Justin Jackson ACC Player of the Year!
- Thread starter MRUNC
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In fairness, you could make a case for either. I think the award was Kennard's hands down 3 weeks ago but JJ has strengthened his case in those 3 weeks.
I'd give it to Kennard if his team hadn't literally benched him at a point. That disqualifies him in my mind.
Kennard has had a great season, give him that, he is first team ALL ACC, give him that because he deserves that, to me he makes a good case for 1st team NCAA AA..
But let's look at this reasonably, kennard plays for the team that was pre-season picked #1, the team with the #1 recruiting class coming in. He plays beside the player touted as the leading pre-season candidate for the Wooden award in tripster, they had the countrys 2 best recruits coming in Tatem & Giles, and had his hall of fame coach leading them.
Now in a season where parity was supposed to be the definition of the ACC, that parity word was used for every other team other than duke, duke was suppose to win the ACC easily. Duke was expected by the sports media gurus to blow away the field, may as well go ahead and put there names on the trophy now because the season was nothing but a formality. No friends, it was not going to be UNC, we lost Marcus & Brice, no way we had a chance, it was all duke all the time. That is what kennard had working for him, so much surrounding him that he didn't have to worry about things like double teams, just go spot up and take those open looks when they come.
Let's look at Justin, we were ranked what was it around 6 or so? Marcus & Brice were gone, no way we would be able to fill that void. Meeks was a bust, KWill couldn't shoot nor could Theo, Hicks couldn't stay on the court, Nate was worthless. Now Justin was OK but he darn sure was not Brice, Joel was pretty good but to small really. Roy, well bless his heart but he can no longer recruit and clearly holding his time outs like he does means the game has passed him by. Justin tested the NBA waters but they told him no. I mean they did rank us pretty good but they only did that because we played in the natty last season, it sure didn't take them long to drop us to the late teens when we lost a game.
Point being, 2 players coming from way different places coming in to this season, one had all the aces in his hand, the other had a lot of adversity to over come. But look what has happened as this season has unfolded, Justin has established himself as the go to player on the best team in the ACC, leads the ACC by 2 games now with 2 remaining to be played. The best player on the best team folks, that is who should get the spoils, that sure is not kennard, Kennard is not the best payer on the best team, he is a good player on a disappointing team on an under achieving team, on a now as we see over hyped team.
Give kennard his due, 1st team all ACC by all means but give the ACC POY to the guy that deserves it more, Justin Jackson! And for my money, Justin Jackson edges out Frank Mason for NCAA POY ! RETIRE THAT JERSEY AFTER THIS SEASON IS OVER!
But let's look at this reasonably, kennard plays for the team that was pre-season picked #1, the team with the #1 recruiting class coming in. He plays beside the player touted as the leading pre-season candidate for the Wooden award in tripster, they had the countrys 2 best recruits coming in Tatem & Giles, and had his hall of fame coach leading them.
Now in a season where parity was supposed to be the definition of the ACC, that parity word was used for every other team other than duke, duke was suppose to win the ACC easily. Duke was expected by the sports media gurus to blow away the field, may as well go ahead and put there names on the trophy now because the season was nothing but a formality. No friends, it was not going to be UNC, we lost Marcus & Brice, no way we had a chance, it was all duke all the time. That is what kennard had working for him, so much surrounding him that he didn't have to worry about things like double teams, just go spot up and take those open looks when they come.
Let's look at Justin, we were ranked what was it around 6 or so? Marcus & Brice were gone, no way we would be able to fill that void. Meeks was a bust, KWill couldn't shoot nor could Theo, Hicks couldn't stay on the court, Nate was worthless. Now Justin was OK but he darn sure was not Brice, Joel was pretty good but to small really. Roy, well bless his heart but he can no longer recruit and clearly holding his time outs like he does means the game has passed him by. Justin tested the NBA waters but they told him no. I mean they did rank us pretty good but they only did that because we played in the natty last season, it sure didn't take them long to drop us to the late teens when we lost a game.
Point being, 2 players coming from way different places coming in to this season, one had all the aces in his hand, the other had a lot of adversity to over come. But look what has happened as this season has unfolded, Justin has established himself as the go to player on the best team in the ACC, leads the ACC by 2 games now with 2 remaining to be played. The best player on the best team folks, that is who should get the spoils, that sure is not kennard, Kennard is not the best payer on the best team, he is a good player on a disappointing team on an under achieving team, on a now as we see over hyped team.
Give kennard his due, 1st team all ACC by all means but give the ACC POY to the guy that deserves it more, Justin Jackson! And for my money, Justin Jackson edges out Frank Mason for NCAA POY ! RETIRE THAT JERSEY AFTER THIS SEASON IS OVER!
