Saturday, March 12, 2011

Let’s Give Out Some Awards…

The Big Ten gave out their postseason awards earlier this week so I’m going to do the same today. Somehow I hope this eases the pain of yesterday’s loss. By the way, did Penn State win? I like those guys, but I’m refusing to watch any basketball related stuff till 8PM tomorrow’s NIT selection show and I encourage everyone to do the same. It keeps the pain and anger down.

Anyway, some awards. I’ve got an MVP for this season (two actually), a defensive player of the year, and a newcomer of the year (can you guess who wins this?). So let’s get started…

MVP (x2) Michael “Juice” Thompson and John Shurna….I know it’s kind of a cheat to chose two guys for an award which ends in “player” not “players” but I just couldn’t pick. I liked the fact that Juice willed the team to victory a number of times and kept the ‘Cats close in a number of games they lost, but I also couldn’t ignore the fact that John Shurna’s injury pretty much cost Northwestern the NCAA Tournament. So I guess I’m giving Juice the MVP based on what he did and Shurna the MVP based on what he could have done if healthy the whole season. That might not make sense to everyone, but it does to me and these are my awards.

Previous Winners
2009….Craig Moore
2010….Juice Thompson

Defensive Player of the Year Alex Marcotullio…..I really considered not choosing a winner for this award, but Marcotullio always tried on defense even if his physical skills put him at a disadvantage compared to the guy he was guarding. I don’t think the same can be said for many of his teammates (I’m looking at you especially Drew Crawford) therefore Marcotullio gets this award, but as bad as the Wildcats were on defense I don’t think he should be that proud.

Previous Winners
2009….Jeremy Nash
2010….Jeremy Nash

Newcomer of the Year JerShon Cobb….NU’s only newcomer wins the newcomer award. A big shock, I know. But the truth is Cobb had a very nice freshman season. It just was sidetracked due to injury three separate times. Still, when he played he showed nice consistency for a young guy and a court presence which reminded me of a more veteran player. I honestly believe he has a chance to very a good player for NU. He showed his potential best in the game against Illinois at Welsh-Ryan Arena when he routinely schooled Demetri McCamey who some said before the year was a future NBA guard.

Previous Winners
2009…John Shurna
2010…Drew Crawford

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