How to distribute minutes between Jackson and Head the rest of the way is something Adelman is going to have to figure out on the fly. I don't think the intention was for Jackson to replace Head ... just to bring a more steady PG to reduce Rafer's minutes (particularly in the second half). Hopefully, when Rafer's shot isn't falling, Jackson is a guy Adelman will have confidence in. I don't think Jackson will play more than 20 mpg, max.
Wrong. Jackson is better than Head at penetrating the defense, finishing, dribbling, passing and better decision making. Not to mention he has a lot of playoff experience which Skip and Luther lack. And we all saw what they did in the playoffs last year. Head might be the better shooter though. Not to mention that Jackson is no punk. He will throw down with Superstar forwards, just ask T-Mac.
If you want to use old YouTube videos to support your argument, then I will do the same. Bonzi >>> Bobby <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uca66cK-WrA&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uca66cK-WrA&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Head is definitely a better shooter. He is faster. He is more athletic. He is pretty much as good of a penetrator due to his quickness and the fact that people need to respect his shot more... And even if Jackson is a better penetrator, then he is a terrible finisher considering his 39% shooting. I will give you that he has better handles, and he may be a marginally better passer (though the difference is negligible... he is not anymore of a "true" PG than Luther is). But that is all. Luther is better in literally every single other aspect of the game. It amazes me how much Luther is disrespected and underrated around here. The guy has shown an incredible ability to step up when given more minutes for whatever reason... Something Jackson most likely cannot do at his age.
Luther Head has no idea what to do with the basketball other than shoot it. I know Bobby Jackson is a shoot first PG, and I'm not in love with his acquisition, but he certainly can run an offense better than Luther.
Luther is not very often in charge of "running the offense" anyways. Anytime he is in, either Rafer or McGrady (or both) is also in, so I don't see how that matters. I don't want Jackson trying to "run the offense" either. Besides, Luther does occasionally create something off the dribble, usually as the result of a pump fake, but he has been much more successful this year off the dribble than in the past. If Jackson takes anyone's minutes, it will be Brooks. If we put him at the 2-spot, I doubt there is much he will bring us over Head.
Head is not a PG, period. JVG found that out. Adelman knows it too. With James and Francis wasting away on the bench, we only had Brooks as our back up PG. I can see why they wanted an experienced PG to backup Rafer. While Jackson is a shoot first PG, he is still a true PG with good handle and knows how to start an offense. Head has no clue what to do when he plays the point. You are right, Head is better than Jackson in almost everything -- apart from play PG. In other words, these two guys are playing two different positions. I doubt that Jackson will take too much of Head's PT. If anything, the departure of Bonzi will give Head more minutes. Jackson will mainly take up Brooks' minutes.
Why is this a Luther vs. Bobby Jackson debate? I would be inclined to think Brooks goes back to the bench, with Jackson getting his 10minutes a game. Bonzi's minutes would probably be divided up between BJax and Head - I don't think it's one or the other.
Did anybody else happen to see this video after watching that old Bobby Jackson video? Spoiler <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cyfI7gF0a8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6cyfI7gF0a8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
This I can agree with, and I was sort of articulating poorly that that was what I meant. Brooks is the one whose minutes will suffer, probably not Head. ... Still, though, Jackson is not exactly a true PG either. The only real PG skill he has is handles. But he should at least be more serviceable than Brooks right now.
Head may not look as smooth off the dribble or when passing, but there is just no evidence that he is any significant amount worse at it than Jackson. ... OK, he is a worse ball handler (though he has been steadily improving on this aspect every year), but any difference in their passing ability is negligible.
