All-America teams

[Jimmy Chitwood]

now that the regular season and conference tourneys are over, there have been the usual all-conference honors awarded. this year has been pleasantly lighter than in seasons gone by, with regard to the players getting recognized. who would have thought the Big East would ever have a majority white all-conference team? not me. sadly, though, the SEC had zero white guys on their first or second all-conference teams. in fact, the only white player honored was Lee Humphrey from Florida with (surprise! surprise!) the scholar-athlete of the year.

so, i thought i'd put in my two cents with a decidedly Caste flavored honor. a bi-coastal version of my all-American teams. feel free to provide any thoughts, because i'm going to limit it to six players each so, of course, some great players will be left out.

All-West team:
G Chris Hernandez, Sr., Stanford: three-time first team all-Pac 10. one of the best PGs in the country. averaged just over 14 points while carrying injury-raddled Stanford throughout the season.
F Adam Morrison, Jr., Gonzaga: what is left to say about Ammo? one of the two best players in the nation. leads the country in scoring while shooting over 50% from the floor. wow! WCC POY.
F Christian Maraker, Sr., Pacific: never hear of him? that's because he plays waaaay out west. but the NBA guys know all about him, as does every coach who has to prepare for him. 3-time Big West 1st-teamer and this season's POY. 6'10" forward averages 17.2 ppg and 9.0 boards.
F Nate Harris, Sr., Utah St.: never hear of him either? well, that's understanable since Utah St. never plays on the idiot box, but now you know. he's the reason the Aggies are in the big dance. 2-time 1st-team all-conference selection averages 17.2 ppg and 7.5 boards from either post spot.
F/C Nick Fazekas, Jr., Nevada: 2-time WAC POY. first-team all-American by numerous reports. 6'11" inside-outside player dominates on both ends of the floor. averages 23.0 ppg and 11.6 boards.
Sixth man F Steve Novak, Sr. Marquette: underrated throughout his career, the 6'10" Novak is arguably the best shooter in college basketball. first-team all Big East. averages 17.5 ppg and 5.9 boards.

All-East team:

G Gerry McNamara, Sr. Syracuse: no longer considered over-rated. ha! incredibly tough and clutch performer. single-handedly carried Syracuse through the Big East tourney and into the NCAAs. averaged 16.4 ppg.
G J.J. Redick, Sr. Duke: along with Morrison, one of the two best players in the country. outstanding shooter. tough, clutch leader. second in the nation in scoring.
F Mike Gansey, Sr. West Virginia: one of the best defenders in the country. outstanding shooter. averaged 17.2 ppg while shooting 56% from the floor.
F Tyler Hansbrough, Fr. North Carolina: the most dominant frosh to ever play at UNC. and that's saying something! only freshman EVER to lead the Tar Heels in scoring and rebounding (19.1 and 7.8 respectively)
C Kevin Pittsnogle, Sr. West Virginia: sweet-shooting 6'11" big man averaged 19.5 ppg while shooting over 40% from three-point range.
Sixth man F Greg Brunner, Sr. Iowa: rugged interior player. 1st-team all-Big Ten. averaged 14.1 ppg and 9.2 boards.

okay, so who did i leave out? what a year in college b-ball!

 

[guest301]

Great list JimmyC. I am well aware of Pacific forward Christian Maraker from last year. He's very versatile and I hope he has a great game against Boston College in the first round because Pacific will need it. I think Pacific starts two white guys with one coming off the bench. Albany likely UConns first round victim..starts three white guys. Who knows..a 16th seed has to win one year..maybe it's Albany.

 

[JoeV]

. Albany likely UConns first round victim..starts three white guys. Who knows..a 16th seed has to win one year..maybe it's Albany.

Not the good Danes, the GREAT DANES! I actually wanted Vermont to win the America East conference, but without Ty Coppenwrath and a couple other starters from last year, it wasn't going to happen. That 13-17 record would have looked funny also.

 

[guest301]

I didn't even know Albany had a division one team until I saw them playing Vermont the other day. The Great Danes huh...I'm watching the classic Duke UNLV matchup from 1991 on ESPN classic right now..great game

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

a 1 seed is bound to fall sooner or later, probably later.

in my mind the most vulnerable 1 seed this time around is Memphis and all their uber-afaleetes, followed by Villanova with Allan's injury questions.

more on the topic of this thread, though, there were a few other guys who deserve some credit but don't get much national pub. Paul Miller from Wichita State was the MVC's POY. Bucknell has center Chris McNaughton (1st-team all-conference) and PG Kevin Bettencourt (2nd team) who are both outstanding (although black teammate Charles Lee gets more notice from the media). i wanted to pick Pitt's Aaron Gray over Pittsnogle at center but just couldn't pull the trigger.

Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson gets some much-deserved respect, but i like undersized-but-tough-as-nails power forward Grant Stout. what an apt last name, he plays much bigger than his size, and averaged a near double-double with 12 and nine per. and i also like Daniel Kickert from lightly regarded (and out of the tournament) St. Mary's. he's very similar to Fazekas but doesn't block as many shots, though he handles the ball a bit better.

who else do you guys like?Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood

 

[guest301]

Center Paul Davis from Mich St. and Guard Jeff Horner from Iowa deserve mention. I also agree with you that if a #16 seed loses, the most likely prospect is Memphis. The moment may be to big for Memphis to make it far in the tourney.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

i know Horner and Davis are good, and i should probably have included Horner in my list. Davis, on the other hand, gets a ton of recognition but doesn't live up to his incredible talents nearly often enough for me. he is possibly the most gifted big man in the country, but he rarely plays like it. he has been a big disappointment to me for the past two seasons.

 

[whiteCB]

Nick Fazekas will definitly be playing in the NBA. He is an all around great player who was a ESPN.com All American.

 

[white tornado]

For the first time in many years I think a white college all star team could beat a black one. Here is my all white team. It has 13 player like a real team and I tried to make it a team not based on talent alone but to make one the way you would make a real team. I've got diverse players so this team can play any style. It can bang with Hansbourgh and Paul Davis, run the fast break, or drop threes with Redick, and Pittsnogle. I only put on players i saw play this year so i could have left some good players off.

starters

Pg. Chris Hernandez, Sr., Stanford
SG J.J. Redick, Sr. Duke
F Adam Morrison Jr., Gonzaga
F Nick Fazekas, Jr., Nevada
C Tyler Hansbrough, Fr. North Carolina

Bench

G Gerry McNamara
PG Greg Paulus
SG Mike Gansey
F Josh McRoberts
F Greg Brunner
F Steve Novak
C Keven Pittsnogle
C Paul Davis

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Dicky V put together his All-Clutch team yesterday, and 3 of the 5 players on it were white. does this come as a surprise?

He included Morrison and Redick, and he said Gerry McNamara was the best clutch performer in the nation. "He's a PTPer, baby!"

Edited by: Jimmy Chitwood