Player of the Week

Thanksgiving week is always a hotbed for college basketball -- holiday tournaments and invitationals are a nice reprise for people who don't want to watch riveting NFL blowouts on Thanksgiving or overhyped college football games on Saturday. Plus, there's really nothing better than eating leftovers, laying on the couch and watching some college hoops. As a result of all the top-notch match-ups, there were plenty of outstanding individual performances this week.

As a companion to CHN's National Player of the Week, we will be presenting a Mid-Major Player of the Week as well this season. All non-BCS players are eligible for this award. In the case that the National POY is a non-BCS player, they will be repeated here as well.

Ahmad Nivins - Saint Joseph's

3 Games: 16 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3 bpg

Despite the lack of true opening day like many of the other major sports, college basketball did not enter without a bang this season. Most of the marquee teams and players were on center stage throughout the week, and ESPN's 24-hour marathon of college basketball really got people excited for the season - even though the real season began two weeks ago, on December 10 (Duke vs. Presbyterian? Houston vs. Georgia Southern? Really?).

IRVING, Texas - Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) and Toney McCray (Nebraska) have been named the first Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for the 2008-09 season in voting by a panel of media covering the conference. It is the fourth career weekly honor (three player, one rookie) for Griffin and the first for McCray.

 

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, F, So., 6-10, 251, Oklahoma City, Okla./Oklahoma Christian School

This year has seen a number of trends, the latest one being bubble teams constantly losing when they have a chance to make a statement to the committee and potentially improve their resume enough so that it is NCAA Tournament-worthy. It seemingly happens every week, and this week was no different. UAB lost by 48 to Memphis; Illinois State by 30 to Drake; Florida lost two games this week; Virginia Tech gave up two late free throws to fall to Clemson by one; Southern Illinois lost to Northern Iowa – the list is endless.

Rob McKiver scored 52 points in one game. Tyrese Rice scored 46 points against North Carolina. Sean Singletary scored 41 points at Miami (Fl.). Michael Beasley had 69 points and 26 rebounds in his two games this week. And none of them are this week’s Collegehoops.net Player of the Week. The list of impressive and standout performances gets bigger as the season winds down as the star players step-up and attempt to lead their teams to victory. However, many of those big-time games are done in losing efforts. Therefore, this week’s honor goes to UAB’s

Although there are plenty of critics, Bracket Busters weekend is one of the most exciting three days of college basketball all season if you’re someone that likes mid-major basketball. Bubble teams that are trying to make a move so they can get one of the last spots in the NCAA Tournament attempt to catch the committee’s eyes with a big win, while conference leaders need to grab solid victories to boost their resumes in case they don’t win the conference tournament. Kent State

Although there are plenty of critics, Bracket Busters weekend is one of the most exciting three days of college basketball all season if you’re someone that likes mid-major basketball. Bubble teams that are trying to make a move so they can get one of the last spots in the NCAA Tournament attempt to catch the committee’s eyes with a big win, while conference leaders need to grab solid victories to boost their resumes in case they don’t win the conference tournament. Kent State

Despite the fact that Memphis had played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country, there were still several lingering questions facing the Tigers. People wanted to know how they would react if they played a good team in a tough environment, or what they would do down the stretch of a tight games. This week was the perfect week for the Tigers to answer all those questions. They faced the two best teams in the Conference-USA (besides Memphis, of course) – Houston at home and UAB on the road.

Sometimes, when it comes to selecting a Player of the Week, there are simply performances that you can’t ignore. Usually, a player that leads his team to two big wins with two outstanding games gets more consideration than a player who is padding his stats in losses. This week was different, however. Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina was just unbelievable. Yes, the Tar Heels went just 1-1 during the two games they had this week, but Hansbrough did everything he could – and then some – in an attempt to will UNC over the top.