Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Just curious about everyone's front runners for the Big East Conference year-end awards. I was thinking about the possibility that Kelan Martin could win the 6th Man of the Year Award. Is that a possibility? Also, I saw a tweet last night from a fellow Butler fan that said that Tyler Lewis may be the best backup point guard in the nation. Does anyone else come close to him?

Go Dawgs!

If conference play ended right now, this is what I would have.

Player of the Year:
Josh Hart

Coach of the Year:
Jay Wright

First Team:
G Josh Hart
G Jalen Brunson
G Marcus Foster
G Trevon Bluiett
F Angel Delgado

Second Team:
G Eli Cain
G Khadeen Carrington
F Rodney Bullock
F Kelan Martin
F Kris Jenkins

Freshman Team
G Shamorie Ponds (Frosh of the Year)
G Marcus Lovett
G Kamar Baldwin
G Myles Powell
C Justin Patton

Player of the Year: Josh Hart

One of the leading candidates for National Player of the Year, probably the easiest pick of all these.

Coach of the Year: Chris Holtmann

Butler was picked 6th in the league and not only swept Villanova but is a near certainty now for 2nd in the league. Steve Wojciechowski and Ed Cooley honorable mentions if they get their teams to 3rd and 5th/6th respectively.

First Team

G Jalen Brunson
G Khadeen Carrington
F Trevon Blueitt
F Angel Delgado
C Justin Patton

Brunson and Delgado are automatic. Carrington and Blueitt has been good all year. Patton has been the most efficient freshman and is top-10 in eFG%, true shooting percentage, offensive and defensive rebounding, and blocks.

Second Team

G Kyron Cartwright
G Shamorie Ponds
F Marcus Foster
F Andrew Chrabascz
C Luke Fischer

Cartwright is the classic Cooley guard that makes things happen. Ponds puts up big numbers and has done so efficiently. I'm not a fan of Foster, the only reason he scores so much is because he shoots so much, but guys always get rewarded for PPG, so whatever. Chrabascz is probably my favorite non-Marquette guy in the league. Won't wow you with stats, but always makes good decisions and does what it takes to get the W. Fischer is maybe the only other true center in the league after Patton, and has provided scoring, rebounds, and rim protection.

Rookie Team

G Markus Howard
G Shamorie Ponds
G Marcus LoVett
F Sam Hauser
C Justin Patton

I know the voters won't have Hauser, but having a 3-guard lineup was as much a stretch as I'm willing to do and there are no other forwards even worth considering. The rest were easy. Ponds and LoVett have big numbers, but have maintained their efficiency in conference play. Howard leads the nation in 3P% and has put up big scoring numbers in conference play. And if Patton's first-team all-conference, he has to be here too.

Are these awards given based on the full season or just conference play? I would be inclined to at least give stronger consideration to what was accomplished in conference play, which is why I'm a little surprised to see Khadeen Carrington appear on some of these lists - including a 1st team? Carrington is a very talented player and was terrific in non-conference, but has been wildly inconsistent in Big East play. He's had a few big games, mainly dropping 41 on Creighton, but he's also had a number of complete no-shows, like scoring 5 points on 1-9 shooting last night.

If I were to consider a 2nd Seton Hall player for an All-Big East award this year, it would be Desi Rodriguez. Carrington and Rodriguez have fairly similar numbers overall, but from watching all year I feel like Rodriguez has been the more efficient and consistent contributor in league play.

The other thing I'm gonna throw out on a limb is the prospect of a challenger to Josh Hart for the Big East player of the year award. I think Angel Delgado deserves some consideration. In Big East play, the top 8 scorers in the league are separated by 1.8 ppg. Josh Hart is the leading scorer at 18.1 ppg, and while 7th, Delgado is only 1.6 ppg behind him at 16.5. Delgado, as is natural for his position, has been a little more shooting efficient (from the field, not free throw line). Since he's pretty close to Hart in scoring, I think his incredible rebounding leaves him worthy of consideration. Delgado averages a nation leading 13.1 rebounds per game overall and 14.3 rebounds per game in Big East play, which is MORE THAN DOUBLE anyone else in the league. The next best 2 rebounders in the league average 13.3 combined. In 15 Big East games this year, he's had 14 double-doubles, so he's the definition of consistency. He also has 20 double-doubles in his past 21 games, something no college player has done since 1996.

Do I think Delgado will win it? No. I think it'll fall back to the old "best player on the best team," but Delgado's numbers rival anybody's in the league and I'd argue he's more valuable (I know it's a best player award, not an MVP award) to his team than anyone else. Seton Hall this year wouldn't even be sniffing the NIT without him.

Hall2012 wrote:Do I think Delgado will win it? No. I think it'll fall back to the old "best player on the best team," but Delgado's numbers rival anybody's in the league and I'd argue he's more valuable (I know it's a best player award, not an MVP award) to his team than anyone else. Seton Hall this year wouldn't even be sniffing the NIT without him.

Delgado's numbers are fine, but in my eyes, he's not remotely close to Hart. Hart has a higher offensive efficiency by far with a higher usage rate. Hart is top-25 in the conference in virtually every advanced metric. That's why Hart is a NPOY contender. He's the Big East POY by a long shot and no one else is even in the conversation.