TheSuzerain wrote:Rickea Jackson seems like a bum to me. Pass.
For what it's worth, here were the TS% for the big-name NCAA guards -
Caitlin Clark - 61%
Rickea Jackson - 55%
Paige Bueckers - 63%
JuJu Watkins - 51%
Hannah Hidalgo - 54%
Rori Harmon - 57%
My first thought was that women's NCAA announcing has a ways to go, because those are big differences, and although I watched a bunch of tournament games, no announcers ever suggested these results to me. For all I knew JuJu was the most efficient scorer of the bunch. But truth is, she has a lot of work ahead of her. You can't just say oh she was a frosh and make excuses. Bueckers shot 63% as a frosh and Caitlin 62%, and they were both also on high volume.
So when I hear about how JuJu will be the next best player in the NCAA, I do wonder if those announcers have done the work.
The other thing to comment on is that not only is Rickea Jackson a significantly less efficient scorer than Bueckers or Caitlin, but she had a 0.8 turnover/assist ratio, as opposed to 1.9 for Clark and 2.5 for Bueckers. Oh, and steals, which are an important indicator in the men's game for assessing the NCAA to NBA transition, are 0.9 for 40 minutes for Jackson, 2.0 for Caitlin, and 2.8 for Bueckers.
Finally, I saw a draft report that called Jackson "the most WNBA ready" player in the draft (hmmm), but which admitted that she doesn't defend at all. But no worries, said the report, in the WNBA the coaches will make her learn how to defend.
So yeah, in summary, I agree with you about Jackson. I mean, I haven't seen her play so my views are merely impressions gathered from the numbers, but those are some big damn red lights flashing.
Also, no matter what indicator you use Paige Bueckers is effing elite. She is good at EVERYTHING.