/throws a grenade into the forum

[Czar]

 

[jordoo]

Is that by actual player ratings that he does or is he just picking the team?

 

[moqui]

they are all in his top ten in the nation

which doesn't actually make sense, because his kPOY rating is supposed to be heavily weighted by minutes, and Tobey plays less than half the available minutes.

 

[jordoo]

they are all in his top ten in the nation

which doesn't actually make sense, because his kPOY rating is supposed to be heavily weighted by minutes, and Tobey plays less than half the available minutes.

Virginia is exactly the type of team that his ratings are going to love from my admittedly limited knowledge of his system. It's interesting that they all rate so highly and it seems a flaw because often times great players having less help suffer with stats compared to a collection of good players whom help each other look better.

 

[pearl31]

Tobey at C over Christmas :rolling:

 

[jncuse]

It would seem that KP has a flaw in his player rankings, and that the individual rating calculation is tied into team performance a little too much. The top 10 players are basically from his best 5 schools, which would seem like a flaw.

But KP does have Kentucky and Virginia a step above the rest in his team rankings and I think that is accurate. Virginia is damn good. Anybody come close to what Virginia has done on the road this year?

 

[moqui]

if I had to place a bet right now, I'd take UVA to cut down the nets in Indianapolis

 

[Madbiker]

Ridiculous that Rak isn't getting any recognition. But high ranked teams get all the glory.

 

[jncuse]

It is interesting to see how productive Kyle Wiltjer has been. Gonzaga has a way to turn around players after they sit out a year.

 

[Full_Rebar]

if I had to place a bet right now, I'd take UVA to cut down the nets in Indianapolis

If they play Kentucky in the final, I don't think either team tops Ohio St's point total from Monday night.

 

[Col. Bleep]

It is interesting to see how productive Kyle Wiltjer has been. Gonzaga has a way to turn around players after they sit out a year.

He actually gives Calipari a lot of credit.
Wiltjer says Calipari keeps in touch and remains loyal.
I will avoid all temptation to suggest that Cal calls with reminders to keep quiet.

 

[themorey]

I will avoid all temptation to suggest that Cal calls with reminders to keep quiet.

lol...i thought the EXACT same thing when I read that in an article recently. Cal keeps in touch to remind him that Cal can giveth, and Cal can taketh away.

 

[reedny]

Ridiculous that Rak isn't getting any recognition. But high ranked teams get all the glory.

He didn't even get a mention in Len Elmore's ACC "Top 5" graphic last night, which was shown during the Miami-Duke broadcast. The goon from L-Ville got the nod instead -- and the only categories he's top 5 in the ACC in are rebounds and the biggest teeth. Sorry, but that's BS. Rak's top 5 in scoring, rebounding and blocks.

It's just like JB says ... top 25 teams get the exposure and everyone else is an afterthought. Hopefully someone tweets Elmore about this SU snub. I gave him a pass on calling Kaleb "Kris Joseph" but this is really a significant oversight.

 

[pfister1]

It's just like JB says ... top 25 teams get the exposure and everyone else is an afterthought. Hopefully someone tweets Elmore about this SU snub (I gave him a pass on calling Kaleb "Kris Joseph").

TJ Warren - 2014 ACC Player of the Year says not so fast.

The broadcasters and networks mention the guys that they've seen or they also mix in a heavy helping of guys from the team(s) that are actually being broadcast at the time they make the mention.

I bet if you asked ESPN to make a list of the guys who they thought might actually win the ACC POY or National POY, the lists would look at lot different. You can ask Elmore as often as you want and I'm not confident you'd get anything intelligent. I was surprised he didn't have Melo Trimble on that list last night.

 

[reedny]

TJ Warren - 2014 ACC Player of the Year says not so fast.

The broadcasters and networks mention the guys that they've seen or they also mix in a heavy helping of guys from the team(s) that are actually being broadcast at the time they make the mention.

