Extras From Tuesday’s Interview With Reggie Jackson

By Greg Joyce

The Heights sat down with Reggie Jackson on Tuesday afternoon, a day before he declared for the 2011 NBA draft. His newest thoughts about his decision and more from this interview are in the feature on Jackson in today’s issue found here.

Here is the rest of Tuesday’s conversation that didn’t make it into the feature:

The Heights: What are your thoughts on this past season?

RJ: “It didn’t end the way we wanted, but there were a lot ups this year. A lot more ups than downs if you look in the win column compared to the loss column. Wish we could have gotten another win [in the regular season] to possibly end up in the NCAA tournament. We’ve seen what happens there. VCU is in the Final Four. They do what we do in a similar way, drive and kick. They just call fire at the right time. Anything’s possible. We were hoping to get a chance, get a crack at that, but we’re not hanging our heads about it. We still feel like we had a successful season for what people thought of us. But maybe a failure in our eyes. Especially the seniors and the upperclassmen, me and Dallas, we really believed that we could finish in the top-three in this conference and fell a little bit short of that. But we weren’t quite as bad as people thought we were going to be.”

The Heights: Does it mean anything that you defied expectations?

RJ: “I believe it shows people around the nation, if you look at it, it really doesn’t matter what people believe or what they think of you. It’s just about they guys on your team and coaching staff. The fans help behind you, but it’s really about this program just going in, putting in the work, and as long as you believe in your brothers and your coaches, then great things can happen. You come out and compete hard every day. So that’s what we did, and that’s how we racked up as many wins as we did.”

The Heights: How was the first year under Coach Donahue, and how did it compare to years under Al Skinner?

“Besides offense and defensive schemes, not too different. Both coaches really have a passion for the game, have a love for the game. You come to practice, you may not think so because they do things differently. Coach Donahue is very much active on the court, involved, sometimes accidentally pokes a ball away from a player because he’s literally right there on the court coaching you through everything. Even when you’re playing, he’s so active. I believe Coach Skinner’s age was a factor in him being away from practice, sitting on the sideline more. But they’re both fiery, very hungry, and both great coaches. I feel very fortunate to play under both. But you could just see more animation from Coach Donahue. He really lets himself go. It’s almost like a kid. He gets lost on the game because he loves it.”

The Heights: Did you feel like you could shoot more this year in new system? Did that change your game at all?

RJ: “I believe there were possibly more opportunities built for what I do: kind of attack the basket constantly. The flex kind of compacted everything, you have to pick and choose your spots. Just like you do in Donahue’s offense, but there’s a little more freedom. ‘Keep shooting’ is also about confidence. Donahue, first thing he did when he got here was refine my shot a little, and made sure I and everybody on the team was in the gym, constantly working on their shots. Just shooting us a text or a reminder to at least put up 200 [shots] a night. So the confidence is what I believe allowed me to have the year that I had, and a lot of us have the year that we had. Especially Biko Paris, we’ve seen he hit six threes in about four games this year, and he did it about four times [all of last year]. Everybody just had more confidence, their shots were more refined, and even Corey Raji stepped up the three a lot this year. We just had more confidence in ourselves. Coach never really focused on everybody’s weakness. It wasn’t a deficiency. I guess he believed they just had to work. We even saw Josh almost shoot a few threes, foot on the line. But everyone was just a lot more relaxed. Coach kind of preached that, to get out of a slump, you’re going to have to keep shooting. As long as they were good shots, we knew we were going to be okay. I believe that we have to attribute our success to our confidence and the confidence he had to us to really put the ball in the air this year.”

The Heights: Have you talked to John Cahill at all about him coming back?

RJ: “I haven’t talked to him really as much. Me and him talked a little bit before the season ended, giving it heavy thought. We talked probably the day after [the season ended]. If he comes back, that’s definitely great, going from being a walk-on to a starter, knowing his ability to play. Maybe not the most athletic, looks a little frail, but his heart’s bigger than most people I’ve met in my life. His basketball IQ is through the roof. Even though it’s technically his freshman year on the court. But he knows the game, he’s been around it his whole life, he can bring people along and do great things and help the team tremendously. So if he comes back, that would be amazing. If he doesn’t, I wish him the best in anything he does. He knows he has a brother in me for the rest of his life. I just think greatly of the kid.”

The Heights: Who you got in the Final Four?

RJ: [Laughs] “It’s a hard pick. You keep feeling like UConn can’t do it because they’re a one-man team, but that team’s really grown up. I feel like Kentucky’s too young, but they’ve grown up also. It seems like they have more weapons. But we’ve seen a streaky Connecticut team. Before we’ve seen a streaky Kentucky team. And then you have the sleepers on the other side, or supposed to be sleepers. Butler’s been there before, and then you have VCU, who’s playing perhaps better than anyone in the nation. It’s very much a toss-up. I guess the pride in me wants to see a high D-I team win, but a hunch is telling me Butler gets it done at the end of the day.”

The Heights: How much do you look at VCU and say ‘that could be us’?

RJ: “In the NCAA tournament, minus VCU, you win six games, you bring a title home. They have to do seven. It’s hard not to relate to them. They’re a team that gets in the lane, they share the ball, one through five can shoot the three. You saw our starting lineup at the end of the year, with me, Biko, John, Corey, and Trap, everybody can light it up. We’ve seen what we can do throughout the year if people get hot, so it’s hard not to relate to them. Games we’ve had, just like VCU had against Kansas there, two-of-12 or three-of-12 in the paint in the first half but they’re nine-of-17 outside. They were up by about 12, so you see what the 3-point shot can really do for you. It’s very hard not to envy them getting in and us not, cause we feel like we could do the same. It’s just about finding a shot at the right time, and playing your best ball at the right time of the season. If they continue for two more games, and they continue to shoot the way they’re shooting, then it’s very imaginable that they can be the national champs.”

 

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