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Inside College Basketball
Posted: Tuesday March 06, 2001 12:18 PM
Fight to the Finish
Shane Battier is our choice in a tight race for player of the year By
Seth Davis 
With just under 17 minutes to play and his team trailing Duke by three points on
Sunday, North Carolina guard Joseph Forte made a steal in the Blue Devils'
backcourt and sprinted toward what he thought would be an easy breakaway layup.
As Forte left the floor, however, Duke forward Shane Battier sprang from behind,
knocked the ball from Forte's grasp, then gathered it in his hands and fired a
pass upcourt to teammate Jason Williams, who buried a three-pointer to put Duke
ahead 53-47. The Tar Heels never got closer, and after the Blue Devils put the
finishing touches on a 95-81 rout, Forte conceded that he hadn't seen Battier
coming. "I thought I was by myself," he
said.
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Battier's pivotal block on Forte was the turning point in Duke's victory over North Carolina. Manny Millan |
There was a fascinating game being played within Sunday's game -- namely, the
three-way battle for player of the year honors among Battier, Forte and
Williams. Battier finished with a marvelous 25-point, 11-rebound, five-block,
four-steal performance. However, the snuff of Forte's shot was emblematic of why
he is SI's choice in the tantalizingly close race. Says Duke coach Mike
Krzyzewski, "Whatever our game plan is, we can be a little bit more
innovative because we have
Shane."
Though a slew of publications, including this one, tabbed Battier, a 6'8"
senior, as the preseason favorite for player of the year, the candidacy of
sophomore guard Williams gathered considerable steam as he played extremely well
during the first two months of the season. Forte, also a sophomore, emerged as a
serious threat in February, when he averaged 25.1 points in eight games and
lifted the Tar Heels to the top of the ACC standings and a No. 1 ranking.
Williams also finished with a flourish, scoring 33 points and dishing out nine
assists in the win over North Carolina, but Battier has been more consistent all
season. In addition, Williams had stumbled at the free throw line of late,
making only 50.0% in Duke's last 10 games and 67.3% on the season, through
Sunday. (Battier had knocked down 77.8% from the line.) Forte's numbers are also
gaudy -- he was leading the ACC in scoring (with a 22.0 average) and was third
in free throw shooting (84.4%) -- but he'd shot a much lower percentage from
three-point range than Battier (40.3% to 44.5%) while taking 103 fewer attempts.
Forte also occasionally had hurt his team with poor shot selection, as evidenced
by his 35.2% accuracy in the Tar Heels' five
losses.
If the candidates' offensive numbers were comparable this season, there was no
comparison when it came to playing defense. Battier had more steals than either
of the other two, and his 2.2 blocks-per-game average was the fourth highest in
the ACC.
For someone who is supposed to be an aspiring politician, Battier has done a
lousy job promoting his candidacy. Asked last week if he should be voted player
of the year, he characterized his play as "nothing spectacular" and
added, "I'll leave it in the hands of the
voters."
On Sunday, though, he took matters into his own hands, settling a seasonlong
debate with a decisive closing
argument.
Other Award
Winners
Our Votes for the Best of the Rest
Men's coach of the year: Al Skinner, Boston College. After going 17-40
the previous two seasons, Skinner engineered the only worst-to-first finish in
the history of the Big East, going 23-4 during the regular season, without a
player taller than 6'8".
Men's freshman of the year: Jameer Nelson, St. Joseph's. Nelson
was the third freshman in Atlantic 10 history to lead the conference in assists,
with 6.2 a game in the regular season. Aside from Nelson, the Hawks, who were
24-5 through Sunday, are basically the same group that went 13-16 a year
ago.
Women's player of the year: Ruth Riley, Notre Dame. Season-ending
injuries to Connecticut's Svetlana Abrosimova and Tennessee's Tamika Catchings
opened the door for Riley, a 6'5" center who through Sunday was averaging
18.1 points (on 63.6% shooting) and had swatted 86 shots while committing only
68 fouls. She also had her best game when it counted most: 29 points, 12
rebounds and five blocks against No. 1 UConn on
Jan. 15.
Women's coach of the year: Sherri Coale, Oklahoma. After finishing 5-22
in her first season in 1996-97, Coale has turned the Sooners into an NCAA title
contender. Oklahoma (24-4) has clinched the Big 12 regular season title and
was ranked No. 7.
Women's freshman of the year: Alana Beard, Duke. Beard, a 5'11"
freshman guard from Frierson, La., dominated the already talented No. 4-ranked
Blue Devils with her all-around skills. She led them in scoring with 16.5 points
a game and had set a school record with 94 steals despite missing four games
with a dislocated thumb on her non-shooting
hand.
Issue date: March 12, 2001
For more Inside College Basketball see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, March 7. Click here to subscribe to SI.
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