If you had a POY vote

[boksooner]

Pierre Jackson had a very strong argument for Big XII POY. He led the league in Pts and Assists. He was almost 3.5 points and almost a full assist ahead of #2 in both categories. Of course, it's hard to win POY when you are PG for a .500 conference team.

Withey (who sky is trying to remember) also had a solid argument. He led the league in blocks, finishing almost 2 blocks a game ahead of #2. He also finished 3rd in rebounds, 2nd in FG% and 10th in scoring on a team that won the conference.

Smart was the sexier pick, which is probably why he won, but he does a lot of things well. He had almost a full steal more than the next closest guy, 5th in scoring and assists, 14th in rebs and, maybe most impressive, 18th in blocks.

Here's a couple tables to highlight the comparison (with Osby thrown in for good measure).

	Scoring	Assist	REB	FG%	BLK	ST	Conf Win%
Smart	5	5	14	36	18	1	3
Jackson	1	1	39	30	82	4	6
Withey	10	50	3	2	1	35	1
Osby	3	35	6	7	11	43	5

	Scoring	Assist	REB	FG%	BLK	ST	Conf Win%
Smart	15.4	4.2	5.7	 0.404 	 0.69 	 2.94 	 0.722 
Jackson	19.8	6.5	3.6	 0.430 	 -   	 1.52 	 0.500 
Withey	13.6	0.9	8.4	 0.578 	 3.79 	 0.76 	 0.778 
Osby	15.8	1.2	7	 0.522 	 0.87 	 0.61 	 0.611

 

[ballislife12]

Fair enough. We won't have too long to wait for Memphis. Should be a good game.

As for Wiggins and Smart battling it out for NPOY honors. I can think of another player or two who might have something to say about that. If the selection was held today, Jabari Parker would get my vote. He's having a heck of a year for a freshman. Julius Randle is pretty good, too. There may be others that don't come immediately to mind.

If Marcus wins the award, it will be because he has earned it. And, as Skyvue said, the media hype doesn't hurt either.

I completely agree, Jabari Parker looks all around like the best player right now. With media hype being something that could ultimately determine POY, I think Smart is going to be forgotten with everyone drooling over those big 3 (Wiggins, Parker, Randle). They're all game changers by themselves and match up problems.
And I'm not denying he's a great athlete, but how could he be considered POY? I don't know if Smart would be on a list of 10 players that are not freshmen that could win it. College basketball is deep with talent thats why i love it. But i think it will end up being one of the top 3 freshmen... just my 2 cents

 

[skyvue]

BG had a great freshman year, but Michael Beasley was the best player in the conference hands down.

No one can compare year to year awards, talents goes up and down. Did I think Smart was the best player last year? No, but I don't have a problem with him winning it since no one clearly was ahead of the other. Osby wasn't going to win the award because of where OU finished...like it or not, but wins factor into the equation. Always have, always will...again, unless someone really separates from the pack.

If wins factor into it, then Withey (thanks bok) should have won it. As you acknowledge, no one separated themselves from the pack, so why in the world did a freshman win it out of the blue? That's not the norm at all.

I think we know why.

 

[campbest]

If wins factor into it, then Withey (thanks bok) should have won it. As you acknowledge, no one separated themselves from the pack, so why in the world did a freshman win it out of the blue? That's not the norm at all.

I think we know why.

Because that freshman helped finish one spot back of the champions when they were not expected to do so (can't remember their exact preseason ranking). Factor in KU has had the last two POY, won 8 straight conference titles and OSU was the only team to beat KU in Allen Fieldhouse...there are lots of variables that can either go in-favor or against.

If Baylor doesn't suck in conference, Pierre Jackson runs away with the award.

 

[bgrch1350]

If wins factor into it, then Withey (thanks bok) should have won it. As you acknowledge, no one separated themselves from the pack, so why in the world did a freshman win it out of the blue? That's not the norm at all.

I think we know why.

