never come from scoring. When he’s being Andre, he is legitimately the best on-ball defender in college basketball. That’s where his value is. He has the ability to completely blanket a teams best player so we are effectively playing a 4v4 game lol. The problem since the first Xavier game is that his struggles on offense have carried over to the defensive side. It’s mental.

There's a reason why analytical sites like EvanMiya have him rated as one of the top 10 best players in the entire country, even without his scoring ability

View attachment 83727

On ball defender? The guy he was guarding scored Depaul's first 8 points of the game. Most of the quick guards in the BE, get right by him.

 

[aburks41]

On ball defender? The guy he was guarding scored Depaul's first 8 points of the game. Most of the quick guards in the BE, get right by him.

maybe read the first half of my sentence...it's obvious that he's playing like crap on defense right now. That doesn't change the fact that when he's playing like his normal self, he is arguably the best defender in the country.

 

[REB1094]

He brings up good points. Andre feeds on his defense, so when his defense isn't working, then it takes a lot out of both his game and the overall team's play

At this point I'm in a situation where I consider any shot that isn't a dunk as a bad shot. And unfortunately I think I'll feel that way until I consistently see him make the scoring plays that defenses invite. If he's missing threes (27% in BE play), at a certain point it stops being "keeping the defense honest" and it starts being "giving the defense exactly what they want". I think we're past that point now

Andre's greatest value comes from playing defense, grabbing boards, running breaks, and finding guys for good looks or hockey assists. When he's on his game in those fields, he's one of the most impactful players in the conference, maybe even country.

Don't get it twisted, Andre is extremely talented and extremely skilled. Probably one of the most unique players in program history. He's raw and unrefined, but very talented. Unfortunately raw and undefined is really tough to be in the Big East. It seems like it's hitting his confidence and mental state, especially after all the pressure he's already put on himself to be a leader of this team.

He'll need some help from Hurley to put him in positions to succeed. Shooting threes off of Sanogo doubles isn't that position. Maybe something similar to Creighton where he hangs out near the paint so Sanogo can operate 1v1 and Jackson is in the dunker's spot?

 

[Seamus84]

Wow, what a great podcast episode. I just listened to 30 minutes about where UConn is that I totally 100% agree with. That is not easy. I really suggest people give it a listen. He touched on two topics that I agree are the main keys for this team to be successful.

To me, even more than the Jackson part, the first part was about Newton. I believe the single most important thing that will determine how far this team goes is the play of Newton. This team needs a PG that is a THREAT to get to the rim. If he can make some threes that's a great bonus, but we need a PG that defenses have to worry about stopping. A great point he made was that lately Newton has gotten to line a LOT. In our first four losses, he was 0-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-2 from the line. In the last 4 games, he's 28-31 from the line. Diarra and Alleyne CAN'T do what Newton can do. They are not options in large doses for a top team. When Newton is playing well, he makes the game easier for everyone on the team. He doesn't need to score 20, but he needs to be the guy that's going to burn teams in the lane if they don't stop him.

His second main point was Jackson. His main point was that Jackson's struggles on the offensive end and having teams not guard him is messing with him mentally, and affecting the rest of his game. I completely agree. Andre Jackson does not need to score much for this team to be successful. We just need him to be "Andre Jackson" His confidence is shot right now. Hurley has two choices, 1) Try to work with him and fix him, and 2) bench him a lot more. These two things are necessarily mutually exclusive. Just benching him however can't be an option. The team needs his defense that he can play and all the other intangibles he brings. Imagine the pressure the poor kid must be feeling. He's supposed to be an NBA player and teams are not guarding him. Hurley needs to figure out a way to use him offensively that includes less of him having the ball on the perimeter. I think they will figure it out, and he'll be back.

One last great point he made was that it was nice to see them try the two bigs at once. It will be nice for the team to have that in it's arsenal. I don't think it will work in long stretches and in many matchups, but it's good for it to be a threat in the right condition.

Great job Rob!

100%. If shooting was just about form, then Joey C would never miss. Both Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods are Hall of Fame golfers, and their swings couldn’t be more different. It’s about a consistent release point AND confidence. I believe both Andre and Joey C are suffering from a lack of confidence. The good news is that confidence is only 2 made 3s away.

And yes, over the summer AJ needs to work on release point consistency, but I believe the ship has sailed on trying to turn his form into Ray Allen’s.

 

[ConnEd]

Great podcast. I agree with everything said. I think the fix is to find ways to get Andre a couple of easy buckets early to boost his confidence.

One thing I'd love to see them change up on O for Andre is what he does from the wing after making the entry pass to the post. Now, most often, he makes the pass in from the 3 pt line. He's good at the entry pass, so he should keep doing that. But, after, he tends to stay at that spot on the wing, and his defender drops down to harass our big with the ball on the block.

