Posted: Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 1:56 PM | 26 comments |
 

Nivins named Big 5 Player of the Year
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We finally have the answer to the season's last big question: Ahmad Nivins of St. Joe's has won the Robert V. Geasey Trophy as the Big 5's Most Outstanding Player.

You could argue for Dionte Christmas, and I would have if asked to vote at the end of the regular season. You could argue for Dante Cunningham, and if ballots were cast this week he'd probably have won it.

But regardless of timing, if you take either of them off their respective teams would it have anywhere near the kind of impact as St. Joe's without Nivins? No.

Having said that, the award is for Most Outstanding Player, not Most Valuable. But Nivins' numbers make one heck of a case: 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds a game and 61.2% field goal shooting in an average of 39.3 minutes per game.

That last number is really something for a big man.

Cunningham averaged 16.1 points and 7.4 rebounds a game and shot 52.5 percent from the field, by comparison. Christmas averaged a City Series-best 19.5 points per game, but as a guard it's not as easy to make a straight statistical comparison to Nivins.

Who would you have chosen?

All-Big 5 First Team

C Ahmad Nivins (St. Joseph's)
F Dante Cunningham (Villanova)
G Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
G Dionte Christmas (Temple)
G Rodney Green (La Salle)

All-Big 5 Second Team

F Lavoy Allen (Temple)
F Dwayne Anderson (Villanova)
G/F Reggie Redding (Villanova)
G Corey Fisher (Villanova)
G Tasheed Carr (St. Joseph's)
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 1:56 PM  Permalink | File Under: Big 5 | | La Salle | | Saint Joseph's | | Temple | | Villanova | 26 comments
26
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:11 PM, 04/08/2009
    end of regular season I would have gone Christmas Cunningham Nivins end of post season Cunningham, Christmas, Nivins Nivins gets this nod based on the popularity of his coach - he's really just a better than average player nothing great And yes I do not like St Joes much so take it for what it is worth
    — owlsrule
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:29 PM, 04/08/2009
    I will take it for what it's worth, which is nothing. You have no clue. Nivins got the award because of the popularity of his coach? And people around here don't like Fran Dunphy or Jay Wright? Please. He got it because he dominated all season and was a double-double machine. And he was top 5 in the nation in FG% while playing almost the entire game all the time.
    — 6thman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:42 PM, 04/08/2009
    What a joke. Remind me how St Joes finished the postseason? Oh yea that's right, THEY HAD NONE! The heart and soul of a Final Four team gets snubbed for a A10 team that went nowhere this year....
    — ak3883
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:47 PM, 04/08/2009
    This is a freakin joke ! I agree 100% with ak3883 . Yo , 6thman, any decent player in the City could put up double-doubles in that lousy conference .
    — Joe R.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:58 PM, 04/08/2009
    "But regardless of timing, if you take either of them off their respective teams would it have anywhere near the kind of impact as St. Joe's without Nivins?" Remind me again what St. Joes did WITH Nivins?? What a joke
    — joey54321
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:13 PM, 04/08/2009
    WHO VOTES ON THIS??? Complete joke. What exactly did SJUofPA accomplish WITH Nivins? Take him away, I think they could still miss the CBI. And Rodney Green over Dwayne Anderson???? WHAT?!?!?!?!
    — wcburrs_
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:15 PM, 04/08/2009
    When did nova fans start caring about the Big 5 again? Regardless, you could make a case for any of the three, just congratulate the kid for an impressive season and career, and putting SJU on his back for many games this year, shooting 60% and playing for 39 minutes a game is a pretty rare accomplishment, give credit where it is due.
    — marylandhawk08
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:27 PM, 04/08/2009
    5 players between the first and second teams is disrespect? Classy post too by the way...
    — marylandhawk08
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:36 PM, 04/08/2009
    Ice Cream Nivins as Big 5 POY is a joke. Ice Cream's numbers look like Michael Bradley's in 2001, except Bradley did it in the Big East, and for a top 50 team. Oh yeah, Bradley did not win Big 5 POY either that year, some guy who couldn't cut it at Nova did. This is a joke.
    — wcburrs_
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:41 PM, 04/08/2009
    I don't mind being insulted... though we do have a Terms of Service and you ought to abide by that if you don't want your comment deleted.
    — Jonathan Tannenwald
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:49 PM, 04/08/2009
    Ahmad couldn't cut it at nova? Now you're just making yourself look stupid, and as far as this "ice cream" business, I hope you're not suggesting Ahmad being soft, when a fair amount of Dante's points came from mid range jumpers. Dante had a great season and great run and congrats go to him, but don't insult Ahmad's numbers based on bias. Go to KenPom.com and compare their efficiency ratings amongst other things, and you will see why he is deserving of this honor.
    — marylandhawk08
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:56 PM, 04/08/2009
    Jonathan Tannenwald, Are you honestly saying that Ice Cream Nivins had a better season than Dante Cunningham??? You can't be serious. Also, I love when Nova has a guy who puts up the best stats (Bradley, 2001, Williams 1997), the award goes to best player on the best team. But when Nova is the best team the award then goes to best stats in a mid-major conference, even if the player is SOFT and his team is terrible.
    — wcburrs_
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:11 PM, 04/08/2009
    This is pretty funny. I love Ahmad, but I don't see how anybody can say he had a better season than Dante and keep a straight face.
    — hawk9156
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:13 PM, 04/08/2009
    On a sad note. This is SJU's 3rd Big 5 POY in the past 5 years, without a single tournament win over that span. Villanova has 11 tournament wins over the past 5 years, and only 1 Big 5 POY. I like to laugh about this and rip on my Nova friends about this, but I think maybe we on Hawk Hill need to up our standards as to what a great season really is.
    — hawk9156
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:15 PM, 04/08/2009
    And Villanova has won the Big 5 all 5 of those years. Villanova wins the Big 5, but we keep collecting this Big 5 POY awards!! Really sad now that I think about it some more.
    — hawk9156


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About Jonathan Tannenwald
I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

I write primarily about the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League, but I also cover the other basketball and football teams across the city from time to time. In the spring, you'll find coverage of the Penn Relays here.

In addition to all of that, I write Philly.com's soccer blog, The Goalkeeper.

You can contact me by email by clicking here.

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