Wildcats show that basketball teams can play small ball, too
Maybe it’s a little early, but so what. I am going to give you my Big East Conference honors – before the basketball gurus get their lists out. Anything less would be uncivilized.
Player of the Year: Randy Foye, Villanova
So what, I went to Villanova and I know you are saying that I am a little biased. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but let’s be real here. The guy is second in the conference in scoring on a top five team in the country with a balanced offensive attack. He’s been consistent from the beginning to the end of the year. He’s shooting 37 percent from three and some nights guards the opposing team’s power forward. His team is 19-2 and he may be the one of the top three guards in America. If this were the MVP race, I would choose Quincy Douby, because no one in the conference is more important to his team. But this is the Player of the Year, and you have to win games. Enough said.
Defensive Player of the Year: Marquis Webb, Rutgers
This guy locks cats up. Night in and night out he makes it tough on anybody he guards. Ask Taquan Dean (Louisville), Carl Krauser (Pittsburgh), Mardy Collins (Temple) just to name a few who were tangled in the Paterson, New Jersey native’s “Webb”. He doesn’t back down and allows Douby to guard others so he can stay fresh and put up the numbers he does. Webb is the X-factor for the Scarlet Knights.
Rambo Player of the Year: Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh
This goes out to a guy who I would want to go to war with. Krauser is a guy who you would want to be in the trenches with, lost in the woods with no food or water with. This is a guy who brings it every night. Krauser, who hails from the Bronx, is one tough cookie. He wears a scowl that might scare Mike Tyson. He also drops 16 points a game and hands out 4.5 assists. Let’s not forget that his team is 19-3.
Best Sixth Man: Rashad Anderson, Connecticut
You are talking about the all-time leader in three-point field goals made in Connecticut history. That’s a list with a lot of big time players. Anderson is instant offense off the bench for the No. 1 team in the country, averaging 14 points a game in only 22.5 minutes a game. Now that’s production.
Best shooter: Quincy Douby, Rutgers
Here’s a guy who once hit 18 threes in a high school game. Did you hear me? 18. He hit nine threes in a game vs. Syracuse this year and can shoot it from anywhere on the court. Douby has made 73 threes on the year, 3rd in the conference, with defenders draped all over him. Legend has it that one time he shot it from Brooklyn and it hit nothing but net at the RAC in Piscataway. The ref waived it off because he shot it from out of bounds.
Most Underrated Player: Donald Copeland, Seton Hall
The 5-10 little guy from St. Anthony’s High School plays with a big heart. Averaging about 15.6 points a game and dishing out 4.5 assists, he has been a major factor in the resurgence of Seton Hall along with Seton Hall coach Louis Orr. The Jersey City kid has had big games at big times, with 22 points against then-nationally ranked North Carolina State and 18 points and 8 assists against Syracuse. Another in a long line a gutsy St. Anthony guards.
Most Overrated Player: Gerry McNamara, Syracuse
He broke onto the national spotlight as a freshman winning the National Championship along side Carmelo Anthony in 2003. He has been picked as a pre-season first team all-conference player. As a freshman he was known as a big game performer. This year, he has not performed in the big games, shooting a lot of shots at a bad percentage. McNamara did not play well against Villanova or Connecticut. All told, that’s not a sign of a first team All-Big East performer. McNamara is shooting only 33 percent on the year and 31.8 percent from three.
Coach of the Year: John Thompson III, Georgetown
He is directly responsible for the resurgence of the Hoyas onto the national scene. The Hoyas have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2001, but you can pencil them in this year as Thompson’s Princeton offense looks better than ever. The Hoyas cemented themselves in the national spotlight with an upset of Duke on national television, outsmarting and out-playing them to the final buzzer. As of today, the Hoyas sit at 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the Big East. Thompson III doesn’t have rock the towel like his father, but they still have been wiping up opponents all year.
Surprise team of the Year: Seton Hall
Picked in the basement of the Big East, the Pirates have been surprising of late, going 4-1 in the last five games. The lone lost was a blowout to UConn but hey, the Huskies are ranked No. 1 in the country. All the boys from South Orange Avenue have done is go 15-7 and stand in 6th place in the best conference in the country.
Most Disappointing team of the Year: Louisville
This was an easy one. Rick Pitino’s excuse about his team being young does not fly. Louisville was picked in the top ten in the country early in the year. The Cardinals have not been welcomed with open arms to the Big East, as they have struggled in conference play with a 4-7 record and are in danger of not even making the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have even dropped a few games at home, a definite no-no in the powerful Big East Conference.
First team All-Big East
Randy Foye, Villanova
Allan Ray, Villanova
Quincy Douby, Rutgers
Rudy Gay, Connecticut
Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia
