You know this really annoyed me. I was thinking after the Pitt win yesterday how Gary McGhee could very well be Pitt’s most improved player and be in play for the Big East’s award. Unfortunately, Bob Smizik beat me to it and went to hyperbolic extremes in extolling McGhee’s virtues.
If McGhee doesn’t win the award, there should be an investigation. In fact, if he doesn’t win it unanimously there should be an investigation.
Furthermore, after this season they should name it the Gary McGhee Award.
McGhee, a 6-foot-10 junior from Anderson, Ind., was the proverbial guy who couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time during his first two seasons at Pitt.
What were those first two years like? Here’s what the Pitt media guide says about McGhee‘s career prior to this season:
“. . . his most memorable contest was a six-point, four-rebound performance at South Florida.’’
In his first two season, McGhee played in 52 games, averaged six minutes, 1.5 rebounds and 1.3 points.
Anyone who expected to see significant changes in those numbers this season simply isn’t telling the truth. McGhee looked to have no future at Pitt other than sitting on the bench.
But look what’s happened to Gary McGhee.
He can shoot, he can pass, he can rebound and, brother, he can defend.
I’m not arguing with it. Not only has McGhee vastly improved from his first two years, his improvements from the start of the season to this point have been incredible. Or have they?
It would appear from the numbers that what he has been doing in-conference tracks the non-con rather closely. That goes against everything we have been seeing, feeling and just says that can’t be right.
27 games in with 14 conference and 13 non-cons. If anything you could say that he is shooting worse.
In 13 non-con games he was 38-52 (73.1%). In the 14 conference games he’s been 41-70 (58.6%). No real change with free throws 20-35 in the conference versus 21-34 in non-con sure isn’t going to be a significant difference.
What’s a little more interesting is in the rebounding. Again no big difference in the overall numbers. 189 total with 96 in conference and 93 non-con. It’s how they are split, where there is something of a change. McGhee had only 29 offensive boards and 64 defensive rebounds in the non-con. Over 1:2 on O:D. In the conference it is 39 offensive and 57 defensive rebounds.
So there is something. He’s been much better on the offensive glass. Cleaning better and getting more opportunities for put-backs — which would also be part of the reason for the lower shooting percentage when he doesn’t finish.
Blocks don’t offer much of a clue. He has 49 with 27 in non-conference games and 22 in Big East play. Nor does fouls. He has fouled out of 0 games this year and has a total of 57 fouls 23 in the non-con and 34 in Big East.
Here’s where it makes more sense. In the non-conference games, McGhee had 10 assists and 22 turnovers. In conference, McGhee has 11 assists but only 10 turnovers. There’s the more sure-handedness. And another reason for his lower shooting percentage. He didn’t lose the ball before getting a shot attempt. Not to mention it means he is passing and better at handling the ball when he gets it.
And of course, if you look at his numbers from game to game, you can see that he has been playing very well for the last couple of weeks which supports the impulse.
And there is no doubt for all of us who watched him the last two years — and even the first month or so into the season — this improvement has been real and a joy to behold.
As for Big East Most Improved Player, how soon we forget…
My vote for the most improved player in the Big East, and maybe the nation, is Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs…
That was Jay Bilas back in January. Remember that prevailing sentiment? Well, Gibbs is still plugging along doing good work. The shots aren’t falling as easily with teams all over him, but he still has great numbers and does a lot for Pitt. Don’t think that Gibbs is going to be forgotten.
So what does that mean? It means there could be every possibility of a split Pitt vote to keep a Pitt player from winning BE MIP.
Believe it or not there are other contenders.
Tim Abromaitis, ND, redshirt sophomore forward. In his freshman year he appeared in 12 games and played 4o minutes. Scored a total of 20 points and had 12 rebounds. Redshirted last year. This year he is averaging over 17 ppg, 4.8 rpg playing 30 min/game.
Jimmy Butler, Marquette, redshirt sophomore g-f. Last year under 20 minutes a game with 5.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg. This year, playing 33 minutes he has 15.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg and has a 2:1 A:TO.
