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Michigan State Basketball: Spartans silence doubters on way to Final Four

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates with his teammates after a basket against the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 23: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with Cassius Winston #5 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 23, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
DES MOINES, IOWA – MARCH 23: Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans talks with Cassius Winston #5 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 23, 2019 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

Making the Case for Cassius Winston being Player of the Year

Critics have even said that Winston should not have been named Big Ten player of the year over Purdue’s Carsen Edwards. Winston was not named one of the four finalists for the 2019 Citizen Naismith Trophy. However, there are strong arguments for Winston over the four favorite candidates to win the John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award  when it is announced on April 12th.  Here are some reason why he should be named player of the year.

Winston is averaging 18.9 points per game to go along with 7.6 assists and 3 rebounds per game. He is shooting 83.5% from the free throw line and an impressive 40.4% from beyond the three-point arch. What the stats don’t necessarily show is how consistent Winston has been all season and what he has meant for his team. He has made those around him better and his unselfishness hurts his overall stats but it has allowed the Spartans to have tremendous success on the court.

When your team’s second leading scorer is out for the year and your third leading score gets injured as your team is making a final push to win your regular season conference title, Winston didn’t give up on helping his team accomplish their team goals, he thrived and led his team to a share of the Big Ten regular season title, Big Ten conference tournament title, and winning the East Regional title in the NCAA Tournament. His counterparts failed to lead their teams to such goals.

Rui Hachimura from Gonzaga had a great season but he failed to lead his team to the West Coast Conference Tournament title and a berth to the Final Four this season.  Gonzaga as a #1 seed lost to #3 seed Texas Tech and Hachimura played well in that game but was unable to help the Bulldogs to a NCAA Tournament West Region title.

Ja Morant of Murray State has a very bright future in the NBA but like Hachimura playing in a non-Power 5 conference, did not achieve the same level of success in leading his team to deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Even in the regular season, Morant and the Racers lost their two toughest non-conference games in losing to both Alabama and Auburn. Morant in their NCAA Tournament round of 32 match up against had 28 points but shot 8 from 21 from the field in their 90-62 loss to #4 seed Florida State.

The most difficult case to make for Winston as national player of the year is against Duke’s Zion Williamson. It should be argued that Williamson should not be considered player of the year because he is a freshmen or that he missed five games due to injury. Even though Williamson did not lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Regular Season title, he did help Duke to an ACC Tournament title.

However, when Michigan State and Duke went head to head, it was Winston who lead his team to victory and a Final Four berth. Williamson did have 24 points to Winston’s 20, but Cassius had 10 assists to go along with 4 steals and most importantly, Winston made the play at the end of the game to seal the victory for the Spartans.