Player of the Week: Josh Jackson is becoming a scoring threat

Phoenix Suns’ rookie Josh Jackson has always been a good defensive minded player, but his offensive skills is finally starting to catch up with his defense.

It took awhile, but Phoenix Suns’ fans are finally seeing the true potential of rookie Josh Jackson. Last month Jackson started showing flashes of legit offensive skill and got honorable mention in two player of the week awards last month. He also was ranked third in the top five player of January here at Valley of the Suns. He has now followed that up in the first week in February with even a more consistent scoring output which has earned him his first player of the week.

More from Valley of the Suns

In the loss to the Utah Jazz, Jackson ended the game as the Suns’ leading scoring. He ended the contest with 20 points, four rebounds and two steals, while shooting 7-18 on field goal attempts and 1-5 on 3-point attempts.

The next game for the Suns was a close defeat to the Charlotte Hornets. Jackson had his best game of the week with 23 points, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block. He had a stellar night shooting going 10-14 from the floor and 3-4 from behind the arc. He also lead both teams in scoring and had his seventh game of at least 20-plus points of his career. Jackson also set a career high in points in this game as well.

A 19 point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers is never something Suns’ fans want to see, however Jackson had another solid outing for Phoenix. He finished the competition with 16 points, 10 rebounds, one assist and two blocks, while shooting 7-19 from the field and 1-6 on 3-pointers. Jackson had his second double-double of his career in this game.

The Suns lost to the San Antonio Spurs in historic proportion. Jackson had one of the better performances for the Suns in the blowout with 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks while making 6-17 shots from the floor and failed to convert any of his four 3-point attempts.

Honorable Mentions

Dragan Bender had a very strong week for the Suns. He averaged 13.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.3 blocks for this first week of February. This offensive output should get Suns’ fans excited about Bender’s long term potential. Hopefully, Bender can continue to sustain similar play for the rest of the season.

Jackson ended the first week of February with an average of 18.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 1.3 blocks and 0.8 steals. Whether or not Jackson can continue to play at this level for a long period of time is yet to be seen, however his recent play should encourage fans.

Home/Suns News