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March 22, 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. Cole Aldrich: Recorded a triple double with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots, giving him two sensational performances in his home town. It was the first recorded triple-double in Kansas history, although blocked shots weren’t kept when Wilt Chamberlain played at Kansas.
2. Sherron Collins: Opened the game setting up teammates, and shifted to scoring mode when the team needed it. Finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. Did not turn the ball over. He was nearly as big a key offensively as Aldrich was on the defensive end.
3. Mario Little: Hit the boards hard, getting six rebounds to go with seven minutes.
4. Markieff Morris: Played hard, made strong defensive contributions and pitched in with five rebounds.
5. Tyrel Reed: Made all six free throws and picked up nine points and three rebounds.
6. Tyshawn Taylor: Three points, three rebounds, three assists and six turnovers.
7. Brady Morningstar: Scoreless, he missed all four three-point attempts.
8. Marcus Morris: Didn’t have it. Scoreless without a rebound, he missed his only field goal attempt and both free throw shots.
9. Tyrone Appleton: Received a nice ovation from fans aware he spent Saturday at a close friend’s funeral. Scored a point.
10. Travis Releford: Played final minute.
11. Quintrell Thomas: Played final minute.
The Keegan Ratings: Season Standings (total points)
T1. Sherron Collins (292 points)
T1. Cole Aldrich (292 points)
3. Tyshawn Taylor (227 points)
4. Brady Morningstar (200 points)
5. Marcus Morris (189 points)
6. Tyrel Reed (178 points)
7. Markieff Morris (164 points)
8. Travis Releford (113 points)
9. Mario Little (107 points)
10. Quintrell Thomas (64 points)
11. Tyrone Appleton (35 points)
The Keegan Ratings: Conference/Postseason Standings (total points)
1. Cole Aldrich (160 points)
2. Sherron Collins (158 points)
3. Tyshawn Taylor (125 points)
4. Brady Morningstar (110 points)
5. Marcus Morris (109 points)
6. Mario Little (97 points)
7. Tyrel Reed (94 points)
8. Markieff Morris (92 points)
9. Travis Releford (56 points)
10. Quintrell Thomas (22 points)
11. Tyrone Appleton (16 points)
Comments
eastcoasthawk (anonymous) says...
Have to say I am glad to see Mario Little coming back to his offensive game. Hope he can be just as effective in the next game.
And major congrats to Cole on his huge game. Don't stop now.
March 22, 2009 at 9:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
LAJayhawk (anonymous) says...
Cole was an absolute beast. 13, 20 and 10 is just ridiculous. I still think he should stay another year, but after those two games on the national stage, it seems to me his odds of leaving have just shot up. Way up.
Sherron quietly had a phenomenal game. He was under control, didn't force shots, and got everyone involved. Several of his teammates, however, didn't help his stats out much. The fact that he only had two assists is pretty ridiculous and absolutely no fault of his own. I can think of at least 4 missed wide open shots (and I mean no one within 10 feet) that would have been assists for Collins. I actually did a double take when I saw in the box score that he shot 19 times; they virtually all came in the flow of the offense, and that made it seem like he shot considerably less than that. Add that to the 0 turnovers and you have one great game.
And I agree, eastcoasthawk, Mario looked fluid and confident out there. We need that help if we're gonna keep moving forward in this tourney.
Tyshawn really had an off game. Hope he finds himself again on Friday.
March 22, 2009 at 11:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KansaKid (anonymous) says...
Great game for our Top 2 guys, Aldrich and Collins. I feel Reed did his best defensive work of the year in this game. He was all over his guys who could barely see the rim he was so close to them. He should have been # 3 in the ratings. Annika
March 23, 2009 at 4:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justanotherfan (anonymous) says...
I've never seen a game quite like that before. Collins dominated the game offensively, Cole dominated (really need a stronger word than that) the game defensively. Unfortunately, everyone else was nearly awful. Little helped out a bit, but everyone else was MIA. We cannot beat Michigan State with a similar performance. Either Brady or Tyrel has to hit shots, otherwise, this party is probably over.
March 23, 2009 at 9:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Francine (anonymous) says...
I disagree with you on no one else showed up. There were many great defensive plays by most everyone.
March 23, 2009 at 10:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
drgnslayr (anonymous) says...
justanotherfan: I agree with you. Tyshawn had 6 turnovers! Brady had 3 turnovers. I'm a big supporter of Tyshawn but I hope he finds a way to be more helpful against MSU, whether it comes from concentrating more to playing looser and not over-thinking. Brady has also been too much on cruise control.
Eventually the "2 on 5" game is going to catch up to us unless more people contribute.
I think a big part of it relates to the classic argument we've had on here all season long relating to the team just sitting back and letting Sherron do it all (except Cole).
Sherron is truly one of the better guards to ever wear a KU jersey but many on the team just think he should carry us now because of his talent and experience... a huge mistake to think it will always work. Yes... Sherron should shoot many shots, but that doesn't mean the rest of the guards go on vacation!
And Cole could use some help down on the post... for God's sake he is the first one to jump out on the perimeter and help the guards by setting picks for them, when will they do the same for him? Brady definitely has the body to move across the lane and sneak in some screens for Cole now and then...
I cut all the new people a little slack for this being their first NCAA experience, but now the weekend is over and I hope that is enough to get some of these guys activated for next week.
None of us are asking these other guys to score 20... just make a higher level of contribution and don't turn the ball over. That isn't too much to ask!
Mario did step up... and thank you for fighting out of your slump and going for it!
March 23, 2009 at 11:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
PikesPeakSmitty (anonymous) says...
We just saw good Collins.... I think MSU will guard him better and I hope he doesn't force things too much. We need Marcus to have a monster game to beat MSU. I want 18 points 8 rebounds from him. Several 3's from Tyrel/Brady would be nice too.
March 24, 2009 at 4:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )