Both Adam and Zach had excellent starts to their seasons and both look poised to be key players for their respective teams. I totally understand the desire to honor both of them with the Co-Freshmen of the Week. However, I have to think that Adam had the overall better performance and would have been the pick if they had to just pick 1 player to award. I actually think it's a little weird that they are splitting the award since I think Adam so clearly outshined Zach this week. Even if they took Kofi off our roster, I still think I'd rather have Adam Miller than Zach Edey wearing the Orange and Blue.
Adam Miller: 18.0 PTS, 2.3 REB, 1.0 AST, 0.0 BLK, 0.3 STL, 1.3 PF, 2.0 TO, 28.0 MIN
Zach Edey--: 18.0 PTS, 6.5 REB, 0.0 AST, 1.0 BLK, 0.0 STL, 3.0 PF, 3.0 TO, 18.5 MIN
As a 6'-3" SG, Adam demonstrated the ability to score from all 3 levels (in the lane, mid range, and from deep). He committed 0 Fouls in 27 min, 1 in 33 min, and 3 in 24 minutes while playing good defense. He committed 2 turnovers in each of his 3 games which is definitely something he'll have to work on, but considering the number of touches he had it easily could have been a lot worse. At the end of the day Adam Miller was a key piece to all 3 of Illinois' victories.
On the other hand... Zach is 7'-4" and both Liberty and Clemson are undersized. Liberty matched him up against 6'-7" Kyle Rode (27 minutes) and 6'-9 Blake Preston (13 minutes) while Clemson matched him up against 6'-8" Aamir Simms (27 minutes) and 6'-10" PJ Hall/Lynn Kidd (combined 10 minutes). So while he did score 19 and 17 points, it's important to remember that he's 8 to 9 inches taller than his opponents so you're left wondering why he isn't able stay on the floor longer and rack up more points - the answer is that he turns the ball over if he's more than 2 feet from the rim and commits silly fouls on defense. Zach scored a few layups but he was consistently the last one down the floor on both offense and defense and can't be trusted to touch the ball. There was a noticeable difference in how ready these players are for B10 play and Adam Miller was clearly the better player.