Cedric Jackson might be the New Zealand Breakers' star addition, but the point guard sees himself as just one piece of the jigsaw.
The player dubbed "Action Jackson" won Australian NBL titles in both his previous seasons with the Breakers, finishing as the 2012-2013 league MVP before heading overseas.
After a injury-hit spell in Slovenia, the 28-year-old crowd favourite is back in Auckland and says fans can expect to see his familiar game on show.
"I'm the same," he said.
"I try not to get ahead of myself and do all kinds of crazy things - just high intensity, try to get guys shots and try to put pressure on the defence."
In the American's absence last season, the Breakers' fell well short in their bid to land a fourth successive championship.
He said he didn't feel any extra pressure as the man to lead the club's revival.
"Not at all - I'm just in here to try to help and do my part," he said.
"All you can do is focus on this year and working on being a better team."
Jackson has returned to a much-changed Breakers squad and he said the past two weeks had been about developing chemistry on court.
"It took me a while to learn the area again but we have a bunch of great guys coming from all different places and we're all meshing very well."
It's something he hopes they can progress, especially on defence, at the pre-season ANBL Blitz tournament in Brisbane, where they face Adelaide on Friday night and Townsville 24 hours later.
"Offence will definitely take care of itself," Jackson said.
"What we have worked so hard on in the last couple of weeks is our defence. That's the most important thing we want to focus on. Nothing individual right now."
Share
