It has been awhile since I did one of these, so let's do a real quick "Catchup Edition". Everyone ready?
Here is a quick look at the box scores:
Iowa State
Missouri
Texas Tech
Baylor
No ranking of the players from grades because I'm not sure off of the top of my head who would rank over who.
Russell Robinson - Grades: C-, B-, C+, C+
Against Iowa State RR was still recovering from the flu and he played absolutely horrible. He played 34 minutes, but only scored 5 points on 1-5 shooting. For that game let's give him a C-. In the next game against Mizzou, RR again played 34 minutes (Bill Self's magic number for RR?) and raised his point total to...6 on 2-3 shooting. It was much more economical ane he also dished out 7 assists and stole the ball 3 times so I will be more generous, B-. Against the Red Raiders he didn't reach the magic number (must have been why we lost) and only played 26. In those 26 minutes he continued his rise in scoring with 9 points on 3-5 shooting. He was still recovering from his month long bout with the flu. I'll give him a C+. On Wednesday night, the first thing I noticed was that RR had a bounce in his step, a bounce I haven't seen since the flu hit him. His play didn't necessarily reflect that bounce with his 8 points on 2-5 shooting along with 2 steals in 32 minutes (didn't reach 34, how did we win?). I'll give him a C+.
Super Mario - Grades: B+, C-, C+, C+
Mario has hit a little scoring skid these past couple of games. He was getting close to 20 every game but the last 4 games he has scored only 11, 6, 5 and 9 points the past 4 games. In Ames, Iowa he was just beginning his skid when he shot 3-9 to get that 11 along with pulling down 7 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists in 39 minutes. B+ despite the scoring outage. Against Missouri he didn't fare so well when he played only 21 minutes scoring only 6 points. Not his best game, give him a C-. Against TT he played good on defense but not good on offense, scoring only 5 points in 34 minutes. That is a point every 7 minutes. That isn't good, especially for the guy we all thought would lead us to the Final Four. The 3 steals makes it a C+ though. Finally, against Baylor he raised his scoring all the way to 9 points on 2-4 shooting. Decent game throughout again the 3 steals gives him a C+.
Brandon Rush - Grades: B+, B, C+, A-
Speaking of magic numbers, in 3 straight games against Iowa State, Missouri and Texas Tech he shot exactly 14 shots. Against Baylor he toned it down a little and only shot 13 times but he made more in that game than any other contest. Against the Cyclones he scored 12 points in 39 minutes of action and played great defense all game long against Mike Taylor. He deserves a B+ because of that defense along with 9 rebounds. Against the Tigers he made 5-14 compared to 4 thre previous game and scored 16 points along with 3 blocked shots and 7 boards. Sounds like a B performance. Against Bobby Knight he didn't play great, scoring only 10 points in his daily 14 shots. He had 6 rebounds but still only gets a C+ because of his struggles on offense. On Wednesday night in Waco he played absolutely great, shooting 7-13 while scoring 18 points and getting 8 rebounds. All that equals a A- in my opinion.
Sherron Collins - Grades: B-, A+, B+, B+
These 4 games, especially on Big Monday against Missouri, was when SC emerged. Against Iowa State he was still being an off and on player, scoring 10 points on 5-8 shooting in 21 minutes. He didn't make a 3 pointer and gets a B-. The next game is a completely different story when he played 26 minutes. Even though he played 5 minutes more he scored 23 points on 8-14 shooting including 4-7 from behind the arc. Just about as good as you can expect from this kid, A+. He was again the guy we went to late in the game in Lubbock, scoring 10 points in 28 minutes. Sure, he only scored 10 but almost all of that was in the 2nd half and when we needed points late in the game, he was the guy we went to. Just for that fact he deserves a B+. Against Baylor he continued his hot streak scoring 13 points on 5-8 shooting, including 3-4 from his favorite spot on the floor, behind the arc. B+ sounds good for that game.
Sometime soon I'll take a look at the 4 fowards, DJack, Slim Shady, Julian and Sasha that get major PT and what they have done these past 4 games.