BT's Weekly Fab 15

BT's Weekly Fab 15

The Feb. 22nd ranking from the Basketball Times desk.

 

By this time of year, the best teams and players are usually obvious.

With apologies to Kentucky freshman John Wall, this season's top player is clearly Ohio State's Evan Turner. 

The top four teams are easily identified as Kansas, Purdue, Kentucky and Syracuse. You might argue with the order, but probably not the teams.

Beyond that, little is clear. 

Villanova was so comfortably considered among those elite teams before suffering last week from the Basketball Times' cover jinx, a pair of losses drop the Wildcats only to fifth. But they clearly have fallen into a second tier of teams that is 10-deep with teams that are barely distinguishable from one another. 

Wisconsin might be behind Michigan State and Ohio State in the Big Ten standings, but a closer look shows they also have wins against Gonzaga and Duke and that the Badgers are always through the toughest part of their Big Ten schedule. That sort of thing.

The Turner-Wall debate is a lot like the data vs. eye test/who's best vs. who's most deserving kind of conversation that goes on with the NCAA Tournament's selection process. Wall wins the eye test. The data backs Turner overwhelmingly. Wall is best. Turner is most deserving.

Turner is an all-around talent that the college game hasn't seen since Grant Hill. And he holds up as well when his statistics are pulled out against teams from the RPI's Top 50: 22.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 5.0 apg.

So do the remaining players among our Early All-Americans, with numbers similar or better to what they put up against lesser opponents. Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins: 15.3, 11.3. Purdue's Robbie Hummel: 16.1, 7.8. Texas' Damion James: 19.3, 11.8. Villanova's Scottie Reynolds 23.0, 3.2 apg.

And then there's Wall. In his four games against Top 50 teams, Wall has shot less than 40 percent and committed more turnovers (4.5 per game) than assists (4.3). (In fairness, Turner also has nearly as many turnovers as assists.) 

But, like Kansas' Sherron Collins (another player whose stats fail to match his reputation), there is little doubt who is the best player on the court in the final minutes of any game that's on the line. Wall didn't play particularly well for most of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt, yet he blocked the shot that sealed that win. He scored six straight points in the final minutes of a nine-point win over Louisville, 12 of his team's final 15 points in a two-point win against Connecticut and made the clutch shots in an overtime victory over Stanford. He also scored the winning basket against Miami (Ohio) and came back from a bout of dehydration to lead the Wildcats to a two-point victory over North Carolina.

That's the John Wall who keeps showing up on SportsCenter, which is why so few seem to have a problem that his stats are failing to meet the freshman's reputation.

Early All-Americans: DeMarcus Cousins F Kentucky (16.1, 10.1); Robbie Hummel F Purdue (15.8, 7.2); Damion James G-F Texas (17.6, 10.8); Scottie Reynolds G Villanova (19.0, 3.4 apg); Evan Turner G Ohio State (19.5, 9.2, 5.8 apg). 

POY:  Turner. 

Fab 15 

(Through Feb. 21)

(Based on Achievement)

1. Kansas (26-1)

2. Purdue (23-3)

3. Kentucky (26-1)

4. Syracuse (25-2)

5. Villanova (22-4)

6. Wisconsin (20-7)

7. Georgetown (18-7)

8. Pittsburgh (21-6)

9. Kansas State (22-4)

10. Duke (22-4)

11. West Virginia (21-5)

12. New Mexico (25-3)

13. Brigham Young (25-3)

14. Ohio State (21-7)

15. Tennessee (20-6)

- John Akers

Editor, Basketball Times

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