JY isn't a surprise. I'm surprised no Wendell or Troy or Hernst didnt land on second team all newcomer or anything. Interesting. Here's the WAC's release.
DENVER – The Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball postseason award winners as selected by the league’s nine head coaches were announced today. The first team is led by Utah State senior forward Gary Wilkinson who was also voted the WAC’s Player of the Year. Wilkinson is the second-straight Aggie to earn Player of the Year honors as USU’s Jaycee Carroll earned the award last season. Wilkinson led Utah State in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in WAC play. The senior led USU to its second-straight WAC regular season crown. Nevada’s Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson, Idaho’s Mac Hopson and New Mexico State’s Jahmar Young were also first team selections. Wilkinson was the only repeat all-WAC honoree from last season. Wilkinson earned second team all-WAC honors last year. The all-WAC second-teamers this year were Boise State’s Mark Sanchez, Fresno State’s Sylvester Seay, Hawai‘i’s Roderick Flemings, Louisiana Tech’s Kyle Gibson and Utah State’s Jared Quayle. All five are new to the all-WAC team this season. Nevada forward Luke Babbitt became the second-straight Wolf Pack player to earn the WAC’s Freshman of the Year award. In 16 conference games, Babbitt averaged 17.3 points per contest and 7.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.6 percent from the field.
Utah State head coach Stew Morrill earned his first Don Haskins Coach of the Year honor by leading the Aggies to a second-straight regular season WAC title. In his 11th year with Utah State, Morrill led the Aggies to a 14-2 conference record. He also led his Aggies to a second-straight undefeated season at home, where the team holds the nation’s second-best home win streak at 34 games. Those named to the WAC’s all-defensive team were Boise State’s Ike Okoye and Anthony Thomas, Hawai‘i’s Kareem Nitoto, Louisiana Tech’s Magnum Rolle and Nevada’s Lyndale Burleseon. Selected to the WAC’s all-newcomer team were Hawai‘i’s Flemings, Idaho’s Hopson, Louisiana Tech’s Rolle, Nevada’s Babbitt and Utah State’s Quayle. The 2009 WAC Tournament will be held March 10-14, at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The men’s teams will compete March 10, 12-14. ESPNU will carry two men’s quarterfinal games, including the noon and 2:30 p.m. PT games on Thursday, March 12. ESPN2 will show the men’s semifinal game on Friday, March 13 at 9:00 p.m. (PT) and the men’s championship game on Saturday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. PT. All of the games not televised by ESPN will be available on WAC.tv.
11 comments:
No Wendell McKines?!!
He's the only player in the WAC to average a double, double and still gets the shaft!!
Would averaging a triple double get him get some recognition? Pleeaasse!
Laroche is top 20 in the nation in assist to turnover ratio!
Let's face it, NMSU gets no respect by it's league members!
We just have to make a run and get that respect this week!!
NMSU should leave the WAC plain and simple. They dislike our students, and now they are hating on our most deserving player(Wendell). That is BS! What is the justification to leave Wendell out. There is none.
I agree w/ other bloggers about the lack of respect for Wendell. In the games I saw where Wendell did not score a double double against WAC opponents, it was obvious that the teams were keying on him defensively under the glass to prevent him rebounding. So in an obvious but intentionally hidden way, the teams DID give him the respect; they just didn't want to do it in public media. I hope that this backfires and this raises Wen's intensity during the WAC tournament and we see a great performance out of him. Wen is already out emotional leader and elevation of his game is sure to inspire the rest of the team.
Since it has taken Menzies the whole season to try and figure out who his best players are, why would you expect other coaches to vote for them. Neither Wendell nor Troy have been good enough, IN MENZIES MIND, to be regular starters or to get the playing time that their performances deserve. Troy has spent a lot of time in suspension and Troy and Wendell both have spent entirely too much time on the bench, in favor of "Menzies' Bigs". Wendell has outstanding statistics, but imagine what they could have been if he had been given more playing time that truly deserved. My choice for starters for the whole season would have been Laroche, Gibson, Young, McKines, and Gillenwater. I wonder what kind of record the Aggies would have with this primary lineup?
