Help wanted: Player rankings from A to Z as Kansas basketball survives Eastern Illinois

Welcome to the latest edition of player rankings as the Jayhawks survived Eastern Illinois 71-63. Coming in as 38.5-point favorites, Kansas basketball found themselves in a 1-point game with five minutes to play and did just enough to hang on.

Lots to digest before we flush this one down the toilet and start to focus on our Top 5 matchup with UConn on Friday. If we play like we did tonight, the game will be over by halftime. With Kevin McCullar cold from the field for most of the game but managed to get him down the stretch, KU continues to show that they need a third and fourth scorer to step up for us to be really good.

Dajuan Harris continues to show he has regressed from the previous year, and with KJ as another offensive liability type of player, teams will deploy the drop coverage Eastern Illinois did at times and say anyone but Hunter go beat us.

We really look like a team that is a player short of being really good and I can’t help but think that player could have been Arterio Morris. Unfortunately, we gave a second chance to a guy who is just not a good dude. Just like this lackluster performance, we are moving on.

Kansas Basketball Player Ratings vs. Eastern Illinois

Tier 1: Big Jays

1. Hunter Dickinson

Hunter is that dude. Now, he just needs some buddies to step up consistently. Hunter carried what could have been an embarrassing and historic upset. He couldn’t be stopped down low as down the stretch Eastern Illinois tried to play a drop defense to surround and take the ball out of Hunter’s hands. He poured in 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting, 13 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one steal to go with three first-half turnovers. The only downside is he struggles to move his feet and guard the high pick and roll. Teams will work to put him in these situations as the season continues, and he will need to improve his defense.