Detroit Pistons: How bad is the absence of Reggie Jackson?

Starting point guard Reggie Jackson hasn’t played since the Pistons’ 2nd game of the season and he’s been sorely missed in his absence.

The game is tied at 122. The visiting Detroit Pistons‘ point guard, Reggie Jackson, has the ball at the top of the key looking to make a play. The Atlanta Hawks‘ defense is particularly on edge when Jackson has the ball tonight because he’s been spectacular all game long. Jackson drives to his left and a defender comes over to trap him.

The elusive guard can maintain his dribble and heads towards the baseline. He makes his way towards the basket and another defender drops down to corner him. At that moment Jackson makes a heads up play, hitting an open Thon Maker in the corner with a bounce pass.

Maker takes the open 3-pointer and it goes in with 16.7 seconds left in the game. Detroit can get a stop in the next possession and hang on for the 3-point victory on the road.

That was Feb. 22 of last year. Reggie Jackson’s 32 points and eight assists helped fuel an important victory in a season in which Detroit was able to grab the last playoff spot in the east. Detroit has struggled without their starting point guard this year, and with every passing game, it looks less likely that they’ll have a shot at making the playoffs.

Last season Jackson played and started in all 82 games for Detroit, averaging 15.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. This year he’s only appeared in the Pistons first two games and his presence has been sorely missed.

The Pistons have even played second-year player Bruce Brown at the point this year, who is certainly a promising young prospect but has played shooting guard his entire career and hasn’t been asked to play the point until now.

Detroit has another option at the point besides Brown in former League MVP Derrick Rose. Heading into Saturday night’s game, Rose had appeared in 29 out of 35 games, averaging 16.7 points, 5.9 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game. Those are solid numbers to be sure, but there’s just one downside:

Detroit intended for Rose to be a spark off the bench, not to carry a huge portion of the scoring load. While Rose has been relatively healthy this season, he has a well-documented injury history and the Pistons have to make sure they’re monitoring his minutes. Rose is still a very productive player but his age and health combined means he’s not the starter Detroit has been looking for at the point guard position.

In his two starts, this season Reggie Jackson only averaged 0.5 turnovers per game and had an impressive 8.0 assist to turnover ratio. Currently, Detroit is averaging over 15 turnovers per game. This is a reflection of how much they miss their floor general and best decision-maker out on the floor.

After a loss to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 20, Dwane Casey was so frustrated with his team’s turnovers that he told the Detroit Free Press “You’re not gonna beat a junior high team turning the ball over twenty-five times.” Some improved point guard play would cut down on these ugly numbers and give the Pistons a better chance at winning ball games.

So how much does Detroit miss their starting point guard, what’s the forecast look like and where do they go from here? Detroit misses its starting point guard a lot at 11th place in the Eastern Conference and will have to make a serious push to avoid falling completely out of playoff contention.

Unfortunately, the forecast isn’t very bright on the injury front. Since suffering a stress reaction in the second game of the season, Jackson has been considered week to week and the team is yet to give an official time frame for his return. Going forward the Pistons are going to have to continue to play point guard by committee, counting on young talent like Brown to develop and relying on wily veterans like Rose to provide leadership.

As the NBA season nears the All-Star break, teams have a pretty good idea of their identity, and rarely does a drastic turnaround take place at this point in the season. The good news for Detroit is that Jackson is expected to return this season.

The bad news is no one knows exactly when that will be. In a perfect scenario, his absence will have given other players the chance to find their groove through some additional experience they may have lacked had he been healthy.

The Pistons must decide if bringing Jackson back is a good idea to salvage what’s left of the season or if their record dictates that the season is a loss and it’s time to focus on developing young talent.

Time will tell if things work out in a best-case scenario, worst-case scenario, or somewhere in between. One thing’s for sure, Reggie Jackson’s unexpected injury definitely changed the trajectory of the season and he’s been sorely missed thus far.