Player ratings by game

I have not read anything further on Bryce Thompson. I sure hope he heals quickly and is able to come back and play. He really is a much greater key to the success of this team than it might seem. Many of his minutes are going to Dajuan. While I admire Dajuan and would love to see him continue to grow, he is not a prime time ready point guard. He very well may get there in the next year or two. But this year he is a nice player with nice skills and an apparently good attitude and work ethic. Sounds all very good. But it adds up to him being a guy that on most Jayhawk teams of the past would be a spot back-up not a key bench player.

Speaking of keys, there are a couple things to look for against West Virginia tomorrow.

1. Return to rebounding -- This has to start with David. It is not only David but we need David to be more of a beast on the boards. He did that against K-State. Now we need him to make that a trend. We also need to continue for our wings and guards to rebound above their pay grade. They have done so much of this year. But we have slacked off a little in our recent skid. Get back to rebounding.

2. Ochai needs to show his mettle -- The data shows that Ochai, of all the players, has a tendency to wane against tougher competition. The reason this is so important is because Ochai has become a key to our offensive success. He has lacked a killer "Never say die" mentality against the big boys too often. We need Ochai to toughen up and fight.

3. Defense -- As I have said often, this team has been inconsistent this season, even on defense. I can't say that this team has ever shown me they are an elite defensive team. But they have shown they can be very good. But we can recognize our weaknesses (switching, helping the helper) and compensate with good team play. We played pretty solidly against K-State. We need to stay focused for 40 minutes, possession by possession, second by second.

3. Christian needs to stay aggressive -- Christian has never struck me as a player who lacks confidence or will back down. But he goes for long stretches where he shows zero aggressiveness. He needs to attack the rim. He needs to create his own shot on occasion.

4. Movement and passing -- Dribble oriented offenses are not uncommon. Some offenses are built around dribble control. Ours is not one that will thrive on that since we do not have exactly the fastest or quickest guys on the court. We need to have crisper, more purposeful passing.

I thought it would be interesting to look at some key games through the lens of my player rating system. If you recall, the red marker is a theoretical projection of what a player needs to rate in order for the team to perform at a more or less top 10 level. If we are playing a team like Baylor, a top ranked team, we would need everyone to be at the red marker. Or if anyone is below the red marker, someone else is significantly above the red marker. And certainly the top 5 need to be at the red marker. If one of the top 2 or 3 players is below the red marker, it is very very difficult for the others to rate highly enough to compensate. You will see this in the game graphs.

Game 1 - Gonzaga
Marcus was our most critical player and he was substantially below where he needed to be. The great game by Bryce and the strong minutes by Mitch and Tristan were not nearly enough to make up for the No. 1 player being so far below the marker. Christian also was a huge culprit. This is one game against a top opponent where Ochai played very well. Our projected rating for success was 77.5 but the total team rated at 66.8. Virtually all of that was Marcus and Christian.


Game 14 - Baylor
Baylor was a much better game for us than Gonzaga because our top 2 guys, Marcus and CHristian played well. Christian played very well. But Ochai and Jalen played below the marker. As I said, when you play a top-ranked team, you all need to be above the marker and even then there is no guarantee of victory since the marker is based on a top 1o type performance. The bench played well, actually very well. We were within 5 points late the 2nd half. We were closer in that game than it might have seemed. We needed a little more from Jalen and Ochai.


Game 10 - Texas
3 of our top 5 players were below the marker. This will always spell disaster against a highly rated team. Christian was a complete no-show while Ochai was well below and Marcus was a little below. David was good in the fewish minutes he played. Just a bad effort. Jalen was strong but that will never be enough against a top team.


Game 17 - Tennessee
Wow, we had three players (Nos. 3, 4 and 5) have super stinkers. Jalen began his resurgence and played well in fewer minutes. Christian was especially bad but Ochai had a super stinker as did Dajuan. No way you win a game like this even against a mediocre team.


Game 13 - Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State is ranked somewhere around 40 at this time. We do not need a super strong everyone above the marker type game for a victory. But when your top 3 guys are all below the marker, you will not win a lot of game unless you are playing a very weak team. Ochai, our No. 1 player that game, was actually close to the marker. This loss is mostly on Jalen and Marcus and mostly Jalen. This was when Jaln was in the middle of his funk. David had a monster game but it was still not enough to make up for the Jalen's stinker and Marcus's semi-stinker. Once again, Bryce and Tristan were effective in their minutes off the bench.