One very entertaining thing came out of a very unentertaining UNC-Duke game last night: Dick Vitale calling for Greivis Vasquez and Jon Scheyer to share the ACC Player of the Year award.
The idea, which is not unprecendented, believe it or not, is certainly interesting, but rather non-sensical. They haven't been equally as good, as Vitale implies - one has been clearly better. I know that it's not worth presenting facts and logic in response to Dickie V, but I'm going to do it anyway. Below are the season long stats for both Greivis and Scheyer in the three major statistical category (for the sake of fairness, I should mention that I'm leaving out turnovers and 3pt%, which Scheyer leads, as well FG%, which Vasquez leads in):
Advantage in all three major statistical categories: Vasquez. Remember, too, that Vasquez did this with an awful start, while Scheyer was lighting it up out of conference. While neither OOC or IC play technically matters more (the language is simply "best player"), many voters give nodes to who performed better in conference, and that is unquestionably Vasquez. Just take a look at the in-conference stats (calculated by hand, because official sites haven't updated with yesterday's stats):
Scheyer has regressed in all three categories. Vasquez has improved in two, and held steady in the third. It's very difficult to argue that Scheyer has been as good as Vasquez, whether its over the course of the entire season or in ACC play alone.
Of course, some take Player of the Year to mean the best player on the best team,and Duke will receive the #1 seed. But Maryland's late season head-to-head victory assured that, as the ACC sees it, neither team is "better" - they're sharing the title. And with Duke's talent-loaded team, the accomplishment seems far greater for Vasquez than Scheyer.
Luckily, Vasquez has the momentum; the last thing most voters will remember about the season is Vasquez's runner against Duke and Scheyer's ensuing miss. Had Maryland beaten Duke in the first matchup but lost in the second, instead of the other way around, the vote would be much closer and might favor Scheyer. But with Vasquez's recent performance and statistical edge, he's the frontrunner.
The award winner will be announced on Tuesday, and it should go to Vasquez rather easily.