Recently I’ve been reading a lot of comments (mostly on NBA draft articles or videos) about how Josh Jackson is Andrew Wiggins 2.0. It’s easy for people who don’t follow KU basketball as closely as we do to assume they are the same player because they are similar in a lot of ways. Both Jackson and Wiggins are athletic 6’8 SF/SG who went to Kansas and who were at the top of their recruiting classes coming out of high school. Wiggins was the 1st pick in the draft, and Jackson has a good chance to be the 1st pick in the draft. I, however, (and I’m sure many of you as well) have noticed a lot of differences in their games and what they are able to do on the court. So let’s break it down:

Scoring – I give a slight edge to Wiggins here. Wiggins averaged 17.1 ppg during his freshman season at Kansas. JJ is currently averaging 16.0. Jackson has been more efficient than Wiggins, though. Jackson shoots the 3-ball at 35.5% (he’s really improved in this area since the season started), and Wiggins shot 34.1% when he was at Kansas. Jackson also shoots 50% from the field (which is pretty spectacular for a freshman guard/small forward), and Wiggins shot 44.1% from the field. Jackson has had the luxury of playing with better guards (Senior Frank Mason, Junior Devonte Graham) than the guards who played with Wiggins (Freshman Frank Mason, Freshman Wayne Selden, Junior Naadir Tharpe).

Free Throw Shooting – Wiggins. Wiggins shot 77.5% from the line at KU. Wiggins is also very good at getting to the line (6.4 FTA per game on the Wolves). Josh Jackson shoots 54.3% from the line. This is, without a doubt, the one area in which Jackson can and needs to improve.

Defense – Jackson. Jackson plays good individual defense and good team defense. He has good defensive instincts and is really good at playing passing lanes. Wiggins has the tools to be special defensively, but he lacks the kind of mind set that Josh Jackson has. This was the biggest knock on Wiggins at Kansas and continues to be the biggest knock on Wiggins in the NBA: that he’s passive and isn’t always engaged.

Rebounding – Jackson. Jackson averages 6.8 boards per game. Wiggins averaged 5.8 boards. Again, Jackson’s advantage here likely lends itself to the fact that he plays with more assertiveness and aggression than does Wiggins.

Athleticism – Wiggins. Not a lot needs to be said here. Josh Jackson is really athletic. Wiggins is a freak. This isn’t really a slight to Jackson.

Passing – Jackson. Jackson’s way ahead of Wiggins here. We’ve seen several examples this season of Jackson being able to create for his teammates (think 2nd half against Kentucky getting dunks for Lucas). He’s also good at finding his teammates in transition (Lucas against KState, Mason against Kentucky, etc.). He’s averaging more assists per game than Wiggins did at Kansas.

Ball-Handling – Jackson. Both are actually pretty decent ball-handlers for being 6’8 and hyper athletic, but Jackson’s ball-handling has really impressed me this season. Watching him bring the ball up against West Virginia’s press in Morgantown took me by surprise. And we’ve seen several instances of JJ handling the ball well in transition.

Mindset – Jackson. Jackson is an alpha. Wiggins is passive a lot of the time. If Wiggins had JJ’s mindset I think he could be the best player in the NBA.

Overall, Wiggins is a freak athlete and a pretty good scorer, but I feel like he’s still has kind of an AAU mentality. He’s never been a great fundamental basketball player and has relied on being taller and more athletic than everyone else. And that has to some extent continued into the NBA where he’s still more athletic than most of the other players. To Wiggins’ credit, he has developed a nice post game which I think was under-utilized by Self in his time at Kansas.

Jackson is a better all-around player than Wiggins. He’s more skilled, more versatile, and a better defender and rebounder. He’s not as athletic and not as good a shooter. He plays with more fire than Wiggins. Because of his skill and personality I think he’ll end up being a better NBA player than Wiggins.

I was feeling generally good about my physique until I saw this picture.

If college basketball were a fighting contest I think KU would be preseason #1.

