BIG 12 OUTLOOK: 03.07.11 (Postseason Awards Edition)

Jacob Pullen (Kansas State)

Sorry, but the coaches got this one wrong. As we've already broken down on this site, Jacob Pullen was a better scorer than Marcus Morris on a per-game basis in conference play.

Furthermore, against top-four competition (Kansas/Kansas State, Texas and Texas A&M), Pullen exceeded his scoring and assist averages, while Morris' scoring and rebounding production declined.

That means Morris accumulated his best statistics against the worst competition, while Pullen was at his best on the biggest stages (two Big Mondays, in particular).

Finally, there is no question that Pullen is a much better defensive player than Morris, and although the Dillard's suspension probably played a role in his snub (even though it should not have factored in because it happened before conference play began), it's worth nothing that Pullen received zero technical fouls for elbowing opposing players in the neck, face or other sensitive areas.

More than all the numbers, though, there's the eye test. Late in the season, when K-State's NCAA hopes were on the line, Pullen fought through fatigue, injuries, double teams and the pressure of expectations to lead his team and elevate the play of his teammates.

He unquestionably was K-State's MVP. Remove him from the team, and K-State would be in the NIT. Remove Morris from KU, and KU still would have been pretty damn good.

Jacob Pullen was the conference's best offensive player in conference play, its best defensive player (no matter what one thinks of Dogus Balbay, educated minds such as Jon Sundvold will confirm that fact) and one of only two unanimous selections to its first team (Morris was not one, by the way).

This is a no-brainer — Jacob Pullen is BOTC's 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year, and it ain't even close.

Dogus Balbay (Texas)

I wouldn't have any problem with this selection if the Big 12 had honored Pullen appropriately. Balbay clearly is the best defensive player in the conference not named Pullen. Hell, if it wasn't for his defense, he probably wouldn't play, because he sure doesn't see the floor for his scoring talents.

Jean-Paul Olukemi (Oklahoma State)

I'm going to strike off on my own again for this award. While I agree that Ricardo Ratliffe has been a good player and is deserving of some recognition, he hasn't quite lived up to my expectations.

He was supposed to come in and give Missouri an instant dominating presence in the paint, but I've noticed that he tends to disappear in big games.

Take, for instance, his lackluster performance in Saturday's Kansas game, for which his own coach called him out, or his foul-plagued game in Manhattan.

Now, I know Oklahoma State hasn't had as many wins as it would have liked, but Olukemi has been a huge part of the wins the Cowboys did earn. He provided instant-impact offense this year for the Pokes and promises to become a potent player next season beside LeBryan Nash.

Tristan Thompson (Texas)

Here's another one the Big 12 coaches got right.

Thompson has been an absolutely dominating presence in the paint, registering double-doubles in his last two games, and he's provided a much-needed toughening up for the Texas interior after the soft pudginess that was Dexter Pittman.

He's NBA-ready right now, but close enough to incoming point guard Myck Kabongo that it wouldn't surprise me to see him eschew the draft and return for another year of terrorizing the rims in Big 12 arenas. Now if he could just work on those free throws...

Quincy Acy (Baylor)

Acy has been statistically productive off the bench for Baylor, which isn't much surprise considering he was a starter for most of last year.

Don't let Baylor's general suckiness fool you — Acy was one of the more consistent players on an inconsistent team, and he certainly was the most physical and aggressive in terms of rebounding, dunking and defense.

Perry Jones III could learn a few things from his frontcourt mate if he wants to be a good NBA player.

Levi Knutson (Colorado)

The first of my "original" Botcies, this award is named for Darnell Jackson, the Kansas player who didn't do very much until his senior year, when he probably was the best overall post player on a national championship team.

To avoid doubling up on Sixth Man of the Year, which is just silly, I'll use this BOTC-specific award to honor Knutson. The little-used reserve of the past few years experienced a renaissance under new head coach Tad Boyle.

Looking for a reason Colorado finished fifth in the conference, posted a .500 season and is on the NCAA bubble? Look no further than Knutson's sharpshooting against K-State and Texas.

