Will Clingan and Karaban split the freshman of the year vote? | The Boneyard

Will Clingan and Karaban split the freshman of the year vote?

Palatine

Palatine

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And let someone less deserving get the award? Is there a way they could share it? Both have been equally important to the Huskies.

I know Alex wins the FOW award all the time. But the case can be made that Donovan has had a bigger impact on games and is the more vital piece for the Huskies. He certainly has the edge as a defender. But Alex is in the game at winning time and Donovan is not.
 
I had a conversation yesterday with someone, part tongue in cheek, that Clingan could legit be considered our MVP this year. I don’t know if it’s a stat that can be found somewhere, but he HAS to have our best +/- by a long shot. Maybe not in the most minutes (still can’t figure out why he plays so little), but his impact on the game when he is in is almost always positive and he makes the entire team better. Isn’t that the definition of MVP??
 
Palatine said:
And let someone less deserving get the award? Is there a way they could share it? Both have been equally important to the Huskies.

I know Alex wins the FOW award all the time. But the case can be made that Donovan has had a bigger impact on games and is the more vital piece for the Huskies. He certainly has the edge as a defender. But Alex is in the game at winning time and Donovan is not.
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It’s gotta be Alex since Don has fallen back a bit in conference play
 
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i mean if you vote for Karaban, it Wouldn’t be crazy. He has had a really good year. Whitmore just has more rebounds and points per game. that includes his first bunch of games played where he was a reserve). So, I expect the votes to go that way in the end. voters are lazy. I don’t expect it to be close. But, those who vote Karaban are nit outa line.
 
TyroneShoo said:
i mean if you vote for Karaban, it Wouldn’t be crazy. He has had a really good year. Whitmore just has more rebounds and points per game. that includes his first bunch of games played where he was a reserve). So, I expect the votes to go that way in the end. voters are lazy. I don’t expect it to be close. But, those who vote Karaban are nit outa line.
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Yeah I think Whitmore will just win because the league knows he has a high likelihood of being a notable NBA player in 2-3 years while Karaban at that time will likely be finishing up his time in Storrs as a dominant college player looking to get drafted. It’s kind of BS but it is what it is. Anyone know what the tally of BE freshman of the week awards is on the season?
 
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It's between the 2 of them and it will be close. I mean besides the actual numbers we know Karaban helps our guards a lot to run our offense, has the ball in his hands more than just to provide a shot or move to the basket which is basically Whitmore. I mean Whitmore is talented as hell but a calming figure as a point forward like AK is a nice piece and in turn we've won more games with our guy, just saying.
 
It is between Whitmore and Karaban. Karaban has been a better overall player and more valuable to the team, but Whitmore has scored 12 PPG.
 
Kembacity said:
Yeah I think Whitmore will just win because the league knows he has a high likelihood of being a notable NBA player in 2-3 years while Karaban at that time will likely be finishing up his time in Storrs as a dominant college player looking to get drafted. It’s kind of BS but it is what it is. Anyone know what the tally of BE freshman of the week awards is on the season?
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If I counted correctly, here is the tally:
Karaban 4
Whitmore 3
Clingan 2
Storr 2
Armstrong 1
King 1
Nembhard 1
 
Karaban should win, based on minutes played and he embodies what people think of the OBE/NBE
Whitmore is a media choice - high profile, projected lottery pick, etc. so he is the "sexy" pick
DC , if he was afforded the quality minutes I think he deserves, would be the go away winner. I don't think he will be devastated by losing the honor and may be the happiest of all 3 a few years down the road
 
gtcam said:
Karaban should win, based on minutes played and he embodies what people think of the OBE/NBE
Whitmore is a media choice - high profile, projected lottery pick, etc. so he is the "sexy" pick
DC , if he was afforded the quality minutes I think he deserves, would be the go away winner. I don't think he will be devastated by losing the honor and may be the happiest of all 3 a few years down the road
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Karaban gets more love from college bball talking heads. Whitmore gets more talk about his nba prospect
 
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Karaban has a caravan. Haven't noticed recently any King Clingon references or have seen cameras point out those posters we fawned over early in the season. Does Whitmore have any catchy phrases attached to him by announcers during games? So my vote is Alex.

