Speaker 1: Seventy six Ers Summer League Minicamp rolling along in Camden,
Speaker 1: New Jersey, the team getting ready for the start of
Speaker 1: MGM Resort Summer League Action, which begins on Friday against
Speaker 1: none other than the Boston Celtics. A guy who has
Speaker 1: been a member of both organizations the past two plus seasons,
Speaker 1: Demetris Jackson is our guest on this episode of the podcast.
Speaker 1: Arguably the veteran most member of the Sixers Minicamp invitee
Speaker 1: group at just twenty three years old, Jackson has appeared
Speaker 1: in twenty career NBA games between the Celtics, the seventy Sixers,
Speaker 1: and the Houston Rockets, and he'll lend his perspective on
Speaker 1: the importance of summer league, what players try to get
Speaker 1: out of that experience, where he's at in terms of
Speaker 1: his stage of his development, and also his impressions of
Speaker 1: some of the youngest and newest seventy Sixers. Will also
Speaker 1: talk a little bit of Fortnite. Yes, Demetris Jackson is
Speaker 1: an avid Fortnite player. First reminder before we into the
Speaker 1: podcast that to subscribe you can head to iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher,
Speaker 1: and SoundCloud. Type in Sixers Podcast Network. That will take
Speaker 1: you to our feed. Please do subscribe well if podcasts
Speaker 1: coming away the rest of this week and also while
Speaker 1: we're out at Las Vegas four Summer League. Demetris Jackson
Speaker 1: getting set for a year number three at the professional ranks.
Speaker 1: The previous two years he was involved in Summer League action,
Speaker 1: and there will be no different this year. The Sixers
Speaker 1: signed to Metris Jackson in January of last year after
Speaker 1: his two way contract with the Houston Rockets came to
Speaker 1: an end. When you look back over the course of
Speaker 1: his time in the pros, he's really had the chance
Speaker 1: to be mentored by and play under some fantastic guards,
Speaker 1: whether it was Isaiah Thomas in Boston obviously, James hard
Speaker 1: and Chris Paul in Houston at the start of last season.
Speaker 1: So some good storylines surrounding Demetris Jackson. And right now
Speaker 1: we bring in the fifteenth overall pick in the second
Speaker 1: under the two sixteen draft out of Notre Dame, Demetris Jackson. Demetris,
Speaker 1: the other day, when you were meeting with the media,
Speaker 1: you were talking about how excited you feel, in particular
Speaker 1: for this year's Summer League. What is it that you're
Speaker 1: most looking forward to as you and the rest of
Speaker 1: the team get ready to set out to Las Vegas
Speaker 1: in just a few short days. I'm just looking forward
Speaker 1: to competing. It's always falling, a lot of people come out,
Speaker 1: a lot of fans come out and support the Summer League.
Speaker 1: So I'm looking forward to competing, looking forward to getting better,
Speaker 1: looking forward to kind of gauging where I am in
Speaker 1: my game and seeing what I can grow on and
Speaker 1: what seeing the things I can do well. So I
Speaker 1: think we're ready. I think our group is ready to compete,
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to it. The Sixers know you
Speaker 1: well from Summer League action, having gone up against Boston
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City and Vegas when you were with
Speaker 1: the Celtics the last two years. What have you found
Speaker 1: to be the best approach to take to this time
Speaker 1: of year. What's the right type of mindset to have
Speaker 1: in Summer League. I think the right type of mindset
Speaker 1: to have is kind of finding yourself within all the chaos.
