It's the time to really think about who the national player of the year is this season. And really, there seem to be two obvious possibilities: Kansas State's Michael Beasley and North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough.
(OK, maybe three. The only other player that really can claim a place in this discussion is Notre Dame's Luke Harangody.)
A voter in the AP poll is required to submit a player of the year, coach of the year and three teams of All-Americans at the end of the regular season. Which, as it turns out is less than two weeks away.
So who is the top player in the country? Please note, that question isn't "Who is the best pro prospect in the country?" (which is quite possibly Beasley) or "Who is the best player on a top-10 team?" (that's Hansbrough) or "Who is the best junior or senior?" (again, Hansbrough).
Those are all silly criteria for choosing the nation's best player. Voters who invoke that sort of rationale have to make you wonder whether they would give a nod to a pop-up book if they were presiding over the Pulitzers.
The question comes down to who is the best player, with factors such as level of competition, consistency and level of dominance all taken into account.
The thinking here is that it's Beasley, who might be even better than Kevin Durant was last year for Texas. Hansbrough carried North Carolina through the month of February when Ty Lawson was injured, and there's zero question he's vastly better this year than he was last season. Harangody got the better of Beasley in their head-to-head matchup at the Jimmy V Classic back in December.
Of course, that decision is not finalized on this end. Anyone have any arguments, for or against those three guys (and maybe someone who was omitted from the discussion)?
--- Patrick Stevens
Comments (4)
What about the best player in North Carolina -- Hansbrough or Stephen Curry?
Posted by Kevin | March 5, 2008 3:26 PM
Somehow, by both numbers and value, Hansbrough isn't even No. 1 in his state.
It is valid to wonder, however, just how good Curry would be if Davidson replaced two meetings with Western Carolina and The Citadel with multiple games against Duke and Clemson.
Curry is no doubt an amazing talent --- watching him dissect Maryland in the first half up in Buffalo last year in the NCAA tournament did more than enough to prove it to me. But the level of competition is a big stumbling block in terms of accurately assessing his value.
One thing is for certain: He and Rider's Jason Thompson will be two guys who toil away from the spotlight who will be among my top 15 players when I file my All-America ballot. They're that good.
Posted by Patrick Stevens | March 5, 2008 10:33 PM
handsbrough
Posted by zdog | March 6, 2008 10:56 AM
This is all I have to add:
Beasley is averaging 26.9 points on 54 percent shooting (277-of-513), including 39.8 percent from 3-point range, with 12.6 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 1.3 steals and 1.2 assists in 31.4 minutes per game this season. As of Monday, he ranks among the top-5 in the nation in both scoring (third) and rebounding (first). He has recorded a double-double in 26 of 29 games and has totaled 23 games of 20 or more points. He leads the nation in double-doubles (26), 40-point games (three), 30-point games (13), 20-point, 10-rebound games (21) and 30-point, 10-rebound games (13).
Beasley already holds 26 Kansas State career, single-season and freshman records as well as 13 Big 12 single-game and single-season marks. With his 33-point, 14-rebound effort against Colorado on Tuesday night, he eclipsed Mitch Richmond's (768; 1987-88) school single-season points record, while he broke the Big 12 record for double-doubles in a season with his 26th on the year. He is just the 27th player in NCAA Division I history to post 26 or more double-doubles in a season and the first since Utah's Andrew Bogut (26) did it in 2004-05.
Posted by Brian | March 6, 2008 3:49 PM