Should Burke win the Wooden award now?
I still say Burke as he almost single handily willed this team to another B1G championship. He then left the door open with those missed free throws at the end! Not all on him, as rebounding and bad officiating were a factor as well. I feel he outplayed Oladipo well enough in this game to win the award if it were given today. Yes the missed free throws doomed us in the end and we still have the B1G tourney to win, but he has been the most consistent player on this team and arguably the country this season.What say you?
Without Burke, we would have lost at least 10 games this regular season.
He is without a doubt the player of the year.
Who is downgrading the TEAM?
Or, you know, it could be that the schedule got significantly tougher, we started playing away games, our freshman hit the freshman wall, fatigue, etc.
But yeah, you're right, Burke is a selfish, team-hating, egotistical douche.
stop shouting.
Trey Burke's 20-point (including 5-8 from behind the arc) performance against the #2 in the country is gonna cost him a player of the year award?
I'd hope not.
Unfortunately, ESPN is chugging along full-speed with the Oladipo express.
It's gonna come down to who goes further in the B1G Tournament/NCAA Tournament.
You've pretty much nailed some of the points that people will be debating. I am going to be a homer and say give it to Burke, and I am basing it on his consistency - 15 points or more in every B1G game.
I can understand giving it to the best player on the nation's best team (when you look at the season as a whole), but the award is for the best player, regardless of team. Adding on to the Burke resume is what he has done for his team in terms of keeping a pretty good but not extraordinary team in the top 10 for the whole year, up to this point.
All of that being said, I have no idea who gets the award. Probably going to be a close vote.
A lot of people rag on him for taking lots of shots in some games and they are right to some extent, but it goes deeper than just the stat line. Today for example, he kept us in the game with some of his threes and was a major part of why we had a four point lead with 1 minute to go. Not many other players could do that.
doesn"t miss the front end of a 1 and 1 with the game on the line period end of story. I love Trey and what he has accomplished but you just can't miss the front end with the BIG championship on the line.
March 10th, 2013 at 11:20 PM ^
Obviously one free throw doesn't make or break a season, however this game did not help Burke's prestige.
Everyone is overreacting and I think we should all just take some deep breathes... Today's loss, coupled with the penn state loss two weeks ago offer an opportunity for our team to rise up, remeniscent of the Phoenix, and begin dominating.
'Kill the boy'
Sorry, you lost all credibility when you said one missed free throw should determine whether or not he gets POY.
March 11th, 2013 at 10:08 AM ^
Not only did he miss the front end of this game, he did it the last two games also. He just came up with big steals to get out of those games. For the life of me, I don't understand why we don't run in bound plays for Stauskus. He is the best FT shooter on the team.
Today's game proved that Burke is a hell of a lot better than Oladipo. If the media gives it to Oladipo because of Burke's missed free throw, I will be pissed.
Can you lose the Wooden on a free throw? Could be.
Kinda would make sense.
Burke doesn't have a Zeller to lean on. Oladipo wasn't even the best player for IU, Zeller carried them to victory.
i think it's gone. i doubt the a 4th place team in the BIG gets player of the year. too bad that one play cost big ten poy, national poy and big ten title.
And probably a 1-seed in the NCAA's.
Talk about all or nothing. Like being off just one number in the PowerBall lottery.
MSU is struggling against NW. That would be a bigger upset than us at PSU.
No it wouldn't be.
Deserves it, but I do not know if he will get it.
I wish we could have him for one more year.
Yes, and the biggest reason is because anyone watching today saw that Zeller had the best game. Burke doesn't play with another player of that caliber. He does it himself, which is a lot more difficult, and he deserves it the most.
He would certainly be deserving. Today didn't change that at all. It's a pretty open race, a lot of great basketball players have had signature games throughout the year.
He got fouled and if it is called he wins the game for us. That is all.
Can I support Burke for Player of the Year in '14?
Not likely.
Teams focus their defenses around zeller before oladipo. burke always the number 1 focus and he still puts up the numbers. oladipos defense is fantastic, but burke has been playing much more active defensively down the stretch which has seemed to effect the team positively as a whole. Take nothing away from oladipo- guy is a freak- but it has to go to burke.
I don't really understand how Oladipo is even in the conversation. He's not even the best player on his team, and his stats really don't compare to some of the other candidates.
Qualifiers:
- We would not be as good a team without Burke.
- Burke has played superbly.
- I like Burke.
That said, I think Burke missed a big opportunity to make this a truly special team this year. At some point early in the conference slate, he stopped trusting his teammates. This may have been deserved, to some degree, as the freshmen got some jitters here and there. But I think he could have been a better leader and facilitator as the season went on. We're sitting on an unprecedented amount of talent this season, and there's just no excuse for the offense devolving into Burke Burke dribble dribble fade away as soon as any game gets tight. Our embarassment of offensive options were squandered. I think the player-of-the-year attention went to his head a little bit and made him try to do too much. I wish that hadn't happened.
worry about a little thing like that? Reporters ASKED Beilein, and he said he took him out to instruct him to keep the ball in the middle of the floor bringing it upcourt with Oladipo guarding him.
The award doesn't often go to the best player on the fourth or fifth place team in a conference. As for talent surrounding him he has NBA caliber players in GRIII and Tim Hardaway Jr and an excellent shooter in Stauskas. Recent winners with team's regular season conference finish.
