Is MJ Under-appreciated?

[Mad Balla 15]

No, not that MJ - I'm talking about Mark Jackson. When you look at the top assist leaders in league history he is second all-time behind Stockton and ahead of greats such as Kidd, Magic, Payton etc. The thing is when you look at the list everyone on their is hall of fame players and they get their due and Mark Jackson's name just seems to be in there and no one really talks about him. Do you think he's under-appreciated?

[LiquidFire]

who...

[Retrolock]

The best I remember about mark jackson was Jordan dunking an alley oop over his face.

[conleyorbust]

The best I remember about mark jackson was Jordan dunking an alley oop over his face.

Then yes, he is underappreciated. He wasn't quite as dynamic as those guys you mentioned but he could ball, sometimes I think about second tier contenders of days gone by and it seems like he was the second best player on half of them.

[tsherkin]

I don't think he was underappreciated... He was what he was...

A big guard who wasn't terribly athletic and who was as bad as Barkley about insanely long post-ups. He had excellent vision and technical passing skills but he wasn't especially good at anything else and therefore didn't rise to much notice after a fairly quick start to his career.

Mark Jackson was a solid player but there's a REASON he's not talked about very often; Action Jackson really wasn't diverse enough to be discussed more often. Nice starting point guard, blooded playoff veteran, great distribution skills and stuff but not a perennial All-Star or anything.

[Hard2dhole]

At the end of his career he was a willing back up player and also an excellent mentor and leader to younger better players who needed guidance. I'm kinda surprised he's not coaching yet.

[tsherkin]

At the end of his career he was a willing back up player and also an excellent mentor and leader to younger better players who needed guidance. I'm kinda surprised he's not coaching yet.

Actually yeah, that's true; it is kind of surprising that he's not coaching, even as an assistant. Maybe he's taking the analyst job to give him some time to learn the game as an observer instead of a participant?

[Jemini80]

When you have a rule made just for you, and no one remembers you, then yes you are under-appreciated.

the 5 second back to the basket rule is a rule because Mark Jackson would just back down opposing PGs like they were nothing.

The knicks never won a championship because they let him go.

He is going to be a very good head coach.

[tsherkin]

When you have a rule made just for you, and no one remembers you, then yes you are under-appreciated.

the 5 second back to the basket rule is a rule because Mark Jackson would just back down opposing PGs like they were nothing.

The knicks never won a championship because they let him go.

He is going to be a very good head coach.

Nah, they call it the Charles Barkley rule because he was similarly bad about it and was a lot more famous for him.

And no, the Knicks never won a title in that era because Hakeem Olajuwon undressed Ewing's dignity and savaged it like a man on speed balls, not because of the absence of Mark Jackson. That, and John Starks in Game 7. Jackson wouldn't have fixed either of those problems.

I do agree, however, that he has the potential to be a good head coach.

[Blame Rasho]

Hakeem Olajuwon undressed Ewing's dignity and savaged it like a man on speed ball

Quote of the month material...

[tsherkin]

Heh; I thought it was a fairly accurate depiction. Ewing rebounded and defended well that series but Hakeem just made him look SO bad on offense...

[kflo]

When you have a rule made just for you, and no one remembers you, then yes you are under-appreciated.

the 5 second back to the basket rule is a rule because Mark Jackson would just back down opposing PGs like they were nothing.

The knicks never won a championship because they let him go.

He is going to be a very good head coach.

yes, they were tired of seeing mark jackson average single digits on poor percentages so the made up a rule to stop it.

and the knicks fell from 51 wins up to 60 wins when they lost jackson.

[big123]

Yeah he is, because I see alot of people on this forum think Kobe is on his level which is ludacris. Jordan has multiple MVP's, responsible for 6 titles and 2nd all time behind Wilt in career PPG. Kobe is 2nd fiddle to 3 chips and not even within distance of MVP's or PPG. People look into that 81 point game against the pathetic Raptors too much.

Edit: I thought it was MJ=Jordan, sorry......

[TNBT]

Yes, Jackson is one guy from my main era of fandom (late 80's to late 90's) who I think never really gets the respect he deserves. He played on a few different teams, and unless my memory is off, he made all of them better. You don't end up 2nd all-time in assists by accident.

[CircleCitysportsfan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2ikqKQ3XSA