The NBA’s 30 best go-to players (#27: Stephen Jackson)
Stephen Jackson
Every NBA team has a go-to guy, and there’s really only room for one. It’s not about who always gets to take the last-second shot. More accurately, it’s the guy who regularly gets the ball when things are getting tense in the fourth quarter; it’s the guy who is expected to calm things down when teammates are getting sloppy; it’s the guy who is called upon to snuff out an opponent’s rally, or spark a comeback rally of his own; it’s the guy who’s not just supposed to make shots, but make the right decisions when a shot isn’t there. Bottom line: Who do you want the offense to run through when everything is on the line?
I’ve identified who I think is each team’s go-to guy for this upcoming season, and ranked them from #30 to #1.
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#27: STEPHEN JACKSON, Golden State Warriors
About a year ago, I wrote a short piece for Dime’s ’08-09 NBA preview (issue #45) about the joys of watching Stephen Jackson assume his role as the Warriors’ go-to guy. This was right after Monta Ellis had busted his ankle via mo-ped, and right before we all found out how bad the Warriors would be with S-Jack at the helm.
“He’s not afraid to be that 25-shots-a-night primary scorer,” I wrote back then, “or that take-on-their-top-guy defender, or that vocal leader who will put the rooks in check, question the coach if need be, and fall on the sword when the media comes through with the ‘Why?’ and ‘How come?’ following a loss.”
Those were the positives. The negatives? “While mostly everyone who’s ever played with S-Jack says they’d take him to war with them, he’s a little too much of a loose-cannon soldier and not enough of an analytical general.”
So it’s not like we didn’t know the risks Don Nelson took by putting Captain Jack in charge. Two of the keywords in being a go-to guy are “calming” and “trust”: A quality go-to guy should be a calming influence for his team when it’s needed, and the team should be able to trust him. While Jackson brings his heart, versatility (playing up to four positions) and a knack for making big shots to the table, he doesn’t really fit those other parts of the job description.
At his best, Jackson is a poor man’s Paul Pierce in crunch time. Like on Jan. 23, late in the fourth quarter of a game against Cleveland that went down to the wire, when S-Jack stared down LeBron James and dropped two consecutive long jumpers in LBJ’s face. But at his worst, he’s an erratic hothead prone to bad shot selection (he hit 16% of his threes in “clutch time” according to 82games.com, 35% from the field), turning the ball over, and letting the refs get in his head at the most inopportune times.
And given the events of this offseason, his credibility as the Warriors’ go-to guy sits in question. With Jackson making it known he doesn’t want to play for Golden State and has his eyes wandering elsewhere, who can say where his head is at? Can you trust a guy who’s not fully committed to the program to lead you through tough times? Despite that, Nellie says he’s keeping Jackson in place as team captain, and unless Monta steals the job early on, presumably still in place as the go-to guy. At the Warriors’ own risk, of course.
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28. Nate Robinson
29. Boris Diaw
30. Rip Hamilton
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September 18th, 2009 at 8:35 am
fLaVa says:
I dont even think Sjack will be the go-to-guy on the team this year.. its Monta’s team..
I aint a fan of this list.. sorry
September 18th, 2009 at 8:38 am
aj says:
All I know is dime better not pull not crap…’Melo better be in the top 10 on this list!
September 18th, 2009 at 8:44 am
sh!tfaced says:
LMFAO! So this is what 25k gets you? 27th? Nah hehe. At least we’re back on track with this list, I think…
September 18th, 2009 at 8:59 am
doc says:
I guess so.He’s a semi go to guy.Better than the last 2.
September 18th, 2009 at 10:33 am
M Intellect says:
Stephen Jackson a go-to guy. LOL
That is kinda funny.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:13 am
control says:
Just here to shower some hate on SJack.
Sjack is like a go-to guy for the other team. When his team is up, you can count on him to go into ‘fuck this shit’ mode and start jacking horrible shots up to keep the other team in. There is that blue moon situation in which he actually hits a few of those shots and keeps HIS team into the game, but I would say he is a better go-to guy for the other team than his own.
He IS a better basketball player than Nate Rob though, so at least you got that much of the list done.
There is a 90-95% chance that SJack’s “go-to” status is going to be replaced by one of the much better players on this team within the first 2 months of the season starting.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am
TJ says:
SJack is much better than Kevin Martin in my opinion. KMart may be a slightly better scorer, but he isn’t anywhere near as good as a passer.
I’d also say he is better than whoever you pick from the Grizz (Mayo or Gay).
September 18th, 2009 at 11:35 am
mellmeister says:
oh mayne… well, he’s better than the last 3 picks u got…
September 18th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
J.Hicks says:
@flava — Even after Monta came back last year, Jackson was still the guy they’d go to late in games. And I read Nellie and Monta don’t even get along, which might also be keeping from being the go-to guy.
September 18th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
money says:
Dime you’re dead wrong on this one. No way does Indiana or Sacramento have better go-to players than captain jack. That man played out of his mind last year. I know your description of go to guy makes it hard for someone on players with questionable shot selection, but he would always have the dramatic 3, the big rebound, or the key assist to carry the warriors.
September 18th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
money says:
hard on players with*
September 18th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Sacto_J says:
The Warriors go to guy is going to be Randolph, hands down. Kevin Marting to SJack comparisons – interesting comparison. Cpt. Jack can’t shoot from the charity stripe like KMoney, nor can he get to the rack like him anymore, but otherwise, I’d say the Cpt. has the overall game, if and probably due to the fact that he’s been around like 6 more years. Kmoney’s potential is a little higher, I think, than the peak that Jackson has attained at this point. I’d still take K$ before Jackson if I was drafting a team from scratch though. At Jackon’s age, he should be way more savvy but he’s still a knucklehead…
September 18th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Austin Burton says:
@money — You don’t think Danny Granger is better than Stephen Jackson?
September 18th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
doc says:
@AB-Before I read your last post.Money was gonna get it for that one.
September 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
sh!tfaced says:
“You don’t think Danny Granger is better than Stephen Jackson?” LOL. Blocked shot right there, big time…
September 18th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
jsilva says:
“I make LOVE to pressure!” S. Jax
September 18th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
the cynic says:
this list is like a prediction of how the standings will finish next year. I going to try and predict the next mediocre go to player.
#26 Kevin Martin
September 18th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Aaron says:
Judging Jack based on last year’s clutch percentages seems a bit contrived. He’s proven to be a very timely shooter in all situations – and one season of subpar clutch performances (during meaningless games) shouldn’t negate all of the playoff series he’s cemented or regular season contests he’s won in the last minutes.
If your only criteria was ‘last second shots’ you could justify Jack not being ranked at the top. But in terms of mounting a comeback or hitting big shots in the 4th, I don’t see how he’s remotely close to #26.
I like the concept of the list though, curious to see the conclusion.
September 19th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Utah Jazz Blog says:
I get Rip Hamiltion, but never in a millions years would have included Boris Diaw in the top 30.
I’m curious to see how the rest of this list plays out. My strong Jazz bias will be evident here, but Deron Williams and Mehmet Okur should definitely be included. They both have ice in their veins.