Thoughts on All-Ivy First Team

As I watched John Baumann take over Columbia’s most recent game against Harvard, the overeager radio announcer next to me started to ramble on about his place among the greatest Ivy League players of all time. Now, this particular color-commentator has a tendency to exaggerate just a bit, and you’d be hard-pressed to justify Baumann’s spot on a team of even this decade’s best players (no slight to him, but there have been some great ones).

Yet his over the top claims got me wondering—who are the league’s best players this year? It’s not quite as clear now that two-time player of the year winner Ibrahim Jaaber has graduated. In fact, it’s about as murky as it’s ever been. Clearly none of them reside in Princeton or Philadelphia, marking the first time that neither school will have an All-Ivy First Team player.

Past the halfway point of the season, here are my choices for the All-Ivy First Team. I’ve only considered their numbers in conference play, in order to adjust for the quality of their preseason performances.

John Baumann, F, Columbia

Columbia’s Mr. Saturday is also probably the league’s most important player. Through eight games, the senior is averaging nearly 18 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. More importantly, he’s made up for the slip in his outside shooting by getting to the line at the highest rate in the league. His true shooting percentage, a measure of field goal percentage that considers both outside shooting and free-throw shooting, is a remarkable 66.4 percent. Most important, however, is his ability to command and pass out of double teams, opening up the Lions’ entire offense.

Ryan Wittman, G/F, Cornell

The Big Red’s reigning Rookie of the Year followed up his brilliant freshman campaign with averages of 18.5 points and five rebounds per game. It’s hard to dispute that he’s been the best offensive player in the league, shooting nearly 50 percent from long range on his way to a 71 percent true shooting percentage. He makes smart decisions with the ball and fits perfectly into a Cornell scheme that has the Big Red poised for an undefeated conference record.

Mark McAndrew, G, Brown

The senior guard is absurdly efficient, averaging 18 points per game with a 75 percent true shooting percentage. That is, he needs fewer shots than both Baumann and Wittman to get his 18, and he does so at only 6’2”. It’s hard to find any sort of fault with a guard who scores that well and rebounds at the rate of your average forward, but McAndrew does cough the ball up a good bit, with three turnovers a contest.

Louis Dale, G, Cornell

Wittman’s point guard, Dale’s quickness off the dribble gives him the ability to penetrate and kick the ball out to Cornell’s sharpshooters almost whenever he wants. Though he’s a poor outside shooter, his ability to get inside gets him plenty of free throw attempts and a respectable 57 percent true shooting percentage. He too rebounds well, with almost five per game, and leads the league in assists. His aggressiveness has also led to the league’s highest turnover rate, a problem that he should be able to correct as he gets older.

Alex Barnett, F, Dartmouth

Apologies to Brown’s Damon Huffman here, but his numbers have dropped off a bit too much since Ivy play started. Barnett is a poor man’s Baumann, a strong offensive rebounder and versatile scorer who needs too many shots to get his points. We’re going to give him a break here, because part of that is a result of the defensive attention the Big Green’s mediocre roster affords him.

So how does one choose a player of the year out of these candidates? Barnett is a lesser Baumann, so we can get rid of him quickly. Dale, who has had a great season, gets the second axe—it’s hard to justify giving a point guard an award when he coughs the ball up once for every assist.

Baumann, Wittman, and McAndrew are averaging about the same number of points per game and are all doing it quite efficiently. All are good rebounders, though Baumann has a distinct advantage in that department. Wittman and McAndrew’s teams, on the other hand, both have better records.

Now here is where my opinion diverges from what will probably happen. Wittman is my first cut out of the three, because his team plays at a significantly faster pace than the others, inflating his scoring average, and because he benefits so much from the open shots that Dale’s drives give him. That said, he’s probably going to win the award.

Baumann’s effort on the glass gives his team many more chances on offense, but that’s somewhat negated by McAndrew’s spectacular scoring efficiency. I’m tempted to pick Baumann over McAndrew, but that may be because I see Baumann a great deal more. The former’s ability to draw attention away from defenses and command double and triple teams tips the scales for me, but the difference is almost negligible. As of now, it’s probably a two- or three-way tie.

At least there’s one race in this league that’s close.