Speaker 1: Is you know, the first game, guys are running like
Speaker 1: a hundred miles per hour, and you know you put
Speaker 1: so much pressure on yourself. So I think the best
Speaker 1: thing to focus on is just to trust your hard work,
Speaker 1: trust the coaches playing, trust, trust what you do every
Speaker 1: day and just rely on those things and then when
Speaker 1: the game comes, just have fun, be relaxed, and but
Speaker 1: be aggressive. How important in Summer League is something as
Speaker 1: simple as simply being organized and having a team that's organized. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's really important. Like I said, I was watching some
Speaker 1: of the games last night, and you know, you see
Speaker 1: some of the guys, it's just like it's like one
Speaker 1: hundred miles per hour and everybody's mind is just moving
Speaker 1: so fast. So I think the important thing is to
Speaker 1: you know, have a good pace to yourself and to
Speaker 1: your game and to the group, but also you know,
Speaker 1: being able to just like I said, kind of find
Speaker 1: yourself within all the chaos and especially as a point guard,
Speaker 1: keep a group organizing and under control. I want to
Speaker 1: get into your story and your development in a little bit,
Speaker 1: but let's keep the conversation going about the Sixers mini
Speaker 1: camp so far, I would have been your impressions of
Speaker 1: a few of the guys have been out there. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we got a pretty good group. Um, guys
Speaker 1: are working hard every day and guys are like invested
Speaker 1: in getting better, invested in and learning. You know, I
Speaker 1: got guys coming over to me, asking me questions on
Speaker 1: the sideline and things like that. So guys care like
Speaker 1: they care and they want to get better. So I
Speaker 1: think that's the first thing. That's the first step. But
Speaker 1: the group, we got some some talented players, some talented
Speaker 1: draft picks that can really play. So I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to playing with those guys. For sure. With Zaire Smith,
Speaker 1: before we even address some of his physical attributes, natural
Speaker 1: skills and ability, he seems like someone who's for a
Speaker 1: young guy who just turned ninety, he's pretty engaged. It
Speaker 1: looks like, yeah, definitely really engaged. Um yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: he's done a great job so far at this camp. Um.
Speaker 1: I know he'd do a great job in Summer League.
Speaker 1: And he has a good poise to himself, a good
Speaker 1: poise to his game, and I think that would be
Speaker 1: good when you know, you get the big crowds and
Speaker 1: you get all the fans and things like that. I
Speaker 1: think it'll be able to He'll be able to keep
Speaker 1: himself level. Um, you know, never too high, never too low.
Speaker 1: So um, he has a great poise about himself for sure.
Speaker 1: Skill set wives what stands out about him, Uh, definitely
Speaker 1: as athleticism, stands out on the way. He can drive
Speaker 1: and and fly. You know, he really gets up and
Speaker 1: h I think that'd be good for him, especially if
Speaker 1: we can get defensive stops and then push the brake.
Speaker 1: I think him catching on the wing and just ripping
Speaker 1: through on guys and going and playing off clothes out. So, um,
Speaker 1: that's something I recognize, and that's something I'm gonna try
Speaker 1: to help him with, maybe driving my guy kicking it
Speaker 1: back out to him so he's playing off a close
Speaker 1: out so he can get a good look. You guys
Speaker 1: at times have worn the same colored jerseys and practices
Speaker 1: different colored jerseys, but both of you seem like you're
Speaker 1: the types of players that defensively like to get into people.
Speaker 1: I would think that lends to a pretty good tone
Speaker 1: in these sessions. Yeah, definitely, Uh, definitely, guys, I'll practice
Speaker 1: all camp long. Guys have been competing. Um, guys have
Speaker 1: been challenging each other, which I think is really good
Speaker 1: because then when you go out in the game, you're
Speaker 1: ready to be challenging, you're ready to compete. Um, So
Speaker 1: it's been great. He's uh, it's all. He's fine going
Speaker 1: against talented players, and he's definitely that. Um, we got
Speaker 1: some other talented guys as well, So everybody's competing, everybody's
Speaker 1: having fun with it, um, and everybody's just staying engaged
Speaker 1: and ready to go. I wanted to ask you about
Speaker 1: the other first round pick, Landry Shambat. What is he
Speaker 1: done to date? Uh, he's really good. He's also really
Speaker 1: good too. And he um, he's a taller guard and
Speaker 1: taller point guard, and he's long, got long athletic arms,
Speaker 1: and he's really crafty. He's got a craft to his game. UM,
Speaker 1: that's very unique. UM. You know, he has seems to
Speaker 1: have a great understanding um about the game as well.
