Well, I finally got home from work, so now I can post about this. Join me after the jump for my thoughts on the PL awards
Well, I'd like to say I called the McCollum thing. Go me, I can actually predict things correctly sometimes. I'm happy to see McCollum win both awards; he really deserved both. No player was as consistently good as he was during league play.
Glad to see Fran get Coach of the Year, he took a Lafayette team that was projected to be last in the league to 3rd place, and he did it without any real stars (Jared Mintz is alright, but he's not great, I don't care what the jokers who vote for the all-PL teams say about it).
I don't even know who Bryan Cohen is, but, uh, congrats I guess?
2009-10 Men's Basketball All-Patriot League and Major Awards
Player of the Year: CJ McCollum, Lehigh (Fr., G, 6'3, 165, Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak)
Rookie of the Year: CJ McCollum, Lehigh (Fr., G, 6'3, 165, Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak)
Defensive Player of the Year: Bryan Cohen, Bucknell (So., G, 6'5, 198, Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends)
Coach of the Year: Fran O'Hanlon, Lafayette
First-Team All-League
Chris Harris, Navy, G, Sr.
CJ McCollum, Lehigh, G, Fr.
Jared Mintz, Lafayette, F, Jr.
Vlad Moldoveanu, American, F, Jr.
Kyle Roemer, Colgate, G/F, Sr.
These are all mostly deserved, especially our IMPALER. No surprise that Vlad makes the first team. He's been (mostly) a force, but he has had some off games. He could've challenged McCollum for PoY I think had he not gone quiet for two games in recent weeks. Harris, Roemer, and McCollum (obviously) well deserved. They're the backbones of their respective teams.
I've only got one issue here. Jared Mintz. Yes Mintz made Lumpkins look kind of bad in the match-up at Lafayette, but Lumpkins absolutely embarrassed Mintz on Sunday. Lumpkins put him through his paces and shut him down. Mintz shouldn't have made either the first or the second teams. Keister should've been on the first team, and Lump should've been on the second. Muscala shouldn't have made it either. What a joker. Let's look at some stats between the four of them (sorry this is all screwed up).
Keister Lump Mintz Muscala
GP-GS 29-29 29-24 28-26 29-15
Min--Avg 827 28.5 862 29.7 766 27.4 710 24.5
FG-FGA 125-239 141-280 140-252 113-239
Pct .523 .504 .556 .473
Off Reb 96 62 47 45
Def Reb 177 179 113 97
Tot Reb 273 241 160 142
Avg 9.4 8.3 5.7 4.9
A 48 38 52 23
TO 68 38 55 29
Blk 17 46 9 61
Stl 14 15 19 7
Pts 303 359 409 287
Avg 10.4 12.4 14.6 9.9
Let's basically look at how Keister should be in over Mintz and Lumpkins should be in over Muscala or Mintz.
Double-doubles this season: Keister: 12 Lump: 7 Mintz: 2 Muscala: 1 (I think, Bucknell has crappy statkeeping)
Keister is averaging 4 points less than Mintz, yes, but 3.5 rebounds more. He's also got double his blocks. Because Mintz can step outside and shoot the 3-ball he gets on the first team over Keister? Ridiculous. Keister TAKES OVER games.
Lump is averaging 2-2.5 more rebounds than Mintz or Muscala, just 2 points less than Mintz (but 3 more than Muscala), and has 5x Mintz's blocks. Now to be fair, Muscala is a shot blocking wizard. In less minutes than any of these other 3, he killed them in the blocks category. But are the 15 more blocks that Muscala has over Lump more valuable than the NINETY-NINE more rebounds Lump has over Muscala? I think not. Keister and Lumpkins were both cheated here.
Second-Team All-League
Zahir Carrington, Lehigh, F, Sr.
Marquis Hall, Lehigh, G, Sr.
Mike Muscala, Bucknell, F/C, Fr.
Andrew Keister, Holy Cross, F, Jr.
Ryan Willen, Lafayette, F, So.
Carrington and Hall were both due to be first-teamers in pre-season. Just a short fall to the second team here.
All-Rookie Team
Bryson Johnson, Bucknell, G., Fr.
Gabe Knutson, Lehigh, F, Fr.
CJ McCollum, Lehigh, G, Fr.
Mike Muscala, Bucknell, F/C, Fr.
Mitch Rolls, Colgate, G, Fr.
Joe Willman, Bucknell, F, Fr.
Eh, no real comment here. Bucknell and Lehigh had talented freshman classes, no bones about it. A lot of young talent in the league right now. Hopefully more of it is latent on our bench right now than we know.
