ACC Country

As you can tell from the blogroll on the right hand side of this blog, I like Dan Shanoff. I enjoyed him as a writer when he was at ESPN.com (with his Daily Quickie), and I followed him up to the point he is at now, which is with SportingNews.com. As of lately, Mr. Shanoff has bristled me with his ignorance of North Carolina, and his insane amount of love for UCLA.

His latest argument was for Kevin Love as Player of the Year, not Tyler Hansbrough or Michael Beasley. You can read today’s wake-up call here. Below is the main part of his column that really “grinds my gears.”

Tyler Hansbrough? Bah. With all due respect to my SN colleagues who named him college hoops player of the year, the Wake-Up Call’s college hoops P.O.Y. is …

Kevin Love.

The UCLA post sensation is the Bruins’ (and arguably the Pac-10’s) best freshman since Lew Alcindor. And Love is the best of the best freshman class that anyone can remember (with four of its members making my first-team All-America list).

He averages a double-double (leading the team in points and rebounds), after instantly starting for one of the top 3 teams in the country — with the added pressure of defending back-to-back Final Four appearances (which sets Love apart from one-man show Michael Beasley).

As for Hansbrough, the highest compliment I can pay him is that he is a quintessential “college superstar” — an impressively long productive career … because he has absolutely limited NBA potential.

But if Hansbrough’s “experience” is going to be the deciding factor for SN’s award, I can’t get past Hansbrough and UNC’s failures when it has mattered most: In last season’s Elite Eight, when UNC was blitzed by Georgetown in OT and in 2006’s shocking opening-weekend tourney loss to George Mason. His jersey-retiring legacy is that of a loser.

Love gets the benefit of not having that tournament history: All he has produced is phenomenal regular-season results — undoubtedly, my pick is influenced by my feeling that Love, in his first (perhaps only) tournament, is going to lead UCLA to a breakthrough national title.

Like Carmelo Anthony before him, THAT is a player of the year.

Oh my, where to start?

First off, being the best freshman on a potential National Championship team does not make a Player of the Year Candidate, nor does leading his own team in points or rebounds. Hansbrough did that as a freshman as well. Hansbrough also had the added pressure of helping lead a team that just won a National Title the previous season. That didn’t make him a Title contender either.

Here’s what gets me. Mr. Shanoff is not understanding the Player of the Year award. This award rewards the best player THIS year. Not last year. Not over a period of time. Not based on NBA potential. THIS YEAR. What Hansbrough has done in the past 2 seasons is IRRELEVANT.  (Besides, when is getting to the Elite Eight a “failure”? ) What any potential Tyler Hansbrough may have as an NBA player (which, I personally think is pretty good, not a superstar from any means, but a decent role player in the league) should NOT have any bearing on who the college basketball player of the year is. And if Mr. Shanoff knew anything about Tyler Hansbrough, he would know that his legacy is NOT of a loser. That’s a poor choice of words on his part. If he has ever watched Hansbrough play, he would know that Hansbrough puts forth tremendous effort and does not give up on any play, whether it would be a 1 point game or an 11 point game.

Based on THIS season, Tyler Hansbrough is better than Kevin Love. Mr. Shanoff’s reasons are laughable and hypothetical. There’s no reason to believe UCLA has a better chance to win the NCAA than North Carolina, Memphis, Tennessee, etc. What if UCLA loses in the second round and Kevin Love scores 6 points and grabs 3 rebounds in that loss? Would Kevin Love still be considered his player of the year then? Kevin Durant’s team lost in the second round last year – did that diminish the fact that he was among college basketball’s elite last year?

When handing out player of the year awards, let’s keep our reasons based on what we know now, based on the current season at hand. While I may not agree with Michael Beasley as POY, I understand the argument for him. Kevin Love does not present the same argument.

Mr. Shanoff does point out that his answer is influenced by his prediction that UCLA will cut down the nets. Far be it for me to say that he’s putting the cart before the horse. If that is the case, then, regardless of talent, the POY should ALWAYS come from a Final Four or National Championship team. Of course, I think Mr. Shanoff would agree with that, since the last POY from a National Championship team was Carmelo Anthony.

Give me a break. The only REAL argument based on rational facts about this season is Tyler Hansbrough vs. Michael Beasley. And for the love of Dean, let’s make sure the player of the year is being voted based ONLY on this season.