I think this argument would hold more water if the competition was from FSU or UVA. But it's not. No way Hurt or Champagnie should have more positive press, and Jones is on a team that's played 4 games in the past month+. How is he building coverage when he isn't playing?
If POY is an MVP-type award, then it’s not just stats—it’s hard to get an MVP on a losing team. Being the best player on the best team is one way to get it—and if you’re looking at FSU or UVA, they have some players that could be considered, but they aren’t on the list.
Carlik Jones from Louisville fits the mold—great player, great stats, on a team going to the postseason. Jones is their scoring leader. He’s only 33% from 3-point territory, which is lower than you want out of a guard. He’s not playing for a North Carolina or Virginia school, which hurts most of the POY candidates except Hurt.
Wright is a great player who has carried his team in games, with great stats, on a team probably going to the postseason. He has a lot of the same arguments for him as Jones—senior, showed up in big games—and some of the same arguments against (didn’t play for a tobacco road team).
Hurt has the advantage of playing for Duke and having a lot of points. He’s got the drawback of playing on a Duke team on the wrong side of the bubble. If I were a voter considering Hurt, I’d be watching the Duke UNC game on Saturday; it’s a must-win for Duke and Hurt would need to have a big big game to get my POY vote.
Champangie plays for Pitt, who can really only make the postseason if they’re the ACC automatic qualifier for winning the tournament. The team is currently falling apart (to my eyes, at least). Champagnie had big game opportunities, like against Georgia Tech, where a MVP type player puts the team on his back and pulls off a win. I haven’t watched too much of Pitt, but where are the big wins?
However, in a poll of the ACC sportswriters two weeks ago, Champagnie was the clear favorite. So, what do I know?
The voting for this kind of award is weird, because it’s mostly about who the voters have seen. That’s a reason why Duke and UVA and UNC and to some extent Louisville players are in good shape—people have watched those games. Not a lot of people see the Pitt games. People missed a lot of our games until recently.
I’m thinking Jones wins because of who the voters have probably watched. I voted for Moses for reasons that ought to be obvious around here. The Duke game should have helped him. (If we had blown them out, it would have helped more).
