Kentucky Basketball: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist Is College Basketball's MOP so Far

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is the reason I watch sports.

He always plays hard. He always makes big plays. He is a fearless leader.

He has fought through a ton of bad things in his life, but more importantly, he is a great player and an even better person.

Playing hard, making big plays, being resilient and being a good person does not make him the most outstanding player in college basketball

Here are five reasons why MKG has been the most outstanding player in college basketball so far this season.

He Is the Best Player on One of the Best Teams

Michael Kidd Gilchrist has been the best player on a team full of lottery picks so far this season.

He has been a better big-game player than Anthony Davis (the projected No. 1 pick in the 2012 draft). He has played harder than Terrence Jones (a projected top-10 pick in the 2012 draft).

He has been a better big-game player than Doron Lamb (a projected first-round pick in the 2012 draft). And he has been a lot better than the struggling Marquis Teague (a projected first-round pick if he decides to declare).

MKG is the Kentucky's best individual defender, best big-game player, best isolation player and most consistent player overall.

Kidd-Gilchrist is the best player on one of the most talented teams of the past 10 years.

He Is a Big-Game Player

Kentucky’s biggest games this season have been against Kansas, North Carolina, Indiana and Louisville, and MKG has been Kentucky’s best player in all four of these games.

Against Kansas, he finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Against North Carolina, he finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Against Indiana, he finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, and against Louisville he finished with 24 points and 19 rebounds. 

This means that in Kentucky’s four biggest games, MKG has averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds.

He has also been Kentucky’s best individual defender, Kentucky’s most clutch player, and he has played the hardest of any Kentucky player in all of these games. 

Also, we have to take into account that MKG’s point total has gone up in every “big” game, and the totals will probably continue to go up due to his improved three-point and free-throw shooting. 

By the end of the year, MKG could be scoring 30-plus points and grabbing 15-plus rebounds in Kentucky’s biggest games.

It is hard to imagine any other player averaging 30 and 15 on a team with four other lottery picks.

His Versatility

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is one of the more versatile players in the nation.

He can guard all five positions, lead the press, make the three-point shot, hit the mid-range jumper and score from the post. He is one of the nation’s best isolation players, and he is turning into a great free-throw shooter.

This means MKG can help his team in nine ways: his perimeter defense, his interior defense, his “press” defense, his three-point shot, his mid-range jumper, his post game, his isolation game, his fast-break offense and his free-throw shooting.

Kidd-Gilchrist is one of the few players in the nation that can beat you in nine ways and is the only player in the nation that can show off all of these skills while playing with up to four other lottery picks.

MKG helps his team more than any other player in the country.

His Leadership

The Calipari era has brought a ton of talented players to Kentucky.

We have seen the speed of John Wall, the acrobatics of Eric Bledsoe, the post game of Patrick Patterson, the antics of DeMarcus Cousins, the casual swearing of Daniel Orton, the shooting of Brandon Knight, the defense of DeAndre Liggins, the cultural phenomenon of Josh Harrelson and the coaching ability of Enes Kanter.

But we have never seen a player like Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist, because none of these players have combined Gilchrist’s type of talent with his leadership ability.

MKG is the only lottery pick who cares about his team enough to start a breakfast club, where players eat breakfast and then work out together. He is the only lottery pick that cares enough to encourage his teammates throughout the game, and makes sure he is leading by example on and off the court 24/7.

If you gave me the choice of all of Cal’s pro players from his first two seasons or 10 Michael Kidd- Gilchrists, I would take 10 MKG’s without even thinking about it.

And that is why MKG is such a special player and an even more special person.

He Is the Best Player in the Nation

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been the best player in the nation so far this season.

When you factor in how he has played in big games, how many ways he can beat you, the talent that surrounds him and his ability to make his teammates better, you realize that MKG is the only logical choice for Player of the Year. 

Harrison Barnes is a great player, but can he beat you in nine different ways?

Jared Sullinger is a great player, but does he have the kind of big-game numbers that MKG has?

Perry Jones is a lottery pick, but is he the type of leader that Gilchrist is?

Jordan Taylor is a good scorer, but could he put up those numbers on a team as stacked as Kentucky?

MKG has been the best player in the nation so far, and that is why he should be the Most Outstanding Player so far this season.