Over his three-plus years with the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats, senior guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright has posted a 3-1 assist-turnover ratio, hit 42 percent of his 3-pointers and played in 95 wins already.
Also, this: developed a thicker skin.
Out of necessity.
鈥淲ildcats have two studs in Allonzo Trier and Deandre Ayton ... but point guard play still worrisome,鈥 tweeted ESPN鈥檚 Jeff Goodman after UA beat ASU in the Pac-12 opener on Dec. 30.
Goodman later posted this: 鈥淣ame me last team to win it all with point guard situation like the one in 蜜柚直播 right now. Need a high-level PG to win six straight.鈥
All that was what PJC referred to as 鈥渙utside noise鈥 from media and fans alike.
鈥淚t鈥檚 everybody who has an opinion,鈥 he said. 鈥淧eople are entitled to their opinions and criticism, good and bad. You gotta take it for what it is and just do what you do. We all have a job and if he feels that way that鈥檚 fine, but he鈥檚 not the coach, he鈥檚 not on the team. It鈥檚 best for me to listen to my teammates and my coaches.鈥
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So he does. Even when that criticism may arrive via a more subtler, indirect way.
Jackson-Cartwright posted eight assists to only one turnover in 蜜柚直播鈥檚 80-77 loss at Colorado on Saturday, but was 0-for-6 from the field and ran a team that shot only 38.6 percent collectively.
Afterward, without prompting, UA coach Sean Miller praised Colorado point guard McKinley Wright three times.
A confident, aggressive freshman from Minnesota, Wright had 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting and 10 assists but also seven turnovers.
鈥淗e鈥檚 made such a big difference in their team,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 physically gifted, strong and he looks like he鈥檚 an upperclassman.鈥
Miller later said: 鈥淗e鈥檚 just that special player who can make his teammates better. Usually you say that about an older guy, but for such a young player that鈥檚 a great characteristic.鈥
Asked about those words, and if he took them personally, Jackson-Cartwright did not flinch.
鈥淵eah,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 mean, they were coming off the heels of a big win (against ASU) and I think they had a lot of confidence. McKinley鈥檚 obviously a good player and he drives what they do and they just played better. He鈥檚 a big part of the reason for that.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I matched their intensity and as a team we didn鈥檛 match their intensity. That showed up in the game.鈥
Speaking with characteristic calmness in the face of several scrutinizing media questions during Monday鈥檚 news conference at McKale, PJC went on.
鈥淎t times I let my guard down and when you do that anybody鈥檚 capable of getting the best of you,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I did a good job of setting the tone against Colorado. I do have passion. I do play with fire. I think people have seen that. But that day I didn鈥檛 have that and as a result my team didn鈥檛 benefit and we struggled.鈥
Then again, even when PJC does play with fire, it鈥檚 not the kind of fire his predecessor was known for.
Nor should it be, said Miller, a former point guard himself.
鈥淎s a coach, as a leader, you have to be yourself and if Parker all of a sudden started slapping the floor and growling at the crowd like a T.J. McConnell would do, it wouldn鈥檛 look right. It wouldn鈥檛 feel right,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淪o he has to lead within the framework of his personality, which he鈥檚 done.鈥
Miller has, in fact, has been often complementary of Jackson-Cartwright, the only one of his five starters who isn鈥檛 on any sort of preseason honors list.
After PJC had only five points but six assists to just one turnover in the UA鈥檚 win over ASU, Miller described him as an ideal point guard for a team with so many other offensive options.
Jackson-Cartwright hits 3-pointers at a 47.8 percent rate and does so with discipline, often only shooting when defenses leave him a decent look because they are focusing on somebody like Ayton, Trier or Rawle Alkins.
That鈥檚 a disciplined balance that Miller found even McConnell had trouble with early in his two-year 蜜柚直播 career, before he jumped to the Philadelphia 76ers. Miller sometimes would complain that McConnell was so unselfish he wouldn鈥檛 shoot enough and thus didn鈥檛 keep defenses honest.
PJC can keep defenses honest, or at least make them think twice.
鈥淲hat Parker does is what a lot of coaches would love their point guard to do,鈥 Miller said on Jan. 2. 鈥淗e sits on a 3-1 assist-turnover ratio. Last game he was 6-1. And he鈥檚 shooting high percentage from 3. A lot like (Utah鈥檚 Justin) Bibbins, you can鈥檛 leave Parker alone.
鈥淎nd as you decide what to do 鈥 trapping, double-teaming our post guys, or trying to crowd the court against Rawle or Allonzo, Parker is continuously in position to take 3s and make those. He鈥檚 done a great job until now of doing that and I expect him to continue to shoot the ball well.鈥
Two days later, Jackson-Cartwright scored 19 points on 3-for-4 3-point shooting while getting to the line for 8-of-8 free-throw shooting at Utah. The Wildcats won, 94-82.
鈥淧arker, as our senior, he showed up,鈥 Miller said after that game. 鈥淗e was ready to go.鈥
Those are the kind of words Jackson-Cartwright is listening to, and trying to elicit again.
鈥淚 think my job is to listen to my coach and try to do what he鈥檚 telling me to do,鈥 Jackson-Cartwright said, 鈥渁nd play for my teammates.鈥