If I had a vote and if the question was on the ballot, I’d probably tap Kansas State’s Cartier Martin as the most improved player in Big 12 Conference men’s basketball.
Martin averaged 10.5 points a game last season, but became a go-to player this winter, averaging 18.3 and 6.7 rebounds a game – enough to put the 6-foot-8 senior on the All-Big 12 second team.
No doubt Texas Tech’s Jarrius Jackson, Missouri’s Thomas Gardner, Colorado’s Richard Roby and Texas A&M’s Joseph Jones would receive support in this category.
Meanwhile, I can’t envision that Kansas University’s Russell Robinson would receive a single vote. Most voters gauge improvement based on point production, and who is going to notice someone who raised his points-per-game average from 3.5 to 8.8?
Everyone talks about how freshmen Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright carried Kansas to a surprising share of the Big 12 championship. That’s true. But would the Jayhawks have reached such unexpected heights if Robinson had performed at last year’s low level?
Plagued by turnovers, Robinson played his way out of the rotation during his freshman season. Coach Bill Self, for instance, used 10 players in that shocking loss to Bucknell in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament, and Robinson wasn’t one of them.
Robinson was so far down the bench he was nudging the water jug. In limited duty, the 6-foot-1 sophomore guard had more turnovers (32) than assists (25). As a regular this year, however, he has 123 assists and 59 turnovers. How good is that? It’s the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big 12.
At the same time, Robinson’s steals total climbed from 19 to 59. How good is that? It’s the fifth-highest theft total in the Big 12.
In other words, when it comes to talking about the most improved players in the Big 12, you can’t overlook Robinson. Experience has helped, but it’s apparent Robinson is more comfortable in this year’s freewheeling offense than he was in last year’s deliberate halfcourt style.
Now for some of the Big 12’s biggest busts.
Oklahoma State isn’t lacking for candidates. The Cowboys were, after all, the league’s most disappointing team. I’m sure coach Eddie Sutton expected more from soph guard JamesOn Curry, one of the best freshmen in the Big 12 last year. Curry shot under 40 percent from the field and ranked third in the league with 100 turnovers.
The turnover runner-up was another OSU flop. Freshman Byron Eaton, a McDonald’s All-American, coughed it up 107 times and averaged only 6.6 points a game. Then there was Florida transfer Mario Boggan, who averaged a team-high 15.1 points a game but also led the league with 94 fouls.
If you’re wondering, Oklahoma’s Terrell Everett was the league turnover leader with 110 – too many even if he did average nearly 14 points a game.
To a lesser degree, OU senior Taj Gray stumbled, too. After earning first-team All-Big 12 honors last season, Gray was a solid preseason player-of-the-year pick.
But Gray settled for a second-team slot this time. His averages dipped from 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds a year ago to 13.4 and 7.5 this year.
