All BE Teams

[redmen9194]

I don't think the starter minutes will matter since the numbers are there for Obekpa. But I can see either of the other two getting the nod.

[NovaCats11]

Insane, IMO, that Wragge got Honorable Mention. Good player and had a few great games, but come on...

Agreed, Chatman just for one example from his own team is 10x the player Wragge is.

[handdownmandown]

Allow me a Wragge defense.

First, Wragge being on the court - and being nothing more than a spectator - basically turns the game into a 4 on 4 affair. Plus, Wragge occupying the other team's big 30 feet from the basket means that Doug gets single teamed and doesn't have to worry at all about help from the opposing team's center. Wragge regularly winds up with the highest +/- of any player on our team! A little of that is because he'll come out after offensive trips and come back in heading into an offensive trip, so the numbers get skewed a little, but his +/- numbers for us are HUGE. And it's because his mere existence changes the face of a team's defense.

Oh and Doug has averaged nearly 30 per since Wragge went nuclear in Philly, with higher shooting %ages along with his scoring surge. Not a coincidence. On our board a couple weeks ago I compared Wragge's value to Marty McSorley's relationship to Gretzky; Wragge doesn't enforce per se, but his existence keeps the muscle off the superstar, the way McSorley did for the Great One.

Secondly, his screen setting is great (or cheating, depending on if you're a CU fan or not). He gets Doug a ton of open looks with his work at the top of the key, while being really tough at boxing out for defensive rebounds that our guards come in and steal while he's sealing someone 4 inches and 50 pounds heavier than he.

Chatman is terrific for us and is really underrated, but without Wragge our offense is nowhere near the juggernaut that it is when he's out there, shooting or not. So when measured on a 'value' scale rather than a statistical one, he's worth his honor.

[Bill Marsh]

Cotton averaged OVER 40 minutes per game (40.1). That's just insane - especially for a player who handles the ball on every offensive possession.

[MackNova]

It's ridiculous that Hilliard isn't 1st or 2nd team. He's been a top 8 player in the league for sure. You simply can't name 10 players in the league better than he is. He'll get there next year for sure, but he deserved it this year.

[ChelseaFriar]

It's ridiculous that Hilliard isn't 1st or 2nd team. He's been a top 8 player in the league for sure. You simply can't name 10 players in the league better than he is. He'll get there next year for sure, but he deserved it this year.

Villanova is so balanced that it sometimes works against players when these awards come up because the individual numbers are not eye-popping.

I mean this as a compliment to Villanova and Hilliard.

[XUFan09]

Wragge just reminds me of a taller Brad Redford, and a lot of what is said about him can pretty much be echoed for Redford. "In-the-gym" range, dead-eye shooter, has to be guarded at 30 feet, best +/-, gives star player space (Tu Holloway or Semaj), etc. Even when he was getting starter-level minutes, there was no way Redford was sniffing an all-conference team in the Atlantic 10.

Wragge is the type of role player you love to have: Absolutely elite at one skill, which works as a gamechanger for opposing teams. Just not developed enough elsewhere to be more than an uber-role player.

[GumbyDamnit!]

It's ridiculous that Hilliard isn't 1st or 2nd team. He's been a top 8 player in the league for sure. You simply can't name 10 players in the league better than he is. He'll get there next year for sure, but he deserved it this year.

Villanova is so balanced that it sometimes works against players when these awards come up because the individual numbers are not eye-popping.

I mean this as a compliment to Villanova and Hilliard.

Agreed. HIlliard and Ochefu named BE Co-Most Improved Players though. Not sure how someone who was named National Player of the Week at one point LAST YEAR necessarily improved his game so much that he deserves this award, but we'll take it. I happen to think that he was really good before but with other players like Arch, Bell and JVP getting the most attention, he has just flown under the radar. It's nice to be recognized. It's funny that of that Nova recruiting class (Kennedy now at SMU, Yacoubo now at StL, Johnson now at SC) he was clearly the most unheralded, but is clearly the best of that bunch. Glad Jay W. saw something that many others didn't. Just goes to show that we all get a little too caught up in recruiting rankings.

(Jays fans nodding!)

[cu blujs]

I would not have complained had Wragge not received Honorable Mention. However, it is far from ridiculous. As a team without a true center, Wragge did yeomen's work on some very good post-players over the course of the season. Many of the old BE guard proclaimed that CU would never be able to handle the size and physicality of the BE teams. Well, Wragge went out and proved otherwise. Sure, some of the big fellas had some success against him, but with few exceptions Ethan held his own in the post. His defensive work and rebounding were outstanding considering the height and weight he gave up to pretty much everyone he guarded throughout the season. On the offensive side, without a doubt he changed the way teams guarded Creighton simply by being on the floor. Throw in the fact that he led the BE in three point percentage while taking just shy of 200 threes. The fact that the coaches in this league gave him such recognition speaks for itself. Proclaiming his honorable mention as ridiculous is, well ridiculous, IMO.

[PhillyPirate]

For the lazy
http://www.bigeast.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/031014aab.html

Edwin: Defensive Player of the Year
Hillard and Ochefu: Most Improved
Gardner: 6th Man
Otule: Sportsmanship Award

Things I though were interesting. Garner wins it for the second time in 2 years. Edwin is one of only 3 non post players to with DPOY and first Pirate since Jerry Walker in 1992-93.