Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - JAYHAWKS POWER RANKINGS: Melvin Council, Tre White, Flory Bidunga or Darryn Peterson - Who's #1?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Non-con's over. Let's rank all the KU basketball players power rankings. You might be surprised who's number one or really who's not number one. You are Locked on Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's going on? Derek Johnson here. This is Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:00:29 Thanks for making it. first listen every day part of the locked on podcast network now the number one sports podcast network and on today's edition of the show we are power ranking the k u basketball players through this point of the season we'll go one through nine why nine you ask well there's nine players for k u who have played a hundred or more minutes of the season not going to bother you know worrying about rankings of oh well this guy played 40 minutes this guy played 45 and you know these guys 10 through 12 so we'll get to those on today's episode of the show where's darren peterson despite playing limited games where the guys like Trey White and Melvin Council who have been surprising folks

Starting point is 00:01:03 will get to all that on the show, which is brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fandual.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Okay, let's just get started. Who is our number one player? It's Trey White. You might be thinking, oh, it's going to be Darren Peterson. Of course, no, these are player power rankings.

Starting point is 00:01:24 And, you know, we'll get into why we don't have Darren Peterson one. when we get to him, but number one on our list right now is Trey White. And I think you could really make an argument for four guys at number one, to be completely honest, that'll be our top four. But here is Trey White, 14 and a half points per game, seven rebounds per game. I think one of the most pleasant surprises here has been the three-point shooting, 43% from three-point range for Trey White. You know, he was a decent three-point shooter coming in, but the volume was a little lower.

Starting point is 00:01:55 He was in the low 30s. He's been excellent shooting the ball. I mean, he's been excellent everywhere. Fishing players, getting to the free throw line. And when you look at some of the advanced numbers, he's tied for the team lead in win shares. He is third on the team in P.E.R. He's second on the team and wins above replacement player.

Starting point is 00:02:10 He's in the 97th percentile nationally right now in true shooting percentage. He's in the 95th percentile nationally in offensive rebound rate. And then the 90th percentile nationally in defensive rebound rate, plus he's in the 95th percentile in free throw attempt rate. So he has been pretty incredible for KU. Now, if you were making an argument why he shouldn't be one, why he should be, I don't know, two or three, for instance, you could probably point to the North Carolina game and the Yukon game,

Starting point is 00:02:36 both losses for KU, that he did not have very impactful games in either one. I don't know how much it would have mattered in the end. That was more about the defense in the UNC game, but it certainly mattered and they needed him in the Yukon game. You can also point to just 36 percentile in steel rate, 39th percentile in assist to turnover rate. But overall, Trey White has been such a hit out of the transfer portal. And I do have him, number one, like I said, I think you can shuffle this around in a lot of different ways.

Starting point is 00:03:03 The combination of being kind of a matchup nightmare, ability to shoot threes, ability to get to steam to the free throw line, ability to give this team some scoring in the half court when they don't always have that without Darren Peterson and his versatility, flexibility to play the three or the four and do both successfully. That's why I have him as number one right now. Okay, who's number two? Certainly that would be. No, number two here, we're going to go with Melvin Counsel. Melvin Council is putting about 13 points over five assists, over four rebounds per game. The three point percentages ballooned to 36 percent now after some of these recent games. He's third on the team in win shares, fourth on the team in PER, and third in wins above replacement player.

Starting point is 00:03:42 And I think one of the things that stands out to me that I don't know that he's getting enough credit for is the minutes that he's playing. 33.3 minutes per game. That leads the team, but it's more than that because some of those, like the minute total, are down because of some of these recent games like blowouts. Up until these last two games where you blew out, you know, basically by game opponents, he had seven straight games where he played 36 or more minutes, including playing 43 minutes against NC State. And why does that matter?

Starting point is 00:04:13 For a team that, you know, has had Darren Peterson be hurt, Marco Jackson has been kind of inconsistent to say the least. Turns out you don't have a ton of other ball handlers on this team. And you do get credit for that, right? The more minutes you play, the more energy. you have to exert, especially with what he's counted to do on the defensive end, that is so impactful to be out there that long and to maintain your energy level, what he's been able to do.

