College Basketball Midseason Awards
Hello everyone! With conference play delightfully underway, we’ve reached roughly the halfway point of the college basketball season. At this juncture in every professional league, sportswriters congregate like flies around flames to bestow interim awards. I would like to extend this service to the ranks of amateur ballers and hand out some midseason hardware.
Most Impressive Team: Pittsburgh I know it’s kind of lame to go with the #1 ranked team here, but there’s a reason they sit at the top of the polls. The Panthers are undefeated, and they are dominating almost every game. In fact, they have won all but two of their contests by at least 13 points. Jamie Dixon has a squad that doesn’t turn the ball over, controls the glass, boasts great inside-out balance, and has two senior leaders in Sam Young and Levance Fields. That is a perfect recipe for success. Pittzburgh has come to play every single night, refusing to suffer one of those emotional letdowns so prevalent in the college game. I don’t know if they are explosive enough to win the tournament in March, but they will be in every game they play.
MVP: Jonny Flynn (Syracuse) I fully expect to catch some flak for this pick, as Steph Curry, Blake Griffin, James Harden, and Jeff Teague might be more obvious choices. I could not fault anyone for backing one of those four. ’Cuse has ascended to #8 after being unranked in the preseason, their 16 wins tying Clemson’s for the most in the country, and Flynn has been the undeniable catalyst for the surprisingly excellent Orangemen. The sophomore point guard’s statistics are modest, 16.4 points and 5.5 assists per game, but his impact is far greater than his numbers would indicate. He could average 25 if he wanted, but that’s not what his team needs. Flynn is his squad’s emotional leader and go-to guy. He knows exactly what Coach Boeheim wants his team to do and makes sure that they execute. Perhaps most importantly, he has played his best in Syracuse’s toughest games. When second leading scorer Eric Devendorf was suspended at Memphis, Flynn played all 40 minutes, contributing 24 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and willing his team to victory. In my opinion, Syracuse is evolving into a legitimate championship contender, and Jonny Flynn is the reason why. Also, check out this finish.
Best Coach: Dino Gaudio (Wake Forest) After Skip Prosser’s tragic death two summers ago, Gaudio was promoted to head coach and endured a difficult 2007-08 season. The Deamon Deacons were just 17-13 (7-10) and did not even make the NIT. This year has been a completely different story: they are now 14-0 and ranked #2 in the country. Wake definitely has talent, but I have to give Gaudio most of the credit for their success. He is coaching a very young team, starting a freshman, two sophomores, and two juniors, and getting the absolute most out of them. The Deamon Deacons keep turning in impressive performances, repeatedly displaying toughness, smarts, and resiliency. They just snapped BYU’s 53-game home winning streak and knocked off UNC.
Biggest Disappointment: Gonzaga They always play a tough nonconference schedule, but this Bulldogs team has recently been very underwhelming. After climbing to #4 in the AP poll, they proceeded to lose four of their next five, including one to Portland State at home. Their overtime loss to UConn ostensibly looks pretty good, but they blew a fantastic opportunity (and a double digit lead) by getting rattled down the stretch. Though they’ve done it twice, Tennessee is the only ranked team that they’ve beaten. Austin Daye and Jeremy Pargo, who were in many preseason All-American discussions, have been very inconsistent.
Biggest Surprise: The Bay Area Nobody outside of NorCal predicted this much success for Cal and Stanford. The Golden Bears were just 17-16 last year, while the Cardinal lost the Lopez twins. But new head coaches Mike Montgomery and Johnny Dawkins have their teams playing some great ball, as Cal is 15-2 and Stanford is 11-3. The difficult Pac-10 slate will tell us if these teams are for real; early signs are pointing to yes for Cal (4-0) and no for Stanford (1-3), but we need to stay posted.
Best Freshman: Greg Monroe (Georgetown) In a year devoid of one-and-done talent, the do-it-all center for the Hoyas has been the steadiest diaper dandy. He is a very versatile weapon, with the ability to score in multiple ways and great court vision. He has also recently picked up his rebounding numbers. On an otherwise undersized team, Monroe has ably filled the void left by Roy Hibbert. When he gets stronger and more assertive, he will become a true nightmare.
Best Player You Don’t Know: Michael Washington (Arkansas) Despite losing all five starters from last year’s tournament team, Arkansas has jumped out to a 12-2 record. Perhaps the biggest reason is the emergence of their Junior power forward. A bit player last season, Washington is now averaging 18 points on 60% shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds per game. Furthermore, he produced two of his finest performances in the Razorbacks’ huge upsets of Oklahoma and Texas, even playing Blake Griffin to a standstill. He might be the most athletic big man in the country.
Most Ridiculous Game: Texas Tech 167 – East Central 115 These aren’t your father’s Red Raiders. Bob Knight’s son Pat has instilled some Mike Leach-esque offense to Tech’s hardwood. In this absurdly uptempo game, 17 players scored in double figures (1o by Texas Tech), but none had more than 20. Some more crazy Red Raiders’ stats: they shot 59.3% from the field, forced 29 turnovers, dished out 35 assists, and snagged 24 offensive rebounds.