Shabazz Napier: 2 NCAA Titles, Final Four MVP, Player of the Year

Shabazz Napier did it all. Monday he overcame spectacular plays by Julius Randle and James Young, two players who will go ahead of him in the NBA Draft, to claim his second national title. His performance was so dominant–against such good teams in the Final Four–that he also moved up one spot to finish as the top Value Add player of 2014.

The best player of the final game of the college season turns out to have been the best player over the entire season. 

The final top 100 players this year, and the top players from 2003 until this season are listed below. Value Add not only measures each player stat to determine how many points he is truly worth to his team, but it also measures each performance against the level of defense he faces. Napier actually passed Delon Wright in Value Add during the semifinal win against Florida. Florida allows only 0.89 points per possession at www.kenpom.com, the second best total in the country, but Napier produced an amazing 1.39 points per his possession in that game with an unselfish 6 assists and only 6 shots taken to score 12 points. Against Kentucky he saw that the famed Harrison twins could not guard him–scoring 22 points while the twins scored only a combined 15 points as Napier hit four of nine three-pointers. During the two Final Four games he had seven steals, and despite his small size grabbed nine defensive rebounds.

Last year, Napier finished 6th in Value Add, and two years ago he moved as high as 11th as noted by NBC Sports. The entire database of over 39,000 player seasons from 2003 to 2014 is being updated at http://valueaddbasketball.com/ballall.html, while all 2014 players can be searched at www.valueaddbasketball.com.

In addition to clearly being the best statistical player in the 60-54 win over Kentucky by leading UConn in points, rebounds, steals, and assists, Napier went beyond the stats. He almost knocked back court mate Ryan Boatright to the floor when popping him in the chest during live action, and was in command on the court directing players at all times to find the holes against the taller and strong Wildcats.

In the press conference after he simply said, “Ryan and I are short so we have had to learn how to beat big teams.”

Ken Pomeroy’s final rating came out tonight with Louisville’s Russ Smith 1st and Napier 2nd. All voting awards have chosen Doug McDermott, who was the greatest offensive Value Add player of all time, but fell to seventh in Value Add once defense and positions were calculated.

The Top Value Add players of past years are: 2003, Troy Bell, Boston College; 2004; Devin Harris, Wisconsin;  2005; Andrew Bogut, Utah; 2006, Shelden Williams, Duke; 2007, Kevin Durant, Texas; 2008, Michael  Beasley, Kansas St.; 2009, Ty Lawson, North Carolina, 2010; Jon Scheyer, Duke; 2011, Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin; 2012, Anthony Davis, Kentucky; and 2013, Trey Burke, Michigan.

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