Jamine “Greedy” Peterson, Providence, redshirt sophomore forward. Like Abromaitis, Peterson redshirted last year. As a freshman, he played around 10 mpg and would get 4.7 ppg and 2.9 rpg. This year he is averaging a double-double. 18.9 ppg and 10.1 rpg in nearly 30 mpg.
It would be annoying, but not the worst thing in the world. After all it reflects well on how many players have stepped up and seized their opportunities this year.
I do agree that McGhee is a much more pleasant suprise than Gibbs and deserves the award. I am especially surprised by his athleticism.
Annoyed a bit at the rankings, even though we made a nice jump in both polls. Some of the teams ahead in the Coach’s poll would be in the middle of the pack in the BE. Just look at their RPIs and SOSs. Oh well.
I’ve been impressed with McGhee’s Jr. season, but still think Gibbs made a bigger leap from last year, especially his defensive improvement and demonstrated ability to create shots instead of spot up shooting.
The Best Big men over the past ten years
1. Dejaun Blair
2. Aaron Gray
3. Ontario Lett
4. Chris taft
As for Gibbs, I never would have guessed he even had it in him to run the point the way he does now. His handle is vastly improved, and he looks increasingly comfortable under pressure with the ball. His shooting and offense will always be there, but he’s made himself a floor general in a way that Fields probably never had to consciously do because Fields always had that approach to basketball. That’s a change you can’t quantify in stats, but I find it quite impressive.
Anyway, this team has really won me over. I love the personality and character of the squad, even if they don’t have much All-Big East talent.
bigsliker, Smizik is a Pittman and a competent columnist.
The improvement in McGhee was no accident. He worked hard in the off-season. He also seems like he is a really good kid. He certainly suprised me. Last year I thought that Jamie would “encourage” him to find another school in order to free up a scholarship.
Overall, Gray represented us well – 2nd team BE and 3rd team All-American as a senior along with several academic and community service awards – but that game was a heartbreaker.
McGhee is a far better athlete and finisher. I like his defense better than Gray right now, and could possibly be better than Blair on the defensive side by the time he graduates. He will be more of an offensive threat next year too.
Looking at it now, maybe it is a fair comparision.
Hands – Gray’s were much better, he could catch the ball in traffic and hold on to it.
Rebounding – Again, nod goes to Gray, he was really the only guy on that team who could board, Pitt really struggled when he was on the bench.
Defense – McGhee is MUCH better. He has better feet, quickness, instincts, he is better shot blocker. He rarely gets in foul trouble. Gray always seemed to be in danger.
Post moves/Offense – Gray by a little. He had a nice 10 foot and jumper. He had some post moves, and yes he missed a lot of layups that McGhee slams home.
So I still think the edge goes to Aaron, but not by as much as I would have thought going into this year.
Gibbs and McGhee should be CO-Most Improved.
Gray was the the 7th most effective offensive rebounder and the 4th most effective defensive rebounder in the country that year. McGhee ranks 106 and 163, respectively.
McGhee has a higher Offensive effectiveness rating than Gray did, but much less is expeccted of McGhee than Gray. Gray was utilized nearly twice as often as an offesive playmaker than what McGhee is this year. 28% of possible possessions went through Gray while only 16% go through McGhee. It is easy to beleve that McGhee’s effectiveness would fall significantly if he became the focal point of the offense. We’ve gone entire games this season without throwing the ball into the post and expecting a one on one offensive move from McGhee. Granted he has productive gamse in each of the last two contests, but the opposition has lacked an interior presence of any significance as both offenses played four guard lineups. I recall Samardo Samuels going for 25 in a pretty substantial undressing of McGhee just a few weeks ago. It’s a distinct possibility that McGhee’s Sr. season may surpass Gray’s Sr. season, but we’ll have to wait and see.
In no way am I attempting to disparage Gary McGhee and the vast improvment he has made in three years, but the improvment made by Aaron Gray was just as substantial. My comments were meant to point out how quickly we forget simialr improvements of Pitt players over the last 8 – 10 years. How excellent is the Pitt coaching staff to be able to consistently achieve these type of results?
If you told me two years ago that I’d be defending Gary McGhee, I’d call you crazy. But his development has been a pleasant surprise.
