Following his decision to sit out his starting point guard indefinitely, Stan Van Gundy is done talking about him.
The veteran head coach announced on Monday that Reggie Jackson will not see action for the Detroit Pistons for now and does not have an exact date for his return. Although many believe that he will not play anymore in their remaining seven games, Van Gundy declined to further comment and made it clear, via Aaron McMann of Mass Live, that he is getting tired of being asked about him all the time.
“One of the things that I think sort has just worn him down, and worn us down, is it's the year of Reggie,” Van Gundy said after Tuesday's loss. “That's all we talk about everyday.
“Do you like the way he's played? Well, first he was injured — when he's coming back? Do you like the way he's playing? Do you need to make a change? Now is he going to play? That's all we talk about.”
Jackson has missed the team's past two contests and is also slated to miss their game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. Just two weeks ago, the Pistons were looking to be headed to the playoffs, but have since spiraled down the standings after losing seven straight games.
Van Gundy described their current situation as “extremely difficult” while admitting that they are now trying to do some things differently in an attempt to return to their winning ways immediately.
“There's no question about it, it's been tough and we've had to try to do things a different way.”
“It's been extremely difficult. I don't know what to tell you. I think there's a lot of teams where, if their best player had the struggles than we've had this year, they'd be in a similar boat. That's been a struggle for us as coaches, and for him and for players.”
Should the Pistons miss the postseason, there is growing belief that there will be some changes made to their lineup and Jackson is a strong candidate to be dealt. However, they might have difficulty finding a taker for him, as he is still owed more than $50 million over the next three years.
Van Gundy and company may still come up with a creative way of letting him go, which will mean that the team is ready to hand over the starting point guard position to Ish Smith.
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