Big Ten Basketball: Cassius Winston, Matt Painter top performers of 2018-19

With the Big Ten Basketball regular season having wrapped up Sunday and the conference tournament starting this week, that means it’s time to give out awards for the regular season.

Player of the year: Cassius Winston (guard, junior, Michigan State)

All year I was pushing the campaign for Ethan Happ for POY. He was top five in the Big Ten in points, rebounds AND assists which is just absurd. I wanted to vote for him, I really did.

But as the dust settled the past few weeks, there was only one clear choice: Cassius Winston. When both Josh Langford and Nick Ward went down midseason with injuries, everybody crossed the Spartans off. But Winston was able to rally the troops and get them to a share of the Big Ten Basketball title.

Winston has always been a terrific passer, but this year he showed the ability to score efficiently as well. He averaged 19 points per game on 47% shooting and 41% from three. He also led the Big Ten in assists at 7.6 per game.

Winston’s best trait is how much better he makes his teammates. His ability to weave through the defense and find an open shooter on the wing or dump off to a big in the paint is unmatched. Both wins over Michigan the past two weeks were perfect examples of that. He dissected the Wolverines top ranked defense with his passing out of ball screens. Winston made sure the Spartans got the most out of role players like Matt McQuaid and Xavier Tillman on their route to a first place finish.

The Big Ten’s leading scorer Carsen Edwards had a case all year, but his inefficiencies were glaring. Purdue had a chance to win the Big Ten outright and Edwards went 7-31 (yes, he really took 31 shots) in a loss at Minnesota. Edwards just had too many games where he shot the Boilermakers out of it.

Coach of the year: Matt Painter (Purdue)

With no real stand out candidate, Painter is almost the default choice. Despite losing four starters and being projected to finish fifth by the media, the Boilermakers were able to clinch a share of the Big Ten title.

Painter has always been a good game coach and his best move this year was moving Matt Haarms to the bench. The Boilermakers got off to a rough 6-5 start and a large part of that was lack of production by the 7’3 center. Painter had Haarms come off the bench for a few weeks and started to see an increase in his production and energy. The fact that Purdue won the Big Ten with only one player on an all Big Ten team is very impressive and is some of Painter’s best work.

There are other candidates with interesting cases.

Tom Izzo led Sparty the number one overall seed despite losing his second and third best players throughout the year. Mark Turgeon had the third youngest team in the country and the Terrapins still exceeded expectations. Pat Chambers started Big Ten play 0-10 and was coaching to save his job before the Nittany Lions miraculously turned it around and won eight of their last ten including wins over Michigan and Maryland.

Defensive player of the year: Nojel Eastern (sophomore, guard, Purdue)

With his 6’6 frame, the sophomore guard out of Chicago was built to play defense. There is no better perimeter defender in the Big Ten than Eastern. He is quick on his feet and uses his length to alter shots on the perimeter.

Playing alongside the much smaller Edwards, Eastern took the responsibility of guarding the opposing team’s best player and locking him down. In two Indiana-Purdue matchups this year, Eastern held projected lottery pick Romeo Langford to a combined 4-16 shooting. He locked up Maryland’s Anthony Cowan including a game saving block in their December matchup.

Purdue has scoring with Edwards and Ryan Cline and tons of size with Haarms and Trevion Williams, but Eastern provides the defensive abilities that make Purdue a complete team.

Charles Matthews had a really strong case but he missed the last three games of the season and I’m not sure he’s the best defender on his own team. Jon Teske leads the Big Ten in blocks and is a pure presence down low. Zavier Simpson is also a terrific perimeter defender.
Josh Reaves leads the Big Ten in steals and is lightning quick, but early in the season Penn State’s defense was brutal and it’s tough to award that.

Freshman of the year: Ignas Brazdeikis (Michigan)

There were plenty of talented freshmen in the Big Ten this season, but two stood out above the rest: Brazdeikis, and Romeo Langford.

However, I gave the nod to Brazdeikis. The freshman forward from Canada led a terrific Michigan team in scoring at 15 points per game. He had a better field goal and three-point percentage than Langford as well.

My favorite part of Brazdeikis’ game is his energy and intensity. Even in games where he struggled, Brazdeikis was always playing his hardest. Whereas Langford always left me wanting a little more. Brazdeikis is one of the most disliked players in the Big Ten by opposing fans but that’s what makes him so great. He takes pride in getting a big defensive stop or keeping a possession alive with an offensive rebound and I think that should be rewarded.