Kansas vs Baylor: Player Ratings to the Theme of Giants
Not much to say that hasn’t already been said about that one. Kansas is better with Kevin McCullar, won’t match up with a team that talented until at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and looked better despite the loss. There’s a lot to analyze going forward, but today we keep it simple. Hunter Dickenson is tall. Giants are tall. Let’s rate the players to giants, shall we? Use the table of contents if you’d like to skip through the parameters.
5 Stars: Out of this world performance. This is a hard to achieve rating and is only reserved for the most impressive or impressionable performances.
4.5 Stars: Very strong performance, packed the stat sheet, provided undeniable intangibles.
4 Stars: A strong performance that falls just short of the standards above.
3.5 Stars: Above average performance, perhaps stands out in one category or one aspect of the game.
3 Stars: Average performance. Also could be a very strong game in one aspect but a very poor game in another such as 15 points but seven turnovers. Could also be that the player played, did their job, but didn't do much spectacularly.
2 Stars: Below average performance, or we simply have higher expectations for the player on this particular night.
1 Star: Rare, but if a player has a stinker in all aspects.
5 Stars: Andre the Giant
How could he not be number one? The Princess Bride is a classic, he’s a wrestling legend, and best of all, he is a true giant. Have you seen the picture of him with a regular beer can in his hand? Amazing.
No one was as great as Andre the Giant.
4.5 Stars: Jolly Green Giant
The face of canned vegetables in the United States (sorry Del Monte), and seemingly a very nice giant.
Dajuan Harris was everywhere for big stretches against Baylor. He could’ve (should’ve!) had a double-double but for a couple of Kansas misses on nice Harris passes, but finished with 12 points and nine assists. He also had three steals in the game.
4 Stars: Cyclops
One of the cooler mythological beasts, but Polyphemus, the most famous cyclops of all time (pre X-Men of course) got completely outwitted by Odysseus. He got his eye popped by a sharpened tree trunk and then got completely scammed into opening his giant rock door.
It is so nice having Kevin McCullar back in the lineup, and even if his shot selection is sometimes iffy (he was 9-19 from the floor), he provides so much on the defensive end (two steals) and allows Kansas to space out better on offense. He finished with 20 points, and in his defense, a few of his shots rimmed out and he fired up a few in desperation time causing that percentage to drop.
Twenty points and four blocks is a nice day for Hunter Dickinson, but can we quit calling him Mr. Inevitable? Kansas hasn’t exactly been winning very frequently since he was given this moniker.
3.5 Stars: New York Giants
One of the most storied franchises in the history of the NFL, the New York Giants surprisingly won two Super Bowls with Eli Manning as their quarterback. They get a high rating for consistently having a great looking uniform set.
Elmarko Jackson came off the bench and played well for Kansas, easily the best of the bench bunch. He was two of two from three point land and was solid the entire time he played. His foul per minute ratio (five fouls in 15 minutes) leaves a lot to be desired however.
3 Stars: Barry Bonds
The thing about Barry Bonds is that he was great before he started with the performance enhancing drugs. I mean, you still have to make contact with the baseball, and Bonds was always good at that. He should be in the Hall of Fame, no question.
KJ Adams was non-existent in the first frame, came to life a little bit in the second. The classic three star.
2 Stars: Jack and the Beanstalk
The giant at the top of the beanstalk actually falls to his death. You’d think this guy would understand the dangers of living way up there. I guess not.
Johnny Furphy was a disappointment in this one. He scored six points, but wasn’t even out there for a long stretch when KU needed threes.
Parker Braun got absolutely taken to school down low a number of times by Yves Missi and others. The gap in talent was obvious.
Not sure what Nicolas Timberlake brings to the table most nights. I hope a magic switch goes off in his mind in the coming weeks, but I’m not holding my breath.
Jamari McDowell is getting more minutes, but this time it didn't translate to more points.
1 Star: Goliath
Dude gets punked by little old David.
No one was a one star. It wouldn’t be fair to compare anyone to Goliath.
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