The Northeast Conference tournament will begin Wednesday night at 7pm, but before that the league will hand out some hardware. Tuesday at 11am, the NEC will name their postseason accolades via twitter, so be sure to check that out.
We will be announcing our #NECMBB All-Conference teams & major award winners on Tuesday at 11 am...right here on Twitter. #NECElite
— Ron Ratner (@NECHoopsRon) March 2, 2014
Here are our selections.First team all NEC:
Jason Brickman, Long Island
Sidney Sanders Jr., FDU
Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris
Lucky Jones, Robert Morris
Alex Francis, Bryant
Anderson, Sanders, and Francis are all easy selections. Lucky Jones, in my opinion is the biggest key to the RMU zone D, and guards 1-5. Without him on the floor, RMU is a completely different team defensively, and on the glass. He's hasn't been great offensively, but he hasn't been terrible either.
Brickman is the best passing point guard to ever play in this league, and LIU probably doesn't win a conference game without him. It may be more of a legacy pick, but I'm okay with that. After all, he averaged a double-double this year.
 |
| Anderson is an easy POY choice. (NBC) |
Player of the Year: Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris
Easy choice. Karvel is one of the best scoring guards in the NEC, one of the best shooters in college basketball, and pulled his team from the jaws of defeat on multiple occasions. He had jaw dropping 26 point second half against LIU, leading the team back from 16 down. He took his play to another level when RMU's roster was decimated to just eight players. He's the best players in the league, on the best team in the league.
Coach of the Year: Andy Toole, Robert Morris
There aren't many circumstances in which a coach is a runway COY winner when his team is the preseason number two, and coming of a year in which they went 14-4, regular season champs, and beat a program like Kentucky.
Andy Toole had such circumstances thrown his way. Let's start with the offseason. RMU lost Russell Johnson, Velton Jones, and Treadwell Lewis to graduation. All three were major contributors to the men's basketball program on and off the court. Then Coron Williams transfers to Wake Forest for his final season, and then Lijah Thompson transferred in the middle of the summer. Both left Toole with little time to find replacements.
During the season, he had to completely overhaul his defense, break in a slew of newcomers, and then lost four scholarship players to suspension/personal reasons, including both starting forwards.
Yet here the Colonials are, 14-2 in league play, one win away from another 20 win season, and have home court in the NEC tournament. Remarkable.
Defensive Player of the Year: Lucky Jones, Robert Morris
This is by far the hardest award to give. Naofall Folahan, Rashad Whack, and Jones are all deserving. I'm giving it to Jones because of his versatility, and what he means to his team. Take away Folahan, and Wagner still has a pretty good defense. As for Mount, they really struggled at times defensively this season, especially early in NEC play.
Take away Lucky Jones, and the Colonials aren't near the defense that is ranked number two in the league. The versatility and value that Jones gives Andy Toole wins my vote.
Rookie of the Year: Malik Harmon, St Francis PA
DeVon Barnett made this a two horse race, but Harmon has my vote. He helped St Francis to the six seed in the NEC tournament, quite the accomplishment for a team that has really struggled the past few seasons. He averaged about nine points, three assists and three rebounds per-game and shot a solid 35 percent from three.
--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5
And now, Cappella's selections:
First team all-NEC:
Jason Brickman, Long Island
Sidney Sanders Jr., FDU
Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris
Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn
Alex Francis, Bryant
The elephant in the room is obviously going to be leaving Lucky Jones off my first team ballot. Lucky has been a good secondary scorer, rebounder, and defender, but when it comes down to it, I do not believe he shot well enough throughout the year to be a first team guy as opposed to someone like Jalen Cannon who has had to carry his team and had a great year.
I also went with two point guards because of how outstanding they both played this year. Jason Brickman averaged a double-double and led the country in assist rate. Sidney Sanders Jr. is the type of guy who can win you a basketball game by himself.
Player of the Year: Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris
There’s nothing really more I can tell you about Karvel than what has already been said. The guy was incredible. He’s one of the best players in the country who strapped the team to his back in big moments.
Coach of the Year: Andy Toole, Robert Morris
 |
| Folahan is the league's best rim protector (Will Paul). |
Defensive Player of the Year: Naofall Folahan, Wagner
I thought about putting Rashad Whack or Lucky Jones at this spot but then Folahan rejected it. Seriously, good luck scoring at the rim when Folahan is in the game. He blocks everything.
Rookie of the Year: Malik Harmon, St. Francis PA
The future is looking bright for St. Francis PA for the first time in a while and Harmon is a big reason why. The frosh handled the ball well, played smart, and showed an ability to knock down an outside jump shot.
--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
No comments:
Post a Comment