Postseason awards are great fodder for water cooler arguments, barroom brawls and threatening e-mails. This season’s awards, however, won’t garner more than a raised eyebrow or an amused yawn.
They have a bit of a Big 12 flavor, but fans from the Big West to the Big East will have a tough time disagreeing. I doubt you will either:
Player of the year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma. The sophomore led the nation in rebounding (14.3) and the Big 12 in scoring (21.9), but more than anything, he was unstoppable and simply magical. He was too strong to stop one-on-one inside, and so quick he could race the court’s length for highlight-reel dunks. If this vote isn’t unanimous, the dissenting voter should be forced to watch Big Ten basketball the rest of his life.
Coach of the year: Bill Self, Kansas. He won the national title last year, but this season was the best coaching job of his life. He lost all five starters, had four scholarship players returning and used a rotation that featured five freshmen. Projected to tie for third in the preseason, Self led the Jayhawks to the regular-season title of a pretty good Big 12 Conference, a 25-7 record and a No. 11 ranking.
Freshman of the year: Tyreke Evans, Memphis. He’s not quite as good as Derrick Rose was last year, but Evans may be more valuable. The defending national runners-up lost three starters, but when he switched from shooting guard to point guard, the Tigers never lost again and stand 31-3.
Game of the year: Duh! Again. If you didn’t stay up to watch Syracuse’s epic six-overtime win over Connecticut on Thursday, find a four-hour chunk of time and watch the replay. The score was 127-117 but defense was the star. Only one tying basket came in the last 10 seconds of an overtime. It was ironclad, bare-knuckles defense on the part of both teams that kept this remarkable game alive.
Individual game of the year: Jodie Meeks, Kentucky, vs. Tennessee, Jan. 13. His 54 points broke Dan Issel’s 39-year-old scoring record of 53 against Mississippi, but Meeks did it against the SEC’s eventual East Division co-champion, on the Volunteers’ home court. Meeks hit 10-of-15 3-pointers and all 14 of his free throws in a 90-72 thrashing. His point total was 60 percent of his team’s output.
Surprise team of the year: Duquesne. Picked 12th in a bad 14-team Atlantic 10, Duquesne had lost two players early to the NBA and was left with 11 freshmen and sophomores. With none of their top 11 scorers taller than 6-feet-7, the Dukes were led by four-year starting guard Aaron Jackson (18.5 ppg). Duquesne, 3-24 three years ago, finished 21-12 and fell to Temple 69-64 in Saturday’s conference title game.
Disappointing team of the year: This could start a feud. Georgetown started the season ranked 22nd, appeared a shoo-in for the NCAA Tournament at midseason and promptly lost 11 of its last 15. That’s not what you expect from a team with three returning starters and a 6-11 Parade All-American in freshman Greg Monroe. My apologies to Notre Dame bashers. The Irish were No. 2 on this list.
Worst team of the year: Loyola Marymount. Nineteen years ago, I watched coach Paul Westhead fast-break little LMU into the nation’s hearts with a heart-clutching drive to the Elite Eight. This season, the Lions were last out of 330 schools in scoring (55.7), scoring margin (minus-15.7), field-goal shooting (.351) and 3-point shooting defense (.392), second to last in record (3-28) and 319th in rebound margin (minus-6.3). The memory of Hank Gathers deserves better.
