Emporia St. Review

Let me break out the players in three categories. Category 1 are those who impressed beyond expectations. Category 2 are those that were about as advertised and Category 3 are those that have some work to do. Bear in mind, this is super early and this was a pretty meaningless game.

Category 1
Dedric ("Smooth") Lawson -- The dude is all we hoped and more. Two seasons ago this was Frank's team. Last season it was Devonte's team no doubt. This will be Dedric's team. The dud can ball flat out and biy is he smooth. Just a natural talent. He scored 31 points on 11-16 from the field and 2-4 from 3 point land. He also grabbed 15 boards. He did all this in 23 minutes. He was Mr. Everything. He is a key to our success this season. He is a matchup nightmare. He can do it all.

Marcus Garrett -- I love this kid. His shot still looks like crap but the kid has an incredible nose for the ball. He juat always seems to be where he can be most effective. He can pass and handle the ball and just the true ultimate glue guy. Did I mention I love this kid. He will make a difference even if he can't shoot.

Mitch Lightfoot -- I am not saying he will be a huge factor but I love this kid. He did not do much stat wise but he is like Garrett, he just plays smart.

Devon Dotson -- EXPLOSIVE!! The kid attacks. He only had 3 assists but had no turnovers. He scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting. He looked under control most of the time and seemed to control the flow at times. He will be a multi-year guy and should make a lot of KU fand happy

Category 2
Quentin Grimes -- He scored 10 points and shot 4-9, 1-3. Most disappointing only had 2 rebounds against much smaller opponents and was pretty pathetic on defense. He needs to step up the intensity and definitely needs to step up the defense.

Lagerald Vick --Looked like the same old Lagerald. He had zero rebounds. Remember that LaGerald? But he also had 5 assists. LaGerald is the ultimate enigma. I fear he will graduate from KU never quite making the mark. Never bad but never really great either. His shot was not falling going 3-9, 1-6. He was borderline category 3 but we know this LaGerald too well. He will do some nice things this seaosn but fortunately, we can pull his butt off the court when he doesn't perform with out newfound depth.

Charlie Moore -- I think he was trying too hard. 3 assists and three TO's with 9 points. I suspect he will be a solid part of this team. I really think he was trying to show he could earn minutes. He was decent and other than Agbaji's 2-2 was our best 3-point shooter. I like what I saw overall.

Ochai Agbaji -- I still think he will redshirt but what a talent. He shot 303, 202 but bith 3 pointers were late. Didn't really show much but seemed to be into the game and tried hard. He certainly did not disappoint.

Category 3
David McCormack -- 4 TO's in 33 minutes with 3 PF's. He he a massive physical presence though. I am not too worried about him at all. This was not a showcase game but I suspect he will be fine.

KJ Lawson -- He scored 7 and grabbed 6 rebounds. I think he will probably be a contributor but he looked lost at times. His shot was not good tonight but this was just one game. I don't want to make too much of this game but he did not do much to show he is a lock for high minutes.

Udoka -- Pathetic, just pathetic. But we know what this guy brings. He will be fine. But I am not sure if he was even 100% tonight. He looked completely lost the entire game. Again, we have a season of data to show he will be fine, but 6 turnovers in 17 minutes with 7 points when the biggest player on the other team was 6'8".

Overall, KU had 22 turnovers. Our shooting was decent overall at 33-65 and 12-30. The big area of major sloppiness was defense and turnovers. But we played 11 guys significant minutes and that is not a recipe for pretty ball. Not much to be made from this game other than Dedric Lawson is a super stud like no one we have had at KU. I would most compare him to Julian Wright but stronger and more smooth.