ACC Awards – SFN’s Take
An exciting, highly competitive 2006-07 ACC regular season is over. We wanted to get our thoughts on record prior to seeing the “official” media results. The following are my personal votes, and do not reflect the consensus view of SFN. I do have some data from other SFN bloggers, which I will also present.
Coach of the Year: Gary Williams, Maryland. Although I had pegged this as a Leitao/Greenburg race just a few weeks ago, it’s hard to ignore the fantastic job done by the always-sweaty GW. Coaching the kind of hard-nosed, blue collar team he likes, the Terps stormed back from a rough start to finish 10-6 (1 game out of first) and arguably the hottest team in the nation. Leitao lost my vote when his team gakked up the outright regular season crown by losing to Wake. Other SFN votes: Jeff also votes GW, Rick votes Greenburg.
Player of the Year: Jared Dudley, Boston College. Personally, this was the toughest vote of all – and there were lots of close calls in every category. Al Thornton is a very close second, and I wouldn’t object to anyone voting for Singletary or Dowdell. Maybe even Hansbrough, but I definitely think he was a half-click behind those four. Dudley carried his team, and performed well in every facet of the game. So did Thornton – but Dudley carried his team farther. Other SFN votes: Jeff also votes Dudley, Rick votes Thornton.
Rookie of the Year: Javaris Crittenden, Georgia Tech. I fully expect to be savaged in the comments, but I think Crittenden’s achievements merit the highest freshman honor. He is the best and most important player for a Yellow Jacket squad that had a great 2nd half, and has earned an NCAA berth. He was a true freshman PG in the ACC, and not only didn’t hit the wall, but actually continued to get better. Counting ACC games only, Crittenden finished 1st in assists, 3rd in steals, and 9th in scoring (one-tenth of a point behind Costner). The numbers speak for themselves, and subjective viewing makes him look even better. Go pro, young man! Costner and Wright are also extremely worthy candidates for the honor. Other SFN votes: Jeff and Rick vote Costner.
All-ACC, First Team
- J. Dudley, Boston College
- A. Thornton, Florida State
- S. Singletary, Virginia
- Z. Dowdell, Virginia Tech
- T. Hansbrough, North Carolina
No real arguments on these selections. It would be a shock and an outrage if this is not the official first team. The drop-off after these five is huge. Other SFN votes: Jeff is in complete agreement.
All-ACC, Second Team
- J.R. Reynolds, Virginia
- J. Crittenden, Georgia Tech
- D.J. Strawberry, Maryland
- T. Rice, Boston College
- B. Costner, NC State
Here is where the debates begin. Reynolds is the 2nd leading scorer in ACC play, so no real issue there. You can make a case for LOTS of changes among the others. Rice stepped up big to keep BC competitive (after the Williams suspension), Crittenden has great stats and led his team to a great second half, Strawberry is a very good all-around player (and the best for a team that’s firing on all cylinders). In the end, I chose Costner’s excellent overall numbers above Wright’s freakish athleticism and great “numbers per minute played.” Ultimately, Wright simply didn’t dominate and force Roy Williams to play him more minutes and always down the stretch. At their respective peaks, Wright was easily better – but Costner was more consistent. After POY, this was my toughest decision. Other SFN votes: Jeff agrees with Reynolds and Strawberry, but goes with Visser, McCauley, and McBob as his other three.
All-ACC, Third Team
- B. Wright, North Carolina
- J. Gordon, Virginia Tech
- J. McRoberts, Duke
- K. Visser, Wake Forest
- E. Ibekwe, Maryland
Honorable Mention: J. McClinton (Miami), T. Lawson (UNC), B. McCauley (NC State), G. Vazquez (MD), J. Mays (Clemson)
Jamon Gordon’s defensive excellence merits his selection (along with good overall offensive numbers). You might be surprised to hear that McBob only averaged 12.9 points and 7.8 rebounds in ACC play (and no, he is not in the Top Ten in assists, despite all you hear about his passing skills). My friends, those are 3rd team numbers unless you are a dominant defender (he’s not). Ibekwe is a decent scorer and very good rebounder and defender. Visser kept the Deacs from possibly being a 1 or 2-win team in ACC play. McCauley, Mays, and Lawson all would have made it (probably 2nd team, too) if the votes were counted at midseason.
Criticize me and submit your own rosters in the comments section below.
