Ill be the first to admit that I have been hard on Wisconsin
sophomore guard Traevon Jackson. Perhaps unfairly putting him up against the
standard of former Badger Jordan Taylor, I have come to expect a level of
consistency that simply isn’t reasonable for a sophomore in his first year as a
starter. Though it took me a while, I have finally come to realize that as
Jackson goes, so go the Badgers.
When his game-winning three went down at the buzzer on
Sunday to send Wisconsin into the postseason with a road win in State College,
I found myself surprisingly unemotional. I had been a harsh critic of the young
guard’s play not just in past games but throughout the Penn State game as well.
Having seen Wisconsin play for the past two years under the direction of
arguably the game’s most consistent guard in Taylor, I had a tough time
accepting Jackson’s inconsistencies as simply part of the growing process. So
while his third clutch shot in the waning minutes this season gave the Badgers
a much needed win, I was worried that it would once again be followed by a
dismal effort filled more with poor shot selection and turnovers than with good
floor vision and clutch shot-making.
Such has been the trend this season. After hitting a
last-second jumper to give UW a win over Minnesota back in January, Jackson
struggled down the stretch three days later in Columbus, committing two big
turnovers late with the Badgers trying to hang in and steal a road victory over
OSU. Days after another clutch shot, this time in UW’s 2OT win over Iowa,
Jackson committed five turnovers in Wisconsin’s upset win over Michigan and
four in the overtime loss at Minnesota. Every time it seemed the sophomore had
turned a corner, he took a major step back.
Such was the reason for my emotionally charged negativity in
the wake of Sunday’s game-winner. Jackson has hit big shots before and with the
postseason starting this week, Wisconsin cannot afford him to continue the
trend of following big shots with disappointing efforts.
But my response was over the top and unwarranted. Jackson is
still in his first year as a starter and while the growing pains have been
obvious, he has been a big part of Wisconsin’s surprising 12-6 finish in Big Ten
play. Though subject to the aforementioned inconsistency, Jackson has indeed
provided the Badgers with far more than his alternative, redshirt freshman
George Marshall. As much as I have called for Marshall to see more of the
floor, it is now apparent that Jackson has the confidence necessary to play the
point guard position, something Marshall has thus far seemed to lack.
As Jackson goes, so will Wisconsin. When the point guard is
on his game, as he was for the most part down the stretch in State College,
Wisconsin is one of the best teams in the country. When Jackson struggles, the
Badgers have a tough time getting the ball into the basket no matter how they
are shooting the ball.
Would I feel more confident with Josh Gasser or Jordan
Taylor manning the point? Certainly. But the reality I have been thus far
unable to overlook is that neither of those options is going to be available
this season. Jordan Taylor doesn’t have any remaining eligibility and Josh
Gasser’s torn ACL is not going to miraculously disappear in the all-important
final weeks of March. Traevon Jackson is going to be Wisconsin’s point guard
during the Big Ten Tournament and during the NCAA Tournament to follow.
He isn’t perfect and he certainly isn’t polished. But
Traevon Jackson has something his teammates seem to lack: confidence in the
clutch. Though prone to the careless turnover or missed step defensively,
Jackson is more than willing to put the game on his shoulders when it matters
most, a trait that will certainly come in handy in the “win or go home” environment
of postseason play. As both a fan and a writer, I have failed to give this
trait its due, instead hoping that somehow the sophomore guard would morph into
the archetype of consistency that his predecessor was while at Wisconsin.
Traevon Jackson gives Wisconsin its best chance to make a
March run and it is about time critics such as myself come to that realization
and give Jackson his due.
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