McLemore/Wiggins/Jackson/Selby

Okay, I just threw in Selby to mind us all that as good as high school rankings are, the are clearly fallible. Anybody remember Korleone Young? Anyway, back to my post. McLemore was a bit unusual since he actually sat out his freshman year so his first year was as a redshirt freshman. He was a glider with a sweet stroke and great hops. Pretty much sounds like Wiggins only Wiggins had even better hops but not quite the shot. Both were gliders. Both were also fiercely competitive but in a sort of laid back way. Jackson is not necessarily no more competitive but he has perhaps a better killer instinct. I can't quite get to the point of calling Jackson a glider at least not to the extent of McLemore and Wiggins. His shot is not quite like Mac and his hops (especially that crazy second hop) is not up to Wiggs ability. What he does seem to have better than either is a handle. Wiggs was a good passer but I am on the verge of saying Jackson is better. Mac was a pretty good passer. So if Jackson has lesser hops than Wiggs (only slightly), lesser shot than Mac (hopefully only slightly) and a better handle than both and he is not quite the glider they were (again only slightly), then how does he compare overall? I am close to saying his fire breathing intensity may be the difference that makes him ultimately the best of the 3. I'm not there yet because Mac was very very good and Wiggs was very very very good. Jackson, through 7 games has not been either. He has just been good. But there is going to come a time when we need a fire breathing take no prisoners scorched earth mentality and for various reasons, Devonte', Frank and LaGerald are not going to be there. In other words, there will be times when we will need all 6'7" intensity of Jackson to exert his force. Wiggs did that on occasion but melted on occasion. Mac did that on occasion and melted on occasion. This may be the differential factor for Josh. His take no prisoners, in your face intensity may be that very slight difference that let's KU go a game or 2 farther than those other guys took us. Wiggs may have taken us there if Embiid had stayed healthy. So that was not entirely his fault. But I am liking what I see in Josh in terms of his raw competitiveness. Plus, like Mac and Wiggs, he seems to be willing and humble to learn. I think this team has oodles of upside and are on a steep improvement curve.

I believe that if Wigs had a senior Frank Mason to play with, he would have shown a little more aggression as well. I just think this team as a whole is tougher than those teams. Both mentally and physically. Josh is physically gifted in so many ways. There is no doubt in my mind he is way ahead of those others in terms of handles and passing ability. Time will tell, but this early in the season, I think we are witnessing a future super star.

Great analysis, Corpus. Where would you rank/fit Oubre in this group. And saying "ahead of Selby" doesn't count.

I was sitting behind the goal at the UNC-Asheville game at was able to watch Jackson up close for the first time. As far as physical presence on the court goes, I'm not sure I've seen many KU players his equal. As pointed out, his shot is not as refined as McLemore and his athleticism is not quite at the same level as Wiggins, but he's got the "it" factor... Skill, Size, Smarts, Intensity, etc. I can only imagine what kind of numbers he'd be putting up on a team that didn't have Mason & Graham in the back court.

During the game I told my son that Jackson was probably the closest thing to seeing what Lebron might have looked like in a college game. It may have been hyperbole, but I don't think its too far off.

I cannot put Oubre in the same class as these other guys. Wigs dribbled high but Oubre dribbled around his chin (hyperbole for effect). Oubre's handle was not in the same class. Onbre's shot got better and better in college but was a step below Mac and maybe not even as good a Wigs and Josh although close. By far my biggest beef with Oubre was his very poor positioning and movement without the ball. The best positioning guy I can remember at KU is Kirk Hinrich. Mason is pretty doggone good. Tyshawn Taylor was good. Morningstar and Tyrel Reed were excellent. Releford was excellent. Oubre was just simply not even average. Athletically and shot wise he was close to these guys. Oubre got better and better but he was still never great. He was a good rebounder though and I did like that. He may have been the best rebounder of the lot although Wigs was great and Josh shows real promise. Mac was just okay. Oubre would have has a great sophomore year I think but it took him most of the year to get to that point.

Excellent analysis, Corpus. Thanks for being so specific. This is the kind of response I would like my fifth graders to write (and I'm being 100% serious!)

I'm not sure but I think you just graded my response at a 5th grade level!! (Lol)

The biggest differentiator for be between Wiggins and Jackson is CONFIDENCE.

I recall so many times when Wiggins would go to the hoop - and fail to finish. In the last two feet he would shy away and either miss the layup, or get fouled. He often hesitated to dunk, and instead double pumped and tried a layup. Or, he would just disappear in big games and big moments. Mostly from a lack of maturity, but still he wasn't the guy to take the ball and dominate.

Jackson has a killer instinct, coupled with a killer ability to finish, and the confidence to take the ball and dominate. He may not be as gifted physically as Wiggins, and may not be as good a player in the future (who knows at this point), but he's a supremely more confident freshman who is willing to be "the man". Luckily we don't always need him to be, with the overall talent level we have.

Excellent point Az on the finishing. You are so right. Wigs was absolutely amazing at getting to the rim and many of those times absolutely terrible at finishing. I would get sooo frustrated. He seemed to always try to squirm his body lithely to avoid contact and end up missing the layup because of it. That is a great point and Jackson is far far more advanced in that regard.

Probably worth adding X. now a D League journeyman, to this discussion.6'6" , long plenty of fast twitch and some ball skills but almost in a hurry to get out of here before being exposed.

AW might be an All Star this year, though he is in a bit of a scoring drought. Ben just can't get with the right team. KO too early to tell. JS a walking cautionary tale.

The all time stud big guard is MJ, a gifted alpha dog who perfected his game over time, JJ might be as close to that as we see in this generation? Hope he has a monster game tomorrow , I have my ticket.

Nah, it's genuinely want my students to strive!! And that's a complete compliment to you! Math-wise, I could probably reference some of your data when we learn to calculate the mean, median, and mode. But if I stick with strictly Jayhawk data, I don't know how interested the kids would be