Why Jerebko Gets Playing Time

Jerebko followed up his career high scoring night on Friday (he had 22) with a career-high rebounding game against Atlanta, getting 11.

He also scored 10 points. None of them were very pretty, but they were punishing.

The Jerebko sequence that everyone will remember is his defensive play late in the fourth quarter. The Hawks were down six, had a two-on-one break, Jamal Crawford waited just a tad too long to give the ball up, Jerebko (the only one back on defense) got a hand on it and then corralled it before it went out of bounds. The Pistons scored at the other end. Four-point swing and ballgame.

But he's been a pretty polished and active defensive player from the get. Offensively is where he's been at his most awkward, so I have another signature play that I remember most from the game.

Jerebko took it inside and went up for a two-handed dunk that NBA leading shot-blocker Josh Smith easily rejected. Jerebko grabbed the loose ball and wildly threw up a falling away half-layup/half-short jumper attempted that hit the backboard and didn't get any iron. Jerebko again collected the loose ball and flicked a little half-hook that went in just as the shot-clock expired.



Was there anything aesthetically pleasing about the entire sequence? Quite the opposite. But ugliness aside, it points out something about Jerebko that keeps him on the court while fellow rookie small forwards Austin Daye and DaJuan Summers are yanked in and out: he's extremely confident, almost to a fault.

A commonality among rookies, particularly less heralded ones like the Pistons have, is for them to become timid when they make a mistake or two offensively. Jerebko does the exact opposite: he seems to become more motivated and active after he makes a bad play. He fights to get the ball back and doesn't stop trying to make things happen. Sometimes it results in poor possessions or mistakes or ugly basketball. But one thing it doesn't result in is allowing the opposing defender to rest against him. If a player becomes timid on offense or doesn't want the ball, it's quite easy for the other team to ignore him. Jerebko's made a lot of mistakes, but his ability to compete keeps him on the court consistently and is turning him into a very important player.