Freshmen have won this award before.. Beasley, Durant, Smart...and most likely another freshman from Kansas is going to win it this year.

and Smart might have been the number one draft pick last year had he left.

The norm is that the best player in the conference wins the award. I don't believe I would argue about any of the past winners winning it

 

[TheGimper]

and Smart might have been the number one draft pick last year had he left.

The Cavs would not have drafted Kyrie Irving.

 

[StatGeek]

Freshmen have won this award before.. Beasley, Durant, Smart...and most likely another freshman from Kansas is going to win it this year.

and Smart might have been the number one draft pick last year had he left.

The norm is that the best player in the conference wins the award. I don't believe I would argue about any of the past winners winning it

You're replying to the wrong thread. Man up

 

[earlpearl]

There are other players that may have better stats, but intangibles are what sets Smart apart. The reason why every big 12 coach would take him in a heartbeat is the effect he has on those surronding him. He absolutely raises the intensity that his teamates play with. It is called unselfish leadership ( a quality not seen often in todays game ).

 

[pnkranger]

There are other players that may have better stats, but intangibles are what sets Smart apart. The reason why every big 12 coach would take him in a heartbeat is the effect he has on those surronding him. He absolutely raises the intensity that his teamates play with. It is called unselfish leadership ( a quality not seen often in todays game ).

I'm just not sure I see this. In fact, I think he comes across as incredibly immature on the basketball court and actually believe that the intangibles are what hold him back from being an incredible basketball player. Sure he plays hard, but he also turns it over, shoots a low % and tends to get himself in awkward situations at times.

 

[TheGimper]

A Kansas State fan made this video to highlight Smart's intangibles he brought to Manhattan last season. Warning: The video has some NSFW text edited into it and has some unnecessary K-State love fests moments.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MeXtcvB2Ls"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MeXtcvB2Ls[/ame]

 

[fhosu]

Here's where the hype came from. Against ranked oppponents last year, here are Smart's stats:

NC State: 20 pts, 7 boards, 4 steals, 7 assists
KU: 25 pts, 9 boards, 5 steals, 3 assists
Gonzaga: 23 pts, 4 boards, 1 steal, 6 assists
K State: 25 pts, 5 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists
KU: 16 pts, 7 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist
K State: 21 pts, 6 boards, 2 steals, 6 assists
K State: 18 pts, 6 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists

 

[skyvue]

There are other players that may have better stats, but intangibles are what sets Smart apart. The reason why every big 12 coach would take him in a heartbeat is the effect he has on those surronding him. He absolutely raises the intensity that his teamates play with. It is called unselfish leadership ( a quality not seen often in todays game ).

Osby exhibited the same qualities, and I'm guessing Withey did too.

But they didn't have the media blathering on ad nauseum about them.

The media buzz didn't build organically over the course of the season based on Smart's on-court results; they were spewing that stuff from the jump, before he'd ever played a minute of college ball. The media decided he was the story long before he had earned it.

I'll cite it again because it was so freaking absurd: In the third conference game of his career, the TV announcer made excuses for Smart's so-so performance by claiming that he was so good he just got bored sometimes. Honestly, have you ever heard anything sillier than that? Excusing a player's poor play by claiming he was bored? In a Bedlam matchup?? That's just laughable.

Worse -- with a minute or two remaining in the same game, they featured a highlight reel of Smart.

OU won the game by nine points. Osby finished with 17 points; M'Baye and Hield each put up 15. But it was Smart, in arguably his worst game of the season (if he had a worse one, I didn't hear about it), who was given a highlight reel near the end.

In the third conference game of his career.

That is pure-d, over-the-top, nonsensical, eyeroll-worthy hype, and nothing but.

 

[fhosu]

The media buzz didn't build organically over the course of the season based on Smart's on-court results

I think you either didn't watch much early season basketball last year or are misremembering things. Smart played well and put up big numbers in leading OSU to the Puerto Rican tournament title, including 3 nationally televised games and wins over Tennessee and 6th-ranked NC State (OSU's 3rd and 4th games of the year). Smart also played well in a nationally televised loss to Gonazaga Dec. 31. The media buzz built because Smart played well in the aforementioned big games. I recall the media claiming preseason that Smart needed to be ready to play as a freshman if OSU was going to do anything last year, but not "drooling" over him.

