Buddy Hield Should Be Lock for Player of the Year Honors; Case Closed
By Chip Rouse
Buddy Hield is, hands-down, the best player in college basketball this season. There is no plausible argument otherwise.
So let’s dispense with all the drama about Player of the Year candidates, hand the award to Buddy Buckets and get on with what’s left of the 2015-16 college basketball season.
Saturday’s game between No. 1-ranked Oklahoma and LSU should have closed the book on who deserves to be crowned the best player in college ball this year. Since the beginning of the season over two and a half months ago, the names Ben Simmons of LSU and Hield of Oklahoma have pretty much dominated the discussion on Player of the Year, and on Saturday the entire nation got to see the two superstars pitted against one another, head to head.
The one-and-done freshman Simmons lived up to his high acclaim as the best newcomer in the college game this season, and he had a solid game against the Sooners, albeit in a losing cause. But his contribution to the Bayou Tigers’ cause paled in comparison to what Hield’s performance was in leading the Sooners to a dramatic come-from-behind victory on the road in a marquee, midseason nonconference game.
Both Hield and Simmons played virtually the entire game on Saturday. Simmons missed just one minute of action, and OU’s superstar sat out for just two minutes of action. LSU’s freshman phenom shot the ball just seven times the entire game, making six of them, which had much to do with the way the Sooners were defending him. He scored 14 points in the game, but more importantly, put up just one shot over the final 10 minutes of the game.
Hield, on the other hand, was the main figure in Oklahoma’s comeback from a 14-point second-half deficit, their largest turnaround that late in a game this season. The nation’s second-best three-point shooters in terms of percentage made calmly nailed a trio of clutch three-point shots late in the contest, the second of which gave the Sooners their first lead in the game at the 4:05 mark in the second half.
Hield finished with a game-high 32 points in the game, his eighth game of the season with 30 or more points, with 24 of the 32 coming on eight treys, seven in the second half. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Year and a certainty to retain that honor this season, Hield owns the second-best scoring average in the country at 26.2 points per game, and he has done that while hitting over 50 percent of his field-goal attempts, both from inside and outside of the three-point arc.
Here are the individual stat lines for both Hield and Simmons from Saturday’s intersectional showdown between Oklahoma and LSU:
Buddy Hield – 11 for 22 FG, 8 for 15 3-PT FG, 32 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
Ben Simmons – 6 of 7 FG, 14 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
Sure, this is just one game, but Buddy Hield has been doing this consistently all season. And in a game in which the two superstars were able to go at it head-to-head on the same court, Hield showed why he is the most deserving of college basketball’s top individual honor this season.
By the way, for the record, I have heard a couple of network play-by-play announcers state that Hield would be the first Oklahoma Sooner to be named basketball’s National Player of the Year. Have they already forgotten about Blake Griffin?
ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale said after the OU-LSU game on Saturday, “There is some pressure for Simmons to put the team on his back. He has to be even more aggressive. He did not look for his opportunities to score against Oklahoma. He has to want the basketball on the big stage.”
About Hield, Vitale said: “He is so versatile, capable of scoring in so many ways. Besides being great at shooting the trifecta, he can explode to the basket. Hield is ready for the next level.
“Like Hield, Simmons wants to win badly. Both have can’t miss futures. Right now,” Vitale said, “I give the edge to Hield for college Player of the Year honors.”
I agree with Dicky V, but I don’t believe it is even close.