Stephen Jackson is one of the game’s most complete swingmen. When he’s on his game, he can hit the outside shot and drive to the basket equally well. He’s comfortable making plays both handling the ball on the perimeter and backing his man down. His long arms make him capable of defending almost any player on the floor and getting steals and blocks on the weak side.
Jackson has given the Bobcats a huge spark offensively this season. Over the past two games, Jackson’s talents have been on display. Jackson went off for 29 points in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and had 35 points in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He shot better than 50% from the field in both games.
However, Jackson is also one of the most mercurial players on the league, and capable of following up a great game with a highly questionable performance. True to form, Jackson followed up two of his best scoring performances of his the season with one of the worst shooting nights of anybody’s season.
Jackson went 1-16 from the field last night against the Clippers, missing all five of his shots at the rim and all five of his threes. According to basketball-reference, whose player game database starts in the 1986-87 season, a player has made 1 or less shots on 16 or more attempts 10 times since the 1986-87 season. The only player to shoot the ball 16 or more times without making a shot since the 86-87 season is Tim Hardaway, who infamously went 0-17 during a 1991 contest. In the 10 times this has occurred, the offending shooter’s team has only won the game twice. (One of those two games was actually won by Hardaway’s Warriors; in that game, Hardaway did record 13 assists as he struggled from the field.)
Jackson also turned the ball over five times as he struggled to find the net. Of the 10 players who shot 1-16 or worse during a game, only four turned the ball over five or more times while doing so. To Jackson’s credit, only Clyde Drexler hit more free throws than Jackson while shooting so poorly from the field. Of the players who shot 1-16 or worse, Jackson is the only one to ever foul out.
So how bad was Stephen Jackson last night? Very, very bad. The good news is that what makes Stephen Jackson who he is is that he’s more than capable of dropping 30 when the Bobcats visit the Jazz on Wednesday night.
