The ACC season is halfway over so let's have a little fun and project the BRB ACC Awards...
ACC Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (UNC) - Even in a loss to Duke, Hansbrough distinguished himself as the best player in the conference. With 24 points, 13 rebounds per game, he leads the ACC in both categories.
1st-Team All-ACC:
G Sean Singletary (UVA): He clearly is the most explosive guard in the conference but he just doesn't have enough help around him to win games. Without JR Reynolds, it's been tough for Singletary but his numbers are still very, very good.
G Tyrese Rice (BC): Duke fans saw it first hand on Saturday that this kid, even though he takes a ton of bad shots, can flat out play. However, much like Singletary, the supporting cast is not good enough for Rice and BC to be a major player in the ACC. They really miss Jared Dudley's leadership and presence on the floor.
G DeMarcus Nelson (Duke): He is enjoying his best season by far in Durham and is showing a great ability to attack the rim, play defense, and most of all, lead a young basketball team to a 21-1 record. He has his deficiencies, mainly free throw shooting, but his scoring, leadership, along with his incredible defense game in and game out against the opponents best perimeter player earns him a spot on this team.
F James Gist (Maryland): Gist is one of the most underrated big men in the country and will make a pro team next year, mark my word. He, along with Osby, provide the Terps with a formidable 1-2 punch down low.
ACC Coach of the Year: Coach K (Duke) - K narrowly beats out Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest and Seth Greenberg because K, for the first time in a long time, has adapted to his personnel and is running a system that suits the undersized, big-hearted Blue Devils. His willingness to go to this bench, play an up tempo and even go to a zone has really helped this talented group of munckins excel this year, especially in the ACC.
ACC Best Player No One Knows Anything About: AD Vassallo (VA Tech) - The Hokies were stripped of practically their whole team this year whether it was to graduation or transfers and yet, they sit in 5th place in the ACC, playing 7 freshmen. Why? Look at the development of Vassallo. Not only can he shoot the ball but he has enough strength to take it to the rack and finish. In ACC play, he is 6th in scoring and the 5 guys ahead of him are on my All-ACC team. He, along with the criminal Deron Washington, have kept the Hokies in it.
ACC Rookie of the Year: Kyle Singler (Duke) - Beats out James Johnson of Wake Forest and JJ Hickson of NC State marginally. Why? Well, for one thing, I am in love with him so that might have created a little selection bias but for another thing, he has carried to this team to a number of key victories early in his career. Plus, Hickson, although he is supremely talented, has really hurt the chemistry of that State team. Brandon Costner has entered the witness protection program since Hickson arrived in Raleigh.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I'd like to add one -
Biggest Disappointment in the ACC - Brandon Costner of NC State. He either had an out of body experience last year or he's having one of the worst follow up seasons in the ACC. Last year, he looked unstoppable and averaged near 17 points. This year, he's shooting less than 40% from the field (I thought that was impossible for a big man) and averaging less than 10 points a game.
Runner-up is teammate Ben McCauley who is averaging 6 points this year after going for 14 and a half last year a game.
Where would NC State be if these two guys played at the level they did last year?
Post a Comment