Over his three-plus years with the Arizona 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.
โWildcats have two studs in Allonzo Trier and Deandre Ayton ... but point guard play still worrisome,โ tweeted ESPNโs Jeff Goodman after UA beat ASU in the Pac-12 opener on Dec. 30.
Goodman later posted this: โName me last team to win it all with point guard situation like the one in Tucson right now. Need a high-level PG to win six straight.โ
All that was what PJC referred to as โoutside noiseโ from media and fans alike.
โItโs everybody who has an opinion,โ he said. โPeople 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 thatโs fine, but heโs not the coach, heโs not on the team. Itโs best for me to listen to my teammates and my coaches.โ
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 Arizonaโs 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.
โHeโs made such a big difference in their team,โ Miller said. โHeโs physically gifted, strong and he looks like heโs an upperclassman.โ
Miller later said: โHeโs just that special player who can make his teammates better. Usually you say that about an older guy, but for such a young player thatโs a great characteristic.โ
Asked about those words, and if he took them personally, Jackson-Cartwright did not flinch.
โYeah,โ he said. โI mean, they were coming off the heels of a big win (against ASU) and I think they had a lot of confidence. McKinleyโs obviously a good player and he drives what they do and they just played better. Heโs a big part of the reason for that.
โI donโt think I matched their intensity and as a team we didnโt match their intensity. That showed up in the game.โ
Speaking with characteristic calmness in the face of several scrutinizing media questions during Mondayโs news conference at McKale, PJC went on.
โAt times I let my guard down and when you do that anybodyโs capable of getting the best of you,โ he said. โI donโt 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 didnโt have that and as a result my team didnโt benefit and we struggled.โ
Then again, even when PJC does play with fire, itโs not the kind of fire his predecessor was known for.
Nor should it be, said Miller, a former point guard himself.
โAs 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 wouldnโt look right. It wouldnโt feel right,โ Miller said. โSo he has to lead within the framework of his personality, which heโs done.โ
Miller has, in fact, has been often complementary of Jackson-Cartwright, the only one of his five starters who isnโt on any sort of preseason honors list.
After PJC had only five points but six assists to just one turnover in the UAโs 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.
Thatโs a disciplined balance that Miller found even McConnell had trouble with early in his two-year Arizona career, before he jumped to the Philadelphia 76ers. Miller sometimes would complain that McConnell was so unselfish he wouldnโt shoot enough and thus didnโt keep defenses honest.
PJC can keep defenses honest, or at least make them think twice.
โWhat Parker does is what a lot of coaches would love their point guard to do,โ Miller said on Jan. 2. โHe sits on a 3-1 assist-turnover ratio. Last game he was 6-1. And heโs shooting high percentage from 3. A lot like (Utahโs Justin) Bibbins, you canโt leave Parker alone.
โAnd as you decide what to do โ 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. Heโs done a great job until now of doing that and I expect him to continue to shoot the ball well.โ
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.
โParker, as our senior, he showed up,โ Miller said after that game. โHe was ready to go.โ
Those are the kind of words Jackson-Cartwright is listening to, and trying to elicit again.
โI think my job is to listen to my coach and try to do what heโs telling me to do,โ Jackson-Cartwright said, โand play for my teammates.โ
