By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson has always seen himself as a do-it-all performer in the NBA, yet even for him, this season’s list of responsibilities is getting a little out of hand.

Lead defender. Twenty-points-per-game scorer. Point forward. Point guard, possibly. Captain responsible for providing veteran leadership to one of the youngest teams in the NBA.

Is any single player capable of filling all those roles?

“I have to be,” a resolute Jackson said last week. “I’m not going to say I’m not, I’m not going to say I am, but I’m going to go out and give my best effort.”

No one doubts that. But after watching Jackson sputter to a halt in the final weeks of last season — when he set career-high averages in scoring (20.1 ppg) and assists (4.1) but also logged the most minutes played (39.1) in his eight-year NBA career — it’s fair to wonder how on Earth he can be asked to do more without burning out in similar fashion.

“He thinks he can handle it,” said Warriors forward Al Harrington, who did an old-man shuffle to illustrate his next point. “The thing about Jack is, as much as he walks like he can’t do it, and all that type of stuff, he finds a way.”

This year, that way may involve taking a different path. After previously serving as the big-shot sidekick to Baron Davis and Monta Ellis and the pick-and-roll partner of Andris Biedrins, Jackson will be the focal point at either end of the floor for the Warriors this season.

Whether he plays a true point guard for the first time since high school or simply initiates the offense from the 2 or 3 spots, Jackson knows it’s incumbent on him to do more in the way of shot creation — even if it means allowing his own scoring to wilt during what could be a contract drive if talks about an extension break down.

“I don’t think I’m going to average 20 points this year,” Jackson said. “I think I’m going to have to take away some of my points to be more defensive and make more plays for other guys, because BD was a big part of guys getting open shots. So I’m going to have to be more of a playmaker now and just try to sacrifice myself for the other guys a little bit.”

With Davis gone, Jackson will shoulder the burden of guarding the opposition’s best scorer on an almost nightly basis, especially while Ellis recovers from surgery on his left ankle. Jackson was often tasked last season with taking the best 2, 3 or 4 — he once guarded the Knicks’ Zach Randolph and Stephon Marbury in the same game, then drew the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce the next night — but Davis could fill that role for several minutes, freeing Jackson to either expend his energies elsewhere, or just catch a breather.

Finding another player to fill that role could be critical to keeping Jackson fresh and avoiding another April such as this past one, where his output tumbled to only 14.2 ppg on 33.9 percent shooting from the floor.

“A guy like Corey (Maggette), I think can ease his pain defensively,” Harrington said. “I just think as the season goes on, we need guys maturing in their roles so we can take more off him, so that he can get back to being a defensive guy and one of our top scorers.”

Said Maggette: “I think (Jackson) is going to be alright. You look on this team, he’s the only player with a championship. So he knows how to play. He knows how to win. He knows how to handle the ball. Plus, he’s a captain. So you put it on his shoulders and you see what he can do.”