Utah sharpshooter Kyle Korver constantly found holes in New Orleans’ defense Monday, coming off the Jazz bench to score 20 points. So when Pelicans rookie guard Frank Jackson stepped onto the court during Wednesday’s rematch, the 20-year-old faced the unenviable assignment of chasing around the fourth-most prolific three-point shooter in NBA history, fighting through screens and constantly keeping an eye on the crafty Korver, who made his professional debut back in 2003 – when Jackson was a 5-year-old.
This time Jackson and the Pelicans kept Korver somewhat in check, limiting him to 12 points on 4/7 shooting, but Utah registered a 114-104 road win, after losing to New Orleans in Salt Lake City. It epitomized Jackson’s rookie season – as well as that of a vast majority of first-year NBA players – featuring progress and improvement, but not always the desired end result.
The first pick of the second round in the ’17 NBA Draft, Jackson was forced to miss all of last season due to foot surgery, but has appeared in 52 games and logged over 800 minutes of action in ’18-19. Although improvement for rookies is almost never a straight line – generally filled with a few slumps and bumps in the road – the Duke University product continues to make tangible progress, at both ends of the court.
“Frank was great tonight,” Pelicans fourth-year head coach Alvin Gentry said after Wednesday’s loss. “I thought he did a really good job on Korver. He tried to get into him (physically) as best you can, with all the rules defensively (restricting contact). As long as we’re eliminating duplicating mistakes, then I think we’re getting better.”
Despite some stretches where his perimeter shot hasn’t been falling, Jackson’s production has been on a steady climb, particularly while logging double-digit minutes in each of the past 22 games. Since the All-Star break, Jackson has improved his efficiency nearly across the board, raising his field-goal percentage (44.8 from 42.9) and seeing a big jump in three-point percentage (40.0 from 29.7). He’s notched double-digit points while shooting over 50 percent from the field three times in the past five games, his first instance of doing that in the NBA.
“Give him a chance to play and the opportunity, he’ll figure it out,” assessed Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, a mentor for Jackson since the youngster arrived in the Crescent City. “Smart kid, knows how to play the game. To be able to put him in positions to be able to succeed, and put him in positions to fail and learn from that too, I think is big.”
After approaching 50 percent shooting from the field in both December and January, Jackson had a rough February, including going 5/35 from three-point range, even though the month began with a career-high 25-point game at San Antonio on Feb. 2. It was the kind of stretch that can shake a rookie’s belief in his jump shot, but Jackson has bounced back well in March.
Asked where he thinks Jackson has made the most progress throughout ’18-19, Holiday responded, “Being aggressive offensively. Defensively he locks up and does what he’s supposed to do. Offensively being aggressive, figuring out his shot, going through shooting slumps and shooting his way out of those. As a rookie, having three or four games where you’re not shooting well can weigh on you. I think he’s done a good job of always fighting through that.”
“Definitely,” Jackson said of maintaining confidence amid rough stretches. “We play so many games, and this is my first year doing this. I was struggling shooting the ball a little bit, but (older teammates) just told me, it happens. Just keeping shooting and be yourself. It’s taught me a lot about the game itself, and myself as well. You just continue to stay aggressive, put in the work and trust that my hard work will pay off.”
Jackson is part of a group of Pelicans who’ve gotten a greater opportunity to contribute in recent weeks – and the team’s coaching staff has been pleased with the results. Not only have players like Jackson, 24-year-old rookie Kenrich Williams, inexperienced third-year reserve Cheick Diallo and free-agent pickup Jahlil Okafor made individual strides, but New Orleans remains competitive, knocking off top Western Conference teams Denver, Houston, Oklahoma City and Utah over the past month-plus.
“They are getting better,” Gentry said of the group. “When you see Kenrich and where he started and where he is now, and you see Frank and Cheick has gotten better, Jahlil has gotten better. We’ve got some young guys who’ve put in the work and have gotten better.”
For Jackson, the final 15 games of the season will continue to test his ability to remain consistent and productive. At 30-37, New Orleans is no longer in serious contention for a West playoff berth, but the Pelicans are optimistic about using the next month-plus to prepare youngsters such as Jackson for next season and beyond.
“This is the first time in a couple years where he’s been able to play extended minutes in basketball,” said Gentry, noting that Jackson was injured for part of his one college season at Duke. “The thing I like best about him is defensively, he’s really solid. That seems to be the area where perimeter guys struggle the most in this league.
“Just like any rookie, he goes through the ups and downs of having a good game, then struggling some, making shots and then missing shots. But he’s only going to get better by the experience of being out on the floor and playing. We’re happy to have him and think he’s going to be a really solid player in this league.”