(02-16-2017 03:53 PM)OUVan Wrote: With 5 games left before Cleveland it's probably okay to start thinking about the Postseason Awards. Who do you have winning? Here are mine:
MAC POTY
Marcus Keene - Dynamic player that can carry the Chips for long stretches.
MAC COTY
Keith Dambrot - This might be his best coaching job IMO. I know they were expected to win but I don't think this is one of the more talented rosters he's had and they just keep winning. Saul Phillips may get a vote or two for holding the team together after the loss of Tony Campbell but still think Dambrot deserves it. Would be interested to hear if anybody else thinks any other coach even warrants a "good job".
MAC FOTY
Michael Weathers - Lead freshman in almost every meaningful category. Jason Carter may have been given him a run for the money if he'd started all season but he did average 12 pts 8 reb after Campbell went down. Weathers has had to be the man all season long for the undermanned Redhawks though.
1st Team All-MAC
Marcus Keene
Isaiah Johnson
Steve Taylor
Jimmy Hall
Jaaron Simmons
The first two are obvious. The last three, not so much. Could easily have swapped Blake Hamilton in for any of the three.
I keep seeing people say this isn't one of Akron's most talented rosters. I disagree with that. This could arguably the most talented starting five the school has ever had. You can make a case for the 2006-07 team, but I still probably slightly lean toward this group:
G: Dru Joyce vs. Antino Jackson: Wash, and they are the two best overall small guards (whether they were really PGs or SGs) in the KD era.
G: Nick Dials vs. Noah Robotham: Dials gets the nod, especially since both were juniors in this argument and Dials had a much better junior season. Though, if Robotham can recapture his sophomore season shooting touch, it's not that big of a difference.
F: Nate Linhart vs. Jimond Ivey: Again, this is pretty apples to apples in terms of experience as both were sophomores. I know Nate went on to have a great career, but as sophomores, Ivey has been slightly better overall than what Nate was. However, two different players so tough to really judge.
F: Jeremiah Wood vs. Kwan Cheatham: For as good as Wood was as a senior, I don't think there is any question whether Cheatham this year is better than Wood as a junior. Again, they are two completely different players so it's tough to compare.
C: Romeo Travis vs. Isaiah Johnson: Johnson is one of three players (Zeke Marshall the other) that can make this a push. If it wasn't for Keane, Johnson would be a shoe-in for POY.
Overall, I do like this front court more since it is longer and more versatile. Cheatham's shooting ability does so much for the offensive spacing.
I will take the 2006-07 team's bench because Cedric Middletown is definitely better than Josh Williams. Then Quade Milum and young Chris McKnight and Steve McNees are probably better than Daniel Utomi, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Emmanuel Olojapoke, though that 7-8-9 isn't too much different.
The 2012-13 team (with Abreu) had the long winning streak and was the last MAC team to be ranked, so it is in the running, but that team, as it showed when Abreu was suspended, had nobody else capable of running the point. Defensively, due to Zeke, Forsythe and Tree, that team was tough to score on and was on another level than this team. But this team is much more dangerous offensively, especially from 3, than that team.