Player Ratings to the Theme of Misses

Kansas couldn’t score in the last 9:12 of the first half, and KU’s ridiculous end to the first half got me thinking. What are some of the great misses of all time? Let’s see what we can come up with.

5 Stars: Davidson in the 2008 Elite Eight

The obvious number one. Had Davidson given the ball to Steph Curry, this might not be here. But instead, they didn’t, and let Jason Richards take the shot and the rest is history. Curry did nail a three just a few seconds before and it probably would’ve been wise to give him the last shot. I’m sure glad they didn’t.

No one was a five star in this one.

4.5 Stars: Derrick Rose’s Free Throws

Some might list this as number one because it led to the National Title, but my theory is that if the first didn’t happen, obviously the second never could have. But still, what a comeback it was, thanks in large part to missed free throws.

David McCormack didn’t start, and he was shaky early, but he did look a lot better after Bill Self ripped him a new one in the team huddle. Finished with 17 points and 15 boards. With the amount of misses in this one, I fully expected him to get to 20.

4 Stars: Grayson Allen in 2018 Elite Eight.

That badboy rimmed around and circled and fell out and we went into overtime and beat Duke on the way to the Final Four. How satisfying was that?

I guess I’ll toss a few guys in the four star spot, but mainly based on second half play. Christian Braun finished with 15 points and six boards and Remy Martin had a solid second half scoring all seven of his points in the second frame. It obviously took him some time to get comfy on that knee.

3.5 Stars: North Carolina in the 2008 Final Four

North Carolina was stuck on ten points from the 13:34 mark until the 8:42 mark of the first half, and even then, it was Tyler Hansbrough that scored two from the charity stripe. It took until the 4:42 mark to get another basket from the floor. That’s almost nine minutes, and in that time UNC missed 14 shots and KU scored 25 points on the way to a rout.

Ochai Agbaji gets a 3.5 mainly because he was the guy that I thought could most end the first half drought. Instead, he went 0-6 in that stretch. Did finish with 16 points on the night though.

Mitch Lightfoot. In what could be his only start until his third senior night, Mitch was pretty good. He tallied six points and four boards.

I’m giving Dajaun Harris this rating because that defensive play at the end was otherworldly. It was nuts. Not going to try to describe it in words because I can’t.

Jalen Colemen-Lands nailed two three pointers in a quick stretch to give KU a comfy cushion that they’d never give back.

3 Stars: Mrs. Robinson

The definition: Mrs. Robinson is a term used to describe an older woman pursuing someone younger than herself, in reference to the character from the 1967 movie The Graduate.

The Movie: Fine.

The Simon and Garfunkel Song: Also fine.

Jalen Wilson had 15 rebounds! Jalen Wilson scored two points on one of six shooting.

2 Stars: Christian Moody’s Free Throws v Missouri

That sucked. But the dude was a walk on and arguably should never have been put in that kind of situation.

Surprisingly, after going 0-19 to end a half, no one landed here.

1 Star: Missing a plane

Knock on wood, this has never happened to me. I’d imagine that it sucks.

No one fell into this spot either.