With the lone exception of a makeup game between Drexel and W&M, 8 of the 10 CAA teams have hit the midway point in the CAA slate. It's now time to look at where the league is and what we can expect in the 2nd half.
First, let's look at the standings:
1. UNCW 9-0 (# 30 RPI)
2. Charleston 7-2 (# 69)
3. Towson 5-4 (# 94)
Northeastern 5-4 (# 145)
Elon 5-4 (# 149)
6. W&M 4-4 (# 135)
7. JMU 4-5 (# 267)
8. Drexel 2-6 (# 231)
9. Hofstra 2-7 (# 202)
10. Delaware 1-8 (# 260)
There's no surprise at who's up top and who is in last place. UNCW and Charleston were the league favorites, and everyone knew Delaware would be terrible in spite of the efforts of their new Head Coach.
The middle is where the surprises lie. This much parity was not expected in the middle. Elon is performing above expectations despite a tough first half schedule, including last night's road win over Northeastern. W&M is underperforming, as is Hofstra.
When you look at scoring margin, it reveals that teams are basically where they should be in the standings:
1. UNCW +12.8 ppg
2. Northeastern +7.4
3. Charleston +5.0
4. Elon +2.9
5. Towson +2.0
6. JMU +0.3
7. W&M -4.1
8. Hofstra -4.4
9. Drexel -8.4
10. Delaware -14.9
Northeastern, though inconsistent, SHOULD be better than 5-4 right now. But having had chances to prove it and missing those opportunities will hurt them down the stretch. Their 2nd half schedule includes both games against both UNCW and Charleston, road games against Elon and W&M and a home game with Towson. They appear to have the toughest remaining schedule.
Everyone else is more or less what their record says they are.
Now let's look at individual accolades. Below are the players who have won Player-of-the-Week and Rookie-of-the-Week honors so far this season:
(Note, players with an * asterisk earned at least one of the honors during CAA play)
Player-of-the-Week Honors
Devontae Cacok, UNCW (2x)
T.J. Williams, Northeastern (2x)
Tyler Seibring*, Elon
Justin Wright-Foreman*, Hofstra
William Adala Moto*, Towson
Chris Flemmings*, UNCW
Joe Chealey*, Charleston
Daniel Dixon*, W&M
Alex Murphy, Northeastern
Denzel Ingram, UNCW
Rodney Williams, Drexel
Jarrell Brantley, Charleston
Brian Dawkins, Elon
Luke Eddy, Elon
Rookie-of-the-Week Honors
Ryan Daly*, Delaware (4x)
Eli Pemberton, Hofstra (3x)
Grant Riller*, Charleston (2x)
Kari Jonsson, Drexel
Max Bourisquot, Northeastern
Kurk Lee, Drexel
Wow. CAA Player-of-the-Year is never going to be a more difficult decision than it will be this season.
First off, we've only had two 2x-winner of Player-of-the-Week in Cacok and Williams. However, neither of those honors occurred during CAA play. To separate from the rest of the pack, earning a POW honor during CAA play will be crucial for Cacok and Williams.
Rookie of the Week seems a lot clearer. Daly is starting to separate himself from Pemberton for the award.
