Big East Player of the year race is heating up...

[TheDon]

Ellenson is so nice to watch. His fundamentals are fantastic.

Also love Sumner's game, kid is going to be a star next year.

I'd take Sumner over Ellenson too. And what does it say about Cooley or PC that they might have the two best players in the league and finish under .500?

[MarquetteRustler]

If Creighton finishes strong, then Mo Watson has to get some consideration. That dude is carrying the team on his back.

[Westbrook#36]

If Creighton finishes strong, then Mo Watson has to get some consideration. That dude is carrying the team on his back.

While Mo Watson isn't going to get BE POY, I think you can safely say he is the most valuable player to his team in the BE. Without Mo I'd hate to imagine the state Creighton would be in this year.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Ben Bentil without a doubt should be POY.

Lots of games to be played so this may be a bit premature any way you look at it. But I'd like to provide some things to think about.

First, Bentil is a great, great player. No doubt there. But here are some things to consider about Bentil if you are comparing him to other candidates for POY. I'll keep Dunn off to the side for now as I think he will eventually get the nod just based on an excellent 2 year body of work in the league. But I wanted to respond to the "without a doubt" comment made above.

Point #1:
Betil has attempted 360 shots from the field this year, and 180 FT's.
T. Blueitt = 280 FGA; 94 FTA
J Hart = 272 FGA; 71 FTA
If BOTH Bleuitt and Hart took as many shots from the field, which also leads to more fouls and more points from the line, they actually would be outscoring Bentil. So some of those PPG stats are a little misleading IMO.

Point #2
Related to point #1 is efficiency as an offensive player. Yes Bentil takes more shots. Is that why he is considered MORE valuable?
FG% / 3 Pt % / eFG%
BB - 47% overall / 31% 3pt% = 51%eFG
Blueitt - 42% / 39% = 51%eFG
Hart - 52% / 35% = 59%eFG


Point #3
There is no mistaking that BB is the lone big man for PC. He should be dominating the boards at least on the PC side of the equation. He is averaging 7.7 Rebs/G or .23 rebs/min.
Josh Hart who has two excellent rebounders on his own team to compete with (Ochefu and Reynolds) is averaging 7.4 or .24 rebs / min. It's at worst a wash or slight advantage Hart since he is a guard/wing not a big.
Blueitt with Reynolds and Farr is also an excellent rebounder for a guard/wing.

Point #4
PC = .500 in conference and he plays with a lottery pick; tied for 6th, may play 1st round BET game
X = #5 in the country; solid 2nd place in league; lead PC by 3 games
Nova - #1 in country; solid top team in the league; lead PC by 5 games
It seems somewhat odd that anyone on a .500 team is so valuable that you led your team to... mediocrity. PC was preseason around the middle of the pack. Are results to this point so much different from expectation? I think some people still think PC is a Top 10 team. They trail SHU, G'town and Creighton in the standings at this point. If he and Dunn are "carrying" PC they are not taking them very far (to this point).

Look, I'm not trying to say that BB is not an excellent player. He is. He went off for 40+ last night which is terrific. He also took 29 shots and 17 FT's to get to that total. Had Wojo asked Ellenson to do the same I have every reason to believe Ellenson would have matched BB's scoring line.

Just a few things to think about...

[whiteandblue77]

If Creighton finishes strong, then Mo Watson has to get some consideration. That dude is carrying the team on his back.

While Mo Watson isn't going to get BE POY, I think you can safely say he is the most valuable player to his team in the BE. Without Mo I'd hate to imagine the state Creighton would be in this year.

WOP For CU PRESIDENT!

[FDS]

Yes, I'd probably go with Bentil as well. It is getting more difficult, though. Over anyone else, Dunn is a clear second and may still even be leading. Hart will obviously get some love as the best and most important player on the league's best team, but I think there are too many other guys that have had far more impressive individual seasons for him to win it, but who knows especially if Villanova keeps it up and Providence continues to slide.

