Number 1 in fouls in the NBA with an average of 3.6 per game, Jaren Jackson Jr. managed the “little feat” of taking five fouls in 16 minutes in the first game against New Zealand. It was irrelevant because Team USA had taken the measure of the Kiwis, but the interior of the Grizzlies must, like in the NBA, learn to defend without making mistakes.
“He has the ability to counter everything, but sometimes he has to learn to restrain himself” Steve Kerr analysis. Clearly, the best defender in the NBA must exercise discernment, both to better control themselves, but also to understand that you can prevent a basket without necessarily trying to counter. Sometimes even, when one is limited by faults, it is also smarter to accept that the attacker goes to the end.
” What do you want ? Do you want me to be very good, or not? »
“He’s foul-prone in the NBA, and so there’s always one or two actions where you just want him to drop, because he’s too important to us” continues Steve Kerr. ” So we show him those clips and just remind him that sometimes the best choice is to just let the guy go and not foul. »
What does the interested party think, whose mobility is so precious to cover the “drives” of the outsides and defend wide on the fleeing interiors? For him, you have to accept that he makes mistakes because his aggressiveness is in his DNA, and he has already made this clear to his coaches in Memphis.
“If I’m less aggressive, I’ll make fewer blocks, I’ll protect the circle less and I’ll take fewer fouls” recalls Jaren Jackson Jr. ” It’s necessary to choose. What do you want ? Do you want me to be very good, or not? »
With Team USA, Steve Kerr asks him to defend like Draymond Green or Kevon Looney. He asks her to come out on the outsides and get in their way. But not necessarily to follow them to counter them. “It’s a lot of actions to slow down and things like that” note JJJ, who will try to stay until the end of the match against Greece.
