2012-2013 End of Season Awards – ACC Men’s Basketball

Greetings from all of us at All Sports Discussion.  In Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) country, men’s basketball season is one of our favorite times of the year.  Our panelists will be discussing four topics.  First, our panelists will predict the players that will obtain first-team all-ACC honors.  Second, the panelists will provide their ACC defensive player of the year.  Third, the panelists will give us their ACC overall player of the year.  And, fourth, they will give us the ACC coach of the year.    Let’s get this panel started!!!

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

• @DukeBlogMKline: Writer/operator of Duke Sports Blog. Fan of all things Duke, including football, yes I said football.

• @WillsWorldMN: Will Ojanen, writer for SCACCHoops. Based in Eagan, Minnesota.

• @TheStateofTheU and @Category6UM: Jerry Steinberg with SB Nation’s State of the U. The most comprehensive site for all things Miami Hurricanes. It’s all about the U!!!!

• @KilroyFSU: Attended Florida State for undergrad, though he transferred to the University of Akron as a sophomore before returning for law school.  He currently works as an attorney in Tallahassee.

• @ztevans: Zach Evans is the Managing Editor for Inside The ACC.  You can find his ACC musings at @InsideTheACC

• @BloggerSoDear:  Jake is a 2009 and 2010 alumnus of Wake Forest University and is currently a CPA in the NC Triad area.  He also manages the Wake Forest athletics blog, Blogger So Dear, Twitter Account.

• @CUBOSCO: James Bostic lifelong Tiger fan 2005 Clemson grad currently residing in VA.Currently a grad student at Johns Hopkins, and writes a Clemson blog Tiger Times.

• @hokie8807: Proud Hokie alumnus, Blacksburg resident, and creator of Inside The Cassell.  Fan of basketball, bourbon, and Philly cheesesteaks.

• @SpencerHardison:  Spencer Hardison is the editor of The Wolfpack Report. He is also the NC State writer for Inside The ACC.

• @TerrapinNation: Scott Greene. Maryland alum and the publisher and editor of Terps Insider. Still a self-proclaimed expert on all things Maryland basketball.

Your ACC First Team Players?

• @DukeBlogMKline:  Shane Larkin, Seth Curry, Erick Green, Richard Howell, Joe Harris. Mason Plumlee’s  poor play of late costs him first team honors in my opinion. Could have gone easily with Kenny Kadji as a first teamer and wouldn’t argue with anyone who does.

• @WillsWorldMN: Mason Plumlee, Richard Howell, Joe Harris, Erick Green, Shane Larkin. I debated between Howell and Seth Curry, but I like to have a minimum of two forwards and two guards on my all conference teams.

• @Category6UM: This is a slam dunk. Shane Larkin from UM & Erick Green from Virginia Tech are my guards. My wing is UVA’s Joe Harris, and up front it has to be UM’s Kenny Kadji and Duke’s Mason Plumlee.  Richard Howell and Lorenzo Brown of NC State, as well as BC’s Ryan Anderson are on the cusp.

• @KilroyFSU:  Shane Larkin is the ACC POY, as much as it pains me to say as an FSU fan. Erick Green and Mason Plumlee are no-brainers for 1st team All-ACC. Joe Harris and one of the NCState forwards have to round out the team. I’ll take Howell ove Leslie, but it’s close.

• @ztevans: Erick Green, Shane Larkin, Joe Harris, Richard Howell, Mason Plumlee.

• @CUBOSCO: Erick Green, Shane Larkin, Seth Curry, Joe Harris and CJ Leslie. I tried not to go with three guards but I thought leaving Green off because his team was awful would be a shame since he was a guy who brought it night in and night out. The rest of the guys have been consistent performers throughout the season and are the keys to postseason success for their respective teams.

• @hokie8807: Shane Larkin, Erick Green, Richard Howell, CJ Leslie, and Mason Plumlee.

• @SpencerHardison: Shane Larkin, Erick Green, Joe Harris, Richard Howell, and Mason Plumlee. Larkin has led Miami all season, and has simply proven that he can not be denied a spot on the All-ACC First Team. Erick Green, of course, led the nation in scoring so he’s a no-brainer. Joe Harris has been a solid, consistent player all season for Virginia, and the Hoos wouldn’t be on the cusp of the NCAA tournament if not for him. Richard Howell is, well, just a beast. The man plays harder for 40 minutes than possibly anyone in the nation. And, finally, Mason Plumlee has shown that other than Richard Howell, there is no better post player in the ACC throughout the entire season.

Who is your ACC Defensive Player of the Year?

• @DukeBlogMKline: This was a hard decision mainly because when you focus on one team and you don’t have a great defensive player it isn’t just something that is praised and highlighted in the offensive minded world we live in. I’d have to go with Durrand Scott. Miami was very good defensively, especially on the perimeter and Scott played that role as a solid on ball and perimeter defender.

• @WillsWorldMN: This is a tough one. There are some good choices. In the end, I’ll go with Durand Scott. He’s one of the best on ball defenders in the ACC, and he was among the conference leaders in steals.