Starting point is 00:04:36 He's also in the 97th percentile and assist to turnover rate. He's been excellent at getting assists and keeping the turnover numbers down. He scores in the fast break really well, 84th percentile and fast break points per 40 minutes. And it's just the consistency. It's not just the minutes played, but he's a double figure scoring in eight of his last nine games. And for a Kansas team that needs that consistency without Darren Peterson, to have somebody you can count on get double digits, each of those games is so important. By the way, the one game, he did not get double digit points in eight of the last nine. He had nine points and eight assists.

Starting point is 00:05:09 So he's been consistent there. He's going back to the assist to turnover ratio, he's been consistent avoiding turnovers. He's had three games this year with more than two turnovers. That's it. He's at three games this year was zero turnovers. So he said as many games with zero turnovers as he had as he's had with more than two. It also doesn't hurt that he's shooting 36% from three or that he's been strong in the defensive glass for a guard. The reason I don't have him number one though is, I mean, if we're measuring that have that dog in him, he is number one.

Starting point is 00:05:40 But the reason we don't have him number one is the efficiency of Trey White is jumping off the page. And even though the three-point shooting has come up here for Melvin Council, he's still just in the 31st percentile for effective field goal percentage. One of the reasons why is oddly he's not getting to the free throw line much, which is weird because you think of Melvin Council having all these and one highlights, which he does. It's like pretty much he's either getting an and one or he's not getting to the free throw line. So that hurts that a little bit. The two point percentage hasn't

Starting point is 00:06:07 been good either. So if that's something that he can raise up, maybe it's a conversation because you could say that he's KU's best defensive perimeter player. And then he's shooting well from three. He's a very good passer. He's the initiator and engine of kind of the team and the soul of the team in a lot of ways. I also think this is something else he can do better moving forward, which he actually is doing better right now. So he's just in the 40th percentile in steel rate right now. That's something he can do better based on past years, but he is doing better right now. He has nine steals over his last five games. That was after four steals in the first eight. So I think that's something that we're going to see better in Big 12 play based on the recent

Starting point is 00:06:44 run from Melvin Council. But the combo of consistency, team leadership, kind of being that spiritual and leader and the initiator of the offense with Peterson out that got that dog in him, X factor, the stepping up in the big moments. Like, think about that too. That matters to this too, right? They don't beat Tennessee. And it was Melvin Council and Marco Jackson were probably the two biggest stepups for KU in that second half against Tennessee.

Starting point is 00:07:09 They don't beat NC State without Melvin Council. And if you're looking at KU's two biggest like coin flip wins at this point, it's at NC State and Tennessee and they don't win those without counsel. So I think that adds the value to, and that's why I have him in at number two. Number three on the list is going to be Flory Badunga. I think there are certain numbers that you could point to where you would say Florey has been the number one team or a player on the team so far. 14.7 points, 9.2 rebounds. The counting stats are absurd, 2.2 blocks per game.

Starting point is 00:07:36 And even some of the metric numbers would say he's the best player on KU. Tied first on the team in Winchairs, second on the team in PER, first on the team and wins above replacement player. So why do I not have him number one? I just feel like there's been too many games where he hasn't been the best player for KU to put it number one or he has lost his positional matchup. Again, I don't think it's, it's not a majority of the games. It's a few games here, there. But like, point being, okay, he's shooting 63% on the season. In Ken Palm Top 100 games, which is an eight game sample size, he's down to 51%.

Starting point is 00:08:12 So that is a sizable jump, right? You think of the Tennessee game really struggled shooting the ball. you think about the, I mean, I guess the Missouri game, he was fine, but it wasn't one of his better ones. He struggled against NC State. Ben Allen Lubin got the better of him. I thought Eric Ryba got the better of him in the Yukon matchup, and Henry Vassar got the better of him in the North Carolina matchup. And he's a young center. There's going to be inconsistencies.

