By The Numbers: Men's A-Sun Postseason Awards

There has been a lot of talk in the latter half of the season that Mike Smith is the front-runner for the Atlantic Sun's Player of the Year Award. Speaking as a fan of ETSU, I think this would be great for the program. It would certainly be great for Smith himself, as he has put in countless hours of work after spending an entire year on the sidelines to make sure he was the player that the program could look to as a leader for this squad.

At the same time, though, I'm not sure I agree with the idea of him being the player of the year. So, I took it upon myself to sample a collection of the conference's best players and rank them in a variety of statistical categories:

Field Goal Percentage
Three Point Field Goal Percentage
Free Throw Percentage
Rebounds Per Game
Assists Per Game
Turnovers Per Game
Steals Per Game
Blocks Per Game
Points Per Game
Efficiency
Efficiency-2 (based on minutes played/40 instead of games played)
Value Above Average Player
Value Above Replacement Player
True Shooting Percentage
Effective Field Goal Percentage
Turnover Percentage
Offensive Rebound Percentage
Defensive Rebound Percentage
Total Rebound Percentage

The top five got awarded points on a descending scale (5 points for first place, 4 for second, and so on). So, without further ado, I present your Buc Bits: Blog Edition Postseason Awards for men's basketball.

Player of the Year


Ayron Hardy, Jacksonville
33.8 MPG, .559 FG%, .288 3FG%, 12.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.7 TOPG 2.0 SPG, 16.17 EFF, 19.14 EFF-2, 9.33 VAA, 22.85 VAR, .624 TSP, .588 EFG, .187 ASP, .113 TOP, .107 ORBP, .125 DRBP, .102 TRBP

I can hear you scratching your head even as I type this; to be honest, I was a bit surprised myself. Hardy doesn't actually lead the sample group in any statistical category I measured, but he appears in the top five in 13 of those 19 categories, including ranking second eight times. The next closest is Adnan Hodzic, with 11 appearances and six first place finishes.

I was fully ready to hand the PotY award to Hodzic and toss this aside as a statistical fluke, but let's think about this for a minute: if you took Hodzic away from Lipscomb, how bad does it hurt them? Not really that much, especially when you consider the presence of Josh Slater on the squad. By that same token, if you took Ayron Hardy away from Jacksonville, the Dolphins are likely a .500 team in conference play. There is no one on that squad that can step up and provide what he does.

Hardy is a player that doesn't really get a lot of press. He has never been named to a postseason all-conference team, despite being named the Defensive PotY in 2009. It's time he was rewarded for his versatility, and that time is now. Congratulations, Mr. Hardy, on a season well played.

On to the ACTs - All-Conference Teams, that is. Not the other one that I still have nightmares about.

All-Conference First Team

Point Guard - Josh Slater, Lipscomb
31.0 MPG, .434 FG%, .292 3FG%, 16.5 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 4.7 APG, 3.1 TOPG, 3.1 SPG, 15.79 EFF, 20.36 EFF-2, 11.08 VAA, 23.49 VAR, .555 TSP, .482 EFG, .138 TOP, .099 ORBP, .150 DRBP, .113 TRBP

Shooting Guard - Mike Smith, ETSU
34.1 MPG, .462 FG%, .374 3FG%, 16.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.9 APG, 2.3 TOPG, 0.7 SPG, 15.87 EFF, 18.61 EFF-2, 8.21 VAA, 21.85 VAR, .562 TSP, .516 EFG, .120 TOP, .091 ORBP, .163 DRBP, .116 TRBP


Small Forward - Ayron Hardy, Jacksonville
33.8 MPG, .559 FG%, .288 3FG%, 12.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.7 TOPG 2.0 SPG, 16.17 EFF, 19.14 EFF-2, 9.33 VAA, 22.85 VAR, .624 TSP, .588 EFG, .187 ASP, .113 TOP, .107 ORBP, .125 DRBP, .102 TRBP

Power Forward - Mick Hedgepeth, Belmont
21.7 MPG, .543 FG%, 10.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.4 TOPG, 0.8 BPG, 11.84 EFF, 21.78 EFF-2, 9.83 VAA, 18.52 VAR, .605 TSP, .552 EFG, .128 TOP, .162 ORBP, .184 DRBP, .152 TRBP

I don't think this one really needs justifying, but I'll give it a go regardless.

