Player Ratings to the Theme of Fire

Rating the Kansas Jayhawk players' performances after the win against the Villanova Wildcats in the Final Four.

Well that was fun! The Kansas Jayhawks used huge performances from their key contributors to take an early lead against the Villanova Wildcats, and never looked back. Sure the game wasn't an absolute blowout the entire time, but the game never REALLY felt in doubt.

Derek is still out, so I'm back to bring you these super important rankings. Once again, there were a lot of possibilities for a theme. But it was pretty clear that the absolutely blistering performance from multiple players would inspire the theme. After all, any time you get multiple NBA-jam like "He's on fire!" expressions from the group of people you are watching the game with, fire is the first thing you think about for a while.

Just in case you're new to these player ratings (or just need a refresher on how they work), here's how the evaluation process happens. First, I choose a subject and rank things according to my preferences. Your preferences will no doubt vary, but that's part of the fun. Then I assign a player to each star rating based on performance, but please note that not all games and not all ratings are equal. It's not completely stats based, but of course stats play a large role in how a player stacks up to others in a particular game.

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.

4.5 Stars: Very strong performance, packed the stat sheet, provided undeniable intangibles.

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.

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 a former KU walk-on or obscure player 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: Bonfires and Campfires

© Zach Urness / Statesman Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

I've never been to a bonfire that wasn't a ton of fun, and the best part of camping is sitting around the campfire at night talking. 

Ochai Agbaji scored 21 points on a blistering 6-8 from the field performance, including 6-7 from beyond the arc. At one point it seemed like he just couldn't miss. But the best play was his block of a Jermaine Samuels 3-pointer that fell to McCormack, who passed it back ahead to Agbaji who got fouled on the layup attempt.

David McCormack led all scorers with 25 points on 10-12 shooting, and added 9 rebounds. He was efficient early and often, and Villanova didn't have an answer for him.

4.5 Stars: Firefighters/Firetrucks

© Kailey E. Hunt / USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighters are objectively awesome, which is why they show up all the time on calendars, TV shows, movies and more. And there isn't much better than watching a fire truck go by in a parade, especially when there is a Dalmatian riding shotgun.

I've got to go with Jalen Wilson here. He's averaging a double-double in the tournament, and this game was a perfect example of why. Great defense all over the floor, 12 rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Five assists, 11 points and a block. He was a literal Swiss army knife player, giving anything and everything that the team needed from him. 

4 Stars: Songs Themed on Fire

© Jimmy Ellis / The Tennessean via Imagn Content Services, LLC

There are a TON of great songs that are themed on fire in one way or another, such as the classic "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, "This Girl is on Fire" by Alicia Keyes, and "Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire" by Jimi Hendrix, just to name a few.

This was exactly what you wanted from Dajuan Harris. He shot the ball when he was wide open, draining three 3-pointers. He played lock down defense on Collin Gillespie for most of the night. He got two huge steals. He distributed the ball well, notching 4 assists. You knew it was going to be a good night when the announcer talked about how "he doesn't look to shoot, so you can sag off of him defensively" about 10 seconds before Harris buried his first wide-open 3-pointer.

3.5 Stars: The Fire Emoji

The good old fire emoji. It's so versatile, but also overused quit a bit. Better than average, but not as great as some of the other fire-related things on this list.

It feels criminal putting Christian Braun here, especially with the two huge threes that he hit in the second half, but it was a very uneven game for him. 10 points in the second half isn't enough to paper over the fact he only got three rebounds, one block and one steal and was 2-6 from long range. His five assists were nice, but we expect more from Braun overall. I think we'll get it Monday night.

3 Stars: Cooking on a Fire

© Anne-Marie Caruso/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cooking on a fire is the epitome of a 3-star: some good and some bad. Cooking hot dogs (which are not sandwiches) or marshmallows? Amazing. Cooking most anything else? Meh.

It wasn't a great game for Mitch Lightfoot, but he was able to spell David for 10 big minutes. He only made one of his three shots, but pulled down four rebounds, two on each end. And he had a good block as well for a respectable outing.

Remy Martin was fairly lackluster in this one, but he didn't need to be anything else. He had five rebounds and two assists, but he scored only 3 points on 1-5 shooting. He gave some decent defensive minutes however, so good enough. 

2 Stars: Taco Bell Fire Sauce

© Doug Hood / USA TODAY NETWORK

First, I have to come clean. I was going to put "getting fired" here, but there just weren't any good pictures for it. It would be a 2 star because sometimes getting fired can turn out to be a blessing in disguise, especially when it forces you to find a new situation that's better.

But Taco Bell Fire Sauce is just as deserving here. I swear there is no difference between Hot and Fire sauce other than the color of the packaging. It's a scam in a packet.

It's hard to give anyone a 2-star rating in a game where only 7 players played significant minutes and they won by 16 points.

1 Star: Wildfires

© David Rodriguez / USA TODAY NETWORK

Let's just be blunt. Wildfires suck. They destroy EVERYTHING, and it seems like they are happening more often. Plus, I have a nephew who is a firefighter that helps to fight these every year and it's extremely nerve-wracking.

Luckily no one played as poorly as the level to which wildfires suck.

Matt Kleinmann Memorial No Star:

Who better to use for this spot than the red-headed walk-on who was on the last team to win a national championship? Plus, Kansas never lost a game that he scored in, a fact that is absolute 🔥.

The quintet of Chris Teahan, Jalen Coleman-Lands, Joseph Yesufu, KJ Adams and Zach Clemence didn't see the floor until it was time for the Rock Chalk Chant and didn't record a single statistic.

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