MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

To me, coach of the year should be the coach that got the most out of his team - the coach that helped his team rise above expectations - and the coach that guided his team to improvement from the past season and during the season.

Wooster didn't exactly get off to a hot start.  They were 2-3 at one point in the season before winning 18 of their last 20 to finish the season.

2-3?!?!?!  Nothing short of an otherworldly coaching job can salvage a season that starts 2-3!  NCAC Coach of the Year doesn't do this work justice.  Parades, key to the city, presidential appointment to the Cabinet as the nation's first Secretary of Basketball....can we possibly do enough to recognize the job done by a coach who started 2-3 and then ran over a league that they were completely expected to run over?  I submit that we can not.  I just hope that Coach Moore can be satisfied with the humble offering of NCAC Coach of the Year award.  Again.  

[ScotsFan]

Because a 2-4 start is sooooooooooooooooooooo much more difficult to overcome...  

I could really care less about who wins COY as I'm sure Coach Moore probably feels the same way.  I'm sure COY wasn't exactly at the top of the list of goals to achieve at the start of the season.  My only premise from the start is, who really stands out in the NCAC that is hands down deserving of the award?  You jump all over me because I make the same arguments that are basically being made for other coaches?  I don't recall ever making the argument that Moore should win the award hands down.  I'm just basically waiting for someone to give me a compelling argument for another coach.  

Smeds made some good points, but I would hardly say any of those just jumps off the page.  I mean, when you look at Petty, Clune and Brown, look at what all 3 coaches had coming back.  Did Wabash really overachieve that much?  With 3 returning starters and one of them being POY candidate Wes Smith, I'd have to say not really. And if you say you didn't expect how the season turned out for Wabash, I'm sorry your expectations are so low.

How about Allegheny?  They started 4 seniors.  With all of that experience, is it really that much of a surprise that they finished 4th instead of their predicted 5th place finish?  

And wasnt' Witt picked to finish 2nd in the pre-season poll?  So basically they underachieved even though they improved on their record from a season ago.

You continue to humor yourself with your sarcasm, but I've still not seen any compelling arguments from your end as to who you think deserves the award.  The only thing I've seen from you is whining about why the NCAC tournament isn't factored into the voting...  

[old wabash]

To me, coach of the year should be the coach that got the most out of his team - the coach that helped his team rise above expectations - and the coach that guided his team to improvement from the past season and during the season.

Wooster didn't exactly get off to a hot start.  They were 2-3 at one point in the season before winning 18 of their last 20 to finish the season.

2-3?!?!?!  Nothing short of an otherworldly coaching job can salvage a season that starts 2-3!  NCAC Coach of the Year doesn't do this work justice.  Parades, key to the city, presidential appointment to the Cabinet as the nation's first Secretary of Basketball....can we possibly do enough to recognize the job done by a coach who started 2-3 and then ran over a league that they were completely expected to run over?  I submit that we can not.  I just hope that Coach Moore can be satisfied with the humble offering of NCAC Coach of the Year award.  Again.  

wally,
loved the humor!
this board is about info... with entertainment as a bonus!!
thanks for bringing laughter into my day!

from the preseason predictions, it seems like only one team out performed coaches preseason standings!
if i was a coach in the league i might have to think about giving some credit to my colleague, that team's coach!

[imderekpoe]

IMO, the measure of a coach's performance should be more than outperforming the pre-season polls, or if they moved up in the standings from the prior year. 

To me, when you measure a coach's performance you need to take things into account like how well they recruited to fill their team's needs, how well they scheduled their opponents to help their team grow, how they managed to turn those 10-14 guys from different areas and backgrounds into a TEAM.  (In addition to the actual 'coaching' aspect of the job).  I think its difficult to say that a coach was better than another coach 'this year' because the building of this year's team is usually a cumulative effort over the past 2 or 3 season. 

My vote for COY would probably be for Coach Moore, but I have a lot more familiarity with him and how he runs the program than I do for any of the other coaches.  My prediction is that Coach Petty wins, for the exact reason that Old Wabash gives.  What I'm fairly sure of, is that pretty much none of the 10 coaches really cares a whole lot.  For sure 8 of them have (or better have) winning 3 more games on their minds.

[smedindy]

See, it's not a recruiting award or a scheduling award - it's a coaching award. I've seen enough "Top 10" classes to go kablooey to know that recruiting isn't an exact science. To me, it's how the teams have improved.

Wooster lost to Albion, but their other losses were a bit more expected.

Wabash lost to freakin' Denison and rebounded.
(I think any loss to Denison in hoops and football should allow one to use "freakin'" in front of Denison

Gheny was on the ropes, about ready to fall to 6-9 when they beat Hiram on the road and started a run. The Gators lost some tough non-conference games - that may have helped them.

[wally_wabash]

Because a 2-4 start is sooooooooooooooooooooo much more difficult to overcome...  

I could really care less about who wins COY as I'm sure Coach Moore probably feels the same way.  I'm sure COY wasn't exactly at the top of the list of goals to achieve at the start of the season.  My only premise from the start is, who really stands out in the NCAC that is hands down deserving of the award?  You jump all over me because I make the same arguments that are basically being made for other coaches?  I don't recall ever making the argument that Moore should win the award hands down.  I'm just basically waiting for someone to give me a compelling argument for another coach.  

Smeds made some good points, but I would hardly say any of those just jumps off the page.  I mean, when you look at Petty, Clune and Brown, look at what all 3 coaches had coming back.  Did Wabash really overachieve that much?  With 3 returning starters and one of them being POY candidate Wes Smith, I'd have to say not really. And if you say you didn't expect how the season turned out for Wabash, I'm sorry your expectations are so low.

How about Allegheny?  They started 4 seniors.  With all of that experience, is it really that much of a surprise that they finished 4th instead of their predicted 5th place finish?  

And wasnt' Witt picked to finish 2nd in the pre-season poll?  So basically they underachieved even though they improved on their record from a season ago.

You continue to humor yourself with your sarcasm, but I've still not seen any compelling arguments from your end as to who you think deserves the award.  The only thing I've seen from you is whining about why the NCAC tournament isn't factored into the voting...  

What preseason poll are you looking at that had Witt picked 2nd and Allegheny picked fifth?  It wasn't this season's poll. 

And I'm not whining about anything.  I'm just a bit confused and puzzled as to why parts of the season are actively ignored when it comes to determining who was the best player/coach/freshman of the YEAR.  Not of the half year or the 2/3 year.  Of the year.  In my eye, the NCAC coach/player/freshman of the Year award is awarded by the NCAC to the person from an NCAC team (hence the "NCAC" part of NCAC whatever of the Year)that had the best season, inclusive of the entire season.  That