Kansas Jayhawks Player Ratings to the Theme of Exaggerated Referee Signals

Kansas loses at Texas in the regular season finale, and we are here to rate all of the performances.

Luckily, this game didn’t really matter. I don’t know about you, but win or lose, I’m really getting sick of watching the ref show each night. Can we have one, just one game that doesn’t turn into a free throw contest with eight minutes to go in the game? I guess not. Don’t get me wrong, Kansas didn’t lose this game because of officiating, they lost because they were bad. But, the refereeing in college basketball is out of control. And it’s not just the overabundance of fouls, it is the center of attention that these referees continue to make themselves while calling all the fouls. So in honor of all the air time they get, here’s some digital time too as we rate the players according to the amount of exuberance referees use when calling certain fouls. First, here’s what it takes to be rated in each category:

Contents

1. 5 Stars: The Charge
2. 4 Stars: The Block
3. 3.5 Stars: Teeing up a coach
4. 3 Stars: The And-One
5. 2 Stars: Indicating that a ball has gone out of play
6. 1 Star: Touch foul away from the ball
7. Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

5 Stars: Out of this world performance. This is a hard to achieve rating and is only reserved for the most impressive or impressionable performances.

4 Stars: A strong performance that falls just short of the standards above.

3.5 Stars: Above average performance, perhaps stands out in one category or one aspect of the game.

3 Stars: Average performance. Also could be a very strong game in one aspect but a very poor game in another such as 15 points but seven turnovers. Could also be that the player played, did their job, but didn't do much spectacularly.

2 Stars: Below average performance, or we simply have higher expectations for the player on this particular night.

1 Star: Rare, but if a player has a stinker in all aspects.

Memorial No Star: Named after former KU walk-on Chris Teahan and is awarded to the player(s) who didn't have enough playing time to contribute or whose performance isn't worthy of a rating for another reason.

5 Stars: The Charge

Obvious, odious. The most disdained foul in college basketball is also the most over exaggerated when called by the referees. These guys just LOVE to take about ten steps in the direction of the opposite basket, throw that hand behind their head as they murder the air pointing with all their might with the other arm. I hate the charge. Abolish it or abolish the unneeded animation from these refs. There’s nothing they love more than rewarding a guy for standing unless it’s punishing the guy that is actually trying to play a sport.

No one was a five star.

4 Stars: The Block

Granted, this doesn’t happen every time, but you know it’s either an important play or a contentious call when the referee’s pelvis flies into the air as they smash both of their hands into their hips. Watch out for the retracting arms flying back in the air, guys. Those could get someone hurt.

Jalen Wilson was the best Jayhawk by a mile. Twenty-three points and ten rebounds.  

3.5 Stars: Teeing up a coach

No one makes a T with their two hands more violently and with more gusto than the guy that knows the coach is right. And guess what? The coach is usually right but how dare he question the call. HOW DARE HE! Dishing out those free throws is just another way the official can influence the game I guess, and certainly become the center of attention. Sure, sometimes the coach deserves it, is riding the refs ear like it's a rollercoaster, or just says the magic phrase, but the referee is always pumped to give the technical. These officials just love giving technical fouls to the coaches as they know that the replay is going to be shown multiple times and that they are going to feature in the replay. 

No one else was very good in this one.

3 Stars: The And-One

This one goes in combination with the four star choice. Sometimes you get that unabashed enthusiasm where it appears the referee is auditioning to be an extra in a martial arts movie with the ferociousness of the chop, and sometimes you get a subdued point down. It really depends on the situation.

Dajuan Harris scored five points and Kansas lost.  As I said above, luckily this game was pointless so we can still use the "when Harris scores..." stat for meaningful games. He was two of twelve from the field but added seven assists, salvaging his day.

Kevin McCullar scored eight and grabbed six boards and Gradey Dick finally scored from the field.  He had six points on two of five shooting.

KJ Adams started the game off well, but Texas's athleticism appeared to overpower the very athletic Adams.

Zach Clemence got some surprise minutes and did okay, and sure, let's give Ernest Udeh a three star too.  Why not? 

2 Stars: Indicating that a ball has gone out of play

You know those times where the refs pound on their own knee about 58 times to let you know that the ball in fact went out off a player’s knee? Yeah, come on guys, we know what happened.

Joe Yesufu, Bobby Pettiford, and MJ Rice all looked equally incompetent out there, but hey, the game was meaningless so maybe, hopefully, they learned something and got better.  I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here.

1 Star: Touch foul away from the ball

No one likes these, and yet, you continue to call them. Can we just adopt advantage like we have in soccer or something?

Somehow, no one was a one star.

Chris Teahan Memorial No Star:

Zuby Ejiofor and Michael Jankovich got some garbage minutes in a (did I mention this?) meaningless game. 

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