Not trying to be an ass: Does Ayo's injury remove him from serious POY consideration?

[paladinhawk]

During multiple games this year I've heard something like " Garza is the front runner as long as he doesn't get injured..." The same logic applies to all candidates right? My bias is that Garza should win the award easily, but there's always a 'flavor of the month' component to the voting.

 

[hawkedoff]

I would think illinois getting better without him would hurt his chances

 

[Hawk_4shur]

This late in the season, he should get full consideration. He'll be a fine runner-up. 😉

 

[Raptorpeeps]

Yes. He was always coming from behind. Can’t do that if you don’t play.

 

[kcgolfer]

Garza is a lock.

 

[BlackNGoldBleeder]

Garza is a lock.

Correct.

 

[libertyhawkeye]

I would think illinois getting better without him would hurt his chances

This isn't a true Ewing theory. Ayo is one of the best players in CBB and Illinois spanking Michigan has more to do with the weirdness of the sport at times. Illinois played a complete game on a night where Michigan was terrible everywhere.

I don't know how much momentum there was behind Ayo as POY, but there was national talk brewing as Illinois was ascending and Ayo was closing games. Fortunately for Garza, he's played great (minus Michigan) and the team is back in the top 5.

 

[Herky T Hawk]

I don't think the injury removes him from consideration if he comes back to play soon.

But Luka Garza is what removes him and everyone else from consideration. Who else in the country gets double teamed every time they touch the ball? Many times he gets triple or quadruple teamed. Iowa would be a middle of the pack team without Luka(prior to the Nunge injury), probably on par with Wisconsin this season. Illinois showed last night that they are still one of the best teams in the country even without Ayo.

 

[24 so far]

Luka Garza's play and the way teams feel forced to defend him removed Ayo for consideration.

 

[hawkifann]

We’ll see how things finish, but Garza has been the leader from day 1 and while Ayo made a push, Ayo missing time while Garza is going for 24/11 to win at #4 OSU might have been the end of the race.

Had Ayo kept closing games and Illinois finished significantly ahead of Iowa in rankings/standings, the Ayo case would have been stronger, but at this point it looks likely that Iowa and Illinois will finish within a game of each other in the standings and will both be top 10 teams and they played one very close game during the regular season. There won’t be any significant argument that Ayo should get it because Illinois was so much better.

Maybe we’ll start hearing about the guy from Oral Roberts that now leads D1 in scoring.

 

[hawkeyeinmo]

He was closing the gap but now a gap will remain.

 

[TheTruthTheWholeTruth]

Garza has been a lock for a loooong time. Fight me.

 

[eyesofhawk]

The real story here is Ayo's injury has forced others to lock in and step up. They have and Illinois just got REALLY good (when Ayo returns)

 

[HawksRMe]

At the time, Ayo was closing games against teams they had no business coming to the wire with.

 

[Ronman]

The talking heads just last night were still referring to Ayo as "possible POY."

 

[kceasthawk]

The talking heads just last night were still referring to Ayo as "possible POY."

Agree, BUT they have to talk about something, and it can't just be Luka. At this point I don't see any one else winning it as long as Iowa finishes well. If we were trailing at the back of the BIG and not the #5 team in the country, I could see some cause for concern, but not currently.

 

[KcTo]

This isn't a true Ewing theory. Ayo is one of the best players in CBB and Illinois spanking Michigan has more to do with the weirdness of the sport at times. Illinois played a complete game on a night where Michigan was terrible everywhere.

I don't know how much momentum there was behind Ayo as POY, but there was national talk brewing as Illinois was ascending and Ayo was closing games. Fortunately for Garza, he's played great (minus Michigan) and the team is back in the top 5.

If your team plays much better with OUT you (Ayo), at Michigan, at Wi, and in OT win at NE, for example, than with you IN the lineup, How does that translate to your value?
one could posit that your performance doesn’t add as much as WITHOUT you....
watch ILlinois win out and then lose the 1st or 2nd game Ayo is back

 

[libertyhawkeye]

If your team plays much better with OUT you (Ayo), at Michigan, at Wi, and in OT win at NE, for example, than with you IN the lineup, How does that translate to your value?
one could posit that your performance doesn’t add as much as WITHOUT you....
watch ILlinois win out and then lose the 1st or 2nd game Ayo is back

I'd say that's also a small sample size and Wisconsin and Nebraska are programs that Illinois should be beating even without Ayo. Wisconsin is faltering late this season and although Nebraska is playing their best basketball now, they're still a bad team. Illinois smashed Michigan which was impressive, but I doubt they'd have as good of a record this year if they did not have Ayo.

 

[EagleHawk]

Agree, BUT they have to talk about something, and it can't just be Luka. At this point I don't see any one else winning it as long as Iowa finishes well. If we were trailing at the back of the BIG and not the #5 team in the country, I could see some cause for concern, but not currently.

Yep, that's why Luka lost last year, the TEAM wasn't good enough.

 

[kceasthawk]

Yep, that's why Luka lost last year, the TEAM wasn't good enough.

Thats exactly right. If Dayton hadn't been nearly undefeated does anyone thing that Toppin would have won the award? Not.......

 

[Whinny]

Ayo has plenty of time left to win the POY award. I think the fact that Luka is a senior plays in his favor.