Reggie Jackson: Is he "clutch" or does he save his job at the end of games?

[313 Professor]

I've watched the majority of the games and I see the clutch stats as well. Reggie's hit some big shots late don't get me wrong, but it's almost like Reggie struggles miserably and then redeems himself out of fear at the end of the game. Last night vs. OKC KCP was locking down, Morris and Tobias played very well, but up until the 4th quarter Reggie was terrible to the point that even Greg Kelser sounded frustrated with him 1st half. He was the reason that the game was even close.

I read a comment and And 1'd it (don't remember who it was) and they posted that "Reggie looks SCARED" in all caps. It's like he plays poorly and without confidence against good competition until his back is against the wall, and then he enters a desperation level of focus and SOMETIMES it works. On some "I'm not that good but I refuse to be bullied" type s***. He had nothing going all game, then after a timeout when Westbrook tried to bully him with harassing on-ball D and almost ripped him that's when he decides to get a strong finish at the hoop

I swear there have been games where he's had a lot of late turnovers and terribly bricked mid-range shots to cost us games too so it's not a reliable clutch either.

Idk... at the very least we need much more consistency out of Reggie. I've watched too much Pistons this year to call Reggie Jackson clutch but maybe I'm tripping.. There are some clutch buckets in the 1st half we need BEFORE the games get close that we need Reggie to get/create too

Bottom line... games like 13 pts, 6 ast, 4 turnovers on 4 for 15 shooting BUT just happening to get a few layups or 3's that seal the game (with 4 points on game clinching FT's) is not good enough considering how much Reggie has the ball... definitely not good enough to be celebrating and I can understand why Westbrook said what he did

Or should I just be happy we've won 40 games for the 1st time in 34 years?

[Arp590]

He has the 3rd highest usage in the league "in the clutch" after Lebron and Kobe(lol)
He leads the league in clutch points but he also leads the league in shot attempts in the clutch.

According to NBA.com he shoots 43% FG "in the clutch" which isn't out of this world but decent/comparable to to other players with high FGM in the clutch.
His 3PT% in the clutch is 46% though, which is significantly higher than his average.
His FT% goes up 1-2% in the clutch.

Those numbers are from NBA.com but I think their criteria is last 5 minutes of game with 5 or less point differential.. i'll play around with the filters more.

Edit: Okay I did the last 2 minutes of the game with a point differential of 5 or less.
Reggie Jackson ends up having a 46% usage rate, but with a True Shooting Percentage of 69.7% which is higher than anyone around him with a comparable usage rating, only person higher is Steph Curry at 83% (Kyrie is 79% but it's a smaller sample size)

Last 2 minutes of 4th Quarter (No OT):
44.4% FG (Decent among similar players)
53.8% 3PT (7-13)
94.1% FT (32-34)

http://stats.nba.com/league/player/#!/clutch/?Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PerMode=Totals&ClutchTime=Last%202%20Minutes&sort=FG3M&dir=1&Period=4

[Navas]

I want Reggie to be that player who despite having a bad game, is the one to give opposing teams heartbreak, a la Robert Horry.

[zeebneeb]

I'm sorry but the poll options are just terrible. 2 positive and how many negative?

How about;

Is Reggie young and learning how to run a team?


Also this is not really an opinion based poll as he is factually "clutch". In End of game situations he has performed brilliantly either saving the Pistons or leading the charge on more times then I can count off the top of my head. I would have to go back and review every single game.

He was handed the team and is learning how to run it. That is not without its struggles.

[DetPistons04]

Stats comparison for 2015-16 season of select Eastern Conference PG's (4 days ago)
Compare the numbers and draw whatever conclusions you wish from them, but something I'll point out is the games started. All of these PG's have started at least twice as many games as Reggie has to this point aside from Thomas who has started 76 more, nearly a full seasons worth.
4 of these 6 PG's have played in an All Star game and 3 are multiple All Stars.
Obviously there is Reggie Jackson and I chose some of the top East PG's for comparison.

