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March 7, 2009
After each KU basketball game this season, this is where you can find out the hardwood equivalent of The Nielsen Ratings from Journal-World sports editor Tom Keegan. He'll rate the Jayhawk scholarship players' individual performances, telling you who was worth tuning in to watch. If you agree or maybe even differ, make sure to comment and tell Tom how you really feel. (Scoring: Each week, the top player in the ratings will be awarded 10 points. Second best gets nine points. Third best gets eight points, and so on and so on. The season standings are at the bottom.)
1. Sherron Collins: Didn’t have a hot hand but did a nice job of pushing the pace, distributing the ball and drawing fouls. Finished with 21 points, seven assists and two steals.
2. Brady Morningstar: Did a superb job of shadowing A.J. Abrams, who made just 2 of 11 field goals and 1 of 6 three-pointers. Also hit three huge three-pointers and finished with nine points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal without turning it over.
3. Cole Aldrich: Had trouble guarding and scoring on Dexter Pittman in the first half, but came through with a big second half and finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
4. Tyshawn Taylor: Poor first-half play (two points, three turnovers, poor defense) earned him a spot on the bench to start the second half. When he returned, he played aggressive, under control basketball and juiced the crowd with a hard one-hand slam on a pass from Collins on the break. Finished with 11 points and five assists.
5. Marcus Morris: Opened the second half with defensive intensity he lacked at the beginning of the game. Also showed determination scoring down low. Scored nine points.
6. Markieff Morris: Took an ill-advised three-pointer and had two turnovers but banked in a nice hook shot and contributed eight points in 14 minutes.
7. Travis Releford: Had four points and a steal in 10 minutes and gave the team a nice energy boost.
8. Mario Little: Had trouble defensively, but did such a good job of drawing fouls down low that he turned 10 minutes of playing time into six points.
9. Tyrel Reed: Took one shot and man was it a huge one. Again buried a three at the end of the first half to pull KU within seven at 44-37.
10. Quintrell Thomas: Checked in at the end so that Matt Kleinmann could check out and get an ovation on Senior Day.
The Keegan Ratings: Season Standings (total points)
1. Sherron Collins (269 points)
2. Cole Aldrich (264 points)
3. Tyshawn Taylor (205 points)
4. Brady Morningstar (188 points)
5. Marcus Morris (169 points)
6. Tyrel Reed (163 points)
7. Markieff Morris (149 points)
8. Travis Releford (110 points)
9. Mario Little (90 points)
10. Quintrell Thomas (64 points)
11. Tyrone Appleton (27 points)
The Keegan Ratings: Conference Standings (total points)
1. Sherron Collins (135 points)
2. Cole Aldrich (132 points)
3. Tyshawn Taylor (103 points)
4. Brady Morningstar (98 points)
5. Marcus Morris (89 points)
6. Mario Little (80 points)
7. Tyrel Reed (79 points)
8. Markieff Morris (77 points)
9. Travis Releford (53 points)
10. Quintrell Thomas (22 points)
11. Tyrone Appleton (8 points)
Comments
RockChalkJayBlog (anonymous) says...
So is there going to be a separate "Postseason standings"?
March 7, 2009 at 9:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LAJayhawk (anonymous) says...
I think Marcus deserves to be higher. Yes, he lacked some defensive intensity the first half, but everyone lacked defensive intensity the first half (except Brady). Marcus had some very big plays for us and is clearly starting to come into his own. Plus he really seems like he's starting to control his emotions which is fantastic.
Sherron forced some plays which is why his FG% isn't that great. But he really did play a very good game. 2.3 A/T ratio and pushed the action the whole game.
Glad to see Cole come around in the second half. And the fact that he's still shooting great from the foul line is a tremendous additive to this team dynamic.
Finally, Brady really did lock down today. As bad as our defense was in the second half, it really was almost that good in the second. Glad to see the funk of the last 3 halves pass......
March 7, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
BannerforKirk (anonymous) says...
