Iowa’s schedule is brutal to finish the league. Coupling them with having a history of collapse, plus injuries as this isn’t the usual team of Fran playing 10-11 guys, its more than possible they finish middle of the pack.
Watched Garza somewhat closely defensively last night. And he is bad! If you tell me Iowa wins the league this year, he would have to be the guy. But if Penn St. is legit Stevens has to be considered and if Maryland wins the league then Sticks is probably the guy. If State makes a run then Cassius sure, but he has many of the same limitations as Garza, though I would say Cassius is below average instead of downright bad.
Nonsense. Take away Nik Stauskas’ big-ten player of the year award too. I get that Garza is not a good defensive player, but to say he does nothing on that end of the floor is complete nonsense. Plus Garza seems like a great teammate.
Ha fair to poke at Stauskas’ D. But 1. Michigan was really good that year and won the B1G outright. Iowa will finish .500. 2. That Michigan team was still better than this Iowa team on Defense by a decent margin.
How many of these guys played on non-contending teams? In the KenPom era (since 2002) I only see two guys who came in 3rd (Trey Burke was one). No one worse than that.
Garza’s best two statistical games were double digit losses.
Maybe that means nothing, but it keeps my skepticism about individual scoring not equating to being most valuable intact. I think the award will go to someone whose team either won the league or did significantly better than expected. I’m not sure Iowa will stand out in that regard. If they finish top 3, then Garza has a very strong case. If the season ended today, it’s Smith or Stevens at the top of my ballot.
Wow, I completely forgot that Kalin Lucas was POY in 2008-09. His numbers are very meh, although a close look at the conference shows there weren’t any real standouts (maybe Evan Turner?). MSU won the league going away so guess the award went to the best player on the best team.
I know same with minny then that garbage call in the Ohio st game. This is part of my bitterness but I didn’t want to be that guy lamenting about the refs helping cost us 3 games.
Dylan didn’t know where to ask this and a bit off topic but I feel like as good as Zavier has been that he hasn’t been the lock down defender we’ve seen in the past. I’ve noticed many slip ups, some mental, some possibly effort wise ( maybe hes exhausted?). He’s also had a few games he has gotten worked pretty hard one on one.
Part of what made z and the team so good the previous two years was his ball hawking defense. I’m wondering if you’ve noticed this and if you have any numbers to support what im Seeing. I know defensive numbers are tricky but just wondering.
Also if so, any thoughts to the drop off or reasons why?
I don’t have stats to back this up, but it feels like Simpson has to expend so much more energy on offense this year, his defense is suffering. It’s hard to be the primary ball handler and creator on offense, then turn around and guard the best player on defense. Iggy, Poole, and Matthews ate a lot of offensive possessions last year. For a lot of this season, it’s been up to Simpson to generate something.
I was glad to see them put Eli on Winston for that reason. Eli can stand at the 3-point line looking for a catch-and-shoot opportunity, then spend his energy running around chasing guys through screens on defense with less impact.
Garza would be the worst NPOY maybe ever? He is downright dominant offensively but man he’s one-sided and hasn’t made his team a serious contender. He’s a monster but any time I’ve watched Iowa this year, I haven’t come close to saying “damn that’s the best player in the country”.
Big Ten player of the year should be Sticks if Maryland wins the conference, Winston if MSU wins the conference and I guess you consider Stevens, Garza or even Dosunmu (pre-injury) if somehow those teams sneak away with an outright title.
Just referring to media and the narrative. To me it seems like everyone talks about Garza and Smith doesn’t get as much talk. From a national perspective