* Reggie Jackson - Age 25 - Games started 147

19 pts, 3 rbs, 6.5 ast, 3 tov, 1 stl, 85%ft, 36%3pt, 44%fg, 31 minutes

108 DRtg, 110 ORtg, 6.5 Win Shares


* Kyrie Irving - Age 23 - Games started 301 - All Star games 3

20 pts, 3 rbs, 4.5 ast, 2 tov, 1 stl, 89%ft, 32%3pt, 46%fg, 31 minutes

107 DRtg, 111 ORtg, 4.5 Win Shares


* Kyle Lowry - Age 29 - Games Started 408 - All Star games 2

22 pts, 5 rbs, 6.5 ast, 3 tov, 2 stl, 83%ft, 40%3pt, 44%fg, 37 minutes

104 DRtg, 118 ORtg, 11.6 Win Shares


* John Wall - Age 25 - Games started 405 - All Star games 3

20 pts, 5 rbs, 10 ast, 4 tov, 2 stl, 79%ft, 35%3pt, 43%fg, 36 minutes

104 DRtg, 102 ORtg, 5.5 Win Shares


* Kemba Walker - Age 25 - Games Started 308

21 pts, 4.5 rbs, 5 ast, 2 tov, 1.5 stl, 84%ft, 37%3pt, 43%fg, 36 minutes

104 DRtg, 111 ORtg, 8.6 Win Shares


* Isaiah Thomas - Age 26 - Games Started 223 - All Star Games 1

22 pts, 3 rbs, 6.5 ast, 2.5 tov, 1 stl, 88%ft, 35%3pt, 43%fg, 33 minutes

106 DRtg, 114 ORtg, 9 Win Shares

[In SVG We Trust]

Most clutch player have been here since Chauncey. And please, some posters here would be calling Billups "a chucker who doesn't share the ball and needs to stop to shoot the ball!!"

[Maker_84]

Most clutch player have been here since Chauncey. And please, some posters here would be calling Billups "a chucker who doesn't share the ball and he needs to stop to shoot the ball!!"

Agreed. Reggie is a straight up beast and not many PGs in the league can guard him

[Lionlifer]

I'm not convinced there's a difference between him being clutch and him saving his job. Dude gets buckets when we need it, I don't care why, don't care how, I just want to see the ball pass through the net.

[hoophabit]

Room to grow and all, but definitely "clutch." He's done it too many times to chalk it up to luck.

[Finn McCool]

I imagine Reggie has a little more left in the tank when he's not burdened with guarding the opponents' starting PG. He should hand some of his paycheck to KCP.

[vic]

Yeah most definitely clutch.

However the best PG in the league Steph Curry sits out a lot of 4th quarters... so I'd rather have a pg that dominates and imposes his will on the game in quarter 1-3.

But I'll take Mr. 4th quarter for now while he grows into a more mature player. He really needs to grow mentally though, and quick! That and he needs to get his defensive rating DOWN PLEASE!

[In SVG We Trust]

However the best PG in the league Steph Curry sits out a lot of 4th quarters... so I'd rather have a pg that dominates and imposes his will on the game in quarter 1-3.

Yeah, I'd rather have a combination of Shaq and Jordan that dominates the game in a way he can sit at halftime for the rest of the game

[313 Professor]

I want Reggie to be that player who despite having a bad game, is the one to give opposing teams heartbreak, a la Robert Horry.

This is hilarious

If we win it works for me

[Navas]

I want Reggie to be that player who despite having a bad game, is the one to give opposing teams heartbreak, a la Robert Horry.

This is hilarious

If we win it works for me

After yesterday with OKC that's what I like.

A great team in any sport tends to have that one player, while good, will have a bad game. Then suddenly they play a big part in a major play and win.

[Billl]

I don't see how this is even a question. Yes, he makes lots of bad decisions through the course of a game, but they guy is clutch. Some switch goes on in his head and he just lights it up.

If want to ask "can the pistons be contenders if their 2 best players are inconsistent", that is really a separate question.

[fekz]

He's clutch, but he at times puts us in situation in which he relies on his clutchness to bail us out. The one thing that bothers me about Reggie is how well he played when our team was much less talented and versatile than it is now. 17.6pts 4.7rbs 9.2 ast on the same FG%. Granted, he's shooting the 3 ball better and his FT's are much better than last year. I felt he made a better effort in ball distribution.

[flow]

Both, is the answer. He is clutch when he gets to play hero ball at the end of games. And but for that, he's simply a decent player playing out of position. As I've said before, he's no point guard. Anyone who saw him try to lead those two consecutive fast breaks in the first quarter can see that. He has the point guard instincts of Andre Drummond. But he doesn't shoot well enough to play the 2, and is useless with the ball out of his hands. With the way Morris and Harris are playing, I salivate at the thought of having a real floor general/creator out there who doesn't feel the need to ball-hog and chuck a shot simply because he's gone 3 possessions without shooting.

[DBC10]

I wish he would show up more consistently in quarters 1-3, because it's going to be hard to watch when he's shooting miserably and can't contribute defensively since that is what gets us wins a lot of times when we do bad on the offensive end.

I honestly don't think he has conditioning most of the time. You can see him sweating buckets out there even in the 1st quarter. I heard he even has asthma which may correlate to that conditioning problem. Can you imagine if RJ had KCP's conditioning and hustle?

[Spider156]

Jackson is clutch as ****. I love him. He's incredible.

[Blkbrd671]

RJ is still young and developing , so the fact that he's already a clutch player and not close to a finish product is damn encouraging. Players that have these sort of peaks and valleys, like KCP and RJ, is usually a indication of young, immature, and lack of experience, which RJ and KCP both fall under. Its really a matter of focus , and when apparently when RJ needs to focus(4th qt) , he is a very productive player.