Where Kansas Basketball Players Rank In Conference

KenPom released a new feature recently, posting players' stats in conference play as a part of the individual statistics section. With this, we can also see where guys rank within the conference. I haven't gone totally into it as of yet, and now probably isn't the right place, but when the sample is big enough I tend to prefer using in conference statistics instead of overall statistics because, while the sample is smaller, teams and players get measured on identical footholds (i.e. within Big 12 play, rather than TCU's statistics getting boosted by their horrible nonconference schedule and KU's getting dinged by their murderer's row).

I'll note that players have to have played in 40 percent of the team's minutes to qualify for the leaderboards, and 60 percent to qualify for eFG and true shooting percentage leaderboards, but where player's haven't qualified I'll make a note of where they would rank where appropriate:

(note: It's also worth keeping in mind that only about 60 players are eligible for these leaderboards due to the above minutes restrictions)

Frank Mason

Mason has had a tremendous start to Big 12 play, ranking 9th in offensive rating, and leading all Big 12 point guards in that statistic. Among all players who are using at least 20 percent of a team's possessions, Mason ranks third in offensive rating behind Buddy Hield and Phil Forte, two guys who are in charge of being the main scorers for their teams. It's worth pointing out that I like my point guards to have low usage rates, as that usually means they have low turnover rates. Mason also ranks 6th in the league in eFG at 54.3 percent, 7th in true shooting percentage at 59.2 percent, and 8th in assist rate at 23.3 percent. The assist rate needs to come up a bit, but low assist/low turnover point guards are preferable to the other way around.

Perry Ellis

Ellis got off to a rough start in league play, but has bounced back and is now 14th in eFG and 11th in true shooting percentage. He's also the 5th best offensive rebounder in the league at 10 percent and ranks 12th in defensive rebounding. He's also 8th in steal percentage, just one piece of evidence that he's improved defensively this season.

Wayne Selden

It's been a rough conference season for Selden, although he does rank 14th in assist rate and 13th in steal rate.

Kelly Oubre

Oubre's game against Iowa State drags down his numbers a bit, but he's still 20th in offensive rating, 12th in eFG and 13th in true shooting percentage. He's also the 6th best defensive rebounder in league play, which is pretty amazing considering Bill Self wings rarely rebound, and most notably Oubre is second in the league in steal percentage at 5.2 percent. For a guy billed as an inconsistent and sometimes even lazy defender, he's been anything but.

Cliff Alexander

Cliff rules. Although he needs to take more shots (and play more minutes) the freshman is your Big 12 leader in offensive rating at 129.8. He unfortunately hasn't played enough minutes to qualify in eFG or true shooting, but his eFG of 70.8 percent would rank second in the league, as would his 70.7 true shooting percentage. Cliff is fourth in offensive rebounding, third in defensive rebounding, and fifth in block percentage. It took awhile, and there might be more bumps ahead, but it looks like he's (finally) proving me right.

Jamari Traylor

Finishing off the guys who have played enough minutes to qualify, Traylor ranks 8th in offensive rating, 15th in offensive rebounding, and 8th in block percentage. He also ranks 24th in turnover rate, and has turned it over at a lower clip than Frank Mason, so Self's faith in him has been mostly rewarded. It's worth noting that he would rank 5th in eFG if he had the minutes played to qualify. I'm honestly surprised he's been that good, but it's another data point for the "eye test isn't everything" crowd.

Devonte Graham

The one thing worth noting with Graham is his offensive rating is even better than Cliff's: 134.2. He's done it by amassing a 39.7 percent assist rate (would lead the Big 12) and 4.7 turnover rate (would rank third in the Big 12, and is roughly three times less than Monte Morris). His shooting numbers are depressed a bit by the fact that he can't seem to score beyond the arc, but Graham isn't far off in minutes played (he's only missing because of having to miss the Baylor game due to injury) and when he does have enough minutes to qualify, he's right there in the running for best point guard in the Big 12. Freshmen, especially Freshmen who aren't 1 and done lottery pick talents, don't do that.

Brannen Greene

Last but not least, Greene's eFG of 72.2 percent and true shooting percentage of 72.9 percent both lead the team and would both rank second in the Big 12. He needs quite a few more minutes to qualify, and I don't think he'll get there, but when he's on it seems there are few better shooters around than Greene.