5 overreactions from the first Kansas basketball scrimmage of the offseason

Scrimmage statistics

Team Blue (62)

G Dajuan Harris — 2 points (1-7 FG)
G Wilder Evers — 12 points (5-7 FG)
G Nick Timberlake — 11 points (4-14 FG)
F KJ Adams — 16 points (8-9 FG)
C Hunter Dickinson — 19 points (9-19 FG)

Team Crimson (59)

G Elmarko Jackson — 12 points (6-15 FG)
G Jamari McDowell — 13 points (5-10 FG)
G Patrick Cassidy — 9 points (3-4 FG)
G Kevin McCullar — 7 points (3-6 FG)
F Marcus Adams Jr. — 12 points (5-11 FG)
F Dillon Wilhite — 2 points (1-3 FG)

There was not an “official” scorekeeper present at the scrimmage, so the majority of the recorded statistics are just points. However, those who watched the game did make note of some things that we will touch on later. (For the record, KU greats Brandon Rush and Tyshawn Taylor participated in the event, with Rush scoring four and Taylor scoring two.)

At first glance, it’s a little confusing why Team Blue only won by three points with the amount of talent it had. They even needed a 12-0 rally to close out the game, willing them to a three point victory. Team Crimson only had 6-foot-9 walk-on Dillon Wilhite and 6-foot-8 freshman Marcus Adams Jr. as the squad’s “bigs”, so to speak.

It is nice to see KJ and Dickinson doing what we expected of them, and Dajuan Harris has proven enough at the college level for us to know this was just an off-game for him. Incoming freshmen Jamari McDowell, Marcus Adams Jr., and Elmarko Jackson were the leading scorers for Team Crimson, and all displayed some tremendous skills on the floor.

That leads us to our overreactions. Most of them are positive — not many bad things can be said about the likely preseason No. 1 team — but we had to sprinkle in a little pessimism to spice it up a bit.