Jackson focused on playing smarter during stretch run

EAST LANSING – As Michigan State builds toward the post season, freshman forward Jaren Jackson Jr. is a becoming an increasingly bigger piece of the potential Final Four puzzle for the Spartans.

Jackson is one of five Michigan State players averaging in double figures (11.5), and he ranks third among on his team in rebounding average (6.1), beyond his distinction as the program’s single season record holder for blocked shots at 95 and counting.

As good as he’s been, Jackson has more to give.

In Jackson's 27-point, six-rebound, and three-block performance at Minnesota on Tuesday, the McDonald’s All-American was an impact presence on both ends of the floor. His efficiency as a three-tier scorer on offense was eye-popping.

“They can’t really take everything I do away, and they can’t take everything (my teammates) do away,” Jackson said. “That opens a lot of moments for me to get open. In this last game, my teammates got it to me in good spots for me to hit shots.”

Jackson has always had the ability to stretch the floor with his perimeter jumper, but his emergence as an effective back-to-the basket scorer, and his growing comfort attacking off-the-dribble have made him one of the toughest defensive covers in the Big Ten when everything is clicking.

For Jackson to continue to play like he did at Minnesota, he needs to stay on the floor. And that hasn’t always been easy for Jackson, who has fouled out of four games and battled foul trouble in many others. He has accumulated at least four fouls in more than half of Michigan State’s games thus far.

Unlike most shot-blockers, Jackson isn’t picking up most of his fouls protecting the rim.

“Jaren doesn’t go for a lot of ball fakes, it’s the grabbing or the charges,” Tom Izzo said. “Those are the things that he has struggled with a little bit. It’s just learning. Going after a lot of extra blocked shots, which is just his nature, hasn’t caused him any extra foul trouble.”

Occasionally, Jackson’s over exuberance hunting blocks has bolstered offensive rebounding numbers by Michigan State opponents.

“What it has caused is his man getting a rebound and putting it back in, or sometimes us giving up too many rebounds,” Izzo said. “But there is a tradeoff for that too, and he’s a phenomenal shot blocker, and he’s getting smarter about picking and choosing on when to use that. And I think that’s big key for him.”

Finding the right balance between blocking shots and playing solid position defense is something Jackson takes seriously.

“Picking your moments better, and not going for everything because you can’t (block) everything,” said Jackson, describing how he can play smarter moving forward. “The more teams play you, and scout you, they’ll know that I’m a shot blocker going into the game, and pump fake a lot more.”

With a Big Ten championship on the line, Jackson has no plans of letting up. There's work to be done on his own game, and in chasing team goals.

“We don’t have dog days here because we know the big picture, and what we are playing for, and what we want to do every day,” Jackson said. “We want to get better every day, so we can reach the goals we set at the beginning of the season, which is to win a Big Ten championship, win the (conference) tournament, and to make a good run.”