Yes, Alec Burks, Cory Higgins and Marcus Relphorde have been stellar, too, but those players were great last year. Knutson was the biggest change for a team that took a large leap forward in its last Big 12 season.

Not only was he one of the highest bench scorers in the conference, but he provided an extra dose of leadership for a Buffs team that just needed a little something extra to break into the upper echelon.

Honorable mentions go to Cade Davis of Oklahoma and Diante Garrett of Iowa State, who were the primary reasons their teams won any games in conference play. It remains to be seen what either school will do without them next season.

Mike Singletary (Texas Tech)

This award is named for the former Baylor guard who stunned the league as a freshman and basically got worse every season of his career. His senior year was by far his least productive.

Singletary, himself the namesake of a BOTC tournament award after his lights-out performance in the Big 12 Tournament as a sophomore against Texas A&M, is a pretty clear runaway winner here.

With five seniors returning, four of them starters, Texas Tech was expected to do what Colorado did and break into the top half of the league. Instead, they flopped, although they did show marginal improvement during the last month. Singletary is one of the biggest reasons for that.

Yes, he has been plagued by injuries this season, but even when he was healthy, he never lived up to the promise of that explosive tournament game. Singletary is one of those players who just never seemed to improve significantly in his career.

Thomas Robinson (Kansas)

Anyone who thinks I am needlessly critical of the Jayhawks just because I stiffed Marcus Morris for the POTY award might want to read this entry. When it's warranted, I give credit where credit is due.

Thomas Robinson is a grown man in the truest sense of the word and a player I can't help but respect, no matter who he plays for.

As a player, I think he might be KU's best weapon when he's on his game, as when he registered a double-double Saturday against Missouri in just 15 minutes of play. He's a physical defender, a tenacious rebounder and a highlight reel who dunks on the rim like it offended him.

But more than anything on the court, he deserves recognition for the adversity that he battled through this season. No one ever will forget hearing the news about the untimely death of his mother, Lisa, or the resultant orphaning of Thomas and his 7-year-old sister.

Nor can we forget how his team rallied around him, both at Lisa's funeral and on the court, when he returned in jubilant triumph against his archrival on College Gameday.

And to top all of that off, he then suffered a meniscus injury and returned just two scant weeks after undergoing surgery.

Thomas Robinson, for battling through grief, pain and having two NBA players in front of you on the depth chart, I hereby rename this Botcy the Thomas Robinson "Tough Son of a Bitch" Award.

Tad Boyle (Colorado)

There's a bit of a Rocky Mountain theme to this edition of the Botcies, isn't there? Regardless, Tad Boyle is a deserving recipient. I understand the rationale for selecting Bill Self and I won't begrudge him his due official honors, but I wanted to go in a different direction.

I think we all anticipated Colorado could be an improved team this season, but the coaches hedged their bets by picking the Buffs ninth. Well, they finished fifth, a four-game overshoot that was the largest of any team this season.

Boyle brought an uptempo style to a team of athletes that allowed Burks to flourish, awoke the beast that was Knutson and produced a surprisingly good freshman in Andre Roberson. Oh, and did I mention that he lost his best big man to injury before the season even started?

Nobody expected the Buffs to sweep the preseason favorite, knock off the mid-season favorite or find itself on the cusp of the NCAA Tournament entering championship week.

Although the Buffs probably will lose four impact players off this year's team, I look for Boyle to do good things in a thoroughly mediocre Pac-12.

Pat Knight (Texas Tech)

Jeff Capel was prevented from sweeping this award two seasons straight due to low preseason expectations, but Pat Knight has no such buffer. His team was picked seventh and finished 11th due to a tiebreaker.

When you have five seniors and one really good junior, that's just unacceptable. So are losses to North Texas, Oklahoma, TCU and USF, all sub-100 RPI teams.

And who can forget the demolition in Seattle, when the Washington Huskies hung the century mark on the hapless Red Raiders?

Yes, Tech did show a little improvement down the stretch, but even that didn't get the Raiders even close to where people thought they could be before the season began.

Ever since inheriting the program from his famous father, Pat has failed to grow the team significantly in his four-plus years and his recruiting is fairly uninspiring. Kirby Hocutt's going to have some tough choices to make this off-season, I suspect.