After this weekend's games, my record in predicting Big Ten games since late January is 28-4. Not bad. Here, I'm asking for your help in picking the Big Ten's Player of the Year.
Though there are three weeks left in the regular season, it essentially comes down to three players: Penn State's Talor Battle, Ohio State's Evan Turner and Michigan's Manny Harris. Before taking a look at each player, here's a look at the past winners of the award:
2008: D.J. White, Indiana
2007: Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
2006: Terrence Dials, Ohio State
2005: Dee Brown, Illinois
2004: Devin Harris, Wisconsin
2003: Brian Cook, Illinois
That's some pretty good company. Now, each player's stat line (coming into Sunday's games):
Battle: 17.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.2 spg, 70 3-pt FGs made, 36.8 minutes-per-game
Turner: 17.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.3 apg, 77% FT, 35.6 minutes-per-game
Harris: 17.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.3 apg, 85% FT, 32.7 minutes-per-game
INTERESTING NOTES: Penn State has never had a player win the conference's award. Battle would be the first if he received it... If Harris won, he would be the first Michigan player since Glen Rice in 1989 to win it (he shared the award with Indiana's Jay Edwards)... Roy Tarpley (1985) and Gary Grant (1988) are the last Michigan players to win the award outright... All three of my candidates are sophomores. The last sophomore to win the award was Indiana's Jared Jeffries in 2002... Seven of the last nine winners have gone on to play in the NBA... Battle, Turner and Harris are 1-2-3 in the Big Ten in scoring, respectively.
So, who is your Player of the Year? Comment below...
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I watched the last five minutes of Michigan-Northwestern on Sunday and deep into overtime and I would say that Manny Harris earned my vote today. With DeShawn Sims fouling out and the Wolverines with literally no other offense to speak of, Harris dashed and shot his way to clutch baskets in the closing minutes to take a huge road win in Evanston. Playing less minutes than the other two candidates you've listed, Harris has been the most complete player of the three, finding his way to impact a game not only by scoring but rebounding and finding teammates, too. His quickness is really remarkable for his size and I think he is as deserving as any player for MVP.
ReplyDeleteManny Harris would be a nice choice. I think he's proven that he's the best player in the conference. However, playing for the the sixth or seventh best team in the conference won't help him.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be shocked if Evan Turner won the award. He's putting up similar numbers for a better team. I don't think you can argue that he's more important to the Buckeyes than Manny Harris is for the Wolverines, though. Without Harris, Michigan would not be in position for a possible NCAA Tournament berth.
Then you have Battle, who should finish behind Harris and Turner. He's a really good player, but Penn State is in the process of a late season collapse. They did beat Minnesota Saturday, but they lost their previous three games and will likely lose their next two (@Ill, @OSU).
I'll agree with Charlie. Manny Harris gets my vote, too.