71 Responses to “ACC Awards – SFN’s Take”
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Just heard Costner got 3rd team.
Ok, I was with you dead on until you put Ben on honorable mention.
Ben is a 2nd teamer. Its Brandon that should be moved down in my opinion. Assist to Turnover ratio is the stat that I would call out that embodies why I think Ben deserves to be 2nd team.
I’m in total agreement on the big awards. Williams, Dudley, and Crittendon. Costner has been relied on to do a lot, but Javaris is a freshman PG entrusted to lead his team. He’s delivered.
Dudley wins the award with a Hodge like do everything season.
I’m good with the entire selection there save trading out Ben for Brandon.
Plus, my all rookie team:
Costner
Crittendon
T. Young
Greivis
B Wright
Note: That’s right. No Tylon Lawson.
Great selections, SFN.
Good points on Crittendon – I can see him being rookie of the year w/ those ACC #s.
Biggest problem I have is w/ Dudley. He disappeared in some key games for them – and his disappearances were a big part of the BC collapse. IMHO, Singletary is POTY. I don’t know if UVA wins 2 ACC games w/out his leadership and abilities, instead the tie for the conference title.
I would respectfully agree with all of your selections, save one.
VISSER???? Just because he’s the only “quality” player on an otherwise crappy team? That’s almost like voting Kris Lang all-ACC a few years ago! As a replacement for Visser, how about Terry fron UNX? He may not be explosive, but he HAS been clutch at times when they’ve needed him to be. You may now howl and scream about my opinion.
This is from the AP. Feel free to post.
Dudley
Hansbrough
Thornton
all tied as unaminous
Singletary
Dowdell
Reynolds
Strawberry
T. Rice
McRoberts
B. Wright
Visser
Crittendon
Costner
J. Gordon
Jack McClinton
Honorable Mention:
Ben McCauley was 1st HM,
All Freshman:
Crittendon
Wright
Costner
Lawson
Sheyer
All Defense:
J. Gordon
Ibekwe
Dowdell
Strawberry
McRoberts
FWIW, Tyler is 2nd in scoring and 1st in rebounding. I dont think he’s a half click behind anyone – especially considering his minutes played compared to the rest.
The official teams:
All-ACC Team
First team
Jared Dudley, Boston College (106), 318
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (106), 318
Al Thornton, Florida State (106), 318
Sean Singletary, Virginia (100), 312
Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech (90), 302
___
Second team
J.R. Reynolds, Virginia (20), 232
D.J. Strawberry, Maryland (2), 180
Tyrese Rice, Boston College, 177
Josh McRoberts, Duke, 159
Brandan Wright, North Carolina, 150
___
Third team
Kyle Visser, Wake Forest, 120
Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech, 104
Brandon Costner, N.C. State, 94
Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech, 61
Jack McClinton, Miami, 48
___
Honorable mention (20 or more points)
Ben McCauley, N.C. State, 36
James Mays, Clemson, 34
DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, 34
James Gist, Maryland, 28
Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland, 22
___
All-Freshman Team
Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech, 106
Brandan Wright, North Carolina, 106
Brandon Costner, N.C. State, 95
Ty Lawson, North Carolina, 64
Jon Scheyer, Duke, 54
___
Honorable mention (20 or more votes)
Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech, 42
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland, 37
___
All-Defensive Team
Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech, 96
Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland, 65
Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech, 59
D.J. Strawberry, Maryland, 55
Josh McRoberts, Duke, 46
___
Honorable mention (20 or more votes)
Mario West, Georgia Tech, 33
DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, 25
James Mays, Clemson, 24
Vernon Hamilton, Clemson, 20
Sadly, McCauley REALLY faded down the stretch. I had him on 2nd team after 10 games or so.
I still think Dudley’s production was pretty incredible given how much defensive attention he received. Rather than get frustrated, he made lots of nice passes. He did come up small in a few big games, but Thornton also couldn’t pull FSU out of an awful losing streak.
BTW..I personally think that Visser would fit in nicely with GT’s Goon Squad!
Has anyone come up with the all ACC Goon team?
Chrisheel: Hansbrough was 4th in scoring and 2nd in rebounding in ACC games only. But I agree, he is the best player on the best team so he should be right there.
I would probably give it to Al Thornton who was first in scoring by a 3.5 margine(23.5 pts) and 1st in rebounding. That 45 point performance in such a key game should have sewn it up.
Tough call between the top three to four players.
I would have to agree with Mr O….Thornton absolutely carried FSU this year, without him, the Semiholes would be where Weak Florist or Miami is this year. Hansbrough just got more media.
Costner has recieved a lot of praise recently, and rightfully so, but I think you’re way off with putting him on the second team ahead of McCauley. Even if you’re looking purely at stats, McCauley comes out ahead. He gets a point and a half less per game and one less rebound, but he gets double the assists and has a much better A/T ratio. In addition, his offensive rating (kenpom ratings) is 14 points higher, and he’s a much higher percentage shooter (even with Costner’s 3-point shooting, McCauley’s effective field goal percentage is 4 points higher). That’s just the statistics. When you watch them play, it’s readily apparent to me that McCauley is the better player this year. He’s one of the rare players in the college game who always knows where everybody on the floor is. If he were playing with teammates who actually understood ball movement and cutting lanes (I really wish Cam Bennerman were around this year, just to watch him play with McCauley), he would probably get 2-3 more assists per game. In nearly every game I’ve watched this season, he has directly created at least 3-5 points for Costner via kickouts or interior passing. I’m not taking anything away from Costner, it’s been a great freshman season for him and he keeps getting better, but he forces a lot of bad shots and commits a lot of turnovers because he can’t deal with double teams yet. To me, McCauley is clearly the better player when you look at the year in its entirety, not just the last few games.
Mr. O,
That 45 pt performance, refusing to let his team lose, in a game they had to have was the best thing in the country this year that no one saw. OTOH, his team finished 8th in the league.
So to me, while Tyler doesn’t take a backseat to anyone, I ultimately would go with Dudley.
FSU finished 8th, yes. Take the injury plague away, and who knows, they could have been in the top 4 or 5. As much as I hate to say it, I believe a tie between Dudley and Thornton would have to be my vote. Both players are clutch, and both carried their respective teams when it was most needed.
Chris92heel: If your recruiting class had gone to FSU, then Al Thornton’s team wouldn’t have finished 8th. Put Tyler on FSU’s team, and they probably still finish 8th.
However, I do agree that Tyler is an absolute beast at this level. In fact, he is so good that he should be banned from college basketball.
All of the top three are very close, but I guess someone has to win.
This year’s ACCT will be the most interesting in a long time, IMHO. If someone stumbles on Friday, then it truly will be ANYBODY’S tournament to win. Well, with one glaring exception, WFU.
Xphoenix: Here are scoring and rebounding averages for ACC games only:
Costner: 8th(16.1 ppg), 6th (7.7 rebs)
McCauley: 25th(12.8 ppg), 10th (6.5 rebs)
Don’t have their assist numbers, but obviously McCauley would have the edge there(plus fewer turnovers).
I think McCauley would have made it over Costner had he not faded in the last few games. For some reason, he is struggling to figure out what to do against double teams now.
To me, Dudley showed the best all-around game. IMHO, Hansbrough is an average passer and an average defender. Hansbrough also is surrounded by much more talent (which I understand CAN cut both ways).
Don’t you have to factor in the suspensions to the two BC players in evaluating this too?
I just think that Dudley gets a major edge in lifting his team to a place that Thornton was unable to lift his.
OTOH, I think Dudley also plays for a better coach.
Someone should tell Big Ben that to beat a double team, you never dribble, keep your head up, pump fake and FORCE the other players to swipe at the ball, in turn drawing a reach-in foul or a hack. Believe me, I’m only 6’2″, but LOVE to play in the post. I get doubled by bigger players all the time and have only lost the ball a few times, while getting hacked a LOT. (I’ve got the bruises to prove it)
“IMHO, Hansbrough is an average passer ”
Bullshit! When have you ever seen Tyler pass?
The answer……NEVER!!
He simply WILLS the ball into the hoop!
Let the Hansbrough bashing party begin!
To clarify – I did look at “ACC only” numbers. Big discrepancy between Costner and McCauley for those, as O pointed out. McCauley also started getting killed on the boards down the stretch. He’s still a VERY GOOD player, and I love his game. But the last 4-5 games, he was just so-so.
It also may not be fair, but I look at UNC as a team that should have won at least 13 or 14 ACC games, but only won 11. And not saying it’s really Tyler’s fault – but a true POY arguably should have been able to will such a talented team to a few more victories.