All Big 12 First Team
G Sherron Collins, Kansas
G Jacob Pullen, Kansas St.
F James Anderson, Oklahoma St.
F Damion James, Texas
C Ekpe Udoh, Baylor
Player of the Year: James Anderson, Oklahoma St.
All Big 12 Second Team
G LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor
G Donald Sloan, Texas A&M
F Marquis Gilstrap, Iowa St.
F Curtis Kelly, Kansas St.
C Cole Aldrich, Kansas
Coach of the Year: Scott Drew, Baylor
Big 12 Tournament Predictions
1st Round
Colorado over Texas Tech
Missouri over Nebraska
Oklahoma St. over Oklahoma
Iowa St. over Texas
2nd Round
Kansas over Colorado
Missouri over Texas A&M
Kansas St. over Oklahoma St.
Baylor over Iowa St.
Semifinals
Kansas over Missouri
Baylor over Kansas St.
Finals
Kansas over Baylor
NCAA Tournament Seed Projections
Kansas - 1st overall
Kansas State - 2
Baylor - 4
Texas A&M - 6
Missouri - 7
Texas - 8
Oklahoma State - 8
Mucho more coming the next couple weeks on the Conference and NCAA Tournaments, including reactions to the field, predictions for the tournament, and breakdowns of Kansas games as they come.
'Dirkness
3 comments:
I am so glad you wrote about the All Big XII first and second teams. I was going to ask you to sometime, so I could see your opinion and share mine, but it was already here, so that was sweet. I def think Anderson and James were the only sure 1st teamers. I guess I shouldn't hate on Sherron. He probably just has to share the wealth from being on such a good team. I know you say stats can say anything you want them to, but his numbers (outside of wins for a team he's definitely the leader on) really are kind of unimpressive this year though.
I can hate on Cole though since he's on an offense that basically just swings sides of the court to look down low over and over. He's gotten his opportunities and hasn't done much with them. I really like Udoh as your pick since he's beaten Cole at what he does best (block shots).
My one last opinion is that I would have put Damion James as Player of the Year. I know Anderson got a lot of publicity b/c he was so much more of a surprise, but I think James is just as much of a stud and lost out because everyone was already expecting him to do exactly what he did. Kind of a contradicting argument, but for the same reason (preseason hype) Cole and Sherron made 1st team, I think DJ missed out on Player of the Year.
I like what your sayin about how they do compared to expectations being too big of a factor. I heard a commentator (Bilas I think) talk about that aspect coming into play, but for coaches. The coach of the year award always goes to the team that exceeded expectations the most, while Player of the Year usually goes to the overall best player. But, if a team is expected to do well, that is through the work of the coach. He's in charge of getting his program to that level, whether with high expecations or not. And you can say that its easy to coach a team with all that talent, but it was the coach that set up the team that way. I had never really looked at it like that...kinda blew my mind.
Let's throw down some stats (conference games only) and see how they compare and then I'll share why I chose J.A. The Transistion Tre over Damn Damn Dam James (Outkast song).
Anderson- 24.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 48% FG, 40% 3-pt, 81% FT
James- 18.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1 apg, 51% FG, 42% 3-pt, 61% FT
I feel like the stats are almost a wash, maybe a little slanted towards Anderson. My main problem with James was how Texas faded majorly down the stretch, although a lot of that blame has to go toward the ghost of Dex Pittman. I still feel like Dam James is surrounded by more talent than Anderson is, and they finished with the same conference record, advantage Anderson, game Anderson.
The only reason Cole was on first team was because of past success. He actually averaged more points, rebounds, and blocks than Cole. Ridiculous. Also, they coaches put Donald Sloan on first team and I almost didn't include him on my second team. As far as Sherron, I think he just deferred on scoring a lot this year and took over when necessary, and succeeded, so I would look past his stats. He is still the scariest playa in the country at the end of games. Boom.
I like it Zeets, keep em comin,
Dirk Ness Monster
Good point with the coaches. An even better example of expectations, instead of performance only, shaping opinions.
You didn't mention steals/game which James wins 1.44/game to 1.38/game) and blocks which James leades 1.44/game to .625/game. Conference play of course. Also James did all this while being coached by Rick Barnes which I think is just as much to overcome as not having as much talent around you. Zing. If you are going to bring conference wins into this Texas beat Oklahoma State both times they played.
All that being said, Anderson is very deserving and I think I just have a man-crush on DJ. I mostly just wanted to argue because Anderson seemed like he won it without any argument at all when I thought DJ should have been considered more. I think it still comes down to about what you were saying. DJ may be an all around better basketball player, but Texas could have survived without DJ and Okkie State probably could not have without Anderson. Comes down to the criteria you are looking at like all MVP type races.
I still think Udoh is more deserving but I just wanted to make sure you are using the same stats everywhere. Cole had more rebounds/game in conference play. Also I heard if you factor in how many minutes they play per game, Cole would be more productive. The only problem with that argument is Cole would probably be too tired to play as many minutes as Udoh.
I can see why you don't like using stats to prove points. You really can make them say just about anything.
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