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.

Every year we find new and exciting ways to not have our center for the NCAA tournament.

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.

It would certainly be a nice player to get, because we would probably have him for multiple years. Him being Adidas makes me think KU has a shot.

And he was only a freshman this season. I’m sure everyone wants him though.

@BShark said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@KirkIsMyHinrich Well we aren’t getting TyTy.

David Collins, Bryce Hamilton and Daejon Davis are potentially real options. We will know a lot more on Collins by the end of the week.

Cool. I think I’d want Davis the most out of that group. I like the defense and efficiency.

@BShark Do you have any guards in mind other than TyTy?

Charlie Moore in the portal

I have no idea. His numbers were bad last season. He’ll have to improve a lot.

Devin Askew to Texas

@BShark said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@KirkIsMyHinrich said in 2021 Transfer Talk/List:

@Kcmatt7 Hope so. Sad to see Bryce go, I think he had a lot of potential. But ultimately he needs to do what’s best for him.

Yeah I’m torn because I thought he had potential but honestly he sucked.

Wonder who we end up getting…

I mean his numbers were horrific, there’s no getting around that. It’s hard to know how much those numbers were affected by a very not normal offseason and a midseason injury. He just needs to go somewhere where he can play a lot and work through his mistakes. Hopefully somewhere not in the B12 conference.

@Kcmatt7 Hope so. Sad to see Bryce go, I think he had a lot of potential. But ultimately he needs to do what’s best for him.

Are we anticipating losing scholarships as part of a potential punishment?