You may remember that we like funny names around here. Which is, really, kind of frivolous. When I put out my preseason All-Name Team, a reader suggested a way to make it all less silly while still having fun with the concept. He said "The player with the best stats at the end of the year should be awarded the God Shammgod trophy."
Genius. I love our readers.
So, I established a preseason award watch list. Because I can't get enough of peering at rosters.
I won't be giving you the stats for all of the nominees at first. I need to narrow the list down so that it's manageable by the end of the season. So I'll just share the Top 10 and the Bottom 10. This week, I'm going to have to eliminate some guys that have great names but are sitting out transfers or redshirts, and thus have accrued zeroes in every category.
TOP TEN:
1. Jimmer Fredette, G, Brigham Young: 22.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.7 apg, 5 spg, .3 bpg, Efficiency 21 (pictured)
2. Osiris Eldridge, G, Illinois State: 21.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 4.5 spg, .5 bpg, Efficiency 21
3. Whitworth Treasure, G, Texas Southern: 18.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.7 spg, 0 bpg, Efficiency 16
4. Tiny Gallon, F, Oklahoma: 12 ppg, 12 rpg, .7 apg, .7 spg, 1 bpg, Efficiency 16
5. Yaw Gyawu, F, Colgate: 12 ppg, 3 rpg, .5 apg, .5 spg, 0 bpg, Efficiency 6
6. Hillary Haley, G, Maryland-Eastern Shore: 11 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .4 apg, .4 spg, .2 bpg, Efficiency 4
7. Jarrid Famous, C, South Florida: 10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg, .6 apg, .6 spg, .4 bpg, Efficiency 10
8. Yves Mekongo Mbala, F, LaSalle: 10.8 ppg, 5 rpg, .8 apg, .8 spg, .8 bpg, Efficiency 8
9. Alibaba Odd, G, Delaware State: 8.7 ppg, 2 rpg, 1 apg, 1 spg, 0 bpg, Efficiency 8
10. Radar Onguetou, F, New Hampshire: 8.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0 apg, 0 spg, 0 bpg, Efficiency 9
Don't kill me (again) Zags fans. Bol Kong was narrowly beat out by Radar for the tenth spot.
BOTTOM TEN
Zero Stats accrued by seven players: Just'in-love Smith (Siena), An'Juan Wilderness (Charlotte?), Colt Idol (Montana State), Drake U'u (Cal-Poly transfer year), Malachi Peay (Maine), Bubu Palo (Iowa State), Christian Standhardinger (Nebraska)
Nearly invisible stats accrued by: Kabeya Kabongo (St. Peter's), Bubba Day (Purdue), Picasso Simmons (Murray State). Each played one minute and failed to record any measurables beyond that.
So, after that initial brutal culling, it will at least take me less time to compile the stats, as we've probably weeded out anyone who isn't going to have much impact. There's a nice assortment of guys from mega-conferences and mid-majors in the top ten, so it's a fairly representative sample of who's racking up stats, but also, when it comes down to it, playing the game efficiently, not just jacking up shots.
Here's more for your all-name team
http://twitter.com/xb7/status/6059669867