Numbers plus entertainment suggest retaining Parker Jackson Cartwright is a must for the BNZ Breakers.
Renowned basketball scribe Marc Hinton ranks Parker Jackson-Cartwright as the second best import that the Breakers have ever had behind multiple championship winner Cedric Jackson.
It’s hard to pick between the singular Jackson and the hyphenated version as the numbers below tend to show but what is certain is that they are the two best import point guards to play for the Breakers. Ced J was arguably the better defender and Parker J-C the more talented at the offensive end of the floor.
Here is a snapshot of some key numbers:
After scoring 19 points in the season ending encounter with the Hawks Jackson-Cartwright became only the second Breakers player to score in double figure in every game of the season (30 games). The only other occasion was in 2006-07 when Carlos Powell scored in double digits in all 33 games.
He also becomes just the third Breaker to score over 600 points in a season (616 at 20.5ppg), following Carlos Powell who tallied 932 points in the 06-07 season and Kirk Penney who passed the mark twice. KP scored 749 points in 2007-08 and 747 points the following season.
PJC has also averaged 5.8 assists per game, a number only bettered at the Breakers by Will McDowell-White last season (5.9apg) and Cedric Jackson who exceeded 6 assists per game in all four seasons he played for the Breakers.
In addition the 2024 All-NBL First Team pick led the league in steals pinching on average 1.9 extra possessions a game. Cedric Jackson also excelled in this area posting figures of 2.2, 2.8, 2.2 and 1.2 during his four prolific years with the club.
2023-24 has been a stellar season for PJC and perhaps from a pure entertainment perspective it could be argued he is the Breakers greatest ever import. Let’s hope we see the LA native back with the club next season to embellish his numbers and once again thrill basketball fans on both sides of the Tasman.