Speaker 1: He's picking up on things really quickly so UM. And
Speaker 1: he did a great job today, especially defensively. He seemed to,
Speaker 1: you know, be like more locked in and and and
Speaker 1: challenge other people a little more today. So I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing him go as well. And I'm glad,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm glad we're all on the same team.
Speaker 1: So now now we'll get to talking about you a
Speaker 1: little bit more. Two years into this in the pros,
Speaker 1: where do you feel the best about where your game's
Speaker 1: at and what are the biggest areas of developmental focus?
Speaker 1: That you continue to look at it you go into
Speaker 1: your number three. I think the biggest things I try
Speaker 1: to focus on is being that league guard, being a
Speaker 1: point guard, being able to run the team. Also, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, defending pick and roll in the NBA in
Speaker 1: the game is just so crucial. Um, a guy's teams
Speaker 1: are running pick and roll every possession, So being able
Speaker 1: to defend the pick and roll, being able to help
Speaker 1: the team and things like that. And then offensively, just
Speaker 1: being able to knock down to three as you know,
Speaker 1: as well offensively the three pointers, so I'm portant now,
Speaker 1: so being able to shoot it off a dribble, handoff
Speaker 1: off spot, up off off the dribble, um, whatever that is.
Speaker 1: Just being able to knock into threes consistently. Last season
Speaker 1: was the first year that the NBA and the G
Speaker 1: League experimented with the two way contract, and you were
Speaker 1: one of those guys, first with the Houston Rockets, then
Speaker 1: he linked up with the seventy six ers. What you
Speaker 1: think of it, Um, It's definitely unique. It was it
Speaker 1: was you know, it's kind of similar to my first year, UM,
Speaker 1: where I was in Boston, but I spent most of
Speaker 1: the year in the G League. So very similar to that.
Speaker 1: I think it's good. I think it's good for guys
Speaker 1: to be able to go compete and play high many games,
Speaker 1: but also be around here and see what the NBA
Speaker 1: is like, UM and see um kind of what it
Speaker 1: takes to succeed, um, and be around great organizations. So
Speaker 1: I think it's it's definitely unique. I think it's important
Speaker 1: for guys to be able to do that, and uh,
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it'd be good for the future.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because when you look at how things ended
Speaker 1: up for you last season, you played under thirty games
Speaker 1: combined between the Rockets in the seventy six ers, had
Speaker 1: a handful of games, uh, down to the G League
Speaker 1: as well. But then, as you mentioned, you do get
Speaker 1: that opportunity to be exposed to what's happening at the
Speaker 1: NBA level. Did you find that that accelerated your game
Speaker 1: or your development in ways you might not have thought
Speaker 1: just simply being around things at the highest level of
Speaker 1: the sport. Yeah, definitely, um, and definitely, especially if you're
Speaker 1: you know, you're a student of the game, you get
Speaker 1: to you get to observe a lot um. You get
Speaker 1: to sit and watch and learn and and take in
Speaker 1: so much information and and just be observant. So UM,
Speaker 1: I definitely feel like I've grown, UM just from watching
Speaker 1: some of the great guards. I've been been able to
Speaker 1: be a part Like I'm the same team with so UM,
Speaker 1: a lot of great guards, a lot of guys that
Speaker 1: learned from UM, and then everybody's been like a great
Speaker 1: person as well. So UM, just asking those guys questions
Speaker 1: and seeing how I can develop my own game as well,
Speaker 1: and then also compete against them in practice and low
Speaker 1: mini games and and things like that, and one on
Speaker 1: one challenging each other, UM best way to get better.