Too bad Joey California isn't a freshman. Even Clark Kellogg loved throwing out that identifier.
 
superjohn said:
Obviously Clingan has been far more dominant and would've run away with the award with more playing time but he gets 12 minutes per game and Alex gets 30 mpg. Alex will win it.
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Tough break for DC, he’s competing for minutes against thy NBE POY while Alex owns his position and rightfully so. Good to have this discussion nonetheless
 
MTBingNinja said:
Tough break for DC, he’s competing for minutes against thy NBE POY while Alex owns his position and rightfully so. Good to have this discussion nonetheless
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Sanogo is great but he's not the Big East POY. I think Sanogo's recent play will put him on the all Big East first team which is still a big accomplishment considering all the really good big men in the league.
 
karstenkibbe said:
If I counted correctly, here is the tally:
Karaban 4
Whitmore 3
Clingan 2
Storr 2
Armstrong 1
King 1
Nembhard 1
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I thought Karaban won it 5 times? November 14, November 21, January 2, January 23 and February 6. That's what the Courant said last time he won it on February 6. Had a good chance for 6 tomorrow if he had a better game yesterday.

Also on Monday, Huskies forward Alex Karaban was once again named Big East Freshman of the Week after his clutch shooting helped UConn secure the win at Georgetown on Saturday. Karaban, the likely frontrunner for the Big East Freshman of the Year award, has received the weekly nod five times.

www.courant.com

Alex Karaban named Big East Freshman of the Week for fifth time; UConn men move up to No. 21 in AP Poll

The UConn men’s basketball team moved up to No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 rankings that were released Monday after a 2-0 week that featured road wins over DePaul and Georgetown. Also on Mond…
www.courant.com www.courant.com
 
HooperScooper said:
I thought Karaban won it 5 times? November 14, November 21, January 2, January 23 and February 6. That's what the Courant said last time he won it on February 6. Had a good chance for 6 tomorrow if he had a better game yesterday.

Also on Monday, Huskies forward Alex Karaban was once again named Big East Freshman of the Week after his clutch shooting helped UConn secure the win at Georgetown on Saturday. Karaban, the likely frontrunner for the Big East Freshman of the Year award, has received the weekly nod five times.

www.courant.com

Alex Karaban named Big East Freshman of the Week for fifth time; UConn men move up to No. 21 in AP Poll

The UConn men’s basketball team moved up to No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25 rankings that were released Monday after a 2-0 week that featured road wins over DePaul and Georgetown. Also on Mond…
www.courant.com www.courant.com
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You’re right. I was looking at the weekly from second week of November on the Big East site and they accidentally put the 2021 release up for that date.
 
Karaban has won the weekly award more than anyone else, so he has to be the favorite. But Whitmore, who has the 2nd most weekly selections, has a strong argument because he has better numbers (12, 5 vs 9, 4) in about the same number of minutes and with about the same FG%. Whitmore missed a handful of games early on, so he wasn’t even playing to contend for Freshman of the Week during those weeks. In the end, it will come down to what happens in these final weeks.
 
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Palatine said:
That's my fear. Whitmore wins because Alex and Donovan siphon off each other's voters.
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What does that even mean, siphoning each others votes?? Do you really think voters are going to sit there and say “well I can’t make up my mind between Alex and Donovan so I’ll just vote for the Nova kid?”.
 
I think it's gotta be Karaban, with Whitmore and Clingan coming in second and third. I don't know how much team results get factored into a player's award, but what may tilt the needle the most is that we've had a better season than Nova (no disrespect to Nova a few days before we play them in Philly knocks on wood), so you can argue that Karaban's contributions are more valuable to team success than Whitmore's, no matter where he may fall short.

Even on offense, Karaban's numbers aren't dramatically dwarfed by Whitmore's, and he's got the edge in other areas (assists, turnovers, etc.). FWIW, Clingan deserves a mention, but I don't think it's to the same extent as two freshman starters.
 
By minutes weighted luck-adjusted conference-only RAPM, it should be Karaban. But it's close. By pure unweighted, should be Clingan in a landslide.

BEfreshman.png

Whitmore's lack of offensive rebounding is pretty surprising considering his athleticism.

The power of shot selection. Clingan shooting only 58% at the rim, compared to Whitmore's 65%. But Clingan shooting 57.1% eFG and Whitmore 53.4% because Clingan takes 96% of his shots at the rim.

Karaban also leads Whitmore in win shares (and win share/40).

BPR has it Clingan, Whitmore, then Karaban.
 
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Palatine said:
And let someone less deserving get the award? Is there a way they could share it? Both have been equally important to the Huskies.

I know Alex wins the FOW award all the time. But the case can be made that Donovan has had a bigger impact on games and is the more vital piece for the Huskies. He certainly has the edge as a defender. But Alex is in the game at winning time and Donovan is not.
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Donavan’s case is difficult because he plays 13 mins a game
His impact during those minutes are amazing but a game us 40 minutes long.
His 40 minute projections are amazing. Hopefully he can sustain that level for 25- 26 minutes next year . The bad news is he will be gone .
Karaban’s minutes are double plus just being on the floor impacts the game more than shows up in the box score .
for example
Because you have to respect his shot using his man to double Sanogo is unwise that could reflect in better insider opportunities.
 
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