More All-ACC Voting Shenanigans
Some voters had Singletary as an ACC third-teamer? (AP Photo)
By Adam Kilgore
Adam Kilgore here, debuting from Bobcats Arena in Charlotte. Both Eric Prisbell and I will be checking in throughout the week with notes, quotes, scenes, media hijinks, game updates and general nonsense from the ACC tournament.
Right now, potential second-round Virginia Tech opponent Miami is running through a shootaround, and eight other teams will follow. Duke, North Carolina and Georgia Tech will not be shooting here today. Not a whole of material yet, so we'll revisit an intruiging subplot from last year.
You may recall last year when the ACC redefined the word unanimous and announced that Tyler Hansbrough was a "unanimous" first-team all-ACC choice even though Washington Times scribe Patrick Stevens put Hansbrough on the second team.
Stevens abstained from voting this year, and in fact did not even join ACSMA this season. "I didn't even bother to pay the $15 this year," said Stevens, who is sitting next to me right now in the bowels of Bobcats Arena. (Charlotte, suffice to say, is no Tampa. More on this later.)
Stevens's absence did not prevent some funky voting choices. I think the teams, listed below, were overall very fair. It's three points for a first vote, two for a second and one for a third:
First Team (1st Team Votes), Points
Tyler Hansbrough, Jr., North Carolina* (90), 270
Tyrese Rice, Jr., Boston College (82), 261
Sean Singletary, Sr., Virginia (80), 257
DeMarcus Nelson, Sr., Duke (74), 250
Jack McClinton, Jr., Miami (37), 208
*unanimous 1st team
Second Team, Points Greivis Vasquez, So., Maryland, 199
James Gist, Sr., Maryland, 186
Wayne Ellington, So., North Carolina, 158
A.D. Vassallo, Jr., Virginia Tech, 120
K.C. Rivers, Jr., Clemson, 115
Third Team, Points
Kyle Singler, Fr., Duke, 107
Cliff Hammonds, Sr., Clemson, 101
Toney Douglas, Jr., Florida State, 98
James Johnson, Fr., Wake Forest, 69
Greg Paulus, Jr., Duke, 64
Honorable Mention (20 or more points), Points
Ty Lawson, So., North Carolina, 59
J.J. Hickson, Fr., N.C. State, 43
Deron Washington, Sr., Virginia Tech, 28
Anthony Morrow, Sr., Georgia Tech, 25
A few somewhat minor and extremely egregious votes stuck out most. You'll notice that Sean Singletary received 80 first-place votes, comprising 240 of his 257 points. That leaves 17 points to be divvied between the other 10 votes. A little third-grade math tells us Singletary must have also received seven second-team votes (14 points) and three third-team votes (three points). This means three people voted Singletary on the third team.
Now, I don't understand how anyone would say Singletary was anything less than the third-best player in the conference. I would love to hear the argument for there being 10 ACC players better than Singletary. Really, there are 10 better players than Sean Singletary in this four-bid league? Singletary, in league games, is third in scoring, eighth in field-goal percentage, fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio, third in steals, third in assists and third in free throws made. What else do you want?
Perhaps some voters punished Singletary for the Cavaliers 5-11 conference finish. How many games would the Cavaliers won without Singletary? Not 10, is my guess.
What would your first, second and third teams have been?
For some brief Commonwealth balance in this post, Virginia Tech is in dire straits, with several of the mid-major favorites being upset and falling on to the bubble. Bad news for fans of the Hokies, good news for fans of Seth Greenberg's work as an analyst for CSTV.
By Dan Steinberg |
March 12, 2008; 12:32 PM ET
| Category:
College Basketball
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Posted by: Johnny | March 12, 2008 1:16 PM
Yeah no UVA fan here but he is 1st team all day everyday, that dude is a fierce player. Besides Psyco T, he is the 2nd best player in the ACC no offense to Ty Lawson but he was hurt. I can see a few homers maybe voting him 2nd team but anyone who votes that guy 3rd team should not be able to vote.
Posted by: woods | March 12, 2008 2:14 PM
I'll be in Raleigh tomorrow with the official MEAC blog. Would've been there sooner, but that's what a day job gets you; mortgage payments and a headache.
Posted by: ScottVanPeltStyle.com | March 12, 2008 2:30 PM
Not surprising that there are morons voting for all-anything. Heck, Grant Hill wasn't a unanimous first teamer his senior year at Duke. Damn shame votes aren't publicized.
Posted by: Sandmeistr | March 12, 2008 6:01 PM
Sean Singletary is a dazzling player. Fun to watch no matter who you cheer for. Given all he accomplished this year, it's startling that anyone would even vote him second team. But third team? Are you telling me the mother of one of the players he absolutely humiliated this year got to vote?
Why in the world do you need a secret ballot for something like this, anyway? Wouldn't it be more fun to hold the moronic voter up to public ridicule?
And I'm a BC fan.
Posted by: Jake | March 12, 2008 7:02 PM
Looks like Tyrese Rice got a third-place vote, too. Also absurd.
My guess as motive: A sportswriter trying to discount $$ so his hometown second-team point guard can sneak into the first team. (See: Vasquez, G.)
Posted by: rjv3f | March 12, 2008 7:18 PM
Pound for pound Sean is the best player in the ACC
Posted by: Anonymous | March 12, 2008 7:47 PM
I gotta tell you, if Sean Singletary was 3 inches taller, he'd be a no-question lottery pick. 3rd team All-ACC? That's a joke.
Posted by: Fear the Turtle | March 12, 2008 8:04 PM
Singletary is straight-up sick.
Posted by: Hampton | March 12, 2008 8:06 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Actually, if my seventh grade math is correct, it's possible that he got eight second place votes and one third place vote, and one person just didn't put him on any team. Maybe Gary Williams got to vote.