Jackson credits San Antonio stint for defensive prowess

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Jackson vividly remembers his defensive awakening. It happened during the 2001-02 season, his first in San Antonio, and it started because Jackson was "having his way" in practice -- at least on offense.Jackson, to his dismay and confusion, still collected little playing time. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich then pulled him aside for a candid chat in which Popovich directly linked Jackson's work on defense to his time on the court."Pop told me if I wanted to play, I had to play defense," Jackson said. "I always knew I could, because defense is about passion. I took it personally, as a challenge."Now defense is one of the chief reasons the Golden State Warriors value Jackson so much. Jackson's career took flight in San Antonio. He was struggling to find his niche in the league, after skipping college and getting waived in training camp by the Chicago Bulls in 1998 and the Memphis Grizzlies in '99. Jackson spent his first two pro seasons in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and the CBA.He stuck with New Jersey in 2000-01, but the turning point came the next season in San Antonio when Popovich demanded Jackson improve his effort on defense. He listened, working his way into the starting lineup for 58 games in 2002-03, when he helped the Spurs win the championship.Jackson was third on the team in scoring that season, behind Duncan and Parker, but he made his mark on the other end of the court. "I played defense before that, but I didn't take it as seriously," Jackson said. "I started to give just as much effort on defense (after the talk with Popovich) as I did on offense."Then-Spurs assistant coach Mike Brown, now Cleveland's head coach, worked diligently with Jackson. So did defensive specialist Bruce Bowen. Jackson learned how to use his teammates on defense, how to move his feet, how not to get called for hand-check fouls.He also began to study opponents' habits and use the knowledge to his advantage. It doesn't hurt that Jackson stands 6-foot-8, with the strength (and length) to grapple on the low post and the quickness to defend well on the perimeter. He gained attention for stifling the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki during last season's playoffs, but Jackson insisted his defense was strong long before then. "People are starting to notice my defense now because I'm guarding players at different positions," he said. "In this (Warriors) system, I've got to guard everybody."Jackson is second on the Warriors in scoring, at 21.8 points per game, and his three-point binges usually are most noticeable. But coach Don Nelson gushes just as much about Jackson's defense. "He has great desire to do well on that end of the floor," Nelson said. "He's really a smart defender, with good anticipation -- he plays a guy's strengths and weaknesses -- and he's pretty strong. We're looking for 12 guys like that, if we can find them."Not coincidentally, the Warriors are 10-3 since Jackson returned from his season-opening suspension (they started 1-6 without him). E-mail Ron Kroichick at rkroichick(at)sfchronicle.com.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)