Phoenix Suns: Why Josh Jackson is off to a slow start in 2018-19

Phoenix Suns forward Josh Jackson spends the majority of his time on the floor off the ball which is causing him to struggle because he has experienced most of his success with the ball in his hands

There has been a significant amount of concern over the slow start that Phoenix Suns forward Josh Jackson is experiencing to begin this season. The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor wrote an article last week where he started to question whether Jackson can ever become a good offensive player in the NBA:

"“I’m not giving up on Jackson, but his future as an offensive player has never been murkier. I’ve never felt confident about his jump shot becoming consistent. Jackson lacks touch, his mechanics are still shaky, and he struggles from the line”."

However one can argue that Josh Jackson’s struggles are directly linked to new offensive system brought in by first-year head coach Igor Kokoškov. Igor has installed a system heavily reliant on ball movement to the point where they currently rank second in passes made with 318.1.

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Consequently, Jackson spends the majority of his time on the floor in the role of a bystander or spot up shooter. One example of this is when Jackson stands on the wing furthest away from the basketball and watches the point guard initiate the offense by passing the ball to a teammate standing at the top of the key.

After the teammate receives the basketball, he would give the ball to a second teammate standing on the wing.

The second teammate would call for a screen to be set to begin the process of the pick and roll. Once the pick is established, the second teammate would pay attention to his defender to determine the course of action.

For example, if the defender stayed under the screen, he would either shoot the ball immediately or go over the screen to shoot a mid-range jumper.

Playing off the ball has contributed to a significant decline in touches thru 15 games as he has gone from 37.5 last season to 28.7 this season. The decrease in touches have set Josh up to fail because coming up through the amateur ranks he experienced success with the ball in his hands.

According to DraftExpress:

"During his lone college season, Josh showed “encouraging flashes of effectiveness creating off the bounce at times, changing gears powerfully in the open court with excellent body control, using shot-fakes, driving with his head up, and being highly creative with his ability to find teammates for easy baskets. He’s a highly unselfish player with impressive court vision who uses both hands and sides of the floor taking advantage of his ability to see over the top of the defense, and can make a variety of types of passes to help facilitate”."

Therefore, Igor should make drastic changes to his offense when Josh Jackson is on the floor. He should implement aspects of the LeBron offense where Jackson is the primary ball handler and is being surrounded by the team’s best shooters.

For example, he can dribble the ball to the 3-point line and analyzes the entire defense. If one of the defenders is sagging off a shooter, he can pass the basketball to the shooter for an open 3-pointer.

On the other hand, if everyone stays home, he can study everything about his defender to determine the next course of action. If the defender decides to sag off of him, Josh can take the open jumper. But, if the defender played him tight, he can attempt to drive towards the basket for a score, to draw a foul or attract a double team.

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The possible change will give him a significant increase in touches and provide an opportunity to average substantially more than 7.2 points with 1.5 assist and 2.2 rebounds for the rest of the season. Jackson won’t be the only beneficiary from this possible change as it increases the likelihood of him improving his trade value in case the team wants to deal him.

However, if Igor Kokoškov decides to maintain status quo, Josh Jackson will continue to average 7.2 points, 1.5 assist and 2.2 rebounds with his trade value at an all-time low.

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