🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Now that the Big 12 Season is over, I will post my superlatives:

1st Team:

Marcus Smart (I don't want to put him here, but I have no choice)

Deandre Kane

Andrew Wiggins

Melvin Ejim

Joel Embiid

Second Team:

Juwan Staten

Markel Brown

Buddy Hield

Johnathan Holmes

Ryan Spangler

POY: Andrew Wiggins

Freshman of Year: Joel Embiid

Newcomer of year: Kenny Chery

6th man of year: Phil Forte

My Projections for NEXT years first team:

Juwan Staten

Marcus Foster

Buddy Hield

Georges Niang

Joel Embiid (Ryan Spangler or Johnathan Holmes if Embiid leaves)

@TheDrunkenJhawk is Ellis pretty far down on your list?

No, he would probably be on my 3rd team but I only posted 1st and 2nd.

@TheDrunkenJhawk so many deserving players this year!

@TheDrunkenJhawk I think you have a choice. I'd easily swap Staten & Smart. Staten led his team to a better conference record than Smart did. And despite losing both the head to head match-ups, Staten outplayed Smart in one of the contests and was probably equally as effective in the other match-up. And here are the season stats for the two:

Staten 18.2 PPG, Smart 17.6 PPG | Staten 49.4 FG%, Smart 42.3 FG% | Staten 5.9 RPG, Smart 5.7 RPG | Staten 5.8 APG, Smart 4.7 APG | Staten 1.2 SPG, Smart 2.6 SPG | Staten 2.0 Turnovers/game, Smart 2.7 Turnovers/game

So Staten is ahead in every category but steals/game. And he didn't get suspended for 3 games. And he wasn't seen kicking a chair and displaying an overall piss-poor attitude all season. And he isn't a flopper. For me, Staten all day everyday over Marcus Smart.

@icthawkfan316 Count me in on the Staten bandwagon. Smart is an embarrassment to the league...and to himself.

@REHawk I'm on board too!

@Crimsonorblue22 I agree, this year there have been so many great, great players in this league.
Interesting first team and I agree with you. Two Cyclones, Two Jayhawks and Juwan Staten.

So many good players in the Big 12, it is difficult to pick a first second or third team because many third team players could easily be first team; the difference is that small.

It would be nice to have a tournament after the NCAA, where all-conference teams from the top 4 conferences play each other in a conference tournament. The #1 plays the #4 and the #2 plays the #3, and the winners play for the championship. NBA scouts and fans would love to see this.

@JayHawkFanToo Better yet take your top 12 guys and play the ACC's top 12 guys or the Big10 or Pac12 or SEC or Big East.

That too could be fun

@JRyman

Isn't this what I suggested? The All-Conference teams are basically the top players, right?

By the way, the top 4 conferences are: Big 12, Big 10, PAC 12 and Big East. The ACC is #5

@JayHawkFanToo Oh sorry I read it as that the Big12s first team played the second team.

My bad.

Sorry

@JRyman

No problem, I think it would be a lot of fun to watch some of the best players in the country go against each other; kind of a College All-Star game...hopefully with better defense. Given that Conference bragging rights would be at stake and teams having to win the first game to go to the finals, I don't thinks a lack of defense would be an issue.

@JayHawkFanToo No but how would you get UNC and Puke players to be teammates? Heck even their student managers go at it in pick up games.

@JRyman

Conference pride is a powerful motivator. Most of the friction is during head to head completion (heat of the battle) but In reality, most of the top players are friends and know each other well from all-star games and also the AAU circuit. I don't believe it would be an issue.

@JayHawkFanToo I know, I just couldn't help but bring up the manager fight they had in their pick up game a few weeks ago.

So who gets to coach these teams? The coach of the year for each conference? Cause the Big12 would be hurting with Rick Barnes at the helm.

It used to be if you won the college hoops title and it was an Olympic year that team went on to play in the Olympics that summer

@JRyman

I think the only objective way would be pretty much like they do for the NBA All-Star; the coach of the division winner. in this case the conference, would be the winner, i.e. Coach Self.

Don't count out rick Barnes, he is not in Coach Self's class but he has won everywhere he has coached.

@JayHawkFanToo

I think Barnes had his best year as a Longhorn!

Great person with character... good coach, too. I wouldn't put him in Self's league, but still a good coach.