As Jackson Goes, Bobcats Follow
Since the trade of Gerald Wallace to the Portland Trail Blazers at the NBA trade deadline, the Charlotte Bobcats have become a one man show. Stephen Jackson, the team’s leading scorer throughout the season, has seen Charlotte’s hopes of winning rest on his shoulders on a nightly basis over the last month.
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the injury bug struck Jackson just two games after the deadline, and the 6’8 swingman has been forced to deal with a lingering left hamstring injury throughout the month of March. Things have come to a head recently, with Bobcats’ head coach Paul Silas saying after Wednesday’s 111-88 loss to the Indiana Pacers that there is a "distinct possibly" Jackson may need to shut it down for the rest of the season.
Jackson seemed less than thrilled with the idea of calling it quits on the final 11 games.
"If they shut me down for the rest of the year, it’s going to be their decision," he said. "It’s not going to be mine. I can guarantee you that it’s not going to be mine…
"Yes I would [be against shutting it down]," he said. "But whatever is best for the team I’m also for, let me say that too."
Obviously, losing Jackson down the stretch would be a huge blow for a Charlotte squad that has relied heavily on the veteran to carry the load both offensively and as a leader in the locker room.
"He’s become a verbal leader where he’s talking to the players," Silas said. "He’s just doing so many things other than just scoring for us and he’s really taking a leadership role – which we really needed.
"You take anybody’s best player off their team and they’re not going to be the same."
This is especially the case with a Charlotte team that traded away arguably its best player in Wallace, and is now forced to rely solely on Jackson to make miracles happen on the offensive end. When Jackson is out of the game, the Bobcats become completely discombobulated in their offensive sets; reverting to a one-on-one style featuring zero ball movement and a tendency to jack up contested jumpers.
Now – with Jackson hampered by that left hamstring and in-and-out of the lineup – Charlotte is having trouble winning basketball games without it’s Superman.
Jackson has missed four contests in the month of March, and the Bobcats are 0-4 with an average margin of defeat of 16.5 points per game. Earlier in the season the Bobcats were more capable of withstanding short stretches without Jackson and were 1-1 in games he missed.
When he does play, Jackson must be extremely efficient offensively or Charlotte has virtually no shot at a W.
Six times Jackson has scored less than 20 in during the month of March, and the Bobcats are 1-5 in those contests. Just one month earlier, with Wallace in the lineup over the course of the month of Feb., Jackson scored under 20 points in four contests and Charlotte was 3-1.
With Jackson less than 100 percent, it’s tough for Charlotte to gain any momentum in a race for eighth in the East that’s gradually leaving this Bobcats team in the dust.
"It’s frustrating that I can’t go out there and be me," Jackson said. "It’s my first time having to deal with this situation where I can’t just be myself out there on the court, and it’s hard, but more so that I’m not there for my teammates at a time when I know they need me."
{AUTHOR_BOX}Since showing the first signs of injury against the Denver Nuggets on March 2, Jackson has shot just 32 percent from the field while averaging just 13.4 points per contest. Most recently, Wednesday against the Pacers, Jackson started the game 4 of 5 from the floor before taking a seat on the bench.
Despite riding the stationary bike to stay loose during breaks in the action, Jackson was a different player upon his return; missing each of his next four shots to close the contest. According to Jackson, adrenalin propelled him to a quick start, but tightness in the hamstring limited him for the rest of the contest.
An MRI taken Thursday showed no tear in Jackson’s hamstring, so it’s just a matter of how much he can take — and how much the Bobcats are willing to deal with.
"Obviously I don’t want to be hurting my team and hurting myself at the same time, but I want to make sure it’s the right decision," Jackson said. "We’ve got to think about that."
With just 12 games left on the schedule for the Bobcats this season, Jackson is urging this team not to quit after posting a 2-9 record so far in March that puts them at 10th in the Eastern Conference at 28-42 this season.
"I don’t want guys to get down and get frustrated and feel like we can’t wait for this season to be over," Jackson said. "I want us to continue to support each other and continue to be positive because Coach (Paul Silas) is positive. He’s not giving up on us, so we shouldn’t give up on him. I think that’s the attitude that everybody from one to 15 should have."
Bobcats’ guard Gerald Henderson, who pulled a Kobe and took a half hour of shooting practice after Wednesday’s loss, reiterated this team has to be resilient and pull together with or without Jackson in the lineup.
"There are no excuses. We’ve got what we’ve got," he said. "We’ve still got a goal and whoever we’re going to have is going to have to go out there and play hard. We might not get the 20 points from one person, but different guys can step up.
"We know that Jack is a big part of our team, but if he can’t play, we still have to play the games."
Charlotte’s slim hopes of making the postseason took another hit Wednesday night. It will be an even greater blow if, indeed, Jackson is relegated to street clothes for the rest of the year.
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