This was a hard game to grade, I'm sure. Most everyone played poorly the first half and most everyone played significantly better the second half. I would probably have given Brady the first spot because the only thing that wasn't pretty bad the first 18 minutes was his defense. Add his defense to at least one very timely 3 and he has a pretty strong case for being the reason we were in a position to win this game.
It's also tough because Travis played really well today. He's who Coach went to when Tyshawn wasn't very good (the 1st half) and he contributed. He's got very good offensive instincts. Hopefully his defense will catch up with his ability to drive on offense. I was initially trying to think of who I would move him above, but not sure exactly who that would be (maybe Markieff).
All together, very tough game to grade, so I wouldn't criticize too much, would just move Brady to the top for his ultimate contribution.
March 7, 2009 at 10:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PAHAWK1 (anonymous) says...
LAJayhawk, I agree. 1. Brady, 2. Sherron, 3. Marcus, .....
March 7, 2009 at 11:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KansaKid (anonymous) says...
I saw several shots taken that could have been dished out to Tyrel when he was wide open. That said I feel his 3 points are underated at the close of the half. However I loved the outcome. Annika
March 8, 2009 at 12:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dagger108 (anonymous) says...
Part of the reason that Brady looks good and Sherron has some flaws is because Brady has relearned his role on the team and is playing within those limits while Sherron's role on the team continues to be to push. Push the ball. Push the team. Push the limits. If there were more players making plays around him, he wouldn't need to push as much, tho his nature is still to push. Coach has warned everyone that would listen from the beginning of the year that he was going to ask Sherron to push, and he was expecting to make mistakes, but that he knew that the team would still be better off for having him push. Brady played a wonderfully supporting role today and throughout the year, and rightfully takes the #2 spot ahead of all others.
March 8, 2009 at 12:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dsmith84 (anonymous) says...
Just to point out, Quintrell checked in in the first half when we were having trouble matching up with some of their bigs. The Morris twins checked in at the end of the game for Brennan and Matt to receive their ovation.
this game and the texas tech game just reinforce my idea of not ranking the players 1-10, but giving each player a grade A, B, C, etc... and giving them a "GPA" as the season goes along.
In the Texas Tech game nobody would have earned better than a C+, but for this game #'s 1-9 probably would have had B's or better... just something to think about...
heck, its the world wide web, maybe I'll just do my own blog next season to do this exact same thing!
March 8, 2009 at 10:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ralster (anonymous) says...
Nice points above by everyone. Ive posted this concept before, but Sherron is doing all season just what coach wanted him to--push the ball, and double your point contribution. He has spectacularly succeeded with both. This is why some people wanted him to start last year. But that would have sidelined Darnell, Russell; and Sherron's defense this year is noticeably better than last year. You all know Coach's tendencies: he had a very hard time replacing Russell's offensive efficiency and team game and A-rated defense with the still-developing Sherron. Different team dynamic this year, and a much improved Sherron. We shall go far with Sherron 3.0.
March 8, 2009 at 11:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ObiWan (anonymous) says...
I would put Brady at the top, but Sherron deserves it as well- if only for the 30-second stretch in the second half. Loose-ball rebound, assist to Brady, steal, assist to Tyshawn. That was the game right there, along with free throws and some timely offensive boards by Cole. Really, everyone contributed something that factored into the W. Great game!
March 8, 2009 at 12:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
johnsont1 (anonymous) says...
Yeah KU played great offensively except for a couple of minutes in the first half. KU started to dominate when they finally started to play defense, which you have got to attribute to the whole team, not just Brady. Sherron and Tyshawn definitely stepped up and led us this game.
March 8, 2009 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
janeyb (anonymous) says...
Great win Jayhawks! Speaking of Robinson--I check out the Bighorns occasionally. They have won their last three games and Russell averaged about 20 points (25 points in one game) and is playing about 35 minutes. We may see him playing on an NBA team yet.
March 8, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )