Big 10 Awards and Analysis

Bob on 03 12, 2009

It’s about that time to start wrapping up each conference in the NCAA Men’s Basketball regular season as the conference tournaments have begun and the Madness nears.

The Big Ten is surprisingly competitive this year. Teams such as Northwestern, Penn State and Minnesota climbed out of the garbage bin and really became competitors. As for Indiana… that’s another story. The Hoosiers mustered up a single conference win all season. Let’s just say they are in the midst of the ‘rebuilding’ phase.

The Big Ten conference awards were just handed out; let’s take a look at what we’ve got. These are the results from the Coaches Balloting.

First Team	Second Team	Third Team
Manny Harris – Michigan	Mike Davis – Illinois	Demetri McCamey – Illinois
Kalin Lucas – Michigan St.	Goran Suton – Michigan St.	DeShawn Sims – Michigan
Evan Turner – Ohio State	Kevin Coble – Northwestern	Craig Moore – Northwestern
Talor Battle – Penn State	E’Twaun Moore – Purdue	Jamelle Cornley – Penn St.
JaJuan Johnson – Purdue	Marcus Landry – Wisconsin	Robbie Hummel – Purdue

Analysis: There’s always going to be controversy here. It looks like the coaches did an alright job. I wouldn’t argue against the First Team selections. If healthy, Robbie Hummel should’ve been 1st/2nd team. I would certainly replace Craig Moore with Lawrence Westbrook from Minnesota…a little surprising Westbrook didn’t make the all-conference team. For the most part, I can’t argue.

Player of the Year
Kalin Lucas – Michigan St.

Analysis: Surprising this award didn’t go to OSU do-it-all sophomore G/F Evan Turner. It seems as if the voters were infatuated with the first place Spartans. Turner was the front runner for the Big Ten Player of the Year, leading the Buckeyes in points(16.8), rebounds(6.9), assists(3.9) and steals(1.7). Turner is only a sophomore, but conducts his team like a grizzled veteran. Evan turner is what makes the OSU offense click. His understanding for the game is unmatched. MSU guard and recipient of the POTY award, Kalin Lucas, averaged 14.8 pts, 4.6 asts and 2.2 rebounds. Not bad numbers, but I think the award going to Lucas was a result of MSU’s success. Most Big Ten followers will agree when I say I really felt the kid from St. Joes HS in Chicago, Evan Turner, deserved this award. Turner is the motor that drives OSU, if you take him off the court, the Buckeyes are in shambles. MSU has other playmakers and Korie Lucious is a nice substitute for Lucas. I would’ve preferred to see PSU’s Talor Battle here instead of Lucas. Battle led the conference in scoring and helped put Penn St. on the map.

Coach of the Year
Tom Izzo – Michigan St.

Analysis: Tom Izzo had to deal with a slew of injuries and still managed to coach his team to 1st place in the Big Ten, going 15-3 in conference and 25-5 overall. Izzo’s squad led the conference in points at 72.2 per game and rebounds. This award is not as clear cut as the others, as several coaches exceeded expectations this season. I felt Penn St. coach Ed DeChallis deserved this award, and he received this award in the media balloting. Penn St. might be the surprise team of the nation. They came out of nowhere. I’m glad the media got it right and gave DeChallis Coach of the Year. The Big Ten has some great coaches. Tubby Smith has put the Gophers back on the basketball map. Bruce Weber has his Illini playing at a high level. Thad Matta continued his impressive record of 20-win seasons by getting number 9. Bo Ryan always has his team ready to play.

Sixth Player of the Year
BJ Mullens – Ohio State

Analysis: Mullens showed he’s still got a ways to go until he makes the jump to the NBA. However, he’s deserving of this award. BJ led the conference in FG percentage, making .645% of his attempts(next closest Raymar Morgan at .561%). Most of Mullens’ buckets were posterizing dunks. Throw it down big man! This kid’s got some serious upside and is going to be a dominating force once he gets accustomed to the college game.

Freshman of the Year
William Buford – Ohio State

Analysis: After Team Captain David Lighty went down to a foot injury, the Buckeyes really needed someone to step up in his place. Silky smooth guard out of Toledo,OH William Buford exceeded expectations. Buford was Mr. Basketball of Ohio, so we knew he had some talent. What impressed me was his attitude. Typically a freshman guard stepping in to the starting role might be a little timid. Not Buford. This kid is something special. He’s the only player besides Evan Turner on the Buckeyes who can create his own shot, and wow is it a pretty looking shot. Confidence and swagger are at high levels with this frosh. He finished 1st in the conference among freshman in scoring and 3rd on the Buckeyes behind Turner and Jon Diebler. William Buford was a pleasant surprise to a team who looked to be down and out in the absence of their leader.

Defensive Player of the Year
Travis Walton – Michigan St.

Analysis: Kind of an obvious one here. Defense is the reason Walton is on the court. He held Texas’ sharpshooter AJ Abrams and Kansas’ Sherron Collins to 8 pts and locked up on Michigan’s Manny Harris, only allowing 7. These are some impressive scorers, too. Those stats don’t lie folks. No debate here.