Coyote
Coyote,
We probably would've been a tough team to beat with that lineup. Menzies' would've had to employ a run n' gun type of offense, but we would've outrun everybody. And to slow it down, Menzies should've brought in Rahman to add a change of pace. But, shoulda coulda woulda. Maybe next season (if everybody stays), but it seems that's unlikely.
Coyote what are you talking about? McKines was a fixture in the starting lineup all season long.
Windell a starting fixture my ass. Did you miss the first half of the season. I said Wendell and Troy should have been starters from the start! The bigs should have been brought in after Gordo, Wendell, Troy need a rest. Reggie thought need we need two big players (who wasn't worth a crap) and he learned near the end of the last game of the last WAC tournament that athletic ability is better than height.
Coyote
One more comment: Go Aggies! You have the talent and the abililty to wind the tournament. The rest is up to the coach!
Coyote
Wendell started 25 out of 30 games and averaged 30.5 minutes. Which is tied with Laroche for second on the team. Now, when we talk about Gillenwater, DEFINITELY he should have been on the court way more. Just don't say Wendell didn't play enough cuz that is just stupid.....
Coyote,
Reggie? When did he come into this? What exactly are you trying to say in your last sentence?
I hope this blog is not too long. But when I first read about the all conference honors, I, like many other Aggies fans were incensed by the absence of Aggies getting honors (with the exception of JY). Then I looked at who got the honors and one person on the first team stands out who is totally undeserving, but merely is there because of the media blitz from Reno. And this is Armon Johnson. So I did a league stat comparison to see how he stacked up. I only listed him in comparison to Aggies.
Points
J. Young 18.1 Rank 1
Armon 15.0 Rank 9
J. Gibson 13.8 Rank 10
Wendell 12.2 Rank 16
Troy 12.4 Rank 16.
Assists
Hernst 4.3 Rank 4
Armon 4.3 Rank 5
J. Young 3.1 Rank 11
J. Gibson 2.2 Rank 18
3 pointers made
J. Young 65 43% Rank 2
J. Gibson 56 37% Rank 6
Gordo 37 45% Rank 18
Armon 17 22% Rank 31
Wendell 15 41% Rank 37
Lumpkins 11 32% Rank 42
Hernst 10 50% Rank 43
Field goals
J. Young 174 Rank 2
Armon 163 Rank 6
Wendell 147 Rank 10
J. Gibson 135 Rank 13
Troy 123 Rank 18
Free Throws
J. Young 129 Rank 3
Armon 108 Rank 8
Troy 92 Rank 11
J. Gibson 74 Rank 16
Wendell 58 Rank 26
Hamadu 58 Rank 26
Steals 28 rank 22
Hernst 43 Rank 6
J. Young 42 Rank 8
J. Gibson 39 Rank 11
Wendell 33 Rank 16
Armon 28 Rank 22
Troy 17 Rank 36
Gordo 16 Rank 39
Rebounds
Wendell 299 10.0 Rank 1
Hamadu 139 4.6 Rank 19
Troy 120 4.3 Rank 29
J. Young 119 4.0 Rank 30
Armon 103 3.4 Rank 37
Blocks
Hamadu 44 Rank 6
Troy 38 Rank 9
Wendell 20 Rank 15
C. Gabriel 5 Rank 44
Armon 5 Rank 44
J. Young 4 Rank 54
J. Gibson 1
Lumpkins 1
Hernst 1
After looking at the comparison, it is obvious that Armon consistently ranked below many Aggie players who got NO honors, not to mention the rest of the league players.
I only saw Armon play the two games against the Aggies and I was not impressed. I don't know how he performed in other games, but it surely doesn't show up in the stats.
I think Aggie players omission from league honors is a travesty when they elevate Armon to first team. He is a good player but certainly not deserving of first team honors.
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