Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    Twitter
    Sportspress Northwest
    Twitter
    Home » Thiel: Pac-12’s top player is . . . Ross or Wroten?
    King5

    Thiel: Pac-12’s top player is . . . Ross or Wroten?

    Art ThielBy Art ThielFebruary 28, 2012Updated:October 4, 201212 Comments4 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email
    Tony Wroten is worthy of mentioning in the Pac-12 Player of the Year race, but is he the winner as s freshman? / Drew Sellers, Sportspress Northwest

    Looking upon the choices for Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year, the curiosity is whether the decision is like the one faced by Academy Awars voters for Picture of the Year: Is “The Artist” really the best movie if it leaves out a vital part of the enterprise?

    I guess the Oscars outcome says it’s OK to have a silent film. So maybe it’s OK too, if the Pac-12 selects a player of the year even when the league is silent. So that makes nominees out of two local candidates, Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross.

    No disrespect to the Washington tandem, who, if they chose to go pro, may well be first-round NBA picks in June. But Ross, who’s played only two seasons, can explode one game and disappear the next, as was seen Saturday in Pullman when he scored two points and fouled out in 21 minutes. Wroten can explode and disappear on back-to-back plays.

    Those characteristics aren’t disqualifiers as much as they are chronic conditions of youth. Seems at least some part of the award should be be about a body of work. These guys are too young to have bodies of work. They have body parts.

    Then again, when it comes to one-and-done college ball, particularly in the emaciated Pac-12, the idea of a great player staying four years is so . . . Brandon Roy.

    The former Huskies great was POY in 2005, joining center Christian Welp (1986) as the only Huskies to win the award since it began in 1975-76.  Roy was also one of only two among the last eight winners who was a senior. He built himself a splendid career arc and into the kind of dominant force in a dominant league that fits the profile of best in show.

    Instead, this year the Pac-12 POY could be  . . .  Jared Cunningham? He’s a nice player, a 6-4 junior guard from Oregon State, who leads the league in scoring at 18.2 ppg. But he’s about 53.5 percent the player that Roy was. Right, right . . . so is the 2012 Pac-12, compared to 2005.

    Still, Cunningham is mostly a one-dimensional player on a mediocre team, a shootist who is shooting 44 percent, about the same as Ross (15.1 ppg), which is a little less than Wroten’s 46 percent (16.7 ppg). And Ross is also fifth in the league in rebounding.

    Naturally, coach Lorenzo Romar is not bashful about honking the horns of his guys, playing the card of team success as something of a tiebreaker.

    “If we win out and end up on top (as regular-season champion) you’ve got to give these guys high, high consideration,” he said at his weekly presser. He went down a short list of contenders, but the only meaningful one was Jorge Gutierrez of Cal.

    Romar said if the Pac-12 gave a most inspirational award, Gutierrez, a 6-3 senior guard who does well a little bit of everything hard and well, would get his vote. If old-school sentiment carries the day, Gutierrez wins. But if a player is required to carry a team for a time, there’s not a Pac-12 coach who wouldn’t take Ross or Wroten over Gutierrez, even if they ended up adopting Gutierrez.

    While there is no rule that says the best player on the best team wins, there is similarly no rule that says the best two players who are on the best team can’t cancel each other out in the belief that each is helped greatly by the other.

    Asked to make a choice between his stars, Romar nearly answered the question before it was finished being asked.

    “Too hard for me to say,” he said as he whipped out his shield of coaching diplomacy.

    Armed with no such protection, seems to me that, with a week of games to be played, Ross has been sufficiently dominant to win a close call with Gutierrez. Wroten is worthy of mention, but the last freshman to win the award was UCLA’s Kevin Love, who in 2008 was a first-team All-America and took the Bruins to the Final Four.

    But there I go again, comparing the league to the time when it was not a mid-major conference, looking to get an NIT bid.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn Email

    Related Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    12 Comments

    1. jafabian on February 28, 2012 8:44 pm

      I’m predicting Cunningham, just because he leads the league in scoring.  Honestly, I really don’t get that POY vibe from anyone in particular.

    2. jafabian on February 28, 2012 8:44 pm

      I’m predicting Cunningham, just because he leads the league in scoring.  Honestly, I really don’t get that POY vibe from anyone in particular.

    3. Michael Waters on February 29, 2012 1:06 am

      I loved the article right up until the last line, which I thought was unnecessary.   Some of us don’t feel right unless we’re being “realistic” and raining on folk’s parades.

    4. Michael Waters on February 29, 2012 1:06 am

      I loved the article right up until the last line, which I thought was unnecessary.   Some of us don’t feel right unless we’re being “realistic” and raining on folk’s parades.

    5. piper_hanke on February 29, 2012 3:48 am

      Kind of like when Quincy Pondexter didn’t get the award because Cal had a better record…

      • Pixeldawg13 on February 29, 2012 12:34 pm

         QPon has the last laugh.  He just signed a contract extension.  The guy from Cal?  Not in the league.

    6. piper_hanke on February 29, 2012 3:48 am

      Kind of like when Quincy Pondexter didn’t get the award because Cal had a better record…

      • Pixeldawg13 on February 29, 2012 12:34 pm

         QPon has the last laugh.  He just signed a contract extension.  The guy from Cal?  Not in the league.

    7. Jimc on May 22, 2012 6:01 am

      I very much dislike winslow, and his father. 

      • Keenpak on May 23, 2012 8:06 pm

        Father was a great player, son is a bargain for a 7th rounder. Do we want to go back to the Ruskell days of only signing choirboys?

    8. jafabian on May 22, 2012 9:46 am

      Not a fan of Winslow Sr. when he forbid his son to play for the Huskies.  At least Jr. didn’t go to his alma mater like his dad wanted.  Not really understanding the need to get Winslow though.  IMO, there’s bigger needs on the team though they didn’t give up much for him.  However if the Bucs were willing to take such a low draft pick means they wanted to get rid of him and Winslow doesn’t have the best off-field reputations.  Lot of potential there to be like Jerramy Stevens.

      • Keenpak on May 23, 2012 8:03 pm

        Jerramy Stevens had substance abuse issues. No such problem with Winslow. No comparison really. Look at their production. Politely I’d say that it’s time to get over the Husky snub.

    • Follow @Art_Thiel on Twitter
    Use our affiliate link on Amazon

    Subscribe to Our Weekly Roundup

    Get the top stories sent to your inbox every Thursday.

    Art Thiel on KNKX 88.5FM

    Kirsten Kendrick's Q. & A. with Thiel can be heard every Friday during Morning Edition at 5:45am and 7:45am and again that same day on All Things Considered at 4:44pm. It also airs Saturday at 9:35am.

    Listen now!
    Latest Posts

    A few musings about sports journalism as the unwinding begins

    February 18, 2022

    Carroll’s staff makeover seeks to get Wilson back in the game

    February 16, 2022

    Arizona loss unmasks truths about Hopkins, UW hoops

    February 15, 2022

    Rams win a survivors contest called the Super Bowl

    February 14, 2022
    Twitter
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • NCAA
    • Hockey
    • Soccer
    • Basketball
    © 2023 Sportspress Northwest

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.