Justin
Kennard
Bonzie
Some other good candidates like Young and Artis (who will steal votes from each other) and maybe Collins.
Kennard
Bonzie
Some other good candidates like Young and Artis (who will steal votes from each other) and maybe Collins.
Kennard was recruited by Roy. He would be a fine addition to our team.
Here's a question for our gurus.... Kennard is a fine outside shooter and also a very good driver. Would he be getting those drives playing in our system, or is that a result of playing in Duke's system? If it's a result of their system, what are they doing differently to get him those pathways to the rim? I mean he has to be good enough to finish, and he is. But you don't see Berry getting those openings, so I wonder if Kennard would be getting them if he played for us.
Here's a question for our gurus.... Kennard is a fine outside shooter and also a very good driver. Would he be getting those drives playing in our system, or is that a result of playing in Duke's system? If it's a result of their system, what are they doing differently to get him those pathways to the rim? I mean he has to be good enough to finish, and he is. But you don't see Berry getting those openings, so I wonder if Kennard would be getting them if he played for us.
Back to Justin.... Do we have anyone else who moves that well without the ball? Moving that well and being a threat from nearly anywhere, that has to help our other players, too. Will we have anyone like that next year? Jalek? Theo? Someone else?
Another thing I like about Justin is he never seems to take plays off. On offense or defense. He doesn't lose focus or wait around for something to happen.
Another thing I like about Justin is he never seems to take plays off. On offense or defense. He doesn't lose focus or wait around for something to happen.
My ACC first team would be
Justin
Kennard
Collins
Donavan Mitchel
Micheal Young
2nd team
Ben Lammers
Meeks
Dennis Smith
Perrentes
Artis
ACC ROY - Tatum, followed by Isaacs, Dennis Smith, and the big O from GT.
ACC coach of the year, sorry but I would have to give it to Pastner with Roy as a close second. Just can't ignore what Pastner has done with that GT program this season.
It really helps when teams have to be so concerned with tripsters shooting and Tatum, you don't want to help off those 2 back court mates of kennard so he has more a path. Teams would prefer Kenny and Theo to be jump shooters and find it easier to help on to Joel and off of 2 weaker jump shooting threats. Duke spreads you out and the poison you prefer to take is to one on one kennard as a driver and not leave tripster or Tatum.
Berry should be on that 2nd team over all of those guys with the possible exception of DSJ
Good choices. I'm less impressed with Mitchell than some, but like your other choices.
Not sold on Pastner, although he has certainly surprised. Yet how much of that is because they beat us? They are better than expected, but still close to the cellar.
Which is to say I might give it to Roy. Or Buzz. Or even Larranaga (since I didn't expect Miami to be in the hunt this season). Or Hamilton, since I had decided he was chronic underperformer but he has done well this season.
May want to wait until the ACCT is over to call this one.
How about your all-frosh and all-D teams?
All frosh - DSjr, Okogi, Iaasics, Tatum, hard call between Tony and Childress, I will go with Tony
All defensive team I got to think more about honestly.
The thing with Mitchel is Louisiville is darn tuff, for my money the second best team in the ACC no matter the rankings. Their other 2 guards have been hurt but Mitchel has stepped up big time to give that team what it needed to go from mid pack to top 2 in this ACC. he didn't have his best night against us but he has been the guiding force behind that Lville team, darn good.
I don't mean to blow kisses at Pastner but that team has pretty much shocked everyone, no one saw that coming. Roy has done a great job, especially considering we didn't have Theo for most of the season, lost Joel for a string of games, Hicks missed a game, Kenny now lost for the season. Not like we have not had more than our share of injury that Roy has had to navigate thru, it is for me a close call.
Now I would disagree on Hamilton, frankly that is way to talented a team to play as poorly as they have. I think talent wise FSU has more talent than we do, our players are just better developed and coached. Only coach in the league IMO that has had a worse season as a coach is gotfired, who just got fired! LOL
Just my opinion...
I love Justin and what he has done this year, but I have to go with Luke..........
Maye.
Seriously though, Justin has my vote. Now - Where do I vote?
Maye.
Seriously though, Justin has my vote. Now - Where do I vote?
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That sound you hear is Gary beating down your door for not including JB. Better watch yourself.
I would call Kennard and JJ a draw, with the winner being the player with the better record. Winner JJ
That sound you hear is Gary beating down your door for not including JB. Better watch yourself.
Well, I did get this trout wrapped in a newspaper delivered to my door this after noon, think maybe that was a message? LOL
JJ should be POY, period. dook was the odds on favorite to win the ACC this year. They had the "best coach in the business", a wealth of talent second to none, and the preseason favorite for the ACC POY. Yet Roy has outcoached the LOM and JJ has led his team to at least a tie for the regular season title. That gives the nod to JJ, IMO.
