Player Ratings: KU/Michigan State

This is the first installment of the KU player ratings and in the future, you're more likely to see these pretty quickly after the final whistle.  The plan is to break these out after many of the "bigger" games this season, and the game in Chicago last night qualifies as the first big clash of the season.

Please keep in mind that these ratings are just the thoughts of one person and are certainly up for debate, so if you have a beef, you know where the comments section is located.

Here’s the scale:

10 - Magical, extraterrestrial, godlike

9 - Outstanding, truly fantastic, utterly brilliant

8 - Great, excellent

7 - Good

6 - Slightly above average, close to ‘Good’

5 - Slightly below average

4 - Poor

3 - Terrible

2 – Disastrous

Also keep in mind that it will be exceptionally hard to achieve a 10 in these rankings, although if this we’re being conducted for Michigan State, Denzel Valentine’s performance would’ve most certainly garnered a 10.  So, after the 79-73 loss, how did the Jayhawks stack up?

Starters:

Frank Mason-4- Frank had a rough night. He was 5 of 15 from the floor but how many of those were missed layups?  RCT tweeted it out, and it’s true: we certainly don’t want Frank returning to his freshman form of missing bunnies.  Also, three assists is not what you need from your leader.  Let’s hope the Maui sunshine lets Mason shake this one off.

Wayne Selden-4- I like Wayne’s assertiveness, always have, but the guy needs to be more productive when he gets to the rim.  Too many times it looks like a circus act when he gets in the air, twisting and turning like a top.  Have a plan when you go up there, Wayne.  Also, quit taking two point shots that are three inches from the three point line.

Devonte’ Graham-3- Devonte’ was KU’s worst player on a night when no one but Perry Ellis was good.  My biggest complaint with him is the fact that his decision making, especially on when to take a shot himself, is still lacking.  With how Graham’s brain was (not) functioning last night, I definitely would’ve used Greene or Svi more.

Perry Ellis-7.5- The best Jayhawk, bar none.  Perry was 9 of 18 for 22 points, but when he got into a position he liked, he was unstoppable.  Credit to Michigan State for making adjustments on Perry, but really, when no one else is doing anything offensively, it seemed like an easy adjustment to make.  Dick Vitale also seemed somewhat amazed by Perry’s range.  Weird.

Jamari Traylor-4- I jokingly made a comment to my friend that the moment where Jamari flew to the ground and actually sat on the ball for a split second would be Bill Self’s favorite play of the day.  Maybe it was.  Jamari had some strong takes to the rack which I liked, but he looks like a chicken with his head cut off too frequently for my liking.

Bench:

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk-6- Why didn’t this guy play more?  Kansas needed a spark and it was obvious to anyone with a pulse that Graham was struggling.  He does too many things right to be languishing on the bench when there was only one person on the court all night that could score.  His 12 minutes seemed like five.

Brannen Greene-5- Again, why didn’t this guy play?  After a sparkling performance on Friday, Greene gets rewarded with nine minutes, and like Svi, those nine minutes felt like less than five.  While Michigan State was raining down threes, Kansas’ two best three point bombers were hanging out with Evan Manning.

Landen Lucas-4- Why did this guy play? Unlike the previous two players, his 14 minutes seemed like 27.  He has no hands, and besides offering a somewhat large frame, what does he bring to the table against the big teams?  Self said that he seals the post the best, but he is not dynamic at all.  I’d take a guy who makes a big play once in a while (Mickelson/Bragg) rather than the "steady as she goes" non-entity that Lucas is in almost every big game.

Carlton Bragg-5- Showed off his range in draining a few mid-range jumpers, but was not given much of a chance to play.  He had 11 mostly anonymous minutes and I think this ranking would be higher (as it would for many of the bench players) if he had been given more playing time.  KU just looks more active (good and bad) when Bragg is on the court.

Hunter Mickelson-N/A- Mickelson’s three minutes do not garner a rating.  I wish I could’ve rated this guy.  He really should’ve seen more playing time.