Starting point is 00:08:35 And the idea is now in Big 12 play, there will be less inconsistencies, right? And Trey White had those two stinkers in the North Carolina and Yukon game two. But like, that's two compared to it with Flory. we just pointed to four to five. So I think overall, if you're looking at these stats, you can make the argument that Florey's number one, and especially because of the impact on both ends, specifically the defense, right?

Starting point is 00:08:58 But the reason I just have in number three is because of the inconsistency while also acknowledging that if you're just talking about the winning they're on their A game, outside of Darren Peterson, Florey would be your best player. And some stats that stand out in the positive for Florey, 77th percentile offensive rebound rate, 84th percentile defensive rebound rate, 91st percentile block rate, 87th percentile field goal percentage,

Starting point is 00:09:23 and a 79th percentile assist rate for bigs. That's been something that's been a nice growth in his game, and he's been underrated at so far. Stats why he's not higher. Again, if you take out some of the buy games in quad one plus quad two games, he's down to a 48th percentile, true shooting percentage. And if you just look at quad one games, he's down to 41st percentile true shooting percentage.

Starting point is 00:09:45 So in the bigger games, the effectiveness, the efficiency has gone down. I think the defensive value has still been there, but the shooting and efficiency and offense, the value has kind of gone down as well. Maybe I'm holding too much against him for some of those games because when you do look at the overall body of work, but I guess to me, through this early part of the season, knowing that counsel was the difference in you beating or one of the two or three main differences in you beating Tennessee and NC State. and knowing that Florey did struggle in a couple of those matchups,

Starting point is 00:10:19 that's just why I have him number three. They're all good players, though, and ask me again in two weeks, Florey might be number one here. And I do think the ceiling on Florey is probably even higher than it is on council and Trey White and all these guys would be deserving of number one. And Florey's been awesome on the defensive end. Like I said, the growth in his passing game has been awesome to kind of watch out there.

Starting point is 00:10:37 So he is in at number three. But you might have noticed. I might have forgotten somebody kind of important. We'll get to that next. Next. Today's episode of the show is brought to you by Fanduel Sportsbook. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. That's what makes live betting with Fanduel so exciting.

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Starting point is 00:12:25 you just go to locked on Jayhawks. Dot supercast.com. All right, so, KU, power rankings for players. We just did one through three, number one, Trey White, number two, Melbourne Council, number three, Florida Bedunga. I think you could interchange any of those, depending on kind of what you value. I think you could probably put,

Starting point is 00:12:44 this guy number one as well. It just depends how you want to do this. So number four on the list, Darren Peterson. You might be thinking, okay, clickbait is overused and this would not be clickbait, but it's not an article. Anyway, that's not why I'm doing this. The reason I have him at number four, I'm acknowledging that Darren Peterson is the best player on this team. I'm telling you that if Darren Peterson gets back to playing, he will end up number one on these power rankings. The reason I have him number four though right now is the availability does matter. Think about it this way. He's sixth on the team in winchairs. He's fourth on the team and wins above replacement player.

Starting point is 00:13:19 Yet he's first on the team in P.E.R. So when he's playing, he's the best player. But because of the lack of games played, he hasn't accrued the same amount of season long value as some of the other guys. And, you know, if you're looking at those things like winchairs or wins above replacement player, like view it this way. Darren Peterson has given Kansas four games of play. What is more valuable to Kansas' season?

