The news that Ty Lawson was named ACC Player of the Year sickens me. If you didn't believe there was Carolina bias before, then you have to believe it now. There is no way Lawson should be Player of the Year. You could make a case that he is the second most important player on North Carolina behind Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough's stats are down from last year, but he played three less minutes per game, and missed four games early with an injury. Hansbrough played in the low to mid 30's in minutes in ACC play, but during non-conference play, he was only playing in the mid to high 20's in minutes, mostly to protect his injury, and the fact that they were beating teams by 30.
But Hansbrough's not my choice for Player of the Year. I'm going to look a team a little farther down in the standings, one that finished much higher in the standings than most people predicted. And without this person, this team would be in the ACC basement with Virginia and Georgia Tech. I'm talking about Florida State's Toney Douglas. Douglas, a senior improved his scoring by over five points per game from his junior year, from 15.4 to 20.8, which was good for second in the league behind Hansbrough. His rebounding improved by over a rebound per game as well, and also found some time to dish out three assists per game. But those stats don't tell the whole story. There is also that ACC Defensive Player of the Year award that Douglas won. He had more steals than anyone in the leauge, and did a very good job guarding his man. To me, Douglas was a complete player. He scored, and played rock solid defense. You can't ask for much more than that.
I don't know what these people were thinking in giving Lawson the player of the year award. Maybe it's because they went with what they think is the best player on the best team theory, which I despise. Maybe some of these media members forget that there is basketball outside of the Carolinas. I don't know. But personally, I would have put Lawson third on my list, behind Douglas and Hansbrough, and I would seriously consider Jeff Teague ahead of Lawson. But whatever the reasoning, the selction of Ty Lawson as ACC Player of the Year proves that there is bias all over the state of North Carolina.
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