:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/29831609/20140130_ads_st5_202.0.jpg)
It's the last Team of the Week of the season, which means we have a special infostatsnumberstable at the end of the post that will tell us which players have been the most consistent on a weekly basis (hint: it's not you). The results, especially when compared to the recently released All-B1G teams, are interesting to say the least. But first, the final Team of the Week:
Player of the Week: Nik Stauskas, Michigan: 2 GP, 22.5 ppg, 14-24 FG (58%), 8-13 3pt FG (62%)
The B1G Player of the Year wrapped up his award-winning season with another BTP Player of the Week nod, his fourth of conference play. Fun fact: every time Stauskas has made Team of the Week was as PotW or co-PotW. His efforts against Indiana and Illinois, against whom he hit seven of nine three-point attempts, earned him top honors yet again.
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin: 2 GP, 18 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 6 blocks, 13-25 FG (52%)
Frank the Tank appears here for the third time this season after a pretty sensational effort against the league's best shot-blocker in A.J. Hammons. Kaminsky reeled off 22 points on 8-11 shooting against a feisty Purdue to give the Badgers their final win of the regular season. Wisconsin couldn't quash Nebraska's NCAA hopes on Sunday, but it was no fault of their center's: Kaminsky went for 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists.
Shavon Shields, Nebraska: 2 GP, 21.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 16-33 FG (48%)
It's been a special season for Nebrasketball, and they got quite a few special performances last week (the full extent of which you'll see in a moment). Shields was the Huskers' shiniest star, producing two team-high scoring efforts in their quest to reach the Big Dance. His 17 at Indiana was huge, no doubt, but putting up 26 points on 10-17 shooting in the biggest game of your career is a sign of a special player. It takes a crew of special players to finish 11-7 in this conference, and Nebraska's got 'em.
Terran Petteway, Nebraska: 2 GP, 19.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 10-26 FG (38%)
It probably wasn't on his mind, but by matching Shields' 26 points against Wisconsin, Petteway not only helped clinch an NCAA bid (knock on wood) but with that performance he secured the B1G's scoring title, finishing less than a point per game ahead of D.J. Newbill for the top spot. Oh yeah, first-team All-B1G honors ain't too bad either.
Walter Pitchford, Nebraska: 2 GP, 16 ppg, 7 rpg, 12-17 FG (71%), 6-9 3pt FG (67%)
By this point you may be accusing our staff of Nebrasketball bias, to which I respond: so the heck what? They're the best story in the conference this season and by golly they're a really good team. Pitchford is the third Husker on this week's team, and that makes Nebraska the first team to feature three players on the same Team of the Week (probably their most impressive feat of the season IMHO). Pitchford has been their three point specialist all season long, shooting 42% from deep on the year. He certainly helped those averages last week, hitting three triples in each of Nebraska's wins.
Final Results
I meant to keep track of this all season long, but due to my inexplicable hiring into the work force time has been scarce. But I've stayed up all night (read: finally stopped procrastinating) and compiled the results from each Team of the Week from conference play, as seen in the chart below. The "Team of the Week" column represents how many times a player has been voted one of the five best players of the week (before you yell at me; the total doesn't add up to 50 because there were a few weeks with ties. Por ejemplo.) The Player of the Week column gives an nth to indicate which week a player was chosen as PotW. Any questions? No? Good.
| Player | Team of the Week | Player of the Week |
|---|---|---|
| Roy Devyn Marble | 6 | 2nd, 6th |
| Nik Stauskas | 4 | 3rd, t-4th, t-8th, 10th |
| Terran Petteway | 4 | t-4th, t-8th |
| Yogi Ferrell | 4 | t-5th |
| Gary Harris | 4 | |
| Frank Kaminsky | 3 | 7th |
| A.J. Hammons | 3 | |
| D.J. Newbill | 2 | t-5th, t-9th |
| Drew Crawford | 2 | |
| Caris LeVert | 2 | |
| Shavon Shields | 2 | |
| Rayvonte Rice | 1 | 1st |
| Will Sheehey | 1 | t-9th |
| LaQuinton Ross | 1 | |
| Keith Appling | 1 | |
| Aaron White | 1 | |
| Andre Hollins | 1 | |
| Ben Brust | 1 | |
| Elliot Eliason | 1 | |
| Tim Frazier | 1 | |
| Malik Smith | 1 | |
| Maurice Walker | 1 | |
| Aaron Craft | 1 | |
| JerShon Cobb | 1 | |
| Adreian Payne | 1 | |
| Glenn Robinson III | 1 | |
| Austin Hollins | 1 | |
| Walter Pitchford | 1 |
It's neat to see how much of an impact a few great performances can have over several good performances with regards to the B1G's Player of the Year voting. If you value consistency and remove the team's record from the equation, perhaps Marble, not Stauskas, should've been the PotY. There's a case to be made: Marble doesn't have the shooting numbers but his all-around game is superior to Stauskas' and the scoring figures are just about even (Marble: 17.0, Stauskas: 17.4).
So there you have it, Team of the Week 2014 is in the books. This is obviously not an exact science, but it's pretty uncanny (and kinda cool) to see how closely the top of this list resembles the actual All-B1G teams. Plus, we didn't give Aaron Craft any more credit than he deserved! /pats entire staff on back