The so-called “sophomore slump” is real for Josh Jackson. There are a lot of ways to interpret stats, to manipulate stats to create new stats, to discover hidden truth in stats that may disagree with the eye test. For Jackson, I don’t think I can find a single stat that shows him in a positive light, and that definitely agrees with the eye test. He’s been bad. About the only good thing you can say about him is that he looks, on the surface, like a good basketball player. And sometimes he makes really nice plays. Most of the time, though, it’s just bricks and turnovers and L’s.
According to Win Shares (my favorite advanced stat because of my inability to comprehend large numbers), he’s the most detrimental player in the league at -1.1. Slightly negative is bad already, but below -1 this early in the season is gnarly. ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus is a little kinder, putting him as the 9th worst player in the league, better than teammate Jamal Crawford. I could go on, but I think my point has been made.
Those horrible rankings might go up a bit after this surprisingly nice performance by him tonight. He made some shots. He got a bunch of assists without turning it over a million times. Those are two things he hasn’t been doing this year. The Suns lost, because the Suns always lose, but I’d say this is encouraging. He wasn’t the 4th overall pick last year for no reason, there is something here. He’s got to work on that jumper though. Maybe rebuild it entirely, because it is UGLY.