Happy Friday! There was no post last week due to me being out of town. Click here to see what it looked like two weeks ago. Yes, I’m reusing the Marquise gif as the header because it’s awesome. Let’s get to it right now:
THE FAVORITE: Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure
19.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.1 blocks
22.5 PER, 27.2% USG, 1.52 PPFGA
I’ve spoken my peace on Jaylen in previous posts, so I want to point out something interesting – his shooting percentage is really bad (38.6% from the floor, 47.4% eFG) but he gets to the free throw line so much it doesn’t matter. He’s shooting 9.1 free throws per game in conference and hitting about 80% of them, so he still scores at a very efficient rate compared to the number of shots he takes.
SO CLOSE: Marquise Moore, George Mason
16.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.7 blocks
23.5 PER, 26.2% USG, 1.34 PPFGA
Mason has played four games since the last A10POY post and Marquise had sub-par scoring outings in two of them (12 points on 12 shots against Dayton, 8 points on 11 shots against Duquesne). He also has only 11 assists in the past four games, so a couple things are trending in the wrong direction for him. He’s still in the two spot on the strength of his incredibly unique season, the colossal load he’s asked to carry for the young Patriots, and his ability to defend the opponent’s best perimeter player night in and night out. He has an opportunity to finish the season with an exclamation point on the road against VCU tomorrow.
THE ‘T’ IS FOR ‘TURNSTILE’: TJ Cline, Richmond
18.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 0.1 blocks
25.5 PER, 28.3% USG, 1.45 PPFGA
“Turnstile J Cline” might be a little harsh but I can’t put TJ Cline ahead of Moore or Adams knowing how well both of them contribute on defense. Cline’s dad played for the Washington Generals, which explains a lot about TJ’s game – spin the box score on offense, offer no resistance on defense. I’ll offer this all with the caveat that if I were betting money, I’d bet on Cline to win it since an 18/8/6 line is insane – according to college basketball reference, Cline would be the first to ever post such a line in conference play in college basketball history.
DARK HORSE: Kendall Pollard, Dayton
14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.8 blocks
23.8 PER, 27.7% USG, 1.65 PPFGA
Pollard has a higher usage rate and scores much more efficiently than his teammates, Charles Cooke and Scoochie Smith. I’ve written about this before. I still think he’s Dayton’s best POY candidate.
STILL IN CONTENTION
Peyton Aldridge, Davidson
20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.9 blocks
25.1 PER, 25.7% USG, 1.33 PPFGA
Aldridge’s efficiency numbers have suffered recently (his early season production was probably unsustainable to a degree) but he’s still putting up 20 points and 8 boards while contributing a lot defensively. The first four are the guys I think have a shot to win – Aldridge leads the best of the rest, for now.
Charles Cooke, Dayton
14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.9 blocks
20.7 PER, 24.7% USG, 1.36 PPFGA
Cooke is either the best or second best player on the best team in the A10, and his ability to use his length is a big part of Dayton’s suffocating defense. For the purposes of these rankings, he just hasn’t been an efficient enough scorer to warrant a grade over the guys ahead of him.
Tyler Cavanaugh, George Washington
18.1 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.2 blocks
24.7 PER, 29.4% USG, 1.44 PPFGA
About three weeks ago I said Cavanaugh was basically 80% of Peyton Aldridge. He might have read that and used it as motivation (or toilet paper) as he’s been rampaging through the league since then. He’s averaging 21.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game over his past six. He’s rocketing up the leaderboard, but what hurts him is his lack of contribution outside of points and rebounds, and the token resistance he offers on defense.
SECOND OR THIRD TEAM CANDIDATES
Jack Gibbs, Davidson
20.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.5 steals, 0 blocks
21.4 PER, 29.5% USG, 1.27 PPFGA
Gibbs is moving up the board, but he’s still been much less efficient than the guys ahead of him.
JeQuan Lewis, VCU
14.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.2 blocks
20.3 PER, 23.6% USG, 1.33 FFPGA
Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure
18.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2 steals, 0.2 blocks
20.7 PER, 23.4% USG, 1.43 PPFGA
Justin Tillman, VCU
13.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.5 blocks
26 PER, 23.3% USG, 1.38 PPFGA
Most of Tillman’s important numbers have dipped in the past two weeks. His arrow is pointing down.
Hassan Martin, Rhode Island
12.5 points, 6 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 steals, 2.1 blocks
25.2 PER, 24.7% USG, 1.44 PPFGA
Hassan Martin is still kind of a trendy first team pick but I’m not buying. I guess he makes sense if you feel obligated to put a traditional center on the first team, but no way I’m making room for him over the likes of Pollard, Aldridge, or a number of other guys.
EC Matthews, Rhode Island
14 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.5 steals, 0.3 blocks
16.5 PER, 26.3% USG, 1.28 PPFGA
Matthews is also a guy that’s going to get a lot of first and second team votes, but that’s a byproduct of Rhode Island being good in the standings. He simply hasn’t been as good as the guys ahead of him.
KEEP AN EYE ON:
Scoochie Smith, Dayton
Jordan Price, La Salle
ShawnDre’ Jones, Richmond