Big 12 Noncon MVP:
My vote is Culver. Not everyone's schedule was created equally, but Culver has been the best player in the league thus far, and it's not really close. Culver is elite defensively, pretty much anywhere on the floor. Offensively, there's not really a weakness. He has the highest usage rating in the Big 12, which tends to make a player's TO% go up and shooting %s go down. Despite that high usage, Culver has the highest offensive rating among conference peers, several points higher than Kansas' big, Dedric Lawson, who has the benefit of playing in the post.
Culver's at his best in the pick-and-roll. His usage in pick-and-roll situations has doubled from last year, where he generated .67 points per possession (PPP). This year, he's at 1.09 PPP, good for 91st percentile in the country. He's second in the conference in assists per game, with 15 of his 21 passes in pick-and-roll situations leading to made field goals.
Culver's spot-up game is equally strong. He's shooting 45% from three with over 3.5 attempts per game. That's really good. Many from NBA range, too. Go watch the late-shot clock possession he had against Cam Reddish in the first half at the 4:05 mark. Reddish can freakin' defend and is one of the few that is physically capably of defending Culver. Even though Culver isn't particularly explosive, since he's 45% from three, Reddish bites just enough on a pump fake for Culver to finish at the rim with a foul. He does that a lot to people. Culver is scoring 1.21 points per spot-up possession, which is in 86th percentile.
We've inserted Culver into the Keenan ISO offense we implemented in the second half of games last year. In his freshman campaign, Culver was a meager .52 PPP on isolation possessions. This year, he's at 1.21 PPP, good for 91st percentile in the country.
As mentioned above, Culver's become a very effective facilitator. Some of his slip passes at the rim against Nebraska & Memphis to Tariq were incredible. He also leads the conference in fouls drawn per 40 minutes.
Non-Con All-Big IX Teams:
This was difficult and I'm in no way married to this...
First Team:
PG Alex Robinson - TCU
SG Marial Shayok - Iowa State
SF Jarrett Culver - Tech
SF LeGerald Vick - Kansas
C Dedric Lawson - Kansas
Second Team:
PG Nick Weiler-Babb - Iowa State
SG Barry Brown - Kansas State
SF Dean Wade* - Kansas State
PF Michael Jacobson - Iowa State
C Tristan Clark - Baylor
*RIP
Power Rankings:
1a. Tech
"Playing Tech is like going to the dentist without Novocaine." - Seton Hall Coach. That seems about right. We defend like crazy and are sneaky efficient on offense. In terms of rim protection and rebounding, Tariq/Norense may be the best big man combo we've had in the big 12 era. Culver is the best player in the conference. Moretti/Mooney/Kyler are capable of shooting 40% from three during conference play. I think Tech can hold serve at home during conference play. We're just a really tough out. You have to play very smart and shoot really well to beat us.
1b. Kansas
Dedric Lawson is a problem. Elite rebounder. Offense can flow through him in the post. Great free throw shooter. Not sure when or if they get Azubiuke back, but him and Lawson are capable of out-bullying anyone in the country not named Duke. LeGerald Vick is a vet and is 37-74 from three. Marcus Garrett is an elite defender. Their two freshman look like typical Kansas recruits.
3a. Iowa State
They've been good even without Lard & Wigginton. The two transfers, Shayok from Virginia and Jacobson from Nebraska, are really, really good. Weiler-Babb is a 6'5 PG that shoots 40% from three and has been through at least 12 seasons in the Big 12. Talen Horton-Tucker and, to a lesser extent, Tyrese Haliburton may end up being the best freshmen in the conference. Horton-Tucker has some one-and-done potential. Lard has been back since 12/3, hasn't played a ton of minutes, and looked pretty bad in the 11 that he played against Iowa. We do know he has it in him, though. Wigginton just returned on 12/21. They also got Solomon Young back, another guy to bang around in the paint. A healthy Iowa State roster without any legal problems is probably the best in the conference.
3b. TCU
I hate TCU as much as anyone, but they have some really talented players. They've boat raced everyone since Jaylen Fisher came back. Alex Robinson is one of the best true PGs in the conference. Kouat Noi & Desmond Bane look like prototype Beard players and can really defend. They can also shoot, particularly Bane who was 30-67 from three in conference games last year. They have one veteran post player & a 6'11 FR that is 45-59 from the field and rebounding like crazy. I don't expect to us run them out of them gym in Fort Worth like we did last year.
