The voting for ACC Player of the Year was released this morning, with Virginia Tech’s Erick Green taking home the honor, grabbing 38 of the votes. Coming in second was Miami’s Shane Larkin with 23 votes, followed by Mason Plumlee, who only managed to rack up 12 votes.
Mar 5, 2013; Durham, NC, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies guard Erick Green (11) drives against Duke Blue Devils forward Mason Plumlee (5) during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
At first glance, it is tough to argue with the selection. Green carried a lifeless Virginia Tech team throughout the season, averaging 25.4ppg, 4.1rpg, and 3.9apg. Yes, the Hokies only managed a 13-18 record, including a 4-14 mark in conference play, but you could have inserted anyone in Green’s place and that team would’ve failed. They are, to say the least, a non-functioning mess on defense, rarely holding opposing teams to under 70 points, which isn’t a very dependable recipe for success when your entire offense revolves around one player.
That one player, by the way, did nothing to help on the defensive side, either.
Yes, Mr. Erick Green, the ACC Player of the Year (a symbol of the conferences most-impactful player), was awful on defense, as well. Over the course of the entire season, Green was worth a mere 0.9 Defensive Win Shares. For reference, Josh Hairston, Duke’s below-average, backup power-forward who looked lost whenever he stepped on the court, even managed to rack up a 0.7 DWS in just 395 minutes of playing time, as opposed to Green’s 1128 minutes. Lee Melchionni, a three-point specialist for the Blue Devils from 2002-2006, racked up an average of 1.1 DWS over his four seasons. However, you spin it, a 0.9 DWS in 1,128 minutes is a miserable defensive performance.
Does this mean they voted for the wrong guy? No, because value isn’t tied entirely into defense. Achievements on the offensive end are far sexier to voters, and Green was as good as anyone in that department. His 32.6 PER was 5th in the nation, and ranked 1st amongst players in a major conference. His 5.1 OWS ranks 4th in the nation and 1st amongst players in a major conference. He led the entire nation in points produced and points produced per game. In all honesty, Virginia Tech may not reach 10 wins if he doesn’t play as well as he did. Offensively, they were nothing without him.
As far as second place goes, I definitely feel Mason Plumlee was robbed, as he owns a higher PER, OWS, DWS, ORtg, DRtg, and points produced, but none of that really matters. What matters is that Erick Green was awarded for one of the more impressive offensive seasons in the ACC in awhile, and Blue Devils fans and Hurricanes fans should have no problem with that.