What are the official guidelines in determining the WAC Player of the Year?
PTW's guess is that they don't exist but it's an honor usually awarded based on a combination of how a certain player performed in conjunction with his team's W-L record.
With such in mind, there are a trio of candidates in the running:
* Wendell McKines featuring 18.4 points and 10.1 rebounds a game with New Mexico State standing at 9-3
* Deonte Burton featuring 17.8 points and 3.9 assists per game and the Wolf Pack on top at 11-1
* Vander Joaquim featuring 17.5 points and 10.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots a game while shooting 67% for 6-6 Hawaii
Going strictly by the individual numbers ... it's Joaquim.
Going strictly by the placement of the team ... hand it over to Burton.
Going strictly by value to the team (try defining that) Kevin Olekaibe (hey, how'd he get in here) is hands down the most valuable player.
It could be argued that Burton is the individual among the trio who makes his teammates more effective offensively but both McKines and Joaquim certainly draw more-than-their-defender focus from opponents.
Officially, it's going to be Burton.
In the estimation of PTW, it should be ...
Burton.
Because of a combination of Nevada winning league, his numbers and making Dario Hunt and Olek Czyz more effective offensively primarily due to his ballhandling and penetration and his being the team leader yet just a sophomore.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Thoughts on the WAC Most Valuable Player award
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3 comments:
This is kind of strange for me, but...
I thought Burton had this award locked up, and if you read opposing coaches' comments perhaps he still does. But his efficiency numbers have been falling quite a bit and McKines is really tearing it up with both raw stats and efficiency stats. I'm a Nevada fan and I hope Burton gets it. But he needs to step up vs NMSU on Thursday.
You have to include three big categories in the equation for POY. Individual numbers, team rankings and value to the team. Burton and McKines are the only two serious contenders. Small breakdown in my mind.
Burton leads the league in ZERO important statistical categories whether it is in conference or overall play. McKines is both the leading scorer and rebounder overall and in conference.
Burton is playing for a team that finished as regular season champs.
McKines is playing for a team that finished as the #2 team in the league.
Last year Nevada finished 13-19 with the same group of players as this year and completely turned around due to Coach Carter not Burton. Burtons numbers have not skyrocketed since last year so we cant sit and say that the success in Nevada is due to him.
Last year NMSU finished 16-17 WITHOUT McKines and this year they are at 23-9 in large part because of McKines. NMSU lost Kabongo and still managed to keep on pace, had they lost McKines could they have done that? No.
I do not see how Burton can be the POY. He does not have the numbers and he does not have the same value to Nevada that McKines does to NMSU. He may play for the best TEAM in the league but that doesn't mean he is the best PLAYER.
Jesus
Mckines deserves it most. He is currently 6th in the NATION in double-doubles (at my last check), 31st in the NATION in points (again at my last check), and 11th in the NATION in rebounds per game. All these stats put him leading the WAC as well. Numbers like that are deserving of player of the year in almost EVERY conference, except maybe the most elite. An the WAC, unfortunately, is not an elite conference.
I got all my stats from ESPN.com. According to them (and this is a few days later to be fair) he has 18.5 ppg which will increase on the next update, compared to Burton's 15.0 and Joaquim's 14.4. In rebounds, McKines leads with 10.6 (also increasing after tonight) compared to Joaquim's 9.7 (nearly a full rpg).
Truly, these are the only 2 logical MVP's (McKines and Joaquim). I feel like Burton's numbers are not up to par here and being on the winning team is playing too big of a role. Hopefully there is proper respect paid by those in charge of selectin the WAC MVP. #TeamWensday.
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