Mick Hedgepeth (not Hedgepath, like everyone and their mothers seem to want to say it) might just be the best-kept secret in the Atlantic Sun. The junior post man (he can play both the 4 and 5) is not on the floor nearly as much as he potentially could be with a program that doesn't operate on the strict rotation that Belmont does (or, less likely, Rick Byrd doesn't realize what he has). He is an absolute monster on the glass and can turn a post-heavy offense into a pile of mushed up Nilla Wafers. He's another player that doesn't get lots of press, as opposed to the gents up the way at DLU, but he's arguably just as good, which is why I made room for him on the first team.

Center - Adnan Hodzic, Lipscomb
31.6 MPG, .565 FG%, 18.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, 2.2 TOPG, 17.52 EFF, 22.18 EFF-2, 15.13 VAA, 27.76 VAR, .609 TSP, .567 EFG, .122 TOP, .118 ORBP, .182 DRBP, .136 TRBP


All-Conference Second Team
Point Guard - Ian Clark, Belmont
Shooting Guard - Corey Walden, Stetson
Small Forward - Micah Williams, ETSU (The only really arbitrary choice I made here; Smith had more points, but I personally wouldn't play him here, whereas I would play Williams at SF.)
Power Forward - Eric Griffin, Campbell
Center - Isiah Brown, ETSU
Sixth Man - Parker Smith, North Florida

All-Conference Freshman Team
Point Guard - Corey Walden, Stetson (Freshman of the Year)
Shooting Guard - Christophe Varidel, FGCU
Small Forward - Langston Hall, Mercer
Power Forward - Torrey Craig, USC Upstate
Center - Babatunde Olomuwiya, USC Upstate
Sixth Man - Luis Jacobo, Stetson

Awards Scoring (Not used for All-Freshman Team):

Ayron Hardy, Jacksonville - 42 points
Adnan Hodzic, Lipscomb - 41
Mick Hedgepeth, Belmont - 30
Josh Slater, Lipscomb - 25
Mike Smith, ETSU - 20
Eric Griffin, Campbell - 19
Ian Clark, Belmont - 18
Isiah Brown, ETSU - 15
Corey Walden, Stetson - 13
Parker Smith, North Florida - 12

With the women's awards announced earlier today, I'll put together my postseason awards and some analysis on the A-Sun picks later tonight or very early tomorrow morning. In the meantime... back to baseball.

It's a shame the fourth game didn't get played in the Rider series, as Matt Scruggs (Matt & Scruggs?) hit a solo shot to tie the game at one in the bottom of the first before the rain set in. I was also eager to see what Derek Bushey could do with the start, but missed his first inning of work since I got there late. (What? Cleanliness is important.) But for the series, John Long looked solid again, although I can't say I envy him for having to pitch in the mid 40s on Friday night. Kerry Doane did him no favors, adding a couple of errors to his total for the season to extend the variations on a theme at short for this program. Betterson struck out two more times in the first game and didn't play Saturday, but Trent got it together on Saturday, including a two run smash and a two-RBI two bagger, but the team as a whole couldn't hold off Rider in the second game of the doubleheader. A grand slam will do that, although I feel for McNally having to come in after Clinton Freeman walked the bases loaded. They may as well have put a giant "kick me" sign on his back.

I guess one can't really complain overall, though. The squad is 4-2 to start the year and have taken both series at home before going on the road for a one night stand in Asheville, and then opening up conference play in Spartanburg this weekend.

That's all for now. More to come later tonight... I hope...