Mike DiMauro: Hype train doing Andre Jackson a disservice

Jan. 26—College basketball has many warts, what with the grass-is-always-greener byproduct of a rampaging transfer portal and recruits going to the highest bidder, thanks to the NCAA's failure to give actual teeth to Name-Image-Likeness guidelines.

But I'm wondering if the bloviating on game broadcasts doesn't do the kids a similar disservice.

To wit: The same hype machine that turned James Bouknight into a can't miss NBA prospect during his UConn days rains comparable hosannas now on Andre Jackson. I actually feel bad for the kid whose game is nowhere near ready for the NBA but endures frequent hyperventilating about his professional future.

We can accept that in the spirit of a good show, television blatherers often strain narratives to keep the audience interested and to ingratiate themselves to their subject matter. Besides, nobody remembers vapid pronouncements. One must be declarative now in a competitive industry that's already held hostage by the popularity of hot takes.

But can some of these people exercise a hint of responsibility here? Yes, Jackson is a gifted athlete who would be an indoor track savant. But basketball also requires game-specific skills, which loosely translates today into this: In today's NBA, If you can't score, you can't play unless you do something else extraordinarily well.

Jackson is shooting 36 percent from the field, 29 percent from three-point range. Xavier's game plan at Gampel Pavilion Wednesday night wasn't merely revealing, but more obvious than a roadside billboard: Leave Jackson more open than certain sections of Wyoming — and pray he shoots. As coach Dan Hurley even said after the game to reporters, "(Jackson) took the bait."

Maybe now Fox commentator Donny Marshall — although he is certainly not alone — can let the kid's game evolve at its own pace, without trumpeting the same false narrative that hoodwinked many fans into thinking Bouknight was ready for the NBA, too.

Scoring is up throughout the NBA, underscored by Basketball Reference, which discovered recently that "the current offensive rating — points per 100 possessions — is the highest-ever registered at 113.6, much higher than the 97.7 registered in the 73-74 season, the year when the NBA started tracking this stat."

More numbers: According to a study the NBA published last year, three-pointers accounted for 22 percent of total shots in the 2010-11 season. That ballooned to 39 percent last season as the mid-range jumper (where have you gone, Rip Hamilton?) dropped from 31 to 13 percent in the same time span.

Players can do more things at different sizes and with physical attributes belying traditional NBA norms. More shooters means more spacing on the floor, which would presuppose that Jackson has no place in the NBA right now because he'd shrink the floor. Nobody would guard him. Just because he has NBA athleticism doesn't mean he has an NBA game.

Lest we forget, though, that Bouknight, despite maturity issues and an injury-plagued college career, had a hype train mightier than the Acela. He drew comparisons to Jordan Clarkson and even (gulp) Bradley Beal.

Sorry. Some of us here in Connecticut watched Bouknight and couldn't understand exactly which part of his game was ready for the NBA. Was there potential? Certainly. But there didn't appear to be enough pundits bold enough to say the kid needed another year in school for on and offcourt reasons.

Maybe that's how it works now. If you question a kid's acumen, you are criticizing the program. You are one of "them." You either sustain the party line or you're out of the family. And if you question the program and somehow imperil the kid's path to the NBA, the program will not be able to boast that it attracts NBA players in its recruiting pitch and thus will get lesser recruits in the future.

Except that the hype surrounding Bouknight did him a disservice, although it got him paid. I can't imagine Bouknight has much inner peace, what with a failed career thus far and ongoing maturity issues. I believe the NBA to be Darwinian. Results oriented. If you fail, you go.

But then, as the old line goes, "money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with."

I'd be happier if Jackson's hype machine popped a gasket. Jackson seems like an earnest kid who tries hard and wants to do the right things. He's just not good enough yet. He's a kid. No shame in that. It's just time for the adults who should know better to pump the brakes on his NBA future. It's not really helping anybody.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro