Player Ratings to the Theme of Legendary Trees

These ratings are primarily based on the second half and overtime, because with the exception of Dedric Lawson, I’m not really sure any KU players actually participated in the game’s first frame. Man, that was hard to watch.

Anyway, the Stanford logo features a pine tree and the Stanford mascot is a tree (more on it later), so we’re rating the players by fictional/mythological trees from around the world and throughout history.

5 Stars: Yggdrassil

In Norse mythology, this is the World Tree where all the sections of the world are held. The nine cosmos of their mythology are weaved within the branches and roots of Yggdrassil and therefore it garners the number one spot on our list today.

Lagerald Vick. Where would KU be without this guy? That three to send it into OT was outrageous, and then he just kept scoring. Finished seven of eleven from deep, totaled 27 points, and is the sole reason Kansas has a winning record, let alone an undefeated record.

4.5 Stars: Raskovnik

In Serbia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, this plant has the mythological power to unlock or open anything that is closed, locked, or covered. That’s pretty awesome.

Dedric Lawson. He is a stat packer. Twenty-four points and fifteen rebounds for the transfer. Was the only real bright spot in an extremely poor played first half by Kansas.

4 Stars: Bodhi Tree

This is the tree that supposedly gave shelter to Buddha while he was attaining enlightenment. It is still considered holy to Buddhists around the world.

None of the other players rate this high. There’s a gap from Vick and Lawson to the rest of the team.

3.5 Stars: The Talking Trees in Wizard of Oz

The part where the tree slaps Dorothy for daring to pick an apple off of it was pretty awesome. And let’s be honest, the technology that it took to create that scene (and any scene in that film) in 1939 is amazing.

Udoka Azubuike. When he’s in the game, he’s a monster. Big Dok was nine of eleven from the field, but you can again tell that Bill Self is uneasy with the Nigerian being in the game late, favoring Marcus Garrett over him when the game was on the line.

Marcus Garrett.When KU turned up their defensive intensity, it was Garrett who applied the most. His four steals were a big reason that Kansas won this game.

Devon Dotson. If this guy can drag defenders into the lane and kick out like he did in the second half, KU will be much more dangerous. Finished with 10 points and had four assists.

3 Stars: The Stanford Mascot

You either love or hate this gangly excuse for a mascot, and therefore it fits perfectly in our three spot where we generally rate things that could be seen as both good and bad. Personally, I’m a fan of this useless mascot if for no other reason than it likes to get into fights with other mascots.

Charlie Moore made some free throws at the end.

2 Stars: The trees and plants of Dungeons and Dragons

Get a life nerds.

Quintin Grimes. As Jay Bilas said during the telecast, Grimes just needs to see the basketball go through the hoop.

1 Star: The Spaghetti Tree

This is a semi-famous prank perpetrated in 1957 by the BBC on April Fool’s Day to make everyone believe that a tree could produce spaghetti. Props for making it something like spaghetti and not gold or something wildly unrealistic. Negative points for not choosing bucatini which is the superior long pasta noodle by every possible discernable metric.

No KU player was this bad.

Not Rated:

David McCormack, Mitch Lightfoot, KJ Lawson.