The Big 12 coaches picked Smart preseason freshman of the year, not newcomer of the year, not player of the year, and he wasn't on their preseaon All Big-12 team, so they must have seen something during the season to change their opinion.

 

[pnkranger]

Here's where the hype came from. Against ranked oppponents last year, here are Smart's stats:

NC State: 20 pts, 7 boards, 4 steals, 7 assists
KU: 25 pts, 9 boards, 5 steals, 3 assists
Gonzaga: 23 pts, 4 boards, 1 steal, 6 assists
K State: 25 pts, 5 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists
KU: 16 pts, 7 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist
K State: 21 pts, 6 boards, 2 steals, 6 assists
K State: 18 pts, 6 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists

He does strike me as the kind of narcissist that only plays hard when it makes him look good. Now I'm just being mean on purpose.

 

[ballislife12]

Here's where the hype came from. Against ranked oppponents last year, here are Smart's stats:

NC State: 20 pts, 7 boards, 4 steals, 7 assists
KU: 25 pts, 9 boards, 5 steals, 3 assists
Gonzaga: 23 pts, 4 boards, 1 steal, 6 assists
K State: 25 pts, 5 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists
KU: 16 pts, 7 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist
K State: 21 pts, 6 boards, 2 steals, 6 assists
K State: 18 pts, 6 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists

Thanks for that, makes more sense now! Haha where'd you find all of that, or did you just look up individual games?

Osu has a pretty dead team with scorers so I guess you can't be the dude every night.

 

[fhosu]

He does strike me as the kind of narcissist that only plays hard when it makes him look good. Now I'm just being mean on purpose.

I laughed...

 

[fhosu]

Thanks for that, makes more sense now! Haha where'd you find all of that, or did you just look up individual games?

Osu has a pretty dead team with scorers so I guess you can't be the dude every night.

Yeah, just looked up last season's results on ESPN. I might add that those are all the games that OSU played against ranked opponents, it's not selective.

 

[earlpearl]

Here's where the hype came from. Against ranked oppponents last year, here are Smart's stats:

NC State: 20 pts, 7 boards, 4 steals, 7 assists
KU: 25 pts, 9 boards, 5 steals, 3 assists
Gonzaga: 23 pts, 4 boards, 1 steal, 6 assists
K State: 25 pts, 5 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists
KU: 16 pts, 7 boards, 2 steals, 1 assist
K State: 21 pts, 6 boards, 2 steals, 6 assists
K State: 18 pts, 6 boards, 3 steals, 3 assists

I guess you can add memphis to that list also. By the way sky I guess the gushing by the media is not deserved here either.

On a side note slamming a player because he plays for a rival is foolish. Just give the guy his dues and plainly state you don't like him because of his personality or because he signed for the wrong team.

 

[ballislife12]

Of course I talked smack about him, and it looks like he's going off tonight against Memphis. I just got out of a night class so I'll catch the second half!

 

[skyvue]

I guess you can add memphis to that list also. By the way sky I guess the gushing by the media is not deserved here either.

On a side note slamming a player because he plays for a rival is foolish. Just give the guy his dues and plainly state you don't like him because of his personality or because he signed for the wrong team.

Actually I plainly stated that that my problem was with the hype and the officials' coddling of him, not with Smart himself.

I didn't slam him. Not remotely. Not by any stretch of the imagination. You either struggle with reading comprehension, or you're so used to the media slobbering over Smart that anyone who doesn't bow before him and proclaim him God's gift to basketball you view as "slamming" him.

But given that you're an aggie fan rushing over in the middle of a big game to see what the Sooner fans are saying about your team, I'll just consider the sad/funny source.