University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag
March 10, 2010 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 10, 2010
By Adam Lucas
It's awards season, so I've put on the tuxedo for our annual look at my All-ACC ballot.
Oh, who am I kidding? I haven't shaved since the Duke game and I'm pretty sure this sweatshirt has spaghetti sauce on it. But at least part of the above sentence is true--this week's Mailbag does deal with All-ACC voting. By now, you know though that Carolina was blanked on the All-ACC teams for the first time in league history, and that the Tar Heels were the only team in the league to have zero selections on the All-ACC teams, Rookie team, or All-Defensive team.
If you've been reading this column for a long time, you already know why we do this. In my opinion, some questionable All-ACC picks are made every year. It's my opinion that if everyone had to make their ballot public, the results would be less dubious.
That's not to say that my ballot is right. Instead, it's more to give you some insight into how one voter goes about voting. Some voters try to pretend they make their votes in a vacuum, without any personal preference involved. I don't do that. I firmly believe that the death of the double round-robin ACC schedule colors the voting every year, because a typical beat writer will see some players much more than they see others. For example, I saw Trevor Booker play in person one time this year and he was terrific. It would be disingenuous to say that doesn't impact my vote.
This column always generates some interesting response, and I look forward to reading your thoughts this year. Speaking of your thoughts, the ACC Tournament is approaching and the Tar Heel Sports Network remains committed to covering every single game of the event. That means we have to assemble six Mailbag segments for radio pregame shows, which means this is the very best time to send in your questions/thoughts. Let us hear from you and make sure to include your name and hometown.
Here's how I voted:
First-team All-ACC
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Nolan Smith, Duke
The top three names were unanimous. Those last two were tricky. I've been a big Booker fan for a couple years now, and he was terrific against Carolina this year. Tar Heel big men consistently have said for the last two seasons that he's the toughest big man in the league to play against. That counts for something. The Smith pick might be the strangest on my ballot. I came down to Kyle Singler and Smith for that spot. The numbers are closer than you might think. I've always felt the buzz about Singler is greater than his production, and I think Smith's buzz isn't in proportion to his importance. I knew Singler would probably get the spot in the final voting, but I preferred Smith.
Second team All-ACC
Kyle Singler, Duke
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech
Tracy Smith, NC State
Chris Singleton, Florida State
Singleton's numbers aren't great, but he's a problematic defender and seems to be the centerpiece of a Seminole team that looked terrific in Chapel Hill. Smith played for a second-tier team but showed some polish.
Third team All-ACC
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia
Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech
Ishmael Smith, Wake Forest
Ed Davis, Carolina
Lots of tough choices on this team. End-of-year off-court issues dropped Landesberg from the second team (where his numbers suggest he'd be a better fit) to the third team. Hudson is someone who has been better overall than he's been against Carolina. I thought he took some horrendous shots against the Tar Heels in both meetings, but his field goal percentage in conference games only is fourth-best in the ACC. If I had to move someone up to the second team, it would be him.
Davis is the pick that gave me the most trouble. If he'd stayed healthy all year, he would have been on one of these three teams. With him, I think the Tar Heels probably beat Boston College, and at 6-10 in the ACC and with a couple key out-of-conference wins, might be getting NCAA Tournament bubble consideration with a couple of ACC Tournament wins. But the main reason for putting Davis on this team might be the relative down year for talent in the league. In some other years, he never would have made it. This year, he's a worthy choice as the 15th most productive player. I freely admit, of course, that this vote is influenced by watching him play in every game this year--and from seeing the difference when he was out of the lineup. His injury helped change the course of Carolina's season. He finished 18th in the overall voting, by the way.
Coach of the year: Gary Williams, Maryland. I'm not sure how there could be much discussion about this one. Six months ago I would have been hard pressed to name four Terps other than Vasquez. Now that same bunch is tied for the regular season league title.
Freshman of the year: Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech. It wasn't a great year for rookies, but Favors was clearly the best of the bunch.
Player of the year: To me, this was a narrow decision between Scheyer and Vasquez, and I was surprised the voting was as lopsided as it was. I went with Vasquez for this reason: other than him, I had zero Terps on my All-ACC teams. Other than Scheyer, I had two other Blue Devils on my first two teams. Scheyer had more help, but Maryland and Duke still finished tied in the league standings, thanks largely to a terrific performance by Vasquez last week. I'd love to have either of them on my team, but I went with Vasquez.
All-freshman team
Favors
Durand Scott, Miami
Jordan Williams, Maryland
C.J. Harris, Wake Forest
John Henson, Carolina
Not a lot here to get worked up about. Henson was nowhere on the radar a month ago but closed strong.
All-defensive team
Singleton
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech
Solomon Alabi, Florida State
Aminu
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech
This is always the toughest vote on the ballot, because every team plays defense a different way--and therefore asks their players to play defense a different way. A great player in a certain defensive system isn't necessarily a great defender. They're just a good fit for the system. For that reason, I try to solicit some input from coaches for this team. Failing all else, I tend to go with players who disrupt the way an opposing offense operates. All five of the above fit that description.
Brownlow's Down Low
Here's Lauren's ballot:
First team
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Jon Scheyer, Duke
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Second team
Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech
Tracy Smith, NC State
Nolan Smith, Duke
Ishmael Smith, Wake Forest
Kyle Singler, Duke
Third team
Ed Davis, North Carolina
Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech
Joe Trapani, Boston College
Chris Singleton, Florida State
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia
My biggest dilemma was between Al-Farouq Aminu and Kyle Singler. Ultimately, Aminu got the nod because of his body of work. Singler is hitting his stride late and Aminu struggled down the stretch, but I like to reward people who are the "best" at what they do, and there is no better rebounder in this league than Aminu. I would have no argument with those two being switched.
All-Defensive
Chris Singleton, Florida State
Trevor Booker, Clemson
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech
Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Solomon Alabi, Florida State
DPOY: Singleton
All-Rookie
Jordan Williams, Maryland
Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
Michael Snaer, FSU
John Henson, North Carolina
Durand Scott, Miami
ROY: Favors
COY: Gary Williams, Maryland
I hate the trend of giving someone Coach of the Year for "overachieving" by finishing in the top six with supposedly no talent. Recruiting is a part of coaching. But another part is figuring out ways to hide your deficiencies and make your team better, and Gary Williams has done that. It was a tough decision between the two coaches, and I do think Coach K has been making some great adjustments. But once Maryland got Dino Gregory back and had a reliable post rotation, the Terps have been rolling ever since.
POY: Greivis Vasquez
Vasquez and Scheyer are neck-and-neck in virtually every category. Vasquez is fifth in ACC-only field-goal percentage and tenth overall (Scheyer is not ranked in either) and that gave him an important edge to me. He is taking 30% of Maryland's shots and is making more while Jon Scheyer is taking 23% of Duke's shots and making fewer. I love what Scheyer has done this year but if Vasquez has a bad night, Maryland likely loses. Scheyer has the other two of the big three to rely on and while his success is key to Duke (and I think has been since he was a freshman), he has two other teammates to carry the scoring load. Vasquez has no consistent teammate to rely on, so considering his efficiency with that, he gets it.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of five books on Carolina basketball, including the just-released book on the 2009 national title, One Fantastic Ride. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
