ACC Review (09-10)

All-ACC

Malcom Delaney, Virginia Tech
Junior 6-3 190 20.2p 3.7r 4.5a 0.1b 1.2s

Jon Scheyer, Duke
Senior 6-5 190 18.2p 3.6r 4.9a 0.3b 1.6s

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Senior 6-6 200 19.6p 4.6r 6.3a 0.4b 1.7s

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
Sophomore 6-9 215 15.8p 10.7r 1.3a 1.4b 1.4s

Kyle Singler, Duke
Junior 6-8 230 17.7p 7.0r 2.4a 0.8b 1.0s

Player of the Year: Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
General Greivis joins Joakim Noah, Greg Paulus, J.J. Redick, and Eric Devendorf in the starting five on the most annoying team of the last decade and maybe ever. Still, it's quite possible that no one in all of college basketball meant more to their team than the Venezuelan Sensation. (That rhymes, right?)

Coach of the Year: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke
Not a lot of competition in the ACC for Coach K this year. Gary Williams' return from the brink can be attributed to his senior conference player of the year point guard as much as anything else. Regardless, it's difficult to put someone ahead of Killer Mike with his conference regular season, conference tourney, and national titles this season. Plus, is there a more charismatic coach in the land? Anyone you'd rather share a good ol' belly laugh with?

Freshman of the Year: Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
Pretty underwhelming crop of freshman. Favors had a nice season, but it did not live up to what many expected out of arguably the nation's most highly touted newcomer. Averaged a solid 12 and 8, showed occasional flash of brilliance, but only reached 20 points twice on the season. Some of his shortcomings can likely be traced to having to share the frontcourt with the black hole that is Gani Lawal. Or we can just chalk it up to Paul Hewitt not being a very good coach. Your call.

Defensive Player of the Year: Chris Singleton, Florida State
A joy to watch, Singleton would be a favorite of any defensive aficionado. Only a sophomore, Singleton averaged 7 boards, 1.5 blocks, and over 2 swipes per contest. When he wasn't leading one of the country's stingiest defenses, he was chipping in over 10 points per game. Sidenote: if Chris Singleton isn't going pro (and I'm not saying he should), there are a lot of early entrants who should be rethinking their decisions. I'm looking at you, Talor Battle, Derrick Caracter, Manny Harris, Adnan Hodzic, Sylvan Landesberg (you broke my heart), Tommy Mason-Griffin, A.J. Ogilvy, Jeff Robinson, Alex Tyus, Willie Warren, and Jahmar Young. And these are only the most absurd.

Biggest Surprise: Maryland
No, we didn't think Duke would take home the crown this year, but the Blue Devils entered the season with high expectations. Maryland, on the other hand, seemed a strong bet for the NIT. Outside of our conference player of the year, can you even name a second Terrapin? The Terps weren't pretty, but they played as a team, supported their Venezuelan superstar, finished atop the ACC regular season standings with the eventual national champs (splitting their head-to-head matchups), entered the tourney as a 4 seed, and were a Korie Lucious 3-point buzzer beater away from the Sweet 16. Gary Williams may have bought himself a little more time with this one - though things won't be easy without his star senior. Then again, perhaps Coach Williams will enjoy not having to listen to Daddy Yankee in the locker room ever again. (And, in case you think I'm engaging in racial stereotyping, here's a link in which King Terp speaks to his affinity for El Cangri, the movie "American Gangster", and what it was like playing high school ball with Kid Nut Raven.)

Biggest Disappointment: North Carolina
Entering the season, I thought UNC had a chance to repeat as national champions. Clearly, I was wrong. The young, unseasoned Tar Heels finished one game out of the ACC cellar and missed the NCAA tourney. At this point, it is pretty much common practice to blame, in large part, Larry Drew II's point guard play for the Heels' decline. While there is no doubt there is a drop off when you go from Ty Lawson to LD2, Drew's numbers weren't all that bad - almost 6 assists per game and a respectable 1.84 assist-to-turnover ratio. Others pointed to freshman John Henson's struggles to adapt to the college game. For the record, I still like Henson - still believe he has a ton of potential. Yes, I was a little surprised he didn't do more this year, but, with his body, he's going to have to be given time to develop. His play at the end of the season was more than encouraging. UNC apologists point to the injury bug that a handful of Heels succumbed to over the course of the season. Sure, the injuries to Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis were especially difficult to deal with, but the real problem was the lack of offense from the 2 and 3 spots. Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves never showed an ability to create their own shots or score in bunches to make teams pay for doubling down on the Tar Heel bigs. And freshman Leslie McDonald was a non-factor. All in all, a bad season for the Chapel Hill faithful and a poor performance by one of the best coaches in the country. But no worries Tar Heel nation, it's nothing a little Harrison Barnes won't fix - he of the oh so feathery jumper and aerial acrobatics.