2019 HLOH Awards - Player of the Year

[Hall2012]

After last Saturday... RHODEN!!!! He played a hell of a game.

I hope it's here to stay lol - that was his best game of the season by far. That 3-4 performance from deep brought him up to 13-53 on the season.

[Hall2012]

Easy for you to say but how closely have you really watched Nova this year? Ask a Nova fan where we would be without Booth this year, and sit back and watch the horror appear across their face just thinking about it.

Again, not saying that Booth is better than Powell, but you mentioned Powell vs Howard in terms of "where would SHU be without him." The same can absolutely be said about Phil IMO. And Nova finished 6 games from last place; SHU finished 2. So is that 4 game difference because Nova's supporting cast, and Jay W is that much better than SHU and Willard? Maybe...but it's certainly worth a debate.

Sure it's debatable, but I would say Jay Wright is a far better coach than Kevin Willard (he certainly has a far more impressive resume) while Eric Paschall and Collin Gillespie at minimum would walk into SHU's starting 5. Is there anyone else on SHU's roster that you think would get more than 15 minutes a game for Nova? Maybe Myles Cale?

Agree on JW, although Willard has probably given him more trouble than any other BE coach the past several years. On pure talent alone I think Cale, Mamu and Nzei could all play in this year's Nova rotation. In fact swap Mamu for DCR and Nova is closer to last year's style of play, which is what I think Jay wants.

Look, you can't go wrong with Powell. He's a tremendous player. If I had a vote, I'd probably give it Marcus H. Yes, he had a better supporting cast but he also finished 3 games ahead of Powell and SHU. That has to count for something. I mean the only reason Ponds is not anywhere near the POTY conversation is because SJU finished in 7th. Maybe, just maybe, if SJU wins that game at SHU and finishes tied for 3rd, and SHU finished 7th, we'd be having a debate about Ponds vs. Booth instead. But it's a good discussion either way. All great college players.

I'd love to see SHU on Saturday night. I think Nova-SHU part 3 might make for the most spirited BE final TBH.

I think Ponds deserves to be seriously considered regardless. As you said, all 4 are fantastic players and I wouldn't criticize a vote for any of them. Like I said, I think Powell was most valuable to his team - but is it fair to ding Marcus Howard for having a better supporting cast? Perhaps he deserves some credit for making them better. And St. John's disappointing finish should in no way negate a fantastic individual year by Ponds. There's not really a defined criteria for the award (that I'm aware of) so everyone's kind of free to vote based on their own criteria.

And absolutely agreed on the tournament. For some reason the Hall still can't manage to play a competitive game in Philly - but you seem to get a classic every time these teams meet anywhere else.

[Novachap]

POY--Howard
ROY -- Akinjo
COY---Wright

[Hall2012]

POY--Howard
ROY -- Akinjo
COY---Wright

Hopefully the tournament's not as predictable as the awards lol