Wednesday, March 07, 2018

Turner Second in MAC FR of Year

So, behind the 8-ball a little.  The MAC announced a couple days ago that Miami's Nike Sabande was voted the FR of the year over Justin Turner, which is certainly disappointing as a Falcon fan.   As you can see below, it was very close in terms of the voting.  In fact, Kirk of OU was also clearly in the conversation and the three players more or less divided first-place votes evenly.

Nike Sibande, Miami, Guard (9) — 58 Points
Justin Turner, Bowling Green, Guard (9) — 56 Points
Teyvion Kirk, Ohio, Guard (8) — 52 Points
Marreon Jackson, Toledo, Guard (3) — 15 Points
Jayvon Graves, Buffalo, Guard (2) — 7 Points

So, looking at the respective numbers, it remains a really close call.  These numbers are MAC-only.  Both teams led their teams in scoring.  They scored more or less the same, Sibande has a few more rebounds.  Neither of them shot very well, but Turner was slightly better.  Turner had better FT shooting and more assists.  Sibande had slightly fewer turnovers and slightly more steals.

In terms of the offensive rating on Kenpom.com, Sibandie was also slightly ahead.


Look, that's just really close on the numbers.  Sibandie had 6 20 point MAC games.  Turner 5.  Sibande's MAC-high was 23 points, while Turner had a 29-point game and a 30-point game.

You, two players who each had years worthy of the award.  I honestly felt Turner was the more impactful player, possibly a combination of bias and possibly that Sibande didn't do much when he played at BG.  But, I can't work up outrage over the decision.  I was surprised by it, but honestly it was probably as closed as the voting indicated.

No comments :