“Josh Jackson Can’t Shoot” is what I heard a lot of analysts say on draft night. It’s what I read in scouting videos. It’s what gets written and parroted in comment sections by people who probably didn’t watch him play last season. I agree to a point, Josh Jackson has a “hitch” in his shot and his free throw shooting is worrisome. On the other hand, his overall field goal percentage and three point percentage were pretty good for a hyper-athletic freshman forward. Let’s look at some of Josh Jackson’s season averages at Kansas:

PPG --> 16.3,

FG% --> 51.3,

3PFG% --> 37.8,

eFG% --> 55.2,

FT% --> 56.6,

PER --> 24.1,

Compare those numbers to Jayson Tatum:

PPG --> 16.8,

FG% --> 45.2,

3PFG% --> 34.2,

eFG% --> 50.7,

FT% --> 84.9,

PER --> 22.0,

The consensus opinion on Tatum is that he’s the best scorer in the draft class. Looking at stats, his FT shooting is really the only thing he was better at than Jackson last season, offensively. But if you watched Kansas basketball last season, you probably noticed that JJ has an outstanding motor and work ethic, and that his shooting seemed to improve from game to game. Here are some numbers that illustrate this:

Shooting percentages (FG%, 3P%, FT%):

November --> 51.3, 29.4, 54.0

December --> 50.6, 22.2, 54.5

January --> 47.2, 38.4, 55.3

February --> 52.2, 47.8, 58.2

March --> 56.7, 42.9, 66.7

His FT shooting improved by the month. His numbers in March weren’t far off from either Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball’s FT numbers (both in the 60’s for the season). Do I think Josh Jackson is going to develop into Steve Nash at the line and Ray Allen from 3? No, not at all. But given his work ethic I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that JJ can improve his shooting as he starts his career in Phoenix.

His passing and rebounding numbers were also better than Tatum’s. He’s a better defender than Tatum. His ball-handling, contrary to what other’s have said, is very good for someone of his age, size, and athleticism. I can understand Philly taking Fultz ahead of Jackson, even if I disagree with it – they desperately need a point guard. And I can understand Magic and the Lakers taking Ball ahead of Jackson – he’s from LA, played at UCLA, and probably reminds Magic of Magic a little bit. I can’t really understand Danny Ainge and Boston taking Tatum ahead of JJ, but here’s my guess – Jae Crowder is more similar to JJ than he is to Tatum, and he’s already on the Celtics’ roster, so maybe Boston thought it was a little bit redundant to draft Jackson. Also, Ainge wasn’t happy about JJ skipping the Boston workout. Still, I would have taken Jackson, and here’s why:

“If you ask me, of course I’m going to say I’m the best player in this draft, but if you ask those other guys, they’re going to say the same thing about themselves, I’m sure,” Jackson said. “But just I love competition, and I love proving people wrong. I’ve been drafted to Phoenix, and I’m going to go there and I’m going to make the best of it. I’m going to be the best player I can be. And those teams who didn’t draft me, one day they will be sorry.”

And I understand that it’s popular to say things like that, but with Jackson I really get the feeling that he means it.

Josh Jackson is a beast. The Kevin Love outlet pass by Jackson to DG and the subsequent pass and jam by Vick might have been the prettiest play I’ve seen all season.

@BShark Your ability to post comments while being not alive is still less miraculous than the W tonight.

Nothing better than seeing Kentucky fans leaving Rupp early. Rock Chalk

Dick Vitale gets tired of good players being a little bit cocky, but he’s okay with Trippy tripping and Consonants complaining. Okay, whatever. DG’s the man.

I thought Iowa St might get Tech but I thought it would be in Ames. I’m not going to say thank you to Iowa St. The best I can do is give a firm nod.

Something strange is going on behind the scenes everywhere. Some scenes are just stranger than others. I’m perfectly fine with a kid who wants Trae Young volume not attending Kansas.

@mayjay

Good guy Nick. I am going to donate too.

