Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big East Basketball: Reactions to 2018-19 all-conference teams

By Brian Foley

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 06: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles takes the ball in the first half against the Seton Hall Pirates on March 06, 2019 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 06: Markus Howard #0 of the Marquette Golden Eagles takes the ball in the first half against the Seton Hall Pirates on March 06, 2019 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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VILLANOVA, PA – JANUARY 08: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm reacts in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on January 8, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the St. John’s Red Storm 76-71. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
VILLANOVA, PA – JANUARY 08: Shamorie Ponds #2 of the St. John’s Red Storm reacts in the second half against the Villanova Wildcats at Finneran Pavilion on January 8, 2019 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The Villanova Wildcats defeated the St. John’s Red Storm 76-71. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

Snubs, Surprises, and Speculation

The Big East coaches once again did a solid job with their first- and second-team selections. Sam Hauser certainly has an argument over either Paschall or Govan, and he likely would have grabbed one of those spots had the Golden Eagles not gagged away the Big East title with a four-game losing streak to end the regular season. Hauser also posted two disappointing performances (3 points vs. Creighton, 7 points vs. Georgetown) in Marquette’s final two home games of the year, which suppressed his stat line and perception around the conference.

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It was also a tad surprising to see Ponds – the preseason Player of the Year pick – fall short of the prized unanimous asterisk, but that’s the price you pay as the leader of the most inconsistent team in the entire country. Ponds, who still averaged 19.8 points and 5.2 assists per game this year, may have played his last regular season collegiate game; the two-time all Big East first-teamer entered the draft after his sophomore season but ultimately returned to Queens before hiring an agent. Most 2019 NBA mock drafts give Ponds a second-round grade.

Further down the ballot, Marshall’s hot finish for the streaking Musketeers (20.9 ppg over his last seven games) was what pushed him over the top and onto the second team. Marshall was the lone underclassmen to earn a spot on either all-conference team.

Diallo and Baldwin both fell short of their offseason expectations – the two vets were selected to the preseason first-team and Providence and Butler were both picked in the top half of the Big East – but they still did enough to merit a second-team selection. Diallo led the Big East in rebounding and dropped 16.1 points per game, while Baldwin’s 17.5-5.0-3.2-1.5 stat sheet was enough to hold off Creighton’s Alexander.

Strus grabbed his second straight second-team honor for improving his shooting efficiency across the board and lifting up a much improved DePaul team.

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