Plenty of accolades for UNC players
How many things are there to talk about with this basketball team who seems to have found its rhythm at the perfect time. As the squad is back in Chapel Hill getting ready for next weekend’s final four match up with Villanova, there is news about them on several fronts. From the Associated Press All American teams, where both Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson were on them, to the All South Regional team, to the five All American teams that Rivals.com has come up with. There are people that have doubted Lawson’s strength and courage due to his toe, others keep talking about how Hansbrough won’t be anything at the next level. Well, to all of that I say: “read these lists below and then talk to me”.
Let’s begin with what the Rivals.com web site has to say about Hansbrough and Lawson. The speedy point guard makes the first team on this ranking, with Rivals.com saying the following about the junior point guard:
Lawson leads the ACC with 6.5 assists per game and has a 3.61-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has a career assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.8-to-1 to rank second in ACC history to former North Carolina State star Sidney Lowe, now the Wolfpack’s coach. Lawson also ranks second in the ACC with 2.0 steals per game. Lawson didn’t commit a turnover in six games this season, including an NCAA second-round victory over LSU.
Tyler Hansbrough instead makes the second team from the site. This is what Rivals.com had to say about the senior forward from Poplar Bluff:
Hansbrough is the ACC’s leading career scorer with 2,836 points, a total that ranks 14th in NCAA history. He has made more free throws (968) than any player in NCAA history. He is second in the ACC in scoring (20.9) and sixth in rebounding (8.1) this season and will finish his career as the only player in ACC history to lead his team in scoring and rebounding all four seasons.
No other from North Carolina made any of the teams, but there are several other ACC players making the list. On the first team, along with Lawson, is another guard from the conference, Toney Douglas (FSU). The first team on Rivals.com is 2 ACC players, two BE players, Hasheem Thabeet (UConn) and DeJuan Blair (Pitt) and as the NPOY for the site is Blake Griffin.
On the second team, joining Hansbrough, is another ACC player, Gerald Henderson (Duke), along with another player from the state, Stephen Curry (Davidson). The other two players on the second team are Jodie Meeks (Kentucky) and Marcus Thornton (LSU). The only other player from the conference is Kyle Singler (Duke), who made the fifth team. In all the ACC had five players, while the Big East had seven in all. I do have to say that not seeing Danny Green on this list made me wonders if the site didn’t want to put too many players from one team, because the senior swing man was a big part of what this team has become.
Now onto the AP voting, which is a bit different than the Rivals.com. In this one Tyler Hansbrough makes the first team, along with Blake Griffin (the only unanimous player), DeJuan Blair, James Harden (ASU) and Stephen Curry. On the second team is Ty Lawson, who I have to say, while he does have a lot more help than Curry ever did, has also played a lot better against better competition in the final part of the season. Other ACC players making the AP teams are Gerald Henderson and Toney Douglas, both on the third team. In all there were four ACC players, while the Big East has six.
To talk a bit more about the senior forward and the AP All American teams here are some interesting facts: he was an unanimous pick last season, getting 50 first-team votes and 304 points overall this time around. This is the fourth straight season he has received All-America recognition. Hansbrough was a third-team pick as a freshman and was on the second team after his sophomore season. He joins Phil Ford (1977-78) and Michael Jordan (1983-84) as the only Tar Heels to make back to back appearances on the AA 1st team.
As far as Ty Lawson I am going to say this: I know that this little rant of mine will do nothing, because the voting is done and second I am but a small blogger stating my case, but I firmly believe that the Associated Press put Stephen Curry on the first team because it was not going to have two players from the same school on it.
And finally, the All South Regional team had has it’s Most Oustanding Player Ty Lawson, while team mates Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green made the first team. Along with the three Heels the team included Syracuse’s point guard Jonny Flynn and Oklahoma’s power forward Blake Griffin. In all it’s nice to see more and more accolades come down on the Tar Heels, but I also believe that this Carolina squad would give all these individual awards up for the one team award that is left for them to have, the national championship.
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