Player Ratings to the Theme of Sand

KU went to Manhattan and won (ho-hum) and have maintained their lead atop the Big XII. And just because we can, let’s rate the players’ performances to the theme of sand (wink, wink).

5 Stars: The Beach

Beaches are the best. Strangely, the only downside I can see is the actual sand as it seems to get anywhere and everywhere. But who cares? You’re at the beach and that’s obviously better than most things you could be doing.

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk. The Ukranian did it all in this one. He ended the night with 22 points on five of nine shooting from beyond the arc. He’s driving with authority now, and he also snatched seven rebounds. And that block......

4.5 Stars: Sand Castles

Another beach related item, but how cool are sandcastles? When I was a kid I was obsessed with digging and stacking and shoveling when we went to the beach. And professional sandcastles? Amazing.

Malik Newman. This guy used to grab low ratings on a regular basis, but what a revelation he has become. A double-double (13 and 10 rebounds) and some great defense, too.

Devonte Graham. Devonte had a double-double as well (16 and 11 assists). Combine that with the fact that he always draws the opponents’ best guard on defense and the fact that he never rests, and this performance looks even better.

4 Stars: Enter Sandman

The hit that made Metallica mainstream. For the hardcore Metallica fans, this is where they derailed, and maybe so. They never had their previous edge after the “Black Album”, but this song certainly isn’t the reason. It’s still pretty good.

Mitch Lightfoot. No points in this one, but his defense was great and his willingness to take a body defensively is going to be increasingly important.

3.5 Stars: The Desert

I can go both ways on the desert. On one hand, most are exceptionally beautiful. On the other, the heat is often ridiculous and many of the animals are deadly.

Lagerald Vick. He didn’t completely disappear in this game!

3 Stars: 4th of July Asbury Park, Sandy

Bruce Springsteen makes an appearance on this list and it’s squarely in the three spot. This song is great, but like all Bruce songs, the live performance destroys the studio version which at times can seem tepid.

Udoka Azubuike. The big man made two free throws and was a perfect two of two from the field. But the key was Dok being able to take it easy (relatively) on defense.

Sam Cunliffe. The Arizona State transfer played significant first-half minutes due to foul trouble on Garrett and Vick. Made a basket, but looked a little spastic out there at times.

2 Stars: Sandbox

What is this thing, a giant litter box for four year olds? The more I think about sandboxes, the more I think that we all played in pee-pee soaked sand. Disgusting.

No one was as bad as a fetid sandbox.

1 Stars: Sandstorm

K-State can’t even play this song at games anymore because their “rowdy” student section screams anti-kU (see what I did there?) profanities when they are playing Western Arkansas State. Classy.

Fortunately, no KU players were as bad as this song/”tradition.”

Non-Rating:

Silvio de Sousa and Marcus Garrett. De Sousa sill looks a step behind and Marcus Garrett did his best TJ Pugh impersonation by racking up three fouls in four minutes. They’ll learn.