Speaker 1: So I was gonna say, I gotta think that practice
Speaker 1: and pregame warm ups and off days when maybe not
Speaker 1: everyone is required to come in, those opportunities have got
Speaker 1: to become that much more significant, I would think for
Speaker 1: someone who might be around the NBA team on a
Speaker 1: regular basis occasionally down the GI League, but Knight might
Speaker 1: not get actual live game reps. Yeah, those are those
Speaker 1: that is really important. UM. And the three teams I've
Speaker 1: been able to be on, UM, they all kind of
Speaker 1: have a setup where you were able to get work
Speaker 1: against great players. You know you're able to compete against
Speaker 1: the great players. You're able to play in one on
Speaker 1: one games and three on three and low minted games,
Speaker 1: and especially here, um we had a low minted game
Speaker 1: like every other every other day. Um, so it was
Speaker 1: good and I was to play against Marco t J
Speaker 1: play against great guards, and so it was a lot
Speaker 1: of fun and I definitely enjoyed. I think it's important,
Speaker 1: you know, to play. I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: best ways to get better. You were saying the other
Speaker 1: day that in the brief time relatively speaking, that you've
Speaker 1: been at the pro level, you've been around some terrific
Speaker 1: talented backcourt players. So I'm probably gonna leave some people up.
Speaker 1: But I'm thinking you're talking in refraining to guys like
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley obviously when you were with the
Speaker 1: Celtics organization. Then of course some guys by the name
Speaker 1: of James Harden, Chris Paul, Eric Gordon with Houston Rockets
Speaker 1: and young talent that's here. Can you maybe if we
Speaker 1: went through some of those guys, rattle off an example
Speaker 1: of things that you know, if I throw a name
Speaker 1: out there, you give an example of something that you
Speaker 1: might have taken from either watching a few of those
Speaker 1: guys play or maybe some wisdom they imparted. If we
Speaker 1: start with why don't we begin with it first? I
Speaker 1: I definitely he definitely had that competitive edge, and that's
Speaker 1: something I was able to just watch and learn. His
Speaker 1: competitive edge and his fire was so great it allowed
Speaker 1: him to do great things. And so watch him play,
Speaker 1: watching how a smaller guy can maneuver in the lane,
Speaker 1: watching how you have to have a craftiness to your
Speaker 1: game to be able to make certain passes, to make
Speaker 1: certain plays. Um. I think that definitely helped me. UM,
Speaker 1: and then also just just having fun with it too.
Speaker 1: What about Avery Bradley Avery Bradley, Uh, definitely defensively. I
Speaker 1: learned a lot from him defensively, just watching them, having
Speaker 1: him guard me in practices and not me not being
Speaker 1: able to cross like half court. UM, definitely learned a
Speaker 1: lot from him. Um learned a few tricks here and
Speaker 1: there that I hope to be able to utilize in
Speaker 1: the summer League. So UM, Avie Bradley definitely defensively, how
Speaker 1: to guard guys on the ball screen, pinned downs and
Speaker 1: things like that. I'm assuming you probably had to go
Speaker 1: up against both James Harden and Chris Paul depending on
Speaker 1: who is available when in practice setting. Yeah, definitely UM
Speaker 1: aught for the for the season training camp. UM, going
Speaker 1: against those guys, compete and guarding those guys full court
Speaker 1: m and then trying to score them on the other end. UM.
Speaker 1: And then when Chris Paul was rehabbing back from an injury, UM,
Speaker 1: when he was able to play right before getting clear
Speaker 1: to play in the actual game, playing one on one
Speaker 1: with him every day, full core, half core, different angles
Speaker 1: and things like that, post ups on the elbow, which
Speaker 1: is one of his specialties. So UM, competing against those
Speaker 1: guys definitely really fun at the start of what ended
Speaker 1: up being an MVP season for James Harden. There's clearly
Speaker 1: fantastic ability and skill that he has. But what else
Speaker 1: do you think separates him that puts him at such
Speaker 1: an elite level. I think, to be honest, I think
Speaker 1: his his looseness. He's so loose and they you know,
Speaker 1: he's he's so relaxed. He just trusts his hard work. Um.
