bleach wrote:Wufan wrote:bleach wrote:Has a non starter ever been on 1st team let alone POY? McDuffie may well be the best player but he needs to get in the starting lineup (and I think he will). What is the reasoning for bringing him off the bench?
He started on Saturday. Not sure what that means going forward.
Marshall has said he has 10 starters this year. Brown and Kelly have been starting at the two forward positions. Kelly is 100% PF, Brown is 100% SF, and Willis is 100% PF. That means it's basically Brown vs McDuffie for starting SF. Brown is a little more defensively sound and has been practicing well, and although he isn't as dynamic as MM, he probably has a little more coaches trust and is a junior. He's also averaging 9.4, 3.4, and 2.4 in 19.7 mpg. He has the same total number of blocks and steals as MM and is shooting over 0.500 from the field and over 0.400 from 3, so pretty solid! The margin between the two (as with all 10 positions) is razor thin.
That makes it sound like he's not the best player or even forward on the team. Pretty hard to make the case of best player in the league after that. There is a lot of season left though.
He may not be the best player on the team, but statistically he is (though very little separates him, Brown, Willis, and Shamet). He's also the most dynamic offensive player and a darn good defender. That's basically why I asked the question. His numbers don't scream POY, but when your leading minute getter is only getting 23 per game, will the award voters recognize that his per 30 stats would be elite? Something like 16, 6, and 3.
