Big Ten Men’s Basketball Awards PREDICTIONS
Feel free to rant at my Big Ten men’s basketball season awards. The awards will be announced at 7 pm on Monday, March 5th. There were a lot of worthy candidates and it’s fun to debate, but if there was a gun held to my head and I had to make a decision, here’s how I would vote:
Coach of the Year: John Beilein. This was Michigan’s breakout year and the Wolverines finally won a share of the regular season crown. It was a great coaching effort by Beilein to nearly pull off a perfect home floor record (their only loss was to Purdue). Valid arguments for Tom Crean, Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan, and Matt Painter can be made.
Player of the Year: Draymond Green. Green fills up the stat sheet. He’s a proven winner and he can score, pass, rebound, and play solid defense. His senior leadership put the Spartans on his back in some of their close games and they have a real chance to make a run at the Final Four, even if it will be more difficult sans Branden Dawson (torn ACL).
Freshman of the Year: Cody Zeller. You can argue Trey Burke, but Zeller was such a presence for Indiana in the paint. Zeller also did not have nights where he disappeared, like Burke who was not much of a factor in either of the two games against Purdue. If you take Zeller out of Indiana’s lineup, they’re a much less formidable foe. If you take Burke out of Michigan’s lineup, they’re still a very solid ball club. Advantage Zeller.
Defensive Player of the Year: Kelsey Barlow, Purdue. Aaron Craft, Ohio State. Not everyone is a fan of Aaron Craft and I’ll say that he falls short of Chris Kramer status as a defender. But he’s still a damn good defender. It’s tough not to choose a player from Michigan State, who I think is the best defensive team in the Big Ten. But the Buckeyes’ defense with Craft on the floor is so much better than when he’s off the floor. He’s pesky, physical, relentless, and his cheeks are always red. What more can you ask for in a defender?
First Team Big Ten:
G – Tim Frazier, Penn State
G – Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin
F – Draymond Green, Michigan State
F – Jared Sullinger, Ohio State
F/C – Cody Zeller, Indiana
Second Team Big Ten:
G – Trey Burke, Michigan
G – William Buford, Ohio State
F – Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
F – Robbie Hummel, Purdue
F – John Shurna, Northwestern
All Freshman Team: Trey Burke (UM), Branden Dawson (MSU), Cody Zeller (IU), David Sobolewski (Northwestern), Aaron White (Iowa)
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Dont think taylor deserves to be on 1st team
I thought about that, especially in light of Taylor’s dip in production from last year. However, I was still amazed at how Taylor led his Badgers to another top 4 finish in the Big Ten despite a squad that’s middle-of-the-pack in terms of talent.
I also didn’t put Taylor on my first team. You can make a case for a lot of different people on first team but he just didn’t play as well as others I thought. I also didn’t have Frazier. I put Burke and Hummel in their places.
It was really, really tough. I thought Burke turned the ball over a bit too much as opposed to Taylor and Burke disappeared in some games (namely against Purdue). As for Hummel, I didn’t include him on the 1st team because of the drought he endured during the first half of Big Ten play. If we’re talking about Hummel right NOW, then he’s a first teamer no doubt because he played a fantastic second half of the conference season. I think you can also argue Shurna and Buford deserve 1st team consideration.