I'd love to see him cut through the lane (he often does do this when he makes the entry from the top of the lane) to the opposite corner at least taking his defender to the weak side block. Then, rotate Hawkins or Karaban or Newton or a legit 3-pt shooter to that spot on the wing that AJ left so their defender has to play them tight to defend the 3-ball threat. It would give more space to the big to operate and also give AJ a great place to look to get the offensive rebound or a backside alley-oop - maybe with a pin-down screen to help. Or, if his defender helps across the lane on our big, have our big pass to AJ cutting for the baseline slam.

 

[tentoes4rings]

And that charge problem stems from the fact that defenses have a 10 foot space to get set in good defensive position because Jackson is getting the ball at the 3 point line. He needs to be at the foul line or within 15 feet of the hoop so the defense doesn't have that type of cushion on him to get ready to draw a charge. That is on Hurley to figure out where best to put him, because the 3 point line clearly isn't working.

I couldn’t agree more. This staff has to find ways to get such a massive physical talent easier buckets. It will be one of the biggest failures in program history to waste an athlete like Andre. He said they’ve worked on posting him up in practice, we need to see it in games.

 

[UConnDad]

If his defender keeps sagging off him he just needs to screen for Hawk and let fire away. A couple of those and his defender will have to come out to help.

 

[mauconnfan]

He had 8 rebounds and 4 assists last night, he still provides a lot of value despite being a poor offensive player. At the event last week he said he was going to start going to the hole more. The problem is he charges often when he does that. I still think the staff needs to get him more easy baskets down low with alley oops and post ups.

5 TOs kills us though versus a better team than Depaul. And go back to Xavier when he threw that awful alley oop to Sanogo while we were coming back, a guy that can't jump. That's a killer, not a turnover but it should be as there are too many bad decisions as of late. And his defense isn't Andre-like at all never have we seen him beaten off the dribble as we have lately and consistently.

Needs to get his head on straight period or Dan Hurley needs to make some changes in the lineup.

 

[tentoes4rings]

5 TOs kills us though versus a better team than Depaul. And go back to Xavier when he threw that awful alley oop to Sanogo while we were coming back, a guy that can't jump. That's a killer, not a turnover but it should be as there are too many bad decisions as of late. And his defense isn't Andre-like at all never have we seen him beaten off the dribble as we have lately and consistently.

Needs to get his head on straight period or Dan Hurley vs needs to make some changes in the lineup.

Rough game with 5 TOs no doubt but his previous high was only 3. The TO you referenced vs Xavier was his only turnover in 25 minutes, he had 8 assists and only one turnover vs them the first meeting. Scoring is his clear weakness, picking on defense and assists seems silly, he’s not hurting us overall in those areas.

 

[mauconnfan]

Rough game with 5 TOs no doubt but his previous high was only 3. The TO you referenced vs Xavier was his only turnover in 25 minutes, he had 8 assists and only one turnover vs them the first meeting. Scoring is his clear weakness, picking on defense and assists seems silly, he’s not hurting us overall in those areas.

It’s not at all silly and anyone thinking his defense has been good isn’t watching closely. He is hurting us on that end as much as any others hence why we don’t play good man as of late.

 

[navery12]

 

[HooperScooper]

"I think it affects NBA players, probably NBA veteran players, when you're struggling to score," coach Dan Hurley pointed out. "Andre has flashed, at times, that guy that we just want him getting to the rim. When people play off you, you can still be an effective screener, still put the ball on the floor and impact the team. And then make a move at that soft defender that's on you."

Can UConn men’s basketball’s Andre Jackson break scoring slump? 'He's going to start to figure it out’

As UConn men look to win its second straight road game on Saturday at last-place Georgetown, the Huskies look for Andre Jackson to contribute.

www.nhregister.com

Alternate free access:

Can UConn men’s basketball’s Andre Jackson break scoring slump? 'He's going to start to figure it out’​

 

[Husky68]

It just comes down to being able to do in basketball what you practice/perfect in the off season. AJ has not shown the ability to make an effective offensive move inside the 3 point line directed at getting a mid range high % shot or a layup attempt (and this is a guy with elite athletics). This is something your average 12 year old basketball player learns.

I don't care what type of leader he is off the court when it comes to his on court performance, they are separate skills. His crazy, in your face act on court is not good leadership (and negatively impacts his over aggressive defensive play that leads to fouls/blow byes).

It's on Hurley for letting him develop this type of playing style over his almost 3 years at UConn and on AJ for settling for this type of skill development.

It is not team play to avoid the responsibility of making offensive plays that include making legit scoring attempts when the opportunity presents itself. He is putting all the scoring pressure on the other 4 guys on the court with him. The way he is playing AJ should get Diarra/Alleyne type minutes.

Can AJ change his offensive style of play for the better in 2023? Maybe, maybe not, but at least try. I for one liked his driving left hand layup attempt, even though it was a serious brick, that's the type of play he should be attempting when he has the opportunity/advantage (not the half ass pass attempt to Clingan at the rim that resulted in a turnover).