Rookie of the Year: I'd have to go with Ellenson at the top by quite a bit and then Sumner and Brunson battling it out for number two. I think this is the most clear cut of the three debates, honestly. It's tough to make an argument for anyone else. I don't think Bridges is really that good right now, but a 6'7" guard with his athleticism has some scary potential, so he'll get some play in the next category.

NBA prospects:
1. Ellenson
2. Dunn
3. Sumner
4. Bridges
5. Whitehead
6. Bentil
7. Hart
8. Bluiett
9. Brunson

Of the group of forwards, I don't really see any of the forwards making it in the league between Reynolds, Ochefu, Delgado etc. Agreed that unless DSR starts playing like his hair's on fire every game, he's not making it. Copeland's got to deliver on his talent at some point as well I would think, but it hasn't stopped people from getting drafted before, so who knows. This is a heck of a group of guys though, especially in this year when the individual talent seems to be down across the country.

I don't think people will be able to continue to leave Kelan Martin out of the NBA prospects discussions... I think he certainly has more pro potential than several of the guys on this list and his numbers this year aren't bad at all.

[stever20]

Gumby-
1- I don't think the 2 year body of work will mean much. I think the coaches are going to vote based on this season....
2- have to remember it's a Player of the year award. It's not a MVP award. A HUGE difference in meaning there.

Bentil has been so consistent. In the 12 conference games, he's scored 19 or more points in all but 2(1 of them the DePaul game where he got hurt) 10 of 12 games offensive rating over 100. Dunn with only 5 games over 19 points. Only 5 games where offensive rating is over 100 for the game. A lot will play out last 6 games- but I could easily see BB being the player of the year.

[billyjack]

So last night, according to many here, Dunn had an off-game at Marquette.
But his numbers were equal or better than Josh Hart's averages.

Dunn's numbers at Marquette:
17 points, 7 rebs, 6 assists, 1 steal, 5/9 fg, 6/8 ft, 4 turnovers.

Josh Hart numbers in the Big East:
16.3 points, 7.4 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 53.6% fg%, 76.2 ft%, 1.9 turnovers.
excellent numbers for an excellent player.
on a team with 4-5-6 reliable scorers.
doesn't have to run the point.
never gets double-teamed.

Dunn numbers in the Big East:
17.0 points, 5.9 rebs, 6.7 assists, 3.1 steals, 44.2% fg%, 67.7% ft%, 4.3 turnovers.
excellent numbers for an excellent player.
on a team with 1 other player who can score.
2 upperclassmen on PC.
double-teamed on almost every play, except when he's triple-teamed.

[jfan]

If Creighton finishes strong, then Mo Watson has to get some consideration. That dude is carrying the team on his back.

<br abp="952"><br abp="953">While Mo Watson isn't going to get BE POY, I think you can safely say he is the most valuable player to his team in the BE. Without Mo I'd hate to imagine the state Creighton would be in this year.

We'd be in the state of Nebraska wondering what the hell we were doing in the Big East! (Oops, opened that door again)

[stever20]

I think the thing with Dunn is the feeling is that he hasn't had the kind of year that I think a lot of folks were expecting. His numbers haven't taken off like one could have hoped.
last year- 15.6 ppg, 47.4% shooting, 5.5 rpg, 7.5 APG 4.2 TO per game.
this year- 17.0 ppg 44.2% shooting, 5.9 RPG, 6.7 APG 3.6 TO per game.

so shooting down from last year, assists down from last year, scoring only slightly up. pretty even comparison though.

in conference play- 17.3 ppg, 41.8% shooting, 5.8 rpg, 6.2 apg 3.0 spg 4.3 to per game
ly in conference play 17.0 ppg, 47.6% shooting, 5.9 rpg, 7.7 apg 2.8 spg 4.2 to per game

you can make the case in conference play that Dunn was a better player last year. yeah some of that is the extra attention, but if you are a great player, you play thru that......His shooting and assists are down pretty big.

I could easily see some coaches saying- to who much is given much is expected.

Let's just say this. If Dunn doesn't win the POY- it won't be a shock like we were thinking a month or so ago.