A lot of Tech fans seem to think McClung will be eligible to play next season. I’m not sure how he would get a waiver.

But, regardless, it will be interesting to see what Beard can do with him at Tech. He needs to improve as a defender/passer and improve his shooting efficiency (only 39.4% from the floor last season).

@Texas-Hawk-10

I haven’t looked into infractions case for Memphis much but it is listed as one of the referred cases on the IARP website. https://iarpcc.org/referred-cases/

I don’t know if the IARP path will be good for us, but it seems preferable to the NCAA COI if those are our only options. I’m not thrilled about there not being an appeals process, but I assume if KU perceives the outcome of the case as being particularly unfair they might sue… someone?

So if I’m understanding this correctly, KU now has 20 days to submit a response to the NCAA’s request that its case be referred to the IARP. If we consent, then our infractions case will be resolved by the IARP pending its acceptance of the request. And there is no appeals process. But if we don’t consent, what then? Would our case then be resolved by the NCAA COI, or would it go some place else? There is an appeals process with the COI, but from what I’ve read about that process it seems mostly perfunctory.

If those are our only two choices, it seems much more likely that a favorable KU outcome in this case would come from the IARP based on the fact that their panel consists of 15 members with legal background who are more likely to rely on evidence to reach their conclusions. And because they are independent/impartial - at least more so than the COI.

The IARP has accepted infractions cases for Memphis and NC St, so at least we might get a glimpse of what it will look like before we have to go through it.

@BShark said in 2021 Recruiting:

http://m.kusports.com/news/2020/may/11/kansas-basketball-lands-commitment-4-star-forward-/

Awesome! I watched a few of his videos and it looks like he is a pretty versatile player. Can play inside, can shoot 3’s, and has a pretty decent handle for a 6’9 guy. Might need to add some weight.

@FarmerJayhawk said in NOA response from KU discussion:

SN going full wtf is the NCAA thinking https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/ncaa-response-to-kansas-bill-self-shows-confidence-in-its-case-but-not-an-abundance-of-logic/1bsrlbv5pc6tx1enyaicva9niy

Mike Decourcy asks the most important question here: How do you claim that adidas is a representative of kansas’ athletic interests but also claim that shoe/apparel companies like nike are not acting in the interest of other universities?

The ncaa’s response to this - “there is no cause for concern among member institutions as most of their relationships with corporate entities comply with ncaa legislation” - is pretty vague and weak.

Amazing UK couldn’t do better than a 3/4-seed in the NCAA tournament this season considering all the NBA players they apparently had on their roster.

Yep, they’re losing Hagans, Maxey, Quickley, Richards, Montgomery, Whitney, and Juzang. They have Keion Brooks coming back - a 6’7 forward who played 15 minutes per game and averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds.

Coming in they have two top-10 recruits who are both small forwards - BJ Boston and Terrence Clarke, a 5-star point guard Devin Askew, a 4-star power forward Isaiah Jackson, another 4-star power forward Lance Ware, and another 4-star small forward Cam’Ron Fletcher.

They pretty badly need a big man now that Montgomery declared for the draft. UK fans are praying they land Matt Haarms who is transferring from Purdue.

Matt Haarms is soft and kind of sucks. He’s a bad 3-point shooter and doesn’t rebound well at all for his size. The fit offensively would be a nightmare if you started him with Dave. We’re much better off going small and playing Braun or TGF. Maybe Haarms could come off the bench and be okay for us, but I’d rather just play Mitch or De Sousa at this point. Hard pass for me on Haarms.

Also, Dave averaged 7 and 4 on good efficiency in 14.7 minutes last season. Extrapolating to 30 minutes that would be about 14 and 8 as a sophomore. That’s pretty good. I know Dave isn’t Doke (nobody is), but he’s a pretty good player who works really hard and I’m eager to see what he does with starters minutes next season.

https://twitter.com/EvanDaniels/status/1245391736643489792