dc22

March 7th, 2013 at 3:13 PM ^

I agree that Burke has moved ahead of Oladipo due to their performances over the past two games. I am sure the head to head performances this Sunday will be quite important when the final votes are cast. Fair or not, the headline games are what stand out for the voters and the final game of the regular season to determine the champions of the best conference in college basketball is exactly that.

Jehu the Damaja

March 7th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^

Seems fair to me. If they don't play well against top competition, then they don't deserve to be considered for POY. if you only feast on weak competition, then you probably aren't that good. Burke plays extremely well every game in the toughest conference in America, including against top competition. He's gotta be the POY

mGrowOld

March 7th, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^

But that's simply impossible.  Accxording to Dan Dakish Burke isnt even Player of the Year in the B1G, much less the nation.

All hail King Oladipo.  As evidenced by the OSU game - when he's ready to take a game over....it's OVER.

umich02

March 7th, 2013 at 3:34 PM ^

Take Burke away from Michigan- we're a pretty average team, probably similar to minnesota. Take Oladipo away from IU and they can replace him with the highly over rated Sheehey and they're still in the B1G race. Burke means more to us than any other player does for their respective teams.

dc22

March 7th, 2013 at 3:36 PM ^

Dan Dakich is exactly the reason why I respect Jay Bilas or Kirk Herbstreit who (in most cases) display professionalism and don't let their personal fandom openly interfere with their jobs as analysts/commentators.

In reply to by ijohnb

umumum

March 8th, 2013 at 12:24 PM ^

even Vitale didn't suck when he first came on the scene, but his ego arrived soon after and we continue to suffer some 30 years later.

I also agree on Bilas--he is (much much better and) more objective than Dakich so long as we can look past his Amaker-UofM brain fart.

AtkinsDiet

March 7th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^

Oladipo is great but his PPG (13.7) is pretty underwhelming for such a serious NPOY candidate.

I think we win on Sunday, but say the Hoosiers squeek it out in a game where Burke is great and Oladipo is just OK. In that scenario, I would expect Oladipo to win the Big Ten POY and Burke the National POY since Midwesterners are notoriously provincial and put a far greater stock into the conference championship than national heads do.

WolvinLA2

March 7th, 2013 at 4:33 PM ^

I also don't understand the Oladipo love. He's a good player for sure, but he's not a big time scorer (though very efficient), and doesn't do anything else elite on the offensive end. He's a high energy athlete on D, but even his steals and rebound numbers aren't that great.

I just don't see it.

Perkis-Size Me

March 7th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^

If Burke gets another stellar performance on Sunday, and especially hits 15+ points, I don't see him losing the award. No one in Big Ten history will have ever accomplished 15+ points in every conference game. Burke means more to our success than Oladipo does to Indiana's. in my opinion, there is no man in the country who is more vital to his team's success than Burke.

mishler3

March 7th, 2013 at 9:34 PM ^

As much as I like Burke, I would rather have him not be POY. For the conference, you bet. National POY puts a huge target on his back as well as the teams. Fly a bit under the radar as the Big Dance nears.

umich02

March 7th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^

Because Burke doesn't already have a target on his back? He's played with that target all year and put up fantastic numbers. Him winning it would not have anything to do with how far we go in the tournament whatsoever. 

TheLastHarbaugh

March 8th, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^

Burke was left off 15 ballots? What the hell?

Also, come on man...who voted for Ben McLemore #1? This isn't based on who will go first in the NBA draft. And get out of here, Mason Plumlee got a first place vote.