photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Frank Mason III (0) hangs for a shot in the paint against Washburn during the first half, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Exhibition games are no way to judge basketball players on where their games are and what kinds of production they’ll deliver during the upcoming season, but for the next two-plus days, that’s all we’ve got to go on with the Kansas men’s basketball team.

With that in mind, as we count down to the regular season opener against No. 11 Indiana at the Armed Forces Classic in Honolulu — 8 p.m. central on Friday — let’s take a look at which Jayhawks impressed the most and are playing the best entering Game 1 of the 2016-17 season.

There certainly were a few surprises — both good and bad — during KU’s victories over Washburn and Emporia State last week, and it’s interesting to note, at least in my mind, that two of KU’s five projected starters landed on the bottom half of this list.

Sign of things to come or merely a case of prime time players waiting for the lights to shine brighter before bringing out their best? Time will tell, and we can all expect to know a lot more about this KU team than we know today Friday night and next Wednesday after a bout with No. 1 Duke in the Big Apple.

For now, though, the exhibition report card is the best we’ve got, so let’s have one more look.

1 – Frank Mason III – Not only was the senior guard KU’s best player, scorer and competitor in the two exhibition games, but he also was by far the team’s most consistent performer. After hitting 13 of 19 shots from the floor and averaging 19 points and 7 assists in the two tune-ups, Mason appears poised for a big final season in Lawrence.

2 – Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk – A brutal miss on his first shot of exhibition play quickly was forgotten by Svi, the coaching staff and the KU fan base. The junior wing responded by hitting 10 of his next 15 shots, including 6 of his next 9 three-point attempts. Beyond that, the young man from Ukraine got involved in all aspects of the game and looked much more aggressive, comfortable and polished than ever before.

3 – Lagerald Vick – All that talk about how good he looked this summer and how much improvement he made certainly seems legit. Vick looks comfortable on the floor, both as a shooter and when attacking the rim, and appears to have figured out how to use his length, speed and athleticism to impact the game on both ends.

4 – Josh Jackson – After a slow first half in the opener, Jackson became much more attack-minded and began to demonstrate why so much praise has been heaped on him during the past several months and years. He still settles for his jump shot a little too much for my taste, but that figures to change as soon as Jackson fully understands his role and what this team wants and needs him to do.

5 – Devonte’ Graham – It wasn’t that Graham was bad, more that he just didn’t do much. Sixteen total points on 10 combined shots in 25 minutes per game during the two exhibitions is decent for most players but sub-par for Graham, who has the ability to take over games and lead this team in scoring. It’s hard to think that the junior’s average stat line being anything more than him deferring to others in games that did not matter.

6 – Udoka Azubuike – KU coach Bill Self warned against getting too excited about Azubuike’s preseason dunk party because it came against players 5, 6 and 7 inches shorter than he was. Obviously, those types of looks aren’t going to be there as easily against tougher competition, but you have to like the fact that the big fella knew what to do with them when they were. If not for his foul trouble (8 in 2 games) and limited minutes (24 total), he might have landed a little higher on this list. Either way, he remains a work in progress but certainly should feel good about his debut as a Jayhawk.

7 – Mitch Lightfoot – If you don’t like what Lightfoot did in the exhibitions, you don’t like Kansas basketball. He scrapped, played with great energy, looked much more comfortable than most freshmen would and even filled up the stat sheet in limited minutes. That kind of play will earn you a spot in Bill Self’s rotation and as long as he sustains it, Lightfoot appears to have won the job of KU’s fourth big man.

8 – Landen Lucas – Like Graham, Lucas is listed low here because he just didn’t do much, mostly because of early foul trouble in both games. Like most of the Jayhawks, however, Lucas’ second game was much better than his first — 7 rebounds vs. 1 rebound — and he’s smart enough and experienced enough to know it’s going to take a different focus, effort and intensity to knock of Indiana and Duke. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Lucas in the past 10-12 months, it’s that we know he’ll show up.

9 – Carlton Bragg Jr. – It’s hard to say if it was the match-ups or the expectations that led to Bragg’s rough outings, but there’s no denying that the sophomore forward had a rough go of it against Washburn and Emporia State. The good news for Bragg is that his confidence will be restored to full capacity — if not higher — if he performs well against the Hoosiers and Blue Devils in games that are far bigger than either of the last two.

10 – Dwight Coleby – Doesn’t look fully recovered from the injury and also does not appear to be executing to Self’s liking. It’s hard to see Coleby playing much of a role this season except in the cases of extreme foul trouble or blowouts.