Chansky’s Notebook: Shooting Stars – Chapelboro.com

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Two players to watch in the Cal-Carolina game tonight.

One of them is Andrej Stojakovic, the Golden Bears’ 6-7 sophomore who is the ACC’s second-leading scorer with an average of over 20 points, ahead of flying Duke dunker Cooper Flagg.

The other is Tar Heel rookie Ian Jackson, who is playing like gangbusters and has been the starter since Seth Trimble missed three games with an injury. Jackson is averaging over 15, having scored more than 20 points in five of the last six games.

Stojakovic also has the eighth-best free throw rate in the ACC and has miraculously improved his accuracy at the line from 53 percent last year to 84 percent this season. He’s a big guard, half a foot taller than Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis and will be able to shoot over them.

Trimble is back in action at 6-3 and Jackson will spend some time covering the lanky Stojakovic, who is shooting 46 percent from the floor and 35 percent from beyond the arc and is the man for a Cal team that is 8-8 overall and 1-4 as a new member of the ACC.

The Bears have a few other guys who are good. Jovan Blacksher Jr. is the ninth-best 3-point shooter in the conference, making two per game. Mady Sissoko, a 6-9 senior, ranks sixth in offensive rebounds, where Carolina has no one in the top 15.

The Heels try to work around their lack of size by using their top four players for much of the game, including Cadeau, RJ Davis, Jackson and fellow freshman Drake Powell. If Jalen Washington can play like he did at NC State at 6-10, the 4-1 Tar Heels have a good chance to beat Cal and Stanford on Saturday and go 6-1 before their toughest stretch of the schedule – at Wake Forest , at home and at home at Pitt, at Duke and at Clemson. And Jackson’s rise is a gift from God.

Hubert Davis insists he hasn’t shortened his rotation to eight players, but that means his most talented guys are getting the most minutes. And while RJ is pressured by the defense, Jackson can hit inside with his right or left hand and has shown he can hit the three-ball from the corners and from the top of the key, increasing his shooting accuracy to 43 percent.

The downside for Carolina fans: Jackson is playing like the projected No. 12 pick in June’s NBA draft, meaning he likely won’t return next season. Of Roy Williams’ 22 first-rounders, Cobey White, Cam Johnson and Cole Anthony have been NBA stars since 2017. White looked like a potential All-Pro in college, Johnson’s career started in the NBA, and Anthony is much better up there than he was in his single year in Chapel Hill.

So keep an eye out for Jackson’s NBA talent as he looks like the next Tar Heel to be a star in the ‘league’.

Featured image by Todd Melet

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including bestsellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has been a contributor to the WCHL for decades, making his first appearance as a student in 1971 The “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his opinion column “Art’s Angle” appears weekly on Chapelboro.

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Chansky’s Notebook: Shooting Stars

Art Chansky previews Wednesday night’s showdown between two of the ACC’s best shooters: Cal’s Andrej Stojakovic and UNC’s Ian Jackson.

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