Sports and Numbers

Kansas at Colorado (Boulder, CO)

PSAN-Related Player Ratings - Conference Only

Player Analysis:
(largely based on ratings above)

No need to get into much analysis here, as it's clearly a mismatch of talent.  But there are a couple of noteworthy observations to make.

In conference play, the most efficient player for Kansas is .... drumroll, please ... Darnell Jackson?  He's been a monster on the backboards, and he's gotten a fair share of putbacks and freethrows to make a difference on the scoreboard.  DJ shoots about 58% from the field and 77% from the line in conference play.  And he averages a little over 5 points and 5 rebounds per game in just under 14 minutes per game.  Really quite impressive numbers, considering he's not a guy who gets most of his minutes in mop-up duty.

The flipside to Jackson's success story is the downward trajectory of Sasha Kaun and Darrell Arthur.  What started out as a promising season for Arthur has taken a turn for the worse.  Remember, he's just a freshman though, and he's on a team chock full of talent.  Definitely no need to label Arthur a bust by any stretch of the imagination.  He's averaging 8 PTS, 4 REB on 53% FG shooting, but only 47% from the line.  He also has 2 TO's per game and has only blocked 7 shots in 10 conference games.  If he can stay out of foul trouble, he may be able to get into a better flow and contribute more.  Kaun, meanwhile, has not shown great signs of improving when he has the ball deep in the post.  He's shown that he has moves to the basket, but his problem is in recognition of where the defense is and how wise it would be to go up versus passing it back out.  It would be nice if he could learn to find the open man on a double team, but he waits so long and let's the defense collapse on him.  His freethrow shooting continues to be woeful (31%) but he does shoot 54% from the field.  In short, he just hasn't been contributing as much during conference play.

For CU, there really isn't any bright spot to talk about.  Roby takes so many shots, but he's not performing very efficiently.  Dominique Coleman has been the only positive rated player in conference play.

Statistical Strengths and Weaknesses Analysis

Game Outlook

Sports and Numbers Prediction: Kansas wins 85-70.