Now, I do think Lump got robbed by not making the second team all-PL, but he was rewarded today as the Anaconda Player of the Week! Congrats Lumpkins! This was his first time winning the award, but I KNOW we'll be seeing his name associated with this award a lot more in the next two seasons. Here's your citation:
Stephen Lumpkins, American, So., F, 6'8, 225, Redwood City, Calif./Juniperro Serra
Lumpkins averaged a 20-10 double-double to lift American to two huge victories last week, as the Eagles beat Navy on Wednesday and Lafayette on Saturday to end up as the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and a host in the quarterfinal round. Lumpkins managed 22.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two games, and was nearly perfect from the floor by shooting 19-of-24 (79.2 percent) in the contests. The Eagles would have been eliminated from their chance at a top-four seed with a loss at Navy on Wednesday, but won in double overtime, 80-77, thanks largely to Lumpkins' 21-point, 11-rebound effort. The Eagles got the win and the help they needed for the No. 4 spot with a 78-60 victory over Lafayette on Saturday. Lumpkins put up one of the best efforts in his career in the victory, scoring a career-high 24 points on 11-of-13 shooting and also pulling down 12 rebounds. He added averages of 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in the two games. Lumpkins recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the second time this season, and his total of seven is second in the Patriot League. He earns the Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week award for the first time.
We'll see you tomorrow with a Navy preview and Speculation Tuesday!
Pro deo et patria and GO EAGLES!
Nice to see Vlad on first team, but Lump's absence from the second team is a little disappointing.
ReplyDeleteif they had a third team Lump would definitely be there. I was kinda surprised too but the team's record can sometimes be a tiebreaker.
ReplyDeleteI did not make up the All PL stars. So do others rate Munoz as good as the other freshman guards ? My guess he is not in the top 5. Yes i hope by the time he is a senior that he will be # 1, but he has a lot of work to do. Our other Freshmen cannot qualify for consideration, because they do not play in league games. So who will have a leg up on the experience dial next season ? Not our other 6 freshmen kids. So do you nay sayers believe now that we have been out recruited ? THIS PAST YEAR WE HAVE BEEN OUT RECRUITED BY LEHIGH AND BUCKNELL-not my opinion, but the other coaches and writers i guess. Perhaps next season we will win the "All Transfer Team". That is okay with me if we win the PL title.
ReplyDeleteLumpkins was too inconsistent to be named to the 2nd team. He was shut down by both Muscala and Keister. He had some great games, but he had his fair share of poor games.
ReplyDeleteAs for our freshmen, correct me if I'm wrong but Danny was the only freshman to get significant playing time, especially once league play started. Our rotation seemed to be 1 senior, 3 juniors, 4 sophomores, and 1 freshman. Were we outrecruited? Maybe. But I'll wait to judge this freshmen class when they graduate. Last year we had the best graduating class, this year we have probably the worst graduating class (sorry Matt Wilson). When Danny and Co. graduate, then I'll judge. But yeah, Lehigh and Bucknell's freshmen had a bigger immediate impact. Though I think its best to wait 4 years to judge the class.
Bryson Johnson??????? Who is he? Look at his stats. Who voted for him? He is a two guard with not very impressive numbers on a winning team.
ReplyDeleteAs a means of comparison:
ReplyDeleteG Bryson Johnson: 23.4 MPG, 32.5% FG%, 32.1% 3FG%, 1.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.93 TO/G, .3 SPG, 9.3 PPG
F Gabe Knutson: 28.2 MPG, 51.7% FG%, 5.9 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.9 TO/G, 0.2 BPG, 0.4 SPG, 10.0 PPG
G CJ McCollum: 31.2 MPG, 46.3% FG%, 43.4 3PG%, 4.8 RPG, 2.3 APG, 2.0 TO/G, 1.1 SPG, 18.8 PPG
F Mike Muscala: 24.5 MPG, 47.3% FG%, 30% 3FG%, 4.9 RPG, 0.8 APG, 1 TO/G, 2.1 BPG, 9.9 PPG
G Mitch Rolls: 27.9 MPG, 37.4% FG%, 41.5% 3PG%, 2.1 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.4 TO/G, 0.7 SPG, 6.8 PPG
F Joe Willman: 18.1 MPG, 49% FG%, 3.8 RPG, 0.4 APG, 0.9 TO/G, 0.4 BPG, 0.6 SPG, 5.6 PPG
G Danny Munoz: 24.2 MPG, 31.7% FG%, 28.3% 3FG%, 1.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.8 TO/G, 0.5 SPG, 4.7 PPG
Now these statistics are for the whole year and I'd argue in-conference statistics mean more to these awards (hence Vlad's selection to PL 1st Team). I'm reasonably sure Danny's numbers would be better if we just looked at PL games, but I'm not sure where to look for that. I would be interested to see Danny's statistics compared to the rest of the All Rookie team.
