The Virginia’s men’s basketball team hasn’t exactly put on a great show at John Paul Jones Arena this year — the team has posted a mediocre 6-6 record at home including three conference losses — but that doesn’t mean great basketball is nowhere to be found in Charlottesville. (It already is here, from the No. 17 Virginia women’s basketball team that is 13-2 at home this season, but the women are not the focus of today’s column.)
The ACC basketball schedule is halfway over, and I think it would be awesome if there was an ACC All Star Game. Considering that JPJ is by far the nicest venue of all ACC teams, and perhaps the entire country, the inaugural game would obviously be hosted here. I would split the 12 conference teams into the same two divisions the ACC uses for football and have at least one representative from each school on the rosters. Here would be the starting lineups for the 2009 version of the ACC All-Star Game, starting with the home team, the Coastal Division, of which Virginia would be a member.
The point guard would have to be junior Ty Lawson from North Carolina. Lawson is first in the ACC in steals per game and assists per game (averaging 2.2 and 6.6 in those categories, respectively), and is arguably the fastest player I’ve ever seen while dribbling coast-to-coast on the court. Another no-brainer in the backcourt would be senior shooting guard Jack McClinton from The U, also known as Miami. This Hurricane ranks first in the ACC in three-point field goal percentage — shooting an astounding 47.1 percent from long range — and is fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 19.7 points per game. Virginia fans are familiar with McClinton, who torched the Cavaliers for 34 points, including seven three-pointers, in last year’s 95-93 Miami win. He’s got unlimited range and could possibly win the MVP of this — fictional — all-star game.
I’m going to have the Coastal Division use a “small” lineup, by having Virginia’s own Sylven Landesberg playing the three. Before you call this hometown favoritism, take a look at these stats: Landesberg is the only freshman in the top-20 in the ACC in scoring — ranking eighth with 17.9 points per game — and is also the only freshman in the conference’s top-10 in free throw percentage, currently sixth with 84.8 percent shooting from the line. If he doesn’t win ACC Freshman of the Year, there’s something wrong with the award selection process. He certainly earned a spot in the starting lineup of this hypothetical ACC All-Star game.
The first of the two big men in the Coastal Division’s lineup would be sophomore Gani Lawal from Georgia Tech. Lawal is relatively unknown on the ACC basketball circuit but is the only player in the conference to average 10-plus rebounds per game with 10.4. He’s also second in the conference in field goal percentage, connecting on 54.8 percent of his shots. Joining him in the frontcourt would have to be Tar Heel senior Tyler Hansbrough. He leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 22.1 points per contest. He won pretty much every National Player of the Year award last season, and even though he’s annoying to play against and needs to work on his celebrations, he must be in this lineup.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Division’s starting squad would be comprised of Wake Forest sophomore Jeff Teague and Florida State senior Toney Douglas. Both guards, Teague and Douglas are averaging 20.9 and 20.3 points per game, respectively, and join Hansbrough as the only players in the conference averaging more than 20 points per game. Many analysts are predicting Teague can challenge Hansbrough for ACC Player of the Year, and that would be fine by me.
Also using a smaller lineup, the Atlantic Division will have Boston College senior Tyrese Rice on the floor because Rice is averaging 18.0 points per game to go with 5.5 assists . He’s shooting 86.6 percent from the charity stripe this year and can pretty much do it all from the point guard position. The big men he’ll be dishing to are Clemson junior Trevor Booker and Wake Forest freshman Al-Farouq Aminu. Booker leads his team in scoring and rebounding while being tops in the conference with 2.4 blocks per game. Aminu is a do-it-all player with incredible skills, and it would be an injustice if this super-frosh wasn’t in the starting lineup.
At the end of the day, the Coastal Division simply has better players and would win this game with the help of Virginia’s fans, who would root on Landesberg and boo the heck out of any Dookie who steps on the court. (Don’t worry: Even though Virginia Tech is in Virginia’s division, no Hokie will see any playing time. It’s my game. My rules.)
The only thing I need to write to end this column is a plea to ACC Commissioner John Swofford: Make this happen for 2010. College basketball fans everywhere would love you for it.
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