</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by hoops13:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Big Case:
sorry, no wooden award for dixon. the award includes more than the NCAA tourney.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How about this? Dixon won the ACC POY.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">How about this, dumb***? There is a preseason!

nate,

You're saying that players should be judged by the generally creampuff pre-season schedule? You're saying the pre-season is as important, or more important than both league and tournament play? Interesting. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="rolleyes.gif" />

Apoc,
No, I am saying that there is a preseason. Juan's preseason was a lot worse than JWill's, so of course I will mention the preseason. This is how I see it playing out:
preseason: JWILL- huge edge
ACC season - DRAW (I couldn't care less how the UNC biased ACC voted)
NCAA - big edge Dixon

From there, I look at the stats.
JWILL has the edge in FG %, 3 pt %, points, assists.
Dixon has the edge in FT %, rebounds, steals and blocks.

After that I look at intangibles.
JWill has huge ball handling responsibilities.
Juan rarely has the ball in his hands
Juan's team won it all.
JWill's didn't.
JWill is more important to his team, IMO, because if he is off, Duhon has the have all of the passing, and then Dunleavy has to take up for him on the shooting. If Dixon is off, Blake will still do his usual assist/turnover job, and Wilcox and Baxter will keep up their usual outstanding rebounding job.

After watching both play, I have to say advantage JWill, but a case for Dixon can certainly be made.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by nate jonesacc:
Apoc,
No, I am saying that there is a preseason. Juan's preseason was a lot worse than JWill's, so of course I will mention the preseason. This is how I see it playing out:
preseason: JWILL- huge edge
ACC season - DRAW (I couldn't care less how the UNC biased ACC voted)
NCAA - big edge Dixon

From there, I look at the stats.
JWILL has the edge in FG %, 3 pt %, points, assists.
Dixon has the edge in FT %, rebounds, steals and blocks.

After that I look at intangibles.
JWill has huge ball handling responsibilities.
Juan rarely has the ball in his hands
Juan's team won it all.
JWill's didn't.
JWill is more important to his team, IMO, because if he is off, Duhon has the have all of the passing, and then Dunleavy has to take up for him on the shooting. If Dixon is off, Blake will still do his usual assist/turnover job, and Wilcox and Baxter will keep up their usual outstanding rebounding job.

After watching both play, I have to say advantage JWill, but a case for Dixon can certainly be made.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I could go and dispute your points but it is a waste of time. This is a spin only a duke fan could put on this issue.

Apoc,
Obviously you would vote Dixon, and you think that I am putting a Duke spin on it. I guess every gamn POT comittee gets that Duke spin, huh.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by nate jonesacc:
Apoc,
Obviously you would vote Dixon, and you think that I am putting a Duke spin on it. I guess every damn POY comittee gets that Duke spin, huh.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

Duke gets more exposure & favorable press. As much as i hate to say it, college basketball is a business. People like stars. People will watch stars. That means $$ for cbs, espn, etc.

Now, there is a problem in college basketball. That is, the stars are leaving school early. Usually, right after they've had a really big year. So, how do you market the stars of tomorrow, if they are gone tomorrow? You just can't. Thus, you have to choose a player who you think can and will be a star, and market the hell out of him. This year that player was Jason Williams. Instead of talking about things he has done, they talk about things he will do. Jason Williams was seen as someone with a lot of potential, and rightly so.

So, what you end up with in the press are 2 things. Those who've been praising this player since the beginning, and don't want to eat crow. These are the Dickie V's, and Billy Packers of the world. Then, you have the press who don't really watch the games(no time, they cover local professional teams, etc), and rely on the opinions of the dickie v's and billy packers. These are generally the local sportswriters.

I'd just like to add that I have no problem with Jason as a player. I think he is a very good college ball player. I just do not think he was the best player this year.

btw: the above posts apply to teams as well. This explains the prominence of pre-season polls, rediculous predictions of undefeated seasons, opinions from "experts" that a college team can beat an nba team. Its marketing, thats all.

Apoc,
After reading gogoheels post, my mind is a little out of whack, so this might not make sense. <img border="0" alt="[Laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laughing.gif" />

I understand that college basketball is heavily driven by the media. I completely agree. The fact is; No matter who they pick in the beginning, most will pick the best player. Duke does get a lot of attention, and rightfully so. That also has a negative impact. When JWill has a terrible game, the media blows it into a God-forsaken game. Another way the media works is by blowing things out of proportion. They want people to be interested, so they go to extremes to get interest. Right now, the media is all against JWill, and all for Juan. The media exposure will not make that much of an impact on the decision this year. I think the committee will look at the stats, the intangibles, and their respective teams, and make their decision. My prediction is JWill.

Nate,

With all due respect, i disagree completely with your post. Basketball cannot be broken down to stats. JWill got treated about as fairly by the press as any player I've ever seen. If he has any complaints about the way the media has treated him, either after a loss, or a win, he should have his head examined.

I might add. Juan led his team to the national friggin championship! That is the ltimate acheivement a college ball player can have. Not only did he do it, but according to the media awards handed out thus far; He accomplished this with a far inferior supporting cast than Jason Williams. As the old saying goes: To the victor goes the spoils. After this particular season, I'm unsure how you could not vote for Juan. Of course, thats just my opinion...but I feel pretty strongly about it.

I wouldn't call JWill's supporting cast far superior to Maryland's. Duke matches up terribly with some teams, and great with others. Duke matched up terribly with Indiana and Maryland. That's part of the reason Duke lost to both teams.

Also, stats are misleading, but they do have a lot of truth in them. The reason I said the committee would look at intangibles is because stats are so misleading.

Nate,

I didn't say Jwill had a better supporting cast either. I said the media has said that. Watch any award show, or look at any All America list & you see Boozer & Dunleavy.

Juan has gotten his team straightened out time and time again when things were going the wrong way. When you speak about POY type awards, this is the intangible. He did this in both final 4 games. That is why he is the player of the year. He doesn't take over the game when things are already going well. He takes over the game when things are going poorly. Just thinking about it reinforces the idea in my head. Juan is the player of the year. I don't care what the media says.

If you are a MD fan, Juan will be the POY in your head for your reasons. I am a Duke fan, and JWill will be POY in my head for various reasons.

Sorry, I misread your post. But, JWill had 2 great players around him, but not much else. Duhon provided some great assists, and Jones brought toughness, but they didn't bring anything close to what Nicholas, Holden, Randle, Mouton and Blake brought to Maryland.