Starting point is 00:13:44 13 games of Flory Badunga or four games of Darren Peterson. Basically, if you're picking Peterson there, you're saying that Peterson is three times more valuable than Florey Badunga to make up for the games played. And I'm not ready to go to that point, right? So I don't know. If he was even at like eight games, he'd probably be number one here. But alas, here we are. Still, though, the numbers are ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:14:10 Ninety-ninth percentile points per 40, 95th percentile effective field goal. percentage, 95th percentile Hakeem rate, 91st percentile assist to turnover rate, 86 percentile fouls drawn per 40. He's shooting well, he's grabbing defensive rebounds. When he is healthy, he's KU's best player, and he's arguably the best player in the entire country. But the reason he's not number one, I mean, I could point if I wanted to, if I wanted to, you know, be super strenuous, I could be like, oh, he's only 17th percentile on offensive

Starting point is 00:14:40 rebound rate, or he's only 37th percentile on free throw temp rate if I wanted to be picky. That's not why. The only reason he's not number one, it's because the four games played. That's really it, right? So if that changes, the number goes up, probably going to be number one. If not, it's just kind of a value proposition thing. Our number five on the team is Bryson Tiller. Tiller's had a nice, I don't know, kind of last couple games after he started hot and then had a little bit of a depth. But overall in the season, he is fourth on the team in winchairs, fifth in P.E.R. And sixth in wins above replacement player. He's in the 88th percent on block rate. 1.6 blocks per game, but 88th percentile in block rate, that is quite the defensive duo

Starting point is 00:15:19 with him and Flory. He's also in the 55th percentile for three-point percentage for forwards. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, being 55th percentile. That's like slightly above average. But just think about the lack of three-point shooting KU's gotten from the four position over the last couple of years and just the difference of even having above average there, right? He's also in the 83rd percentile for defensive rebounds per 40 minutes. That's been good there. Now, the reason he's not higher on this list, he is only in the 42nd percentile and effective field goal percentage. He hasn't shot the ball as well around the rim.

Starting point is 00:15:52 A lot of his twos have been more mid-range, so a little tougher there. It's only in the 28th percentile on offensive rebound rate and only in the 13th percentile for second chance points per 40. That's an area where I'm looking at. Can you improve on those? Because if you're playing too big basketball, you'd want to be a better offensive rebounding team. I want to see Tiller crash the offensive glass even more and get some clean up there. He's also just in the 16th percentile assist to turnover rate.

Starting point is 00:16:14 So it's been a nice pleasant surprise. If you asked me, this is where Tiller was going to be before the start of the season. I would have signed up for that in a heartbeat. And he's been fun to watch. And I think he has a very, very bright future in front of him for KU. And I'm excited to see how he gets better over the course of the season too, though. Our number six on the list is Jamari McDowell. He is fifth on the team in winchairs, sixth than P.E.R.

Starting point is 00:16:39 And fifth in wins above replacement. 90th percentile in effective field goal percentage. The reason why he's in the 86th percentile in three-point percentage on a 99th percentile three-point attempt rate. So, like, Jamari ain't shy to let that thing fly from three, which is great because I guess as we go through these stats, like he's 50th percentile steel rate, 65th percentile block rate for guards, he's doing a pesky enough job on the defensive end. And you look at it, like there is kind of a lack of rim pressure here.

Starting point is 00:17:10 He's in the first percentile. nationally, so like at the very bottom of the list, in two point attempts per 40 minutes, which oddly enough was the shot that you tried to get against Yukon at the end there. Anyway, point being, he is shooting just 40% on twos. He's only in the 25th percentile or worse at offensive and defensive rebound rates. But the reason he's number six is he's, like, the role is very clear and simple, and he's executing it to a tee. It's not, you know, it's not 15 points per game.

Starting point is 00:17:40 It's not like spectacular jump off. But what is he being asked to do? He's been asked to shoot threes, make threes, hustle, and play defense. And it's not sexy, but he's done all those things. Shooting 42% from three. He's in the 99th percentile for three point attempt rate because he's not scared to take the three. He'll let it fly. He has no fear.

Starting point is 00:17:59 And that's what you want from a guy in that position. Because the last thing you want is if you're asking a role player to be like, hey, we want you to two threes and then they're trigger shy, it's like, that's the whole reason you're out there. Shoot it. You don't have to worry about that with McDowell. That's good. He's holding his own on the defense event. So McDowell in at number six on this list. All right. Let's finish up with our seven through nine. This is Locked on Jayhawks. Thanks for joining us here on Locked on Jayhawks. You can make Locked on College football or locked on college basketball, your second listen every day as well. Okay, number seven on the list, we're going to go with El Marco Jackson.