TJ Ford - Texas (2)
Jameer Nelson - St Joseph’s (1)
Andrew Bogut – Utah (1)
JJ Redick – Duke (1)
Kevin Durant – Texas (3)
Tyler Hansbrough - North Carolina (1)
Blake Griffin – Oklahoma (2)
Evan Turner – Ohio State (1)
Jimmer Fredette – BYU (1)
Anthony Davis – Kentucky (1)
Durant’s Texas team finished two games back of Kansas so Burke winning wouldn’t be without precedent. Looking at that recent list I would say Doug McDermott stands a good chance. Shane Larkin leading Miami to a surprising ACC conference title, it wouldn't surprise me if he won this award.
For the Board's education, here is the complete finalist listing per ESPN:
Name | Yr. | Pos. | School |
---|---|---|---|
Trey Burke | So. | G | Michigan |
Erick Green | Sr. | G | Virginia Tech |
Shane Larkin | So. | G | Miami (FL) |
Doug McDermott* | Jr. | F | Creighton |
Ben McLemore | Fr. | G | Kansas |
Victor Oladipo | Jr. | G | Indiana |
Kelly Olynyk | Jr. | F | Gonzaga |
Mason Plumlee | Sr. | F | Duke |
Otto Porter | So. | F | G'town |
Marcus Smart | Fr. | G | Okla. St. |
Deshaun Thomas | Jr. | F | Ohio St. |
Jeff Withey | Sr. | C | Kansas |
Nate Wolters | Sr. | G | South Dakota St. |
Cody Zeller | So. | F | Indiana |
I think that some of the things that Burke has going in his favor, at least in the numbers, point to him really being the spark of the Wolverines offense. As I recall, he is responsible for nearly 30% of Michigan's offensive possessions and he records an assist on almost 40% of those. His assist-to-turnover ratio is abour 3.5, which has to be fairly easily one of the best in Division I among point guards. He also has an effective FG% of around 50%, so when you're on a team which averages a little over 60 possessions a game, almost 20 of them are yours, and you can score on half them in a typical performance, I would say that is effective.
March 10th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
I think that the key defining item for anyone in the POY discussion should be how they played in the biggest games of the year for their team. In many cases, Burke really seemed to be too keyed up and tried to put too much on his own shoulders, which is not ideal for a point guard, let alone this discussion.
As for leading the team away from home, not even in the discussion in this case. Ohio State, MSU, Indiana, Wisconsin were the 4 biggest road games and 0-4, and then add in a loss to a winless Penn State team when the BIG was also on the line, and then add in several points in this game where the opportunities were there to cash in and I just do not think the leader of a team that cannot even win their own conference should merit consideration.
It is just my opinion, but I think that you have to win a few of those key games with the stakes on the line and in a hostile court.
March 10th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^
March 11th, 2013 at 12:17 AM ^
March 11th, 2013 at 10:39 AM ^
Sorry, but it's the "almost" argument. He "almost" willed them, just like he "almost" made clutch free throws and shots that could have won us a couple more games and ultimately our share, if not an independent B1G title.
"Almost" doesn't usually cut it in sports and with a tough league and other tough players out there, I just cannot say that he deserves it. Heck of a year and a lot of fight in the kid, but he hasn't earned it this year.
Let's not undermine Oladipo, he is truly an amazing athlete. He is the best player I hadn't heard of coming in to this year. He has talent and Zeller, well he may be the ugliest kid that has EVER played college basketball. I am sorry, I truly have a grudge against him because of our lack of down low D. Plus he should have comitted to us. lol I am jk but Oladipo is a rare athlete. I dk how well he will fair in the pro's but he is a tremendous player. Burke, well just look at him. He is a BALLER!
March 11th, 2013 at 10:44 AM ^
Dear myblueheaven,
It has come to my attention that you have now asked this question: "Should (Trey) Burke (of the University of Michigan’s men’s basketball team) win the (John R.) Wooden Award, (the most prestigious honor for the nation’s top basketball player) now?" The answer to that question is no.
Sincerely,
Eric H. Holder, Jr.
Attorney General of the United States
But seriously – consider these excerpts from the statement posted on the Wooden Award website when the 15 finalists were announced:
Creighton forward Doug McDermott is the only player on this year’s ballot who was a Wooden Award All American in 2012. He is the nation’s No. 2 scorer, at 23.4 ppg, and has taken the Bluejays to a 24-7 record to date this season (through March 4).
Among the student-athletes chosen to the Wooden Award ballot were three players who did not make the Midseason Top 25: Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk, Indiana’s Victor Oladipo, and Miami’s Shane Larkin. Other notable selections include the nation’s top scorer, Erick Green of Virginia Tech (25.0 ppg), and three freshmen: Anthony Bennett of UNLV, redshirt freshman Ben McLemore of Kansas, and Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart.
While Trey Burke (a) is among the 15 finalists for the Wooden Award, (b) deserves much credit for returning to Michigan and having had an excellent sophomore season, and (c) likely will be among the ten members of the Wooden Award All American team, he gets no special mention from the Wooden Award Advisory Board (unlike his fellow guards on that list: Shane Larkin, Victor Oladipo and Marcus Smart), so, considering his performance in the final minute of the Indiana game on March 10 and Michigan’s disappointing Big Ten road record this season, unless he has a Kemba Walker/Gerry McNamara Miracle Conference Tournament (and I believe he has that in him), his chances of winning the Wooden Award were substantially reduced in the final minute of yesterday's game.