Should Burke win the Wooden award now?

Submitted by myblueheaven on

 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? 

Wolverine Devotee

March 10th, 2013 at 7:29 PM ^

Without Burke, we would have lost at least 10 games this regular season.

He is without a doubt the player of the year. 

 

Lraegerb

March 10th, 2013 at 7:43 PM ^

If you look at our team from the beginning of the season until now what's the difference? It's called TEAM effort. I'm not sure if it was the TEAM shooting percentage that dropped off or the Burke show took over, but I can guarantee you this...when the Burke hype took off...the selfish guard play took over. Our three point percentage shots from Staukus, GRIII, and Hardaway Jr dropped off. We've been out of rhythm because they are not used to taking the outside shots that were our bread & butter. Burke is a great player, but a phenomenal player elevates his teammates game along with his own. It's been all about Burke, he's not the only good player on this TEAM!

Lraegerb

March 10th, 2013 at 7:55 PM ^

No one is degrading the TEAM, but if you want to objectively look at what has happened from from the early season success until the Big Ten tribulations...the Burke looking for a NBA draft bid has been it.

Lraegerb

March 10th, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^

No, he's not an egotistical douche...he stopped playing team ball & it's thrown the rest of the team out of rhythm. Whether it be out of pure personal gain or out of necessity...if we are going to get anywhere in the the tournament, we have to get back to playing TEAM ball.

MGoRossGrad

March 10th, 2013 at 7:31 PM ^

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.

rockydude

March 10th, 2013 at 7:31 PM ^

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.

Go.Blue.Hail

March 10th, 2013 at 7:32 PM ^

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.

MGoKereton

March 10th, 2013 at 7:37 PM ^

If the contest was even between Zeller and Burke, I think Zeller would have wrapped it up. However, Burke has been consistently dominant for an entire season--which put Zeller behind.

I think it's Burke's. He still had a good game.

willywill9

March 10th, 2013 at 9:03 PM ^

Disagree. POY isn't determined on one shot. Missed happen, but thts not why we lost the game. IU out rebounded us so severely. Also we came within inches of winning this game... How can you let that overshadow the entire season? Who in the country ha a clearer claim to POY? Oladipo is outstanding, but Zeller stepped up for them today.

jdon

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'   

Thatguy2525

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.

SDCran

March 10th, 2013 at 7:36 PM ^

End of the game showed why. IU didn't go to VO, they went to Zeller. Then on D VO was a non factor, as Burke was passed him before the pick. Doesn't seem to me that Burke loses POY because Zeller scores over Morgan and Morgan misses a tip.

umchicago

March 10th, 2013 at 7:39 PM ^

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.

buddhafrog

March 10th, 2013 at 7:45 PM ^

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.

NOLA Wolverine

March 10th, 2013 at 7:48 PM ^

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. 

umich02

March 10th, 2013 at 8:11 PM ^

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.

TheGhostofYost

March 10th, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

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. 

Magnum P.I.

March 10th, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^

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.  

maznbluwolverine

March 10th, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^

This. Trey Burke was selfish alot of times when his team mates were open. He tried to do to much at times instead of getting everyone involved. That's why B----- sat him early.

LesMilesismyhero

March 10th, 2013 at 8:57 PM ^

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.

LSAClassOf2000

March 10th, 2013 at 9:29 PM ^

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. 

MFanWM

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.

BILG

March 10th, 2013 at 10:59 PM ^

He plays way too much hero ball. We have great shooters in Hardaway and stauskas. Burke should take 5 less shots a game and distribute more. This isn't about today, it's about the last twenty games in which step back Burke 3s became more and more common.

He's a great player but has a bit too much of a selfish steak for the college game. That along with his confidence and work ethic will serve him well in the nba, but the selfishness may have stunted this teams growth a bit.

If oladipo gets it, it may be because of three plays that really define his all around game. That put back he had as the shot clock expired, the blocked dunk, and the strip of Burke at half court on the gratuitous unnecessary crossover

randyfloyd

March 11th, 2013 at 8:37 AM ^

Opinion about who should win POY and some clueless fucking moron rates me as "flamebait". Whom ever did this is a clueless idiot that clearly doesn't understand the game of basketball. Now rate this as flamebait you fucking douchebag!

backtoblu

March 11th, 2013 at 1:46 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.

MaizeNBlueAboveALL

March 11th, 2013 at 9:43 AM ^

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!

chatster

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.