Speaker 1: He puts the work in like after practice, you know,
Speaker 1: you'll see him working on different things and and he
Speaker 1: works on it. Like his craftiness as well. You know,
Speaker 1: he's he's doing different moves, unorthodox things to get three
Speaker 1: partners up, and those things you know, you never know
Speaker 1: when you'll need those things, and so you'll see him
Speaker 1: pull him out in the game and you see him
Speaker 1: those are the things he worked on. So um, like
Speaker 1: they having fun part of it. You know, he always
Speaker 1: talks about swag and stuff like that. So um, seeing
Speaker 1: how relaxed he was, how much he trusted and his
Speaker 1: hard work trusted, and his process, all the things he
Speaker 1: did before, it was a good testament to see. Does
Speaker 1: it amaze you that some people can have that type
Speaker 1: of dimension to their personality. That's like to me, where
Speaker 1: if you know there was someone in school or in college,
Speaker 1: maybe I only got two hours asleep the night before
Speaker 1: a final exam, you could show up for an eight
Speaker 1: am test and totally knock it out of the park.
Speaker 1: I was always like, where where does that come from? Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's the thing I would always think too, is
Speaker 1: like you see the guys and you see them go
Speaker 1: out and be able to play so well, but then
Speaker 1: a lot of times you don't see the work they
Speaker 1: put in prior um. Sometimes you're lucky enough to see
Speaker 1: the work they put in, but not always. You see
Speaker 1: the work and it may be the work they did
Speaker 1: in the summer, may be the work they did a
Speaker 1: year ago, but they definitely put that work in and
Speaker 1: then it pays off at some point in time. What
Speaker 1: was it like in the playoffs being on the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers bench, You got to travel with the team,
Speaker 1: and then of course you had Boston on the other side,
Speaker 1: and the playoffs, it was really fun to see to
Speaker 1: see how guys competed, To see how guys went from
Speaker 1: UM not being a playoff team to a playoff team,
Speaker 1: To see the atmosphere, to see the charisma of the team,
Speaker 1: on the energy of the team in the locker room,
Speaker 1: and see how much fun guys were having UM It
Speaker 1: was definitely really special. And I watched Ben really closely
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and you know, especially in the Miami series,
Speaker 1: the guys tried to rat on on guys who are
Speaker 1: like really physical with him, but he stayed poised. He
Speaker 1: stays so level, and that's something you can learn as
Speaker 1: a guard because guys are gonna try to pick you
Speaker 1: a full court summer league. They'll try to, you know,
Speaker 1: turn you over, speed you up, get your rat up.
Speaker 1: But Ben was so poised and he moved at his
Speaker 1: own speed and played at his own pace, and that's
Speaker 1: why the team was winning. He was rolling. It surprised
Speaker 1: you at all that any of the guys on the
Speaker 1: Celtic side were able to do what they could do.
Speaker 1: In particular, I mean, al Horford is a guy who's
Speaker 1: been around a while, but whether we're talking about Terry Rosier,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, obviously that surprised you that they
Speaker 1: were able to take their games to the level that
Speaker 1: they did. To be honest, it didn't. Um, those guys
Speaker 1: are really talented. I was able to play and be
Speaker 1: around all those guys and and like with Terry, um
Speaker 1: sometimes all it takes his opportunity. Um, he worked really hard,
Speaker 1: and like I said, because the work he was doing
Speaker 1: a year ago, the work he was doing two years ago,
Speaker 1: the work he was doing last summer, and it paid off.
Speaker 1: And then with Jason, I was able to watch or
Speaker 1: play with him in the summer league, and I saw
Speaker 1: right away he was gonna be really good. And our
Speaker 1: Horford has always been so steady. Um. So it wasn't
Speaker 1: fun to lose against those guys, but it was it
Speaker 1: was it was cool to see those guys in their
Speaker 1: development and see how they competed on both sides. So
Speaker 1: before we finish, I was told, I have to ask
Speaker 1: you about the video game phenomenon that is taking the
Speaker 1: world by storm Fortnite. Fortnite. Yep, tell me about it because,
Speaker 1: like it may surprise you. But I am not the
Speaker 1: most key to into the whole Fortnite scene. Uh. So
Speaker 1: I played Fortnite. I play on PS four. I recently
Speaker 1: just started streaming Fortnite. Um, so I got some streams
Speaker 1: and things like that. But no, Fortnite is really fun.