5. Oklahoma
Haven't seen OU that much, but they are 11-1 and have played one of the toughest schedules in the country. 3 road wins, neutral site wins against Florida, Dayton, Notre Dame, and Wichita State. Beat USC and Creighton by double digits at home. They have a ton of size. Brady Manek is really good. Jamuni McNease is an elite shot blocker and looks very similar to Pat Mahomes, which should count for something. Christian James is streaky but can really score the basketball.
6. Kansas State
Losing Dean Wade is devastating and forces them to play super small the rest of the year. Barry Brown, Xavier Sneed, and Kamau Stokes are still all-conference type players. Without Dean Wade, Kansas State is homeless man's version of Tech. I bet they still won 7-8 conference games in Manhattan.
7. Texas
Not sure what's going on here. Texas is defending really well, just like they did last year. Kerwin Roach can ball and they probably beat Providence had he played. Matt Coleman destroyed us last year and is likely to expose the same weaknesses on this Tech team that were revealed by the little Memphis PG. Osetkowski and Jericho Sims are a great combo in the post. They've shot awful thus far through 11 games. I think (and hope for Shaka's sake) that some of those shots start falling and they surprise some folks in conference.
8. West Virginia
The OT loss in the home opener to Buffalo has aged well. Neutral site losses to Western Kentucky & Rhode Island aren't encouraging, but they definitely aren't Baylor's home losses to SFA & Texas Southern. Esa Ahmed, Lamont West, & Wesley Harris have all-conference capabilities. But the possibility of Kanate being out indefinitely with a knee injury poses a serious problem. He's pretty damn good at defending the rim after teams beat their press.
9. Baylor
Baylor is (or used to be) a very unique match up for Big 12 teams. They play a ton of zone and are the only team in the conference grinding out less possessions per game than Tech. The biggest problem for Baylor and their M.O. of playing zone and crashing the offensive glass is they don't have the length or personnel to effectively play that way anymore. Johnathon Motley, Terry Maston, Jo Acuil, Nuni Omot, and Ish Wainwright are long gone. That said, Mark Vital is a wrecking ball and one of my favorite players in the conference. Pretty sure he'd play 30 minutes per game on a Beard coached team.
10. Okie Lite
Haven't watched any Okie Lite. I know Lindy Waters and Cameron McGriff can hoop. But Kenpom has them only winning two conference games.
My vote is Culver. Not everyone's schedule was created equally, but Culver has been the best player in the league thus far, and it's not really close. Culver is elite defensively, pretty much anywhere on the floor. Offensively, there's not really a weakness. He has the highest usage rating in the Big 12, which tends to make a player's TO% go up and shooting %s go down. Despite that high usage, Culver has the highest offensive rating among conference peers, several points higher than Kansas' big, Dedric Lawson, who has the benefit of playing in the post.
Culver's at his best in the pick-and-roll. His usage in pick-and-roll situations has doubled from last year, where he generated .67 points per possession (PPP). This year, he's at 1.09 PPP, good for 91st percentile in the country. He's second in the conference in assists per game, with 15 of his 21 passes in pick-and-roll situations leading to made field goals.
Culver's spot-up game is equally strong. He's shooting 45% from three with over 3.5 attempts per game. That's really good. Many from NBA range, too. Go watch the late-shot clock possession he had against Cam Reddish in the first half at the 4:05 mark. Reddish can freakin' defend and is one of the few that is physically capably of defending Culver. Even though Culver isn't particularly explosive, since he's 45% from three, Reddish bites just enough on a pump fake for Culver to finish at the rim with a foul. He does that a lot to people. Culver is scoring 1.21 points per spot-up possession, which is in 86th percentile.
We've inserted Culver into the Keenan ISO offense we implemented in the second half of games last year. In his freshman campaign, Culver was a meager .52 PPP on isolation possessions. This year, he's at 1.21 PPP, good for 91st percentile in the country.
As mentioned above, Culver's become a very effective facilitator. Some of his slip passes at the rim against Nebraska & Memphis to Tariq were incredible. He also leads the conference in fouls drawn per 40 minutes.
Non-Con All-Big IX Teams:
This was difficult and I'm in no way married to this...
