Player ratings by game (part 2)

Game 15 - Oklahoma (Loss)
Here we have an interesting chart. Marcus was superman and played well above the marker. When you No. 1 guy plays like that, he can make up for some deficiency for another weaker performance. But not when your Nos. 2, 3 and 4 players are well below. Even though Dajuan and David also played well above the marker, it was not enough to overcome a very good Oklahoma team. This chart really demonstrates how important it is for the top 5 or 6 players to all be clicking. Christian was once agian the main culprit but Jalen and Ochai were also poor.


Game 5 - North Dakota St.
Now let's look at a game against a weaker opponent where we barely pulled it out. You can see that our top 2 players, Marcus and Ochai, were well below the markers. Again it is very important to understanding these charts to realize that, the higher ranked the player (left most highly ranked, highest red marker) the more damaging it is when that player is below the red marker and the more difficult it is for the other players to make up the slack. When the top 2 players are below the red marker, you will not likely win unless you are playing a weaker opponent. We were playing a weaker opponent and still nearly lost. Thanks to Tyon and Jalen for great games. Note that Christian, No. 4 player, was also below the marker. We were lucky to win this game.


Now let's look at a couple key wins.

Game 6 - Creighton
Here we were playing a top 10 type team. We had 6 of our top 7 players at or above the red marker. That is excellent. Jalen was a superstar while Ochai was the lone player of the top 7 below his red marker. David was ever so slightly below. Jalen's excellent game was just enough to compensate for Ochai's stinker as KU won the game by a single point. This chart really demonstrates the accuracy of the red markers since Creighton was a top 10 type team and all the players averaged right at the marker.


Game 8 - Texas Tech
Much like the Creighton game, 6 of 7 players were at or above the marker with Ochai having a very strong game. Christian was the lone player below the marker. This was a solid performance by all with the exception of Christian. Even so the game was fairly close. This is the type of chart I hope to see the rest of the way, where 6 of the top 7 are at or above the red marker. Hopefully we will not have anyone quite as low as Christian was this game.


Game 9 - West Virginia
If you are noticing a trend, you are correct. Once again, 6 of the top 7 players are at or above the marker. Ochai being the lone player below. David had a particularly good game. This was a little more problematic than Texas Tech where Christian, the lone player below the marker was the 3rd player and here Ochai is the 2nd player. But Christian and Jalen and especially David played well enough to compensate for Ochai. Good team effort.

Something that I think is hard to quantify in here is what the other team is doing. I know HCBS often says one of the keys is making the other team play poorly. Hopefully the Hawks can find ways to not let the other team dictate how well they play.