Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Why Singler deserves his All-ACC honor

Duke senior forward Kyle Singler is in the worst slump of his career.

In ACC games, he shot 39 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from 3-point range.

He was outplayed by North Carolina freshman Harrison Barnes in the regular-season finale with the ACC championship on the line, and scored slightly fewer points than Barnes (15.9 ppg to 15.8 ppg) in ACC games.

So how did Singler earn first-team All-ACC honors?

First, a confession. I don’t vote for the All-ACC teams and haven’t for several years. When the season ends I’m so overburdened doing my job that I don’t have enough time to give the All-ACC teams the careful consideration they deserve, particularly when it comes to offensive linemen in football who I might never see play.

But having seen Singler constantly as a Duke beat writer this season, I feel qualified to break down his credentials.

First of all, you can’t consider just ACC statistics when evaluating a player’s season. To do that would ignore more than half the games that were played, and you can make the argument that nonconference results are at least as important to a team and a league as in-conference results when it comes to NCAA tournament selection time.

The ACC’s official statistics list four players with enough attempts in all categories who shot at least 42 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line while scoring at least 17 points per game for the entire season.

Duke’s Nolan Smith, Boston College’s Reggie Jackson and Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Delaney are three of them. They are all first-team All-ACC selections.

Singler is the other.

Even if you want to consider ACC statistics only, there is a significant factor working in Singler’s favor. Yes, his shooting numbers dropped substantially in ACC play, and he was the No. 7 ACC scorer in conference games. But he also grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game against ACC opponents (ranking seventh in the league) despite playing primarily a wing position.

That’s more than North Carolina’s Tyler Zeller (6.6 rpg in ACC play), a 7-foot center who is one of the players who’s considered to have been snubbed in the All-ACC balloting.

There is a valid argument for keeping Singler off the All-ACC team because of his shooting slump and struggles in the big games against rival North Carolina. There also is understandable angst that the ACC regular season champion Tar Heels didn’t have a first-team All-ACC player.

But there also are plenty of arguments, using just statistics, for putting Singler on a first-team All-ACC ballot. Those statistics don’t even consider Singler’s strong defensive skills and leadership.

Bottom line, it’s difficult to look at the full package Singler has brought to the floor for the entire season and say he hasn’t been one of the five best players in the conference.

Ken Tysiac







12 comments:

Anonymous said...

no way he deserves to be on there the only reason he made it, is because of who he was, John Henson had a much better ACC season

an ACC fan said...

Hey Ken,

Why do you have such a man crush on Singler? I don't care how you slice and dice his stats, he still doesn't belong on the first team All ACC!!! His production doesn't support it and, yes, the ACC game statistics are important because All ACC indicates you are being measured against your peers in the ACC!

As for the content, this article is a piece of garbage and a middle schooler could have done a better job! Not surprising given the caliber of so-called sportswriters at the CO!!

Anonymous said...

Typical Cryolina fans.. Give me a break

Anonymous said...

anon 12:19, not a carolina fan who made the first comment fyi

Anonymous said...

Duke even played a MUCH easier schedule than UNC in conference.

Anonymous said...

Ken even supported the argument with actual stats that dont lie, and you still get detractors!! Abolutely amazing...

Anonymous said...

gotta love the whiners on here. all they do is provide an opinion because their favorite player didnt get voted in. while ken provides stats to back up his arguments. boo hoo, go cry somewhere else.

jhlaw13

Anonymous said...

I love to hear the tarhole whiners cry like a little baby.It's as sweet as southern iced tea and as soothing as birds chirping at sunrise.Cry-on tarholes.....jealousy is tough to deal with lol.

Anonymous said...

this article starts off on the wrong foot by saying all-ACC honors should look at games outside the ACC. That is what All-American honors are for. No way Singler deserved to be on the first team when u look at his ACC numbers

Anonymous said...

To compare his stats to UNC players and leave out the fact that he plays 10 more minutes per game is misleading. His scoring average is similar to Barnes, and his rebounding average is better than Zeller's, but he's playing a full game while UNC players play 28 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Seriously? We should consider Singler's entire year despite the fact that is NOT what the All-ACC teams are for? Why? Because you think he's the man?

How about we consider Kyrie Irving's OOC games only because he's also on your favorite team? That seems fair.

I also like that you suggest you don't vote for All-ACC because you're too busy to give it the time such a vote deserves. My guess? You aren't asked to vote.

Anonymous said...

Everyone relax, for you Heels whining...Singler put up more points than any single player on your team w/a 7-ish rebounding average to boot (better than Zeller).

Go storm a court or something, Holes.