First Team:
PG Alex Robinson - TCU
SG Marial Shayok - Iowa State
SF Jarrett Culver - Tech
SF LeGerald Vick - Kansas
C Dedric Lawson - Kansas
Second Team:
PG Nick Weiler-Babb - Iowa State
SG Barry Brown - Kansas State
SF Dean Wade* - Kansas State
PF Michael Jacobson - Iowa State
C Tristan Clark - Baylor
*RIP
Power Rankings:
1a. Tech
"Playing Tech is like going to the dentist without Novocaine." - Seton Hall Coach. That seems about right. We defend like crazy and are sneaky efficient on offense. In terms of rim protection and rebounding, Tariq/Norense may be the best big man combo we've had in the big 12 era. Culver is the best player in the conference. Moretti/Mooney/Kyler are capable of shooting 40% from three during conference play. I think Tech can hold serve at home during conference play. We're just a really tough out. You have to play very smart and shoot really well to beat us.
1b. Kansas
Dedric Lawson is a problem. Elite rebounder. Offense can flow through him in the post. Great free throw shooter. Not sure when or if they get Azubiuke back, but him and Lawson are capable of out-bullying anyone in the country not named Duke. LeGerald Vick is a vet and is 37-74 from three. Marcus Garrett is an elite defender. Their two freshman look like typical Kansas recruits.
3a. Iowa State
They've been good even without Lard & Wigginton. The two transfers, Shayok from Virginia and Jacobson from Nebraska, are really, really good. Weiler-Babb is a 6'5 PG that shoots 40% from three and has been through at least 12 seasons in the Big 12. Talen Horton-Tucker and, to a lesser extent, Tyrese Haliburton may end up being the best freshmen in the conference. Horton-Tucker has some one-and-done potential. Lard has been back since 12/3, hasn't played a ton of minutes, and looked pretty bad in the 11 that he played against Iowa. We do know he has it in him, though. Wigginton just returned on 12/21. They also got Solomon Young back, another guy to bang around in the paint. A healthy Iowa State roster without any legal problems is probably the best in the conference.
3b. TCU
I hate TCU as much as anyone, but they have some really talented players. They've boat raced everyone since Jaylen Fisher came back. Alex Robinson is one of the best true PGs in the conference. Kouat Noi & Desmond Bane look like prototype Beard players and can really defend. They can also shoot, particularly Bane who was 30-67 from three in conference games last year. They have one veteran post player & a 6'11 FR that is 45-59 from the field and rebounding like crazy. I don't expect to us run them out of them gym in Fort Worth like we did last year.
5. Oklahoma
Haven't seen OU that much, but they are 11-1 and have played one of the toughest schedules in the country. 3 road wins, neutral site wins against Florida, Dayton, Notre Dame, and Wichita State. Beat USC and Creighton by double digits at home. They have a ton of size. Brady Manek is really good. Jamuni McNease is an elite shot blocker and looks very similar to Pat Mahomes, which should count for something. Christian James is streaky but can really score the basketball.
6. Kansas State
Losing Dean Wade is devastating and forces them to play super small the rest of the year. Barry Brown, Xavier Sneed, and Kamau Stokes are still all-conference type players. Without Dean Wade, Kansas State is homeless man's version of Tech. I bet they still won 7-8 conference games in Manhattan.
7. Texas
Not sure what's going on here. Texas is defending really well, just like they did last year. Kerwin Roach can ball and they probably beat Providence had he played. Matt Coleman destroyed us last year and is likely to expose the same weaknesses on this Tech team that were revealed by the little Memphis PG. Osetkowski and Jericho Sims are a great combo in the post. They've shot awful thus far through 11 games. I think (and hope for Shaka's sake) that some of those shots start falling and they surprise some folks in conference.
8. West Virginia
The OT loss in the home opener to Buffalo has aged well. Neutral site losses to Western Kentucky & Rhode Island aren't encouraging, but they definitely aren't Baylor's home losses to SFA & Texas Southern. Esa Ahmed, Lamont West, & Wesley Harris have all-conference capabilities. But the possibility of Kanate being out indefinitely with a knee injury poses a serious problem. He's pretty damn good at defending the rim after teams beat their press.
9. Baylor
Baylor is (or used to be) a very unique match up for Big 12 teams. They play a ton of zone and are the only team in the conference grinding out less possessions per game than Tech. The biggest problem for Baylor and their M.O. of playing zone and crashing the offensive glass is they don't have the length or personnel to effectively play that way anymore. Johnathon Motley, Terry Maston, Jo Acuil, Nuni Omot, and Ish Wainwright are long gone. That said, Mark Vital is a wrecking ball and one of my favorite players in the conference. Pretty sure he'd play 30 minutes per game on a Beard coached team.
10. Okie Lite
Haven't watched any Okie Lite. I know Lindy Waters and Cameron McGriff can hoop. But Kenpom has them only winning two conference games.
