The Bat Cave

This year I’ve been following college basketball quite rabidly and I can’t help but try to put together my own rankings sometimes. Here are my picks for Pac-10 First Team as of today:

James Harden, G, ASU (21.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.7 spg)
Jordan Hill, F, ARIZ (18.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.0 bpg)
Jerome Randle, G, CAL (17.8 ppg, 4.9 apg, 45% 3PT)
Chase Budinger, G, ARIZ (17.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 spg, 41% 3PT)
Darren Collison, G, UCLA (15.0 ppg, 5.0 apg, 1.7 spg, 41.5% 3PT)

It’s kind of tough to call. Harden’s the best all-around player in the Pac-10 easily and Hill is 2nd in points, rebounds, and blocks, so I think they are both cinches. I was a Collison hater not that long ago, but I think he’s played his way back to the top PG in the conference, ranking 1st in assists and 2nd in steals while averaging 15 PPG. Budinger is just solid across the board, putting up good numbers in every category except blocks. He’s like a white version of Harden with less talent. I can’t really see a good argument against his placement here, especially since Arizona has been nearly unbeatable since his face got stepped on. Randle is my bubble boy; he’s a scoring beast that also ranks 2nd in the conference in assists while shooting lights out from three. I feel like I’m snubbing USC’s Taj Gibson though, especially since my First Team is guard-heavy and lacks a true center. Gibson leads the conference in blocks by a large margin and averages almost a double-double on top of that. I could see an argument for him over Randle. It’s also tough to leave UW’s Jon Brockman off when he averages a double-double and leads the league in rebounds… but I think he’s a Second Team guy right now. I had Isaiah Thomas on my last First Team, but aside from his scoring, he’s not putting up nearly the numbers that Randle and Collison are, so despite my home school bias, I have to drop him. As it stands, there could be three Huskies on the Pac-10 Second Team with Justin Dentmon having a great season also.

Thoughts?