To help determine our midseason honors, let's also look at some of the stat leaders through the first half in CAA-only games:
SCORING
1. Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra (21.7 ppg)
2. T.J. Williams, Northeastern, Northeastern (21.3)
3. Daniel Dixon, W&M (19.7)
4. Ryan Daly, Delaware (18.1)
5. Denzel Ingram, UNCW (18.0)
6. Joe Chealey, Charleston (17.9)
7. Jackson Kent, JMU (17.1)
8. Tyler Seibring, Elon (16.3)
9. Rodney Williams, Drexel (15.1)
10. C.J. Bryce, UNCW (15.1)
11. Chris Flemmings, UNCW (14.9)
12. Alex Murphy, Northeastern (14.8)
13. Grant Riller, Charleston (14.4)
14. Omar Prewitt, W&M (13.6)
15. Steven Santa Ana, Elon (13.2)
16. Jarrell Brantley, Charleston (12.9)
John Davis, Towson (12.9)
18. Dainan Swoope, Elon (12.8)
19. Devontae Cacok, UNCW (12.4)
20. Deron Powers, Hofstra (12.3)
REBOUNDING
1. Devontae Cacok, UNCW (12.4 rpg)
2. Rokas Gustys, Hofstra (9.8)
3. Jarrell Brantley, Charleston (8.3)
4. Rodney Williams, Drexel (7.9)
5. William Adala Moto, Towson (7.4)
6. John Davis, Towson (7.0)
7. Ryan Daly, Delaware (6.9)
C.J. Bryce, UNCW (6.9)
9. Yohanny Dalembert, JMU (6.9)
10. Tyler Seibreing, Elon (6.6)
ASSISTS
1. Denzel Ingram, UNCW (5.6 apg)
Deron Powers, Hofstra (5.6)
3. T.J. Williams, Northeastern (4.6)
4. David Cohn, W&M (4.3)
5. Kurk Lee, Drexel (4.0)
6. C.J. Bryce, UNCW (3.9)
Devon Begley, Northeastern (3.9)
8. Joe Chealey, Charleston (3.8)
Luke Eddy, Elon (3.8)
10. Sammy Mojica, Drexel (3.8)
STEALS
1. Devon Begley, Northeastern (2.0 spg)
2. Joey McLean, JMU (1.9)
3. Devontae Cacok, UNCW (1.8)
4. Anthony Mosley, Delaware (1.6)
Deshaun Morman, Towson (1.6)
6. Kurk Lee, Drexel (1.5)
7. Steven Santa Ana, Elon (1.4)
Chris Flemmings, UNCW (1.4)
9. Denzel Ingram, UNCW (1.2)
Dainan Swoope, Elon (1.2)
Shawn Occeus, Northeastern (1.2)
BLOCKS
1. Yohanny Dalembert, JMU (1.6 bpg)
2. Cazmon Hayes, Delaware (1.2)
Jarrell Brantley, Charleston (1.2)
Devontae Cacok, UNCW (1.2)
5. 6 tied at 1.0
For more stats, visit:
http://static.caasports.com/custompages/...nfonly.htm
Combining 3 criteria (weekly honors, stats, and "eye test"), my midseason awards would be as follows:
Midseason Coach of the Year: Kevin Keatts, UNCW
It's hard to argue with 9-0. And with no other team in the CAA outperforming their season expectations significantly, it has to be Keatts by default at the midway point.
Midseason All-Rookie Team
Ryan Daly, Delaware
Eli Pemberton, Hofstra
Grant Riller, Charleston
Kurk Lee, Drexel
Kari Jonsson, Drexel
Midseason Rookie of the Year: Ryan Daly, Delaware
No surprise here. Daly is among the CAA leaders in a multitude of categories and is arguably the lone bright spot for a 1-8 Blue Hens team
Midseason Defensive Player of the Year: Jarrell Brantley, Charleston
Brantley is the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the league. He's an enforcer in the paint on both the glass (3rd in rebounding) and when protecting the rim (tied for 2nd in blocks), and is ferocious when guarding his man.
Midseason 3rd Team All-CAA
C.J. Bryce, UNCW
William Adala Moto, Towson
Alex Murphy, Northeastern
Ryan Daly, Delaware
Jackson Kent, JMU
Midseason 2nd Team All-CAA
Joe Chealey, Charleston
Tyler Seibring, Elon
Chris Flemmings, UNCW
Daniel Dixon, W&M
Rodney Williams, Drexel
Midseason 1st Team All-CAA
T.J Williams, Northeastern
Devontae Cacok, UNCW
Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra
Denzel Ingram, UNCW
Jarrell Brantley, Charleston
Midseason Player of the Year: T.J. Williams, Northeastern
The first question one would have to ask for this selection would be "How could the 9-0 Seahawks not have the Midseason Player-of-the-Year?" And that question would be valid. The issue for UNCW would be just how balanced the team is. At any given time, a different player can step up each night for the Seahawks, which is a very good thing for the purposes of winning games, but not for winning Player-of-the Year. Cacok would be the leading contender for UNCW, but a lot of his success can be credited to the strength of the team round him. Thus, he is my runner-up for the award at this time.
Williams, meanwhile, has been everything for the 5-4 Huskies. When he's not busy scoring he's kicking to "stretch 4" Alex Murphy for open threes. He leads the league in minutes, is 2nd in scoring, 10th in field goal %, 3rd in assists, and though he's last among the league's 12 eligible point guards in assist/turnover ratio, much of that occurs because Williams is trying to do a little too much for Northeastern. And who can blame him?
A Seahawk may very well sneak up and take the award by the end of the season. After all, there's a long way to go. But in one of the tougher years to pick a Player-of-the-Year that we've seen in some time, I'll take the guy who is carrying a 3rd-place team on his back.