Speaker 1: It's uh, it's just a game taking over the world.
Speaker 1: I think it's you know, I see a lot of
Speaker 1: young kids on the game. I think kids should definitely
Speaker 1: get outside a little more. Um it's still playing the
Speaker 1: game all day. But um, you know, I like the game.
Speaker 1: I think it's fun. I think it's it's like a
Speaker 1: fun I use it to kind of connect with my friends.
Speaker 1: It's like two birds with one stone, Like I'm able
Speaker 1: to be on the be on the microphone with my
Speaker 1: friends and being a party with my friends. Um, talk
Speaker 1: to them, we talk about random stuff, have fun, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So, but also we're able to
Speaker 1: play together and work together and things like that. So, um,
Speaker 1: I think the game is cool, but I definitely think,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're a young kid, you need to
Speaker 1: definitely get outside, enjoy the weather, summertime, have some fun.
Speaker 1: So this might be a really novice ignorant question. Are
Speaker 1: you also playing in streams that are available and open
Speaker 1: to the public. Are you in a private group with
Speaker 1: just people that you know so in the party? Um,
Speaker 1: the party is private, and you know, I'll just invite
Speaker 1: my friends, or sometimes I may play publicly and invite
Speaker 1: just random people. Sometimes I may post my my my PSM,
Speaker 1: my gamer tax so people can can play with me. Um.
Speaker 1: And I also had had the opportunity to play with
Speaker 1: some some professional streamers, so um that's been fun as well.
Speaker 1: And then other times I'm just just with my friends.
Speaker 1: So do people know that they're going up against you're
Speaker 1: playing with an NBA player professional athlete? Uh, sometimes I do.
Speaker 1: It's funny. I I gotta I got a friend he's
Speaker 1: he's fourteen, and I play with him sometimes. And I
Speaker 1: met him he was sitting in front row one of
Speaker 1: the games, and uh, I gave him my shoes. The
Speaker 1: shoes I had on my feet in the game. I
Speaker 1: just got a brand new pair of shoes and it
Speaker 1: was my first day wearing them and he asked for him,
Speaker 1: so I had to give them to him. And every
Speaker 1: since we became friends and he, you know, he asked
Speaker 1: me for basketball advice and things like that, and whenever
Speaker 1: he sees me on he tries to invite me to play,
Speaker 1: and then he'll bring his friends too, and his friends like, oh,
Speaker 1: is this is this He's playing on the team offense, Samess,
Speaker 1: Joel and V So like, uh, it's it's fun, and
Speaker 1: uh it's it's good. So it's like you can whatever
Speaker 1: you whatever it is, you can always use it, um
Speaker 1: in a go in a good way. I gotta think
Speaker 1: about a week and a half long stay in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: That could make for some quality Fortnite time to put
Speaker 1: it in between games. Yeah, definitely, it's it's a good
Speaker 1: tool to just just hang out in your room, um,
Speaker 1: just relax. Um. A lot of times I'm doing other things,
Speaker 1: like I'll use the normal tech. I'll be doing recovery
Speaker 1: stuff and playing the game so and talking with my friends.
Speaker 1: So it's you know, it's all on one And yes,
Speaker 1: definitely I'm definitely gonna play some Fortnite and Vegas. Tremendous, Metris,
Speaker 1: thanks m much, thank you. Thank you from the wisdom
Speaker 1: glean from all leaguers like James Harden, this year's MVP,
Speaker 1: multi time All Star Chris Paul, and another All Star
Speaker 1: Isaiah Thomas, to the ins and outs and anecdotes associated
Speaker 1: with Fortnite. That was Demetrius Jackson. Thank him for taking
Speaker 1: the time to talk after practice. Coming up next time
Speaker 1: on the podcast later this week, a preview of what's
Speaker 1: to come in Summer League itself with Kevin Young on
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers assistants, who is going to be out
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas coaching at the team. Thank you for
Speaker 1: listening to this episode of the podcast. Talk to you
Speaker 1: next time here on the broadcast see it