I bet if you asked ESPN to make a list of the guys who they thought might actually win the ACC POY or National POY, the lists would look at lot different. You can ask Elmore as often as you want and I'm not confident you'd get anything intelligent. I was surprised he didn't have Melo Trimble on that list last night.

The funny thing is ... I think Elmore worked the G-Tech game and at least one other. He couldn't help but notice -- and mentioned repeatedly -- how dominant a player Rak has become. I specifically remember him mentioning that Rak had almost tripled his average and gone from an "accessory to go to guy".

So ... two games and 49 points later, he turns around and disses Rak in favor of Mr. Big Teeth? Wow. I know Harrell self-touts and gapes his maw after every play. But I don't see how you can keep Rak out of the top 5 in the ACC given his body of work this year.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/statistics/_/id/2/acc-conference

 

[Col. Bleep]

Mr. "Why on Earth is There a 'Z' in His First Name?" is a great player.
But I don't think anyone is having a better season than Rakeem Christmas.
And I don't know of a single player more important to his team.
He's also got to be THE most improved player in America.
Right now...Rak has to be in the mix for first team all ACC.

 

[Cheriehoop]

From today's Kenpom blog

kPOY Watch
The kPOY leaderboard is starting to look like something worth checking on occasion. Frank Kaminsky is still your leader with a slight lead on Jahlil Okafor. And you can imagine that the race for the regular POY might come down to these two as well. I’d like to give a special shoutout to Syracuse’s Rakeem Christmas who is currently in seventh place. He barely avoided being classified as “nearly invisible” last season and now he’s the Orange’s go-to guy, performing well against both good teams and bad. Indeed, among players getting at least 40 percent of their team’s minutes in each of the past two seasons, nobody in the land has increased his usage more than Christmas. Here are the five players that have increased their usage the most…

PctPoss
Player 2015 2014 Diff
Rakeem Christmas, Syracuse 27.1 13.3 +13.8
Langston Morris, Oregon St. 23.1 11.2 +11.9
Marquan Botley, Florida Atlantic 31.0 19.6 +11.4
Royce Woolridge, Grand Canyon 31.2 20.2 +11.0
Kory Brown, North Dakota St. 24.9 13.9 +11.0

 

[NKR1978]

if I had to place a bet right now, I'd take UVA to cut down the nets in Indianapolis

UVA seems like the kind of team that I get enamored with in the regular season that falls flat in the tournament. Pitt was that team in the BE when they were winning the BET.

I'll pick them to go far and like the way they play, but I just can see them being picked off.

 

[Cusefannotindc]

In the ACC Rak is 5th in PER, 2nd in Win Shares and 3rd in Points Produced. Rak is 7th in the NCAA in Win shares, but not in the top 20 in the other 2.

 

[Dave85]

In the ACC Rak is 5th in PER, 2nd in Win Shares and 3rd in Points Produced. Rak is 7th in the NCAA in Win shares, but not in the top 20 in the other 2.

A couple more games with 35 points and they will have to start noticing him!

 

[supp]

if I had to place a bet right now, I'd take UVA to cut down the nets in Indianapolis

Really? I was thinking the other day that they remind me of SU last year. Hot start, late fizzle.

 

[TBCuse11]

if I had to place a bet right now, I'd take UVA to cut down the nets in Indianapolis

They may go back to back.

 

[jordoo]

I honestly haven't watched enough of UVA this season. The couple of times I watched they had long stretches of ineffective offense but were meat grinding the other team with their defense. Then their offense just figured things out and looked like a thing of beauty for 5min and once they got a double digit lead you knew the game was over.

 

[Macky44]

They may go back to back.

 

[Macky44]

I honestly haven't watched enough of UVA this season. The couple of times I watched they had long stretches of ineffective offense but were meat grinding the other team with their defense. Then their offense just figured things out and looked like a thing of beauty for 5min and once they got a double digit lead you knew the game was over.

All defense. They will get beat by a team with gunners in the tournament.