Starting point is 00:18:34 In the same way that I think you can reorganize the top four in a lot of different directions, I think you could probably organize, I don't know, really six through nine in a lot of different directions at the very least seven through nine in a lot of different directions. I think in the same way that like Flory Badunga's overall season numbers were maybe a little better than the guys I had at one and two. You could argue that Col Rosario should be ahead of El Marco Jackson for the season long numbers. But the reason I have El Marco ahead is because in a key moment in a key game this season, he stepped up. So I have El Marco's 70s, eighth on the team in winchairs, ninth in PER, ninth and wins above replacement player. And by the way, these are just of the qualified players. Those last three, G. Angola, Paul and Bia and Samis Calderon, they did not qualify for those stats.

Starting point is 00:19:19 So that's why we're just doing one through nine here. But I do give him a little extra credit for kind of carrying KU to that win over Tennessee, him and Melvin Council doing that, right? Again, as we look at KU's two biggest swing games that have happened so far, it's been the Tennessee. game. I guess you could throw the Yukon game, but you lost that one, the Tennessee game and the Tennessee game for the ones you won. And he was huge in the Tennessee game, right? And, you know, if you lose even one of those two games, NC State or Tennessee, I don't know, nine and four, doesn't ring as good of a bell as 10 and three, right? Those are huge wins to kind of keep you on track even without Peterson. And some stats to stand out for Marco, it is funny. He's shooting over

Starting point is 00:20:00 35% from three. If you would have said he was going to do that coming into the season, you'd be like, oh, yeah, he is having a breakout season. He's also in the 94. fourth percentile for block rate among guards. So, like, he's doing a really good job at that end. 61st percentile in three-point percentage, 63rd percentile on assist rate. He's in the 76th percentile in defensive rebound rate for per 40 for guards or defensive rebounds per 40. And then he's in the 79th percentile for defensive RAPM, which is kind of a all-encompassing

Starting point is 00:20:27 defensive metric for how you and your team do when you're on the floor on the defensive end. So, like, all those numbers would be like, wow, he's having a good year. here's the reason he's not higher though and you know what what they need to get figured out 13th percentile and effective field goal percentage you're like oh he's shooting 35 percent for three how is he only in the 13th percentile in effective field goal percentage well he's only in the 10th percentile in two point percentage he's shooting worse on twos than he is on three so he's got to figure that it feels like he's been able to get to the rim but he's just not finishing and then the 30th percentile in turnover rate so he's getting some assist but turning it over too much only in the 15th percentile

Starting point is 00:21:03 steal rate. That's something where it's like you are this athletic guard. Clearly you're showing you can get some chaotic plays with the blocks from a guard position. Start getting more steals and lead to more runouts there. If you're on Marco Jackson, like those would be the things. If you can improve those, if you can improve on just getting more steals and improving the two point percentage, he's going to be really valuable for KU down the stretch, right? And they're going to continue to ask him to play minutes because they need that extra ball handling out there. Our number eight on the list is Cole Rosario coming off a big game against Davidson, five and a half points per game, still a three point percentage leaves a little to be desired at just under 28%.

Starting point is 00:21:36 He's seventh on the team in winchairs, seventh in P.E.R. Seventh in wins above replacement player. Again, based on those, you actually slide in ahead of El Marco, but he just hasn't had that big moment in a key game where K.U. really needed him. Like, it was awesome to see what he get in. It's Davidson, but if he doesn't do it, they still beat Davidson. You know what I mean? 73rd percentile and effective field goal percentage.

