AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 06
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Thad Young deserves better
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m not surprised by the ACC All-Rookie team, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. I’m cool with Brandon Costner, Brandan Wright, Jon Scheyer and Javaris Crittenton, but based on what I saw in person, on TV and off statistics, I think Thad Young should have made it over Ty Lawson.
Lawson, though, plays at UNC, in the middle of the North Carolina voting bloc that sways the award (I didn’t have a vote, as the AJC does not allow writers to vote in these things any more).
Lawson played well when North Carolina went on its rush, pillaging everyone for about two or three weeks, but other than assists, where he finished second in the conference with an average of 5.25 to Crittenton’s 5.38 (that’s all players, not just freshmen), he doesn’t show up well in any statistical categories. And he was benched the other day in Atlanta by Roy Williams.
This is not just about stats. It’s about effect on teams. Take Lawson from UNC, and the Heels still win 23-24 games. There’s not a huge dropoff when Bobby Frasor runs point for North Carolina.
Take Thad Young away, and Tech’s a 16- or 17- win team right now, I think.
Did Young, who was picked by these same writers before the season to be ACC Rookie of the Year put up the numbers some folks expected? No. But Paul Hewitt would jump right in and say it was ridiculous to ascribe certain expectations to any freshman. He points out that Thad was No. 1 or No. 2 for scoring almost all season for Tech, which authored a very big turnaround from last season.
He finished the regular season No. 5 among freshmen in scoring, trailing Costner (16.1), Crittenton (16.0), Wright (14.4) and Scheyer (13.9). Thad averaged 13.1.
All stats are in ACC games only.
I could make cases for Costner or Crittenton as Rookie of the Year. Costner’s a nightmare matchup because of his size (6-8), power and ability to shoot (he finished No. 9 in the league overall in 3-pointers made with 2.00 per game; just behind Scheyer at 2.06), and he led all freshmen in both scoring and rebounding (7.4, No. 6 overall). He also hit 79.8 percent of his free throws, so hacking him wasn’t such a great idea. Scheyer and Crittenton were 1-2 among freshmen, 2-4 overall at 87.8 and 84.3 percent. They were the only freshmen with better percentages.
As I wrote the other day, Wright is gold around the basket, and he led all ACC players with a .647 field goal mark. Bad free throw shooter, but he also averaged 6.2 rebounds per ACC game. Still, Wright’s numbers were inflated because he played next to Tyler Hansbrough, who drew double teams galore and boxes out like a gorilla.
Interesting, in steals per game, Tech has three of the top four in Crittenton (2.13, No. 3 among all ACC players; Jeremis Smith, 1.63, No. 6; Young, 1.44, No. 9, and Mario West, 1.38, tie No. 10).
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