I recently received some criticism for my choice of Jamaal Tinsley as “player of the game” after the ISU men’s basketball team won last Saturday 79-71 over Kansas. Many people thought Jake Sullivan or Shane Power deserved to be named “player of the game” because they scored 22 and 18 points, respectively.Well, let me clear something up for all the readers out there. Jamaal Tinsley is an All-American basketball player. This means not only is Tinsley an exceptional basketball player, but he makes his teammates play at a level far higher than they could achieve without him in the lineup.Tinsley leads the Cyclones in scoring, assists, steals and free throws. Without Tinsley in the lineup, there is no one who is going to penetrate the lane and draw three defenders. Tinsley’s penetration is such an integral part of Iowa State’s offense because what it does is leave Jake Sullivan, Kantrail Horton, Shane Power or anyone else who happens to be standing on the wing wide open for an easy three-point look. Jake Sullivan and Shane Power may work harder than anyone in college basketball, but without Tinsley, they would have a hard time getting as many open looks at the basket as they do.For those who didn’t know, Tinsley practiced only two days last week. He spent much of the week in Brooklyn with his ailing grandmother, who is very important to him. When I heard the news that he might not play against Kansas, I began to wonder who would handle the ball, break the press, run the offense and pressure the two outstanding guards for Kansas.There are many people who can shoot a basketball into a basket at a high percentage. Just look on ESPN.com and you’ll see names from schools that you didn’t even know were Division I schools. Very few people can shoot 1 for 13 and still win the game for their team.Well, that is exactly what Tinsley did against Kansas last Saturday, with his mind not entirely on basketball. He set up Sullivan, Power and his other teammates for easy baskets, en route to tallying 11 assists. He had six steals against Kirk Hinrich and Jeff Boschee, both very talented players. He had four rebounds, and he took care of the basketball all afternoon, turning it over only twice. He made 9 of 12 free-throw attempts and almost single-handedly fouled out Hinrich and Boschee. He handled the KU press with ease and also forced several turnovers from the Jayhawk backcourt.Sometimes the best player in a game doesn’t score the most points, goals or touchdowns. When a quarterback throws for 400 yards, is it because he had great protection from his offensive line or because he made it all happen by himself? The same goes for basketball; someone has to set up their teammates for baskets.When someone performs as Tinsley did last Saturday, we can call them many things: player of the game, MVP, Wooden Award Finalist or Naismith Award Finalist. I prefer to call him an All-American because that is exactly what he is. Iowa State is 54-8 with Jamaal Tinsley starting at point guard over the past two seasons, compared to 27-33 the two seasons before he arrived in Ames. The Cyclones have never lost a home game or lost a game to Kansas with Tinsley in the lineup. Beat that Fred Hoiberg.According to an upcoming article in Sports Illustrated featuring the Cyclones, Tim Crothers said: “Iowa State’s senior guard Jamaal Tinsley dictated the action on both ends with 11 assists and six steals in one of the best games ever played by a guy who shot 1 for 13 from the field.”The numerous journalists, two NBA scouts, Sports Illustrated and one ISU basketball player that agreed with me that Tinsley was indeed the player-of-the-game probably can’t all be wrong either. Jordan Gizzarelli is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.