Martin, Buckingham, Moore and Davis Also Claim Major Awards
The 2017 A-10 All-Conference Team and Player of the Year awards were announced today for men's basketball. Unsuprisingly, Richmond's TJ Cline won the player of the year award. He has received a lot of hype all year, and his team is outstanding (though I think Shawndre' Jones is the best player on Richmond.) If I were voting, I would've went with Jack Gibbs for Player of the Year, and my first team would've looked much different.
My Player of the Year: Jack Gibbs
Jaylen Adams and TJ Cline are outstanding players, no doubt, but Jack Gibbs has been truly special during his time at Davidson. After posting a 35% USG last year and leading the entire conference, he once again led the conference with a 30.8% mark this year. What's incredible is, aside from Peyton Alldridge, Davidson's team is incredibly weak. The duo combined for 9.6 of Davidson's 16.3 wins shares (58%), and were used more than 56% of the time. Gibbs is the focus of every opposing coach's defensive gameplan before every game, they know he's going to shoot the ball and they still can't stop him. Not only was Gibbs gameplanned for, he played through amultitude of injuries--even more of a reason he should win POY. He was third among all guards in player efficiency rating, and he ranked in the top-10 among all players in Win Shares (7th), Assist Percentage (7th) and Effective Field Goal Percentage (10th). Of course, he also led the conference for the second season in a row in points per game with 22.0.
Despite going 16-14 and getting a 9-seed in the A-10 Tournament, Davidson is ranked 85th by KenPom, 4th among conference teams. Up until this point, their luck measurement is 309th in the country. Let's see if Gibbs can change their luck.
My 1st Team
JeQuan Lewis
1st in BPM among A10 point guards and 4th among all players
3rd in WS/40 among guards and 8th overall.
6th in total Win Shares.
8th in TS%
6th in Steal Percentage and 10th in DRTG
Lewis most well-rounded guard in the A10. He's the quarterback of VCU's offense and an excellent athlete who plays the position like Rajon Rondo. He can beat top defenders with his feet and has the incredible agility and body control to finish with a variety of moves. He's also a lethal long-range shooter that can splash shots off the dribble at the point and wings.
Jack Gibbs
1st in USG% and PPG among all players for the second consecutive season.
The lowest turnover percentage among starting guards
7th in total Win Shares
3rd among guards and 8th in PER among all players
6th in career PER
Davidson leans on Gibbs, even while he's been injured. He was at 35% USG last year and is at 31% this year, and he is still able to lead the conference in points per game and do so efficiently. The departues of A10 POY Tyler Kalinoski and Brian Sullivan left the team gutted going into 2017. It was essentially Gibbs and Aldridge thsi year, and the team still managed to earn an 85 ranking from KenPom's algorithm at this writing and 16 wins heading into the tournament.
Gibbs is the most dynamic scorer in the conference, and he has the same type of three-point range and efficiency as Adams but also the the ability to cut to the basket and finish on par with Lewis or Jones. He has an uncanny court IQ, and has earned comparisons to Steph Curry at the same age.
Peyton Aldridge
1st in total Win Shares among forwards, 2nd overall.
3rd in PER.
5th overall in WS/40
2nd in ORTG among forwards, 3rd overall, 10th in BPM overall
25.8% USG% is just outside of the top-10
Aldridge is arguably the best all-around forward in the conference. He's the positions leader in total win shares, he ranks top-10 in both offensive and defensive win shares, is within the top-5 in PER and ORTG. His defense took a large step forward this year, and his DRTG was 100.4 while he combined for nearly 3 steals-plus-blocks per game.
Aldridge can shoot, he can score and rebound in the post, and he plays excellent defense. Davidson is gutted aside from he and Gibbs and their offense goes to them almost 60% of the time. Despite this, both players produce at a elite level consistently.
Tyler Cavanaugh
3rd in USG% among all players and 0.8% behind TJ cline among bigs.
8th in total Win Shares
9th in PER and 6th in Offensive BPM
7th in Offensive Rebounding Percentage, 6th in Defensive Rebounding Percentage
10th in career PER in A10
The 2015-16 NIT Most Valuable Player, Cavanaugh is GW Basketball. Unlike Cline, Pollard or even Alldridge, he doesn't have a top point guard to feed open opportunities to score, and he lacks a quality or even an experienced big to take some of the pressure off of him in the post and in terms of collecintg boards. His USG% is 3rd in the conference among all players, and there is no other player on GW's offense that teams need to gameplan for. Despite that, he scored an unbelievable 18.6 points per game and collected 8.3 rebounds on 43% shooting. Defensively, he's exposed by the lack of the team's effective perimeter defenders. When Watanabe is injured or off the floor particularly, teams are able to slash into the post cleanly past Jaren Sina's weak defense. Because he's an integral part of the team's offense, his defense is also handcuffed by GW's no-fouls approach.
Teams try to shut Cavanaugh down every game, yet he's still 8th among all players in Win Shares at nearly 30% USG%. He's a beast. His ability to dominate the post physically paired with his lethal long-range shooting ability and court IQ should earn him a spot in the NBA.
Hassan Martin
1st in the conference in Block Percentage and Blocks Per Game for 4th consecutive season, 9th in the A10 all-time; 4th-most career blocks in conference history
1st in WS/40, PER and 3rd in BPM
1st in Effective Field Goal Percentage
3rd among bigs in ORTG
14th in career PER
A force in the post. Martin leads the conference in just about every measure of individual player value and would've been my second choice for POY. He's an absolute beast, and he is 4th all-time in blocks in the conference with only Stephane Lasme, Marcus Camby and CJ Aiken in front of him. Rhode Island under-achieved for much of the season given their talent level, particularly during conference play, and I believe that hurt Martin in voters' eyes. No doubt about it though, he's a first-team player and a dominant force on both offense and defense. He scored a career-high 14 points per game and did so efficiently, posting the A10's best eFG.
My 2nd Team
Jaylen Adams - St. Bonaventure Shawndre' Jones - Richmond Scoochie Smith - Dayton TJ Cline - Richmond Justin Tillman - VCU
My 3rd Team
Marquise Moore - George Mason Matt Mobley - Saint Bonaventure Yuta Watanabe - George Washington Charles Cooke - Dayton Mo Alie-Cox - VCU
Just Missed: BJ Johnson, Jordan Price, Joseph Chartouny, Pookie Powell, Kendall Pollard, E.C. Matthews
