Player Ratings to the Theme of Four

5 Stars: Kansas Jayhawk Basketball #4's

Like many of the numbers that have appeared on the Kansas roster, the group of players that have donned the #4 jersey are quite an impressive group. Just look at the last 3: Sherron Collins, Nick Collison and Ryan Robertson. Those are some of the biggest names in recent Jayhawk basketball history. It's hard to imagine that any type of four can be more impressive than this group.

Unfortunately, no players were as fantastic as the group of players that have worn #4 for the Jayhawks.

4.5 Stars: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

With an entertainment franchise that stretches from comics to kid's books, TV cartoons to live-action movies, video games to action figures and more, these reptiles are one of the most recognizable quartets around. I know I spent way too many Halloweens running around dressed like one of these guys.

Ochai Agbaji not only led the Jayhawks in scoring, but he finally seemed to break out of his 3-point shooting slump. Yes, it was only 2 made threes, but he looked confident and comfortable on that first one, and you could visibly see the change when that first one went in. He also had 4 assists and 4 steals, for a very well-rounded game.

David McCormack didn't play a LOT of minutes, only logging 18, but he scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting. He was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted on offense once he had the ball, and played fairly well defensively too.

4 Stars: Musical Quartets

Maybe this is because I'm a music nerd, but there is something about musical quartets that I just love to listen too. I played in a jazz quartet briefly in high school, and it was such a fascinating experience. Barbershop quartets are highly underrated. 

And of course, some of the most successful musical groups of all time are quartets, with the Beatles being the first one that jumps to mind.

Mitch Lightfoot somehow only tallied one block on the day. But his presence inside felt a lot bigger than that. He only scored 9 points, but there plenty of big highlights from Mitch.

Jalen Wilson had a rough day scoring, as he was 1-8 from the field and only scored 5 points. But Kansas didn't really need him to score in the second half, and he was the only player to log double digit rebounds. His presence on the boards was THAT impactful.

3.5 Stars: A Four-leaf Clover

I remember hearing all about 4-leaf clovers as a kid, and going out of my way to search the big patch of clover that was growing in the front lawn trying to find one. When I finally did, it didn't bring me the promised luck that I was expecting, so I was very disappointed.

But the four-leaf clover still looks really cool, especially when used in a variety of logos, so it gets the "just above average" designation here.

Christian Braun had a good overall game, scoring 12 points, getting 6 rebounds, 4 assists and a block. But the multiple times that he passed up wide open threes has been sticking in my mind since the game, and so it's hard to say that he should be ranked any higher.

By all account on the stat sheet, this was a thoroughly mediocre game for Dajuan Harris, but his defense was phenomenal in this one. He isn't typically the lock-down defender that past Kansas point guards have been, but he sure played like one against Miami. If I based this just off of stats, Harris probably would have been a 3. But the eye test saved him here from straight mediocrity.

3 Stars: The Fantastic Four

Look, I know plenty of people that like the movies, and The Fantastic Four gets sometimes credited as the pre-cursor to the incredibly popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. But I had a hard time really getting into any of the movies that have been made, and I was never able to collect the comics associated with this group of superheroes. I know plenty of people who love them though, so they slot in perfectly as the 3.

While he had a fantastic tournament overall, this was not the greatest of games for Remy Martin.  He's probably getting knocked a bit because it's impossible not to compare him to his previous three games, but he faded a bit in this one back to the first guy off the bench type role player that many of us expected him to grow into towards the end of the regular season.

2 Stars: "The Four"

This was an absolutely abysmal American Idol/The Voice/insert random singing competition here knockoff that started with the ridiculous premise of crowning four "Champions" and making people challenge them directly each week to give up their spot. Seems a lot like the current state of the College Football Playoff hierarchy.

With a cast of celebrity mentors that included Meghan Trainor, Fergie, DJ Khaled and Sean "Diddy" Combs, it was hard to get too excited about the show, and the fact that it only had a short run seems to back up that judgement.

The only reason this didn't get the 1-star is because it's entire premise wasn't about being a jerk to children, unlike today's 1-star.

Maybe my expectations are too high for Jalen Coleman-Lands, but when you only make one of the five shots you take and don't contribute anything else on the floor, I can't help but be disappointed.

1 Stars: Four-Eyes

This childhood insult for kids who have to wear glasses is objectively horrible. Once for the fact that it is meant to make a poor kid who has no control over his vision feel self-conscious, but also because the insult makes no real sense. The glasses aren't actually eyes, and having more things to make you see should be better anyway.

Thankfully, no one played as poorly as this insult is stupid.

Christian Moody Memorial No Star:

Normally the player used for this category is not a name so recognizable. However, in honor of making it to the Final Four, I decided to use arguably the greatest walk-on to ever play college basketball. Plus, Derek isn't here to stop me.

While KJ Adams had a defensive play at the end of the first half that was impressive enough to TV analyst Reggie Miller that he called him over to talk to him after the buzzer, he only recorded a single block in 2 minutes of play. 

Additionally, Chris Teahan, Joseph Yesufu and Zach Clemence all recorded minimal stats in just 2 minutes of play.

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