• @Category6UM: Miami’s Durand Scott just barely beats out teammate Julian Gamble. Scott is the most hard nosed defender in the conference. Coach Jim Larranaga said that Scott focuses on defense more than any player he has ever coached.  That says it all.

• @KilroyFSU:  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say K.J. McDaniels from Clemson. I like him because he’s a strong defender on both the perimeter and he can guard down low.

• @ztevans: Durand Scott, Miami. Julian Gamble was probably my favorite defensive player to watch, but I can’t erase the memory of Scott shutting down Seth Curry in Miami’s blowout of Duke in Coral Gables.

• @CUBOSCO: Durand Scott swallowed up wing players throughout the season. His combination of length and speed made it nearly impossible to get around him. The energy he brings on the defensive end is going to key in determining if the Hurricanes can put together a run in the Dance.

• @hokie8807: Durand Scott

• @SpencerHardison: This is by far the toughest decision amongst the post season awards. Lots of guys can be considered, but no one has stood out in the way John Henson did when he was in Chapel Hill. Ultimately, I have to go with Durand Scott. Michael Snaer is a close second, but the way Scott plays defense on every possession sold me. Scott is a talented offensive player, yet, he still stays fully engaged on the defensive end.

Who is your ACC Overall Player of the Year?

• @DukeBlogMKline: Erick Green. Kid is a beast and played on a team with not much of a supporting cast and night in and night out was the most important player to his team.

• @WillsWorldMN: There are three really good choices here. Even though he was on the last place team, Erick Green meant more to his team than anyone else, and he was also the best player, so he’s my pick. He accounted for 36% of his team’s points, and he shot it over 500 times, and still hit 48% of his shots. Without him, I doubt Virginia Tech wins a conference game this year.

• @Category6UM:  Shane Larkin takes it. This might seem like a homer pick, but Miami won the conference’s regular season, and Larkin as a scorer, creator, and defender is the biggest reason why. Virginia’s Joe Harris is a close second.

• @KilroyFSU:  As I said before, it’s gotta be Shane Larkin. I know Green leads the world in scoring, but Larkin has done it all for Miami and there is no way Miami is even close to winning the ACC without him.

• @ztevans: Erick Green is the best player in the ACC. His offensive efficiency has been through the roof, and he’d have better all-around numbers (a la Shane Larkin) with better teammates.

• @CUBOSCO: Erick Green, he came to play every night on a team that otherwise brought nothing to the table. Despite facing uphill challenges each time the ball was tipped Green was out there competing at a high level scoring and distributing the basketball.

• @hokie8807: Erick Green.  I defend my homer pick by noting he’s the ONLY player from ACC in the top 250 in the nation in both scoring AND assists.  As much as he scored, he never took away from the rest of the team, and that’s saying something.

• @SpencerHardison: First and foremost, it is the Player of the Year, not the Most Valuable Player. And any time a player scores more than eight points per game more than anyone else in the conference, and does it efficiently shooting almost 50%, there is no other option for ACC Payer of the Year. Erick Green has ran away with the ACC Player of the Year race. He does it all for Virginia Tech, and could do it for almost any team in the nation. As bad as I want to give it to Richard Howell for working his tail off night in and night out, Erick Green has given me no other option.

Who is your ACC Coach of the Year?

• @DukeBlogMKline: Jim Larranaga without question. Miami is the ACC Regular Season Champs, enough said.

• @WillsWorldMN: Jim Larranaga by far. No one expected Miami to be as good as they were this season, and he deserves the credit for that.

• @Category6UM: Easiest question of the bunch.  Coach Jim Larranaga has done a masterful job with the Miami Hurricanes. Aside from taking George Mason to a Final 4,  this has to be the highlight (so far) of an outstanding coaching career.

• @KilroyFSU:  It’s tempting to say Jim Larranaga, but he’s got the most experienced team in the ACC and an all-world point guard. I’m not really impressed with him as an X and Os coach, and he didn’t recruit any of his players. I know he’ll win the ACC Coach of the Year in a walk and he’ll be in the running for national coach of the year. I have to go contrary here and choose Coach K. He held the team together after Kelly’s injury and he’s built the best college basketball program in the nation. I hate the notion that a consistently great coach can’t win coach of the year awards.

• @ztevans: Jim Larranaga, Miami  Yes, the team was experienced, but it hadn’t seen much success before this season.

• @CUBOSCO: Jim Larranaga took a veteran team from a program that has little to no basketball tradition and almost ran away with the ACC during the regular season. He has the Canes in position to make a deep run into the tournament.

• @hokie8807: Jim Larranaga, hands down.

• @SpencerHardison: With the ACC Coach of the Year, I always try to find a coach who has exceeded expectations and got the most out of his team. While lots of people said Miami would be good, no one saw this season coming from the Hurricanes. Jim Larranaga has done a masterful job with Miami. Granted, he does have a team that’s older than the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that’s beside the point. He has guided Miami through adversity, and helped them capture the ACC Regular Season title.

We thank our panelists for their time – and stay tuned for other panels at All Sports Discussion.

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