Kentucky basketball regular season awards: Offensive player of the year
By Drew Koch
The Kentucky basketball team’s regular season is over. However, before we focus on the post-season tournaments, let’s hand out some regular season awards.
With the regular season in the books, it’s time to pass out awards for the Kentucky basketball team’s first 31 games. The Offensive Player of the Year was tightly contested, but the nod goes to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or SGA, finished the season averaging points, rebounds and assists. Gilgeous-Alexander is the straw that stirs the drink for the UK offense. His quickness and ability to penetrate the defense is key to Kentucky’s success.
When Quade Green went down with a back injury midway through the season, the bulk of the point guard duties ended up in the hands of Gilgeous-Alexander. Shai took the reigns and has never looked back.
Green returned after a 3-game hiatus and never regained his starting role. During Green’s absence, Gilgeous-Alexander played 35 minutes per game. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds. The Kentucky basketball team was 2-1 during that stretch and SGA remained the starter even when Green returned to the lineup.
Kevin Knox could be this season’s offensive player of the year, but Gilgeous-Alexander has been more consistent. Also, with the exception of points per game, Shai has better numbers than Knox in every offensive category. So, while it was close, Gilgeous-Alexander gets the nod over Knox.
NBA scouting circles are tossing around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s name as a potential first round draft pick. In fact, The Ringer just recently ranked Gilgeous-Alexander as a Top 10 draft pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. The website projects Shai as the No. 10 pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. NBADraft.net also has SGA going in the lottery; this time No. 13 to the Utah Jazz.
Shai has been a tremendous surprise for this year’s Kentucky basketball team. His leadership and defense have been undervalued, but his offensive skill set is top notch and will likely land him a spot on an NBA roster next season.