Jackson-Cartwright plays well in limited minutes
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TORRANCE, Calif. - What the 5-foot-9, 140-pound Parker Jackson-Cartwright of Los Angeles (Calif.) Loyola lacks in stature, he makes up for in ability and basketball IQ.
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The 34th-ranked prospect in the class of 2014 saw just 15 minutes of game action Monday in Loyola's 78-23 blowout of Palos Verdes Estates (Calif.) Palos Verdes in its first game of the South Bay Classic, but he made the most of his time on the court.
It was evident early on that Jackson-Cartwright's main focus was to get his teammates involved.
The first two Loyola buckets came off one of the junior's pinpoint passes. The first went to Thomas Welsh for an easy bucket, and the second on a drive-and-dish to Trey Mason (son of former Arizona player Harvey Mason) for a wide open 3-pointer.
Not only did he make the right passes, but the passes were directly placed into the shooting pocket for his 3-point shooters, and his entry passes made it easy for his post players to get right into their post moves.
Jackson-Cartwright finished with seven assists.
What separates him from most point guards at this stage is his ability to let the game come to him. The four-star recruit made certain to not force any play that wasn't there. This skill is something that Jackson-Cartwright said he has been working on over the summer.
"I (used the summer) to just touch-up on all my skills," he told GOAZCATS.com after the game. "Better decision-making, ball-handling, shooting. There's nothing I can't get better at."
Jackson-Cartwright was able to showcase his strong ball-handling skills throughout the first half. He blew by defenders with ease, using a quick first step to get to the basket, and he was able to get open looks with a lightning-quick crossover dribble.
He shot just five times, connecting on three of them with all the makes being strong finishes at the rim.
The shooting stroke he touched on was on display just once, and even though it fell short off the front of the rim, he had a proper release-point, follow-through and rotation.
Defensively, Loyola utilized a full-court press from beginning to end with Jackson-Cartwright as the spearhead. Jackson-Cartwright's quickness allowed him to be effective trapping the ball, while recovering to his man.
Jackson-Cartwright epitomizes the term floor general. If he's not securing a rebound, his teammates immediately look to get him the ball, mainly because they know they'll be getting it back on the offensive end.
Loyola and Jackson-Cartwright will be back in action Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. PST and GOAZCATS.com will be in attendance for that game.
Editor's note: We are excited to have Devin Ugland join the GOAZCATS.com staff as a West Coast recruiting analyst. Devin is based in Orange County, Calif., and will be covering West Coast basketball recruiting. He will be focusing his efforts on keeping up with Arizona targets and their recruitments across Southern California.
Click Here to view this Link.Devin Ugland
GOAZCATS.com West Coast recruiting analyst