SH: Did some of these in another post today about freshmen guards in the PL this season. Obviously, for an apples-to-apples comparison (at least, as close to apples-apples as we can get, for different teams give their players different responsibilities), you have to compare Danny to the other guards.
ReplyDeleteI didn't do FG/3-point percentage per PL game, or rebounds per PL game, or steals per PL game (blocks for point guards are not especially relevant, I think we can all agree). Someone can jump on that, I'm sure. Here are the numbers I did, in PL games only:
Bryson Johnson, Bucknell
18 assists/11 turnovers
1.64 assists; 1 turnover
1.64 assist-turnover ratio
26.4 minutes/game
CJ McCollum, Lehigh
44 assists/32 turnovers
3.14 assists; 2.29 turnovers
1.38 assist-turnover ratio
34.6 minutes/game
Danny Munoz, AU
41 assists/22 turnovers
2.93 assists; 1.57 turnovers
1.86 assist-turnover
25.6 minutes/game
Mitch Rolls, Colgate
55 assists/35 assists
3.93 assists; 2.5 turnovers
1.57 assist-turnover
28 minutes/game
Have no argument against McCollum (obviously), and Rolls's numbers are a little better than Danny's. But, I'm sorry; Bryson Johnson makes no sense over Danny. But Bucknell is winning this season, and we aren't. If you don't think that matters, you don't know how these awards really are picked.
Just for giggles, here are the other two PL freshman point guards:
Dee Goens, Colgate
15 assists/11 turnovers
1.7 assists; 0.78 turnovers
0.94 assist-turnover ratio
12.6 minutes/game
Tony Johnson, Lafayette
16 assists/13 turnovers
1.14 assists; 0.93 turnovers
1.23 assist-turnover ratio
17.6 minutes/game
Those who think that you can evaluate players by stats alone clearly don't understand the game very well. The voting is done by the league's coaches - based largely on league games - and they have watched hundreds of hours of video of all of these players. And the assistants have watched even more video.
ReplyDeleteI doubt Lumpkins was even close to Muscala in the voting for a few reasons: (1) Muscala is not only the league' top shot blocker by far, but he alters many more shots; he also generally plays better defense; (2) Muscala's ability to hit 20-footers changes the game, as the opponents' center can't stay in the lane; he was the key guy when BU played at AU; (3) Muscala doesn't have the benefit of opponents having to concentrate on another player (i.e. someone like Vlad).
Well said, Anon. Now if only you could figure out how to post with a Name/URL........
ReplyDeleteJeff Jones on ESPN Radio:
ReplyDeleteDo you miss big conference coaching? You had opportunity to go bigger or better.
I like it at AU. The thing I miss most is the big paychecks at the end of the month. I am really please with at AU... is that I think we are the most consistent team in the League and that is a sign of a good program.
Not a direct quote.
ReplyDeleteThanks Joe, do you remember when he was on ESPN Radio? I wonder what they mean by "opportunities to go better or better"...just in general, or are they citing specifically another offer he's recently received.
ReplyDeleteHe was on the radio, local ESPN station, at 11:45 today.
ReplyDeleteAlso here is the Kenpom prediction for tomorrow:
ReplyDeleteWed Mar 3
(289) Navy
W, 71-66
70%
Home
Coach Jones is extremely happy at AU. He is making $ 250K +, and his wife is also making six figures at Politico. The administration is firmly in his corner and he knows he is in a good situation for both of them. The only thing that would ever budge him would be an offer for $ 1 million dollars to go to a major BCS conference. He is most likely at AU for the future.
ReplyDeleteNJJ, I was posting the overall stats for all of the Rookie Team (those that were relevant, some guards have practically 0 blocks and some forwards haven't taken any 3's). The only reason I can point to Johnson being included is that he scores almost 10 ppg, and is one of 4 or 5 Bison to do so. That indicates to me that he can be a leading scorer on a given night. The one that I questioned is Joe Willman, unless they require 3 guards and 3 forwards/centers.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with anon that stats only tell part of the story. But given that I've only seen each team once at home and maybe a second time if I could find a free video stream when American played at the school, stats are the best objective way to measure the other 12-13 PL games. I defer to the coaches who obviously know more, but from what I see, Willman is a rotation player at Bucknell while Danny is our starting point guard and has played pretty well overall, especially since the start of conference play.
I certainly agree, and I've said that stats in a vacuum don't prove anything. My argument against Bryson Johnson came when comparing him with Munoz. Johnson and Willman split the starts this year for Bucknell--I assume depending on the individual matchups that night--while Danny, as you point out, started all but one PL game this season. Perhaps that explains why there are six players on the All-Rookie Team: a split vote for Johnson/Willman.
ReplyDeleteOur won-loss record did not help, either. Very few coaches will "reward" a 10-19 team. Vlad's numbers were just too good to ignore. But, congrats to the Bucknell kids; they played well in conference.