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On Sunday, the Vilnius Rytas team introduced the first newcomer to the fans: he became the only 25-year-old player known to those who are especially interested in basketball. Demetrius Jackson.
The American, who is coming to Lithuania for the first time, will already have friends, not everywhere, but in the “Žalgiris” camp in Kaunas: Steve Vasturi and Marintas Geben, who played together on the Fighting Irish team of the University of Notre Dame . Jackson spent three years with his compatriot and two years with a Lithuanian.
2015-2016 During the NCAA season, M. Geben played a very episodic role (3 min., 1.4 points), while S.Vasturia and D.Jackson were the leaders of his team: Žalgiris recorded a performance of 11.3 points , and D.Jackson competed even after 36 minutes, scoring 15.8 points, bouncing 3.5 balls and making 4.7 assists.
The successful performance of the 185cm Indiana-born athlete fulfilled his wish – he heard his name on the National Basketball Association (NBA) rookie swap – he was chosen by the Boston Celtics with the 45th squad. Below him are Jake Layman, who still plays in the NBA, or Paul Zipser, who now defends Bayern Munich.
NBA commentators then criticized the Celtics’ decision to pick the player and they were right: Boston didn’t need Jackson, played only 5 games, spent 3 minutes on the court, and scored 2 points each. After the season, the player was fired and hand-tied with the Houston Rockets for a two-way contract. By the way, Jackson went down in history by becoming the first Rockets player to sign such a contract.
Since the beginning of the season, Jackson has had a chance to lead because Chris Paul was injured, but he scored just 2 points in 13.5 minutes, hitting just 30 percent. spear. The defender spent most of his time in the G League and was fired in January. In March, he was called up by the Philadelphia 76ers team, where he was able to act in three games, but the role was once again episodic: an average of 7.5 minutes and 4 points.
“76ers” was enough to keep Jackson on a double-sided contract for next season, but during the season he appeared on the floor in just six games and in 2018. On December 31, he played the best game in the NBA against Portland. Trail Blazers, scoring 10 points in 10 minutes. It is true that the 76ers lost until 95: 129. A few days before the Phoenix, the Suns scored 8 points in 14 minutes and helped the team win 132: 127. It was Jackson’s last game in the strongest league in the world until now.
In mid-August of last year, the Los Angeles Lakers invited Jackson into their ranks but fired him in October and moved to a subsidiary of the South Bay Lakers. It is true that only 4 games were played there due to a left leg injury (27 minutes, 10 points, 1 rebound, 5.5 res.) And he was fired at the end of February.
As for Jackson’s abilities, first you have to distinguish the length of his outstretched arms, which reaches up to 195 cm, which is 10 cm more than his own height, which shows his great athleticism. Although he is a short player, he has very strong and explosive legs, which makes him jump very high and run very fast. This little guy will be very often happy for fans of “Rytas”, because he especially likes to run for a quick attack and finish attacks in this way.
While Jackson’s strengths are strides, he’s capable of punishing opponents with long throws: In college he averaged 3.39 points from three points per game and hit 1.29, which is a solid 38 percent. The hit fell significantly in the G League, where 4.31 shots were fired from the perimeter during the match and reached 1.37, which is 31.8 percent. It’s worth noting that in the NBA secondary league, Jackson used to make quick shots over his hands, which naturally lowered his hitting percentage. The “Rytas” newcomer knows how to create long shot opportunities after the dribble. The pitching technique itself is correct.
Jackson was also used as an offensive defender, which is very popular in Europe at the moment, when we see two creative players playing on the floor at the same time. In college, Jackson did well in this role with current Washington Wizards player Jerian Grant.
Jackson has a fast first step and the ability to control his speed to perfection, thus avoiding unnecessary offensive fouls or collisions with opponents that would result in a mistake. The American makes excellent use of one-on-one situations when staying in front of a slower opponent, as well as his ability to attract double opponents and drop the ball to a free teammate – the average pass of 5.5 in the G league looks great. Addition of 4.2 rebounds during all games played. Despite his short stature, Jackson, as already mentioned, has long arms, dances high, is strong, which allows him to fight well for bounced balls.
Jackson is known to be a player who likes to score more points than a developer. His view of the plaza is rather mediocre and he more often thinks about how to finish the attack himself rather than assuming the role of a typical plaza general. He is noted to have more trouble organizing play when his opponents stepout or supervise him extremely aggressively and harshly in off-the-ball situations.
On defense, the Morning Legionnaire has quick legs and a strong body, allowing him to be a better than average player in his basket. Opponents have been known to often try to take advantage of Jackson’s opponent’s height when he tries to play his back against him, but the American does not push himself off easily and is able to take the correct position with his feet, which makes scoring so difficult as the attacker’s task.
conclusion. “Rytas” has found a really interesting player who does a lot of things on the field really well: he runs, he hits from a distance, he’s athletic, he defends successfully, and he can still create opportunities for his teammates. True, none of his skills have been honed to the highest level, but that’s only natural: if Jackson had an elite skill, he would be unaffordable for the capital’s team. Donald Kairis is very impressed with these kinds of “first numbers”, which can rack up points on their own, so it’s no wonder such a player was cast in the role of main field general.
The most important question remains how Jackson, who has never played on the Old Continent, will be able to adapt to European basketball. Since Kairys knows how to find common ground with the Americans, Jackson’s adjustment period can be much easier, and the morning’s own play schemes will be acceptable to him. This is a player who will turn 26 on September 7, so Jackson can take at least one or more steps forward and pleasantly surprise fans of “Rytas”. According to Krepsinis.net, D. Jackson will earn about 95 thousand euros in Lithuania during the season.
Rytas just has to acquire the attacking defender and heavy forward, the two newcomers will complete the job.
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