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Jerry West Award watch list for best shooting guard announced

Jerian Grant,Rasheed Sulaimon

Jerian Grant (AP Photo)

AP

OK, so I actually have an issue with this list.

Jerian Grant is not a shooting guard. Neither is D’Angelo Russell, and since they should both be first-team all-americans this season, one of them will win this award.

Both of them are lead guards, which is a position that was invented to give a label to point guards that look to score. Is Russell Westbrook a shooting guard? What about John Wall or Derrick Rose?

Both Grant and Russell play on teams where they start along side smaller guards, but go watch a game. Tell me who brings the ball up for both Notre Dame and Ohio State. Tell me who the playmaker is for both of those teams. Tell me who has the ball in their hands at the end of a clock, or who is the guy trusted as the “coach on the floor”.

Technically speaking, both Russell and Grant are probably listed at the “two”. But neither one of them are shooting guards.

Anyway, here is the top 16:

Ron Baker, Wichita State
James Blackmon Jr., Indiana
Malcolm Brogdon, Virginia
Jerian Grant, Notre Dame
D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s
Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington
Tyler Haws, BYU
Buddy Hield, Oklahoma
Trevor Lacey, N.C. State
E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island
Sheldon McClellan, Miami
Chasson Randle, Stanford
D’Angelo Russell, Ohio State
Marcus Thornton, William & Mary
Rashad Vaughn, UNLV
Joseph Young, Oregon