If Kennard wins ACC POY, it will mean that no one values defense.
Yeah, that's the only real knock on Kennard. Guy's an offensive machine but not a great defender.
Kennard has had a great offensive season, let me name clear offensive. He is not a factor on the defensive end or on the backboards. For that reason alone I give it to JJ. Kid has worked his tail off and plays for the best team in the league. Kennard plays for the team who has fell way short of expectations on all levels. Not sure how it's even as close as it seems at this point.
Kennard would indeed get the same drives in our system.. JJ and TP seem to have no problems getting to the rim during games so why would Kennard? puke has more shooters, but no bigs to draw attention. We have shooters also (JB, JJ, Maye) AND bigs that demand attention so the lanes would clear up for him in our system too, just for different reasons!
To the OP: JJ is the clear winner to my biased eye for the addition of active D to the scoring punch. Kennard is an average to poor defender. JJ adds both offensive and defensive rebounds to the mix while Kennard might get the nod for assists. (too lazy to look up numbers)
I would put them in this order:
1. JJ
2. Kennard
3. Collins
And JB should be on the ACC second team at worst !
To the OP: JJ is the clear winner to my biased eye for the addition of active D to the scoring punch. Kennard is an average to poor defender. JJ adds both offensive and defensive rebounds to the mix while Kennard might get the nod for assists. (too lazy to look up numbers)
I would put them in this order:
1. JJ
2. Kennard
3. Collins
And JB should be on the ACC second team at worst !
rebs:
Luke 32 Off 120 Def 5.1 avg........19.9ppg 5.1rebs 2.6ast 51%fg 46%3pt 85%ft
JJ 41 Off 102 Def 4.8 avg.......18.8ppg 4.8rebs 2.6ast 46%fg 40%3pt 76%ft
both kids have balled out....unbalanced schedule plays some part as they achieved against diff opponents.....does the 2 head to head games play a factor in the end?...imagine if both these kids stayed 4 years
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I would love for JJ to play 4 years in my greedy Tar Heel Heart, but I would encourage him to go this year since his stock probably will not go any higher!
I would absolutely hate for Kennard to stay for four since he is the only puke player I am really worried about for overall game impact!
I agree that Saturday might make the difference. (provided UVA's D didn't already sink JJ's shot)
I would absolutely hate for Kennard to stay for four since he is the only puke player I am really worried about for overall game impact!
I agree that Saturday might make the difference. (provided UVA's D didn't already sink JJ's shot)
I also agree with this. Right or wrong, it kinda feels like Saturday's showdown will determine who wins ACC POY
By the way, any chance at all we're looking at a jersey retirement here?? I.E., Jackson winning Naismith POY (or one of the other recognized national POY honors)?
I think there is a good chance he gets an honored jersey for being an AA, but I just don't see him getting national POY.
I was actually thinking about the jerseys in the rafters, this team's chances of winning the NCAA, and how the two are related, not that long ago. Let's speak purely hypothetically: if the Heels were to win this year's NCAA tournament, it would likely go down as the UNC champion with the fewest jerseys in the rafters. 1957 has 3 (1 retired): Brennan, Kearns, Rosenbluth; 1982 has 3 (2 retired): Jordan, Perkins, Worthy; 1993 has 3: Lynch, Montross, Williams; 2005 has 3: Felton, May, McCants; 2009 has 4 (1 retired): Ellington, Hansbrough, Lawson, Zeller. If we were to win this year, I don't see us having more than 2: Justin and Joel. Justin will most likely get 1st or 2nd team All American by a publication that gets you up there, and has a good chance to win ACC POY. Joel's best shot would be either being named team MVP of a NCAA Champion (which if we win, I think he and JJ are co-MVPs, which counts), or Final Four MOP. Other than those guys, does anyone on this team have a legit chance? Sure, someone could have a breakout tournament and Final Four, and get up there for MOP, but barring that, who has a chance? No seniors will be up there, and Theo would have to have a monster senior season to get up there. The most likely candidate would be Tony, but I'm not sure he'll stay long enough to do it. Seventh or Brandon could evolve into a player who ends up in the rafters, but it would take some doing. It's just an interesting thought that no other UNC champion would have less than 3, and if we were to win it this year, we would have a hard time getting more than 2.
Paragraphs are your friend!! Haha.
I think the only chance we have of getting an honored non-JJ, non-Berry jersey is if we win it at all and the two teams we face in the Final Four both lack a good defensive big man and Meeks just goes off in both games (which would actually require our guards to consistently feed the paint, but I digress) and he wins Final Four MOP.
But I don't think that's likely.
I'd be willing to put a small wager that Tony makes it up there. I'm already on record as saying that next year will be his last year. If he is good enough to leave after two years it's a good bet the second year is a great year.
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