Starting point is 00:21:56 Ninety-second percentile in offensive rebound rate for guards. 76 percentile fast break points per 40. and he's been a dunking machine, 10 dunks, and 93% on two-point shots. The reason he's not higher, though, are these numbers, seventh percentile and free-throw temp rate, so he doesn't really pressure the rim besides getting those dunks in the wide-open layups, 26th percentile and assist to turnover rate, and just in the sixth percentile on defensive rebound rate. He's done a really good job crashing the offensive glass. Can you get a little more out of him on the defensive glass?

Starting point is 00:22:28 I think that'll be kind of a key to keep him on the court, but it really comes down to a three-point shooting. Can he be more like a 35% three-point shooter than a 28% three-point shooter? And if you're asking me, it's funny, like, again, I have El Marco higher because the impact of the Tennessee game. But if you're asking me right now, who's going to have a bigger impact and play better over the back half of the season? I might pick Cole Rosario. My last one on the list here is Jaden Dawson. And, you know, it felt like a minute there. Like Jaden Dawson was working his way up.

Starting point is 00:23:00 He placed 28 minutes against Duke. He's playing all these 20 plus minutes per game. And then he has the injury trying to dunk in the player's era in warmups, doesn't play for a couple games and just trying to kind of find his footing. Now, I thought he played well against Davidson. Stats didn't jump off. He has ninth here in Winchairs, eighth in P.E.R. and eighth in Wins Above replacement player.

Starting point is 00:23:22 He's done a good job not turning it over 96 percentile, though it feels like it's more so just been kind of, you know, if the shot's not there, he's just going to keep the ball moving and give it to somebody else, which is fine, right? Because you're a role player out there. 86 percentile on steel rate. That is something that I do appreciate. And if he gets extra minutes, that's something he can help this Kansas team with.

Starting point is 00:23:43 And I think we saw it in the Davidson game. 92nd percentile in three-point attempt rate. So in the same vein where we're like, you want your Jamari McDowell's, you want your Jaden Dawson's, you want your Col Rosarios to not be afraid, to not be trigger shy. He has not been trigger shy. He's letting him fly.

Starting point is 00:23:58 He just needs to see him go down. Only 23% from three-point range. This is a bigger question of he just needs to make them because that's going to be the difference of if he plays or not. Like, there's certain guys where if you're making shots or not, you're going to continue to play because of the other things you bring. But if your main aspect is to be a three-point shooter, and we've seen guys struggle with this, right? You think of Nick Timberlake, for instance, who your job was to hit threes and he wasn't hitting threes for a majority of the season. So he's just in the 18th percentile and three-point percentage. Obviously, he needs to go up there, right?

Starting point is 00:24:29 fourth percentile no rebound and 22nd percent on defensive rebound rates too that's something else that you can like that's something that rosario has over him at least on the offensive rebounding is that when he's not making shots he can at least you know grab that extra possession on the offensive end um but overall i think like dawson he's kind of doing what he want what they want him to shoot threes and defend for the most part he needs to make them if he can make them and avoid more injuries down the backstarts of the season maybe he can kind of carve out some spot in the rotation. I think part of this, too, is going to be dependent.

Starting point is 00:25:02 Like, is you looking at the end of the rotation? If Peterson remains out, Elmarco has to be in the rotation because he's another ball handler. If Peterson comes back, is there a chance for Sorrio and Dawson could jump El Marco at some point because of that? Because you wouldn't need maybe another ball handler. Maybe you would value the three-point shooting. So it is interesting how some of these guys also are going to be impacted by, you know, what happens there. with Darren Peterson and his injury. That'll do it for this episode of Locked on Jayhawks.

Starting point is 00:25:30 You can find our show anywhere you get your podcast, including on our YouTube page where you can like and subscribe to the show. And we'll see you next time for another edition of LOJ. We're going to be off Thursday for Christmas. So Merry Christmas to everybody. We'll have an episode back out for you on Friday. See you then on Locked on Jayhawks.

Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - JAYHAWKS POWER RANKINGS: Melvin Council, Tre White, Flory Bidunga or Darryn Peterson - Who's #1?

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