Did The AP Get It Right

It is now that time of year for the national player of the year, freshman of the year, coach of the year awards to being getting announced. Well yesterday the Associated Press came out with their annual All-American First Team, and the question is simple, did they get it right?

Well there were a few no brainers for the list, and luckily they got those right, then it seemed to get interesting when the big men came into play:

G Jimmer Freddette BYU (64 of 65 votes)
G Nolan Smith Duke (61 of 65 votes)
G Kemba Walker Connecticut (51 of 65 votes)
F Jared Sullinger Ohio State (58 of 65 votes)
C JaJuan Johnson Purdue (44 of 65 votes)

I have a couple of problems with the list and voting that took place. First of all, it seems interesting to me that Jimmer got one vote less than a unanimous selection, which almost feels as if there were a sort of personal aspect to that voting. What did all but one of the voters see that this last one could not, that just feels weird and it makes the reader of the list a little uneasy.

The second problem with this list deals with votes again, Kemba Walker and his lack of them. Not only did Kemba Walker's play deserve first team, it should have been in the 60 plus vote range, and he should not have found himself behind a freshman big man, that he had a better year than in the toughest conference in America. There is no way 14 voters could tell me that he did not deserve to be on that list, maybe three or four could make arguments, but a total of what equates out to over 21% of the voters believed him not to be first team worthy is atrocious. No matter when the voting took place.

Then the issue of the players left off the list comes into play, and that has to do with the big men. In the terms of how good Ohio State was all year the team aspect was overlooked for a good part of the season. Sullinger is a great talent, a nice kid, and definitely deserving of being in the top seven players being voted onto this list, but that is just it, top seven, not top five. He had a great year, but the idea was that this big man (which the college basketball experts drool over in their game) came in and put this school on his back. They had the all time Big 10 three point record holder on their team shooting 50% for the year. They had two forward/guard seniors that were able to do anything on the court that you could ask of them. Lastly, he was playing in a Big 10 that did not have the upper echelon big men that people have become used to seeing. That is where the selection of Johnson comes into play as well, because despite his great year, he was not going up against the best big men in the country night in and night out, and there were players elsewhere that deserved to be on that list, and receiving votes ahead of them.

Derrick Williams has now become a name that everyone knows, and if the draft were today he would have a great shot at being taken number one. He is a freak athletically, and he was able to at times put his team on his back just like Sullinger and Johnson were able to. Just look at his statistical output, to go along with his freak attributes and NBA ready body (which I am aware not part of the All-American criteria). He averaged 19.5 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 1.1 assists as a big man, a steal per game, shot 59.5% from the field, and that included over 56% from outside the three point line. Those stats are ridiculous and those do not even include the intangibles he brought to his team, and game winning plays he made, including a huge block to win a game that he duplicated later on in the NCAA Tournament. Derrick Williams should have been getting at least the fourth most votes to be an All-American.

The second player that should have been on this team might have been overshadowed a little bit simply because you might not always know it is him doing the things that he is doing. Marcus Morris was a stud in the Big 12 and was deserving of being on the first team. the man averaged over 17 points a game and nearly brought down eight rebounds while dropping almost two dimes a game. He was playing a mixture of the small and power forward spots and doing that damage. His versatility to play four, maybe all five positions if Bill Self asked him to, his intangibles, and ability to know when his team needed him to step up were outstanding. In a list of the guys that should have been recognized as first team All-Americans I believe that Morris should have found his way onto that list.