The U.S. Basketball Writers Association released their midseason watch list for the Oscar Robertson Trophy—their award for player of the year. There was only one ACC player on the list, and it wasn't Erick Green.
| Pos. | No. | Player, School | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown |
| F | 15 | Anthony Bennett, UNLV | 6-8 | 240 | Fr. | Brampton, Ont. |
| G | 3 | Trey Burke, Michigan | 6-0 | 190 | So. | Columbus, Ohio |
| G | 1 | Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse | 6-6 | 185 | So. | Hamilton, Mass. |
| F | 3 | Doug McDermott, Creighton | 6-8 | 225 | Jr. | Ames, Iowa |
| G | 23 | Ben McLemore, Kansas | 6-5 | 195 | Fr. | St. Louis, Mo. |
| G | 4 | Victor Oladipo, Indiana | 6-5 | 214 | Jr. | Upper Marlboro, Md. |
| F | 13 | Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga | 7-0 | 238 | Jr. | Kamloops, B.C. |
| F | 5 | Mason Plumlee, Duke | 6-10 | 235 | Sr. | Warsaw, Ind. |
| G | 2 | Russ Smith, Louisville | 6-0 | 165 | Jr. | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| F | 1 | Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State | 6-7 | 215 | Jr. | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| C | 5 | Jeff Withey, Kansas | 7-0 | 235 | Sr. | San Diego, Calif. |
| F | 40 | Cody Zeller, Indiana | 7-0 | 240 | So. | Washington, Ind. |
Everyone in the country is still eligible for the award, but I'm still baffled that E.G., the nation's leading scorer and one-man show, wasn't recognized by the group as one of the "standouts in contention".
via HokieSports.com
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He did get snubbed but it had to be expected. We haven't had any nationally televised games this year so most of these writers haven't even seen him play. They are probably going purely off of the "well they have nobody else" logic and moving on.
While I think Michael Carter-Williams has a ton of talent, he has been extremely inconsistent. Does he get his teammates involved? Yes. Does he have highlight-reel dunks now and again? Yep. Is he a matchup nightmare? Absolutely. Does he deserve to make it onto that list over someone like EG who leads the nation in scoring, is carrying his team and is averaging 10 PPG more than the #2 guy in ACC play? Hell no.
I think Trey Burke is the front runner right now based on that list. Sure he has got a number of talented teammates alongside him, but the dude can ball. And if anything, the only reason he is not scoring more than he is is because he doesn't have to.
Quality of the team has a lot to do with these lists
Only one of these players plays for a team outside the top 22 RPI (Creighton, #31), and only one plays for a team ranked outside of the AP top 21 (UNLV, #27).
They aren't going to look for players on teams that have no realistic shot of making the NCAAT.
There are two main reasons McDermott is in there; because he leads a ranked mid-major and he was a preseason 1st Team All-American by virtually every media outlet. He hasn't done anything to dissuade that hype thus far.
poor erick, dude has worked so hard to get where he is and the most recognition he'll probably get is 2nd team acc.
like i've said on other sites, hang his pic in the rafters when he graduates.
anyone else see Malcolm Delaneys tweet about deserving to be up in the rafters? classic
He was ABSOLUTELY snubbed!
The nations leading scorer is playing in the toughest (or at least top-3) conference in the nation...upped his average in conference play...leads the #2 guy by over 10 pts!!! Not like he's playing for VMI or Cal-Tech...dude is playing at the highest level against tough competition.
He should not only be on the list, but should be the leading candidate right now. If he keeps scoring 30/game in ACC play, ESPN will need to get their head out of their ass and start covering him!
Hokies basketball always gets snubbed.
I know that every Tech fan knows that he's the best player in the conference, and just about every fan of other ACC teams (including Duke) who have talked to think he's the best in the conference. But the writers are going to vote for players at big schools. Plumlee is going to win ACC POY even though he has no business getting it over Green, but Duke and UNC rule basketball voting so Green really has no shot.
Sounds like the Heisman to me. Every commentator invariably mentions that (insert player here)'s Heisman hopes are gone if (insert top-10 team here) loses. That's what's frustrating - it's an individual award. You might be the best player on the field/court but if you're not on a great team, you're not considered even if the award is for individuals. Green definitely deserves to be in the running. Our record and standing within the ACC aside, the guy is ridiculous.
HORSESHIT ON A TREADMILL
that is all
Well, he's not going to win.
If he finishes as the leading scorer in the country, he'll get his jersey retired.
But we're too bad of a team for him to win any POY awards. It's a great individual season in the midst of a dumpster fire of a team season.
E.G. best scorer in the ACC (for January) since J.J. Redick
That's an impressive statistic.