Kansas 78 - Miami-OH 54

Comments and Observations

I always wondered what a basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse would look like to one of the creatures from the Predator movies.  Now, thanks to the Jayhawk Network, that little mystery has been solved.  I'm guessing the euphoria of watching my Jayhawks easily score over 70 points against Miami-OH was mostly the emotions from the game, not just from the seizure medication I had to take as a result of watching that broadcast.

This KU team is so enjoyable to watch.  A few things stood out for me.  Darnell Jackson is a lot more athletic than I gave him credit for, especially after that tip-in where he reached from around the other side of the rim and had to wait long enough to avoid offensive goaltending.  Sherron Collins is way faster with the ball than any KU player I've ever seen.  It will be awesome to see Collins in action against another such player, D.J. Augustin from Texas when they meet early next year.  Darrell Arthur may never be incredibly efficient, but he has the capability of scoring and rebounding big every game, but he just doesn't "bring it" every game.  This day, he did.  Lastly, it looks like the KU offense is really starting to click. 

Offensive and Defensive Performance

Using the outcome of the game and the adjusted offensive and defensive efficiencies for each team, performance indicates (in PTS per 100 Possessions) how each team would have fared against an average team.  That is, KU's offensive performance is how many points per 100 possessions KU would have scored against an average defense.  This provides a standard performance we can compare across teams.

Four Factor Analysis

(Actual statistics moved to Game Projections table below)

Player Performance Analysis

This was a thoroughly balanced performance by Kansas.  With the exception of Kaun, Robinson and Rush, every KU player with at least 8 minutes had an efficiency (cPSAN70) of +5.00 or higher, which is amazing.  Leading the way in game impact was Darnell Jackson.  He finished with 14 PTS, 8 REB (4 OREB), 1 STL and 2 BLK on 86 eFG% in just 20 MIN.  What a performance, and it was head-and-shoulders above the next two KU players, who happened to have amazingly efficient games.  Mario Chalmers torched the nets again with 83 eFG% shooting (2-of-3 on 3FG) with 10 PTS, 3 AST, and 3 STL in only 24 MIN.  The other star of the day was Sherron Collins.  SC motored his way to 8 PTS, 3 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL and 0 TO in 19 MIN while shooting 88 eFG%.  These shooting percentages really are staggering, aren't they?

Behind that fabulous threesome is another threesome, each of whom contributed in different ways with similar game impact ratings.  Arthur was the "loudest" of the bunch, pouring in 14 PTS and 10 REB (4 OREB) and only 1 TO in 23 MIN.  What kept him down again was his missed shots.  He made 7-of-14 overall.  That sounds good, but remember that KU was averaging 1.33 PTS/poss in the game, meaning that missed shots really dragged down the efficiency.  Fortunately for him, he negated four of those misses with OREB's, but overall it was not enough to give him one of the highest ratings on the team.  In the end, his efficiency was a very healthy 5.52 because he didn't play a lot of minutes.  Aldrich had a more quiet performance, but in just 13 MIN he made 1-of-2 FG, 2-of-2 FT, 3 REB, 1 BLK, 1 AST and 0 TO.  His efficiency was better than Arthur's as a result, but their overall impact was similar.  This is always hard to reconcile as a viewer.  It seemed that Arthur was scoring all over the place and making a bigger impact, but missed shots are missed shots, and turnovers are turnovers.  In the end, the net result of both players' actions were very similar.  It's just that Arthur had more positives (biased memory retains these better) than negatives.  Rodrick Stewart also did a solid job in his 13 MIN, not turning it over at all and making 1-of-2 shots to go with his 1 STL and 1 REB.  Adding in the intangibles makes his efficiency a healthy one, although his overall impact was marginal.

Robinson and Rush had overall positive game impact ratings, but barely.  Robinson really struggled shooting (30 eFG%) and had 2 TO's against his 4 AST, but his 4 STL really helped his cause.  Rush shot a respectable 55.6 eFG%, but that was about a neutral contribution on this night when KU was firing on all cylinders.  Meanwhile, he only had 3 REB and 1 AST to go with that in his 27 MIN.  Not a bad efficiency rating in the end, but it wasn't a good one either.  Sasha Kaun rated poorly because he made 2-of-4 FG (not positive in this game) and had only 1 REB to counteract his 1 TO.  Remember, TO's are heavily penalized in a game where KU was scoring efficiently.

For UM, it was Winbush with the most efficient game by far, making 100 eFG% (2-of-2 on 3FG) to finish with 8 PTS and 2 AST in only 12 MIN.  The other contributor was T. Pollitz, with 11 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL and 2 TO in 28 MIN of action.  But he shot only 45.8 eFG%.  The superstar performer for UM, Bramos, was absolutely shut down.  The poor guy did alright when he had a chance to get the ball and shoot (60 eFG%) but only shot five times to finish with 6 PTS.  Great defense by Rush and others.