MBB: MAC Freedom League

[hoopzwiz]

C-Man,
Good question and quality points.  I'll do my best to make sense.

I believe that the regional player of the year is automatically placed on the first team all-american team.  I would say that one of those three will be the regional player of the year.

Likewise, the second highest regional vote getter is placed on the second team all-american team.  Same for third, etc.......

Jones and Johnson both have strong reputations as a result of their consistant performances for several years.
Braswell has been a good player in his conference and is now exploding onto the regional/national scene.  The longer DeSales stays alive the better chance he has.....obviously.

Ranking the three in terms of 'All-American' chances I'd put Johnson first, Braswell second and Jones third.

If I'm wrong about the process then all of this goes out the window but I think thats how they do it.

How do you rank those 3?
Are there other players in the region that might be put ahead of them?
Patch at Susqu.?
The kid at Gettysburg?
Noonan?

[Reserved Seat]

Noonan's at Ursinus
Capkin's at Gettysburg, but Powers of Gettysburg was player of the year for the Centennial Conference.
I only saw Johnson play against F&M, and he struggled.  Capkin and Powers killed F&M 3 times.
Capkin destroyed F&M in the Centennial finals(8/12 from three).

[mid-range j]

I was kidding about Reels. LOL!

[Pat Coleman]

C-Man,
Good question and quality points.  I'll do my best to make sense.

I believe that the regional player of the year is automatically placed on the first team all-american team.  I would say that one of those three will be the regional player of the year.

Not on our team. There are eight regions and only five slots on each All-American team. The NABC avoids the tough decisions, in my opinion, by making all regions equal. Some years the Mid-Atlantic deserves more than three All-Americans, right? Even before you start talking about subjective thoughts about which region has more talent in a specific year, does it make sense that the 39-team East Region is guaranteed the exact same number of NABC All-Americans as the 50-team Midwest, the 61-team West or the 74-team Northeast?

That is the NABC model, however. Coaches can make the tough decisions as to which five players to put on the floor in a game but not on their All-American team, I guess.

[chairman]

I think the NABC's theory is that since so much of Division III is regionally based-- and the Division has made it clear that they would rather progress to an even more regionally based world, rather than to a national model-- that it would not be appropriate to pass judgment on a given region and give other regions more All-Americans.

Indeed, as you read through many of these rooms, you will find people that know a great deal about the players in and the history of their respective conferences, and those same people maybe able to speak with some level of authority on other teams and perhaps leagues within their region, but there are very few people who have the time, inclination or wherewithal to follow the game in another region.

That is what I love about D3hoops.com. It is a national entity that tries to look at the whole picture. While a random outsider might feel the site has a Midwest bias, I think it does a really good job trying to paint the picture true to life.

There are really good players in each of the regions, but they are not equally distributed every year, and the spots on the team should not be equally distributed either. Last year Shattuck, Shawell, and McGowan made it from the Mid-Atlantic. This year, I would imagine the Mid-Atlantic is going to get two or three.

DeSales tournament run will help Braswell's cause, but I would be surprised if Johnson, Jones, and Braswell all get it.

Pat, for the record, I think D3hoops does it the right way, and although there will always be debate, I think that the endeavor of trying to do it the right way (with positions as well) rewards the most deserving players.

Mid-Range-- Is there an address where we can send contributions for a new rim? ;-)

By the way, the lower left quadrant of the bracket is ridiculous. Three teams with legitimate final four talent have already been eliminated from the bracket and the remaining four teams are ranked 1,2,3, and 7. Such is the regional nature of the Division, but that grouping would be an outstanding Final Four.

[Pat Coleman]

I think the NABC's theory is that since so much of Division III is regionally based-- and the Division has made it clear that they would rather progress to an even more regionally based world, rather than to a national model-- that it would not be appropriate to pass judgment on a given region and give other regions more All-Americans.

Still, this is precisely what they are giving the East and Atlantic -- one All-American for every 13 East schools, one for every TEN Atlantic schools, but only one for every 20 West schools or 25 Northeast schools?

And honestly, if it's inappropriate to pass judgments, then why have awards?

This is what led to the demise of the NABC Top 20.

Thanks, chairman. To me it is mind-boggling to do it any other way. A coach must start five players and only five players. Why isn't an All-Conference team, an All-Region team and an All-American team constructed the same way?

[chizwiz]

Pat, that is totally correct.  It is quite illogical to do it the NABC way.  Judgment occurs once these awards are handed out, so there should be no qualms about judging each player based on their merits to be an All-American.

And I definitely second what Chair just said.  I think this site does a pretty good job of covering DIII country.  Although I would like to see a few more teams from Alaska and Canada show up in print

[Pat Coleman]

Although I would like to see a few more teams from Alaska and Canada show up in print

I would like to see a few more teams from Hawaii.

[Pat Coleman]

Any readers here who are even thinking they might want to attend the Final Four should enter the City of Salem's contest: Free lodging, free tickets, admission to team banquet and VIP passes:

http://www.d3hoops.com/salemgiveaway/

[r.w. mcnickels]

Here's a link with information on this weekend's games, including live video and audio:

F&M sectional info

Safe travels to all heading to Mayser this weekend!  Should be a great set of games.

[lefty2]

Speaking of the Mayser center, I'm offering +1 for a week to the first person to correctly list Charles Mayser's role in F&M's athletics history.

p.s.  Without cheating.

[r.w. mcnickels]

Charles Mayser was the longtime wrestling coach (1940s and '50s?) who helped put F&M athletics on the map.  But I always associate his name with basketball, even though I'm not sure if he ever had any direct influence on the basketball program.

[lefty2]

Charles Mayser was the longtime wrestling coach (1940s and '50s?) who helped put F&M athletics on the map.  But I always associate his name with basketball, even though I'm not sure if he ever had any direct influence on the basketball program.

+7 for you - one at a time.

Mayser founded the wrestling program at F&M in the 1920's.

[r.w. mcnickels]

lefty2-

That's interesting, I didn't know he founded the program.  Do you follow F&M wrestling?  Thanks for the reward, but it was just a random fact -- you should pump some of that good karma into the economy instead of giving it to me!

[lefty2]

RW,

I'm not an F&M fan, but I'm a long-time wrestling fan and I happened to be looking through a historical account of ncaa wrestling and read a bio on Charles Mayser.

I find it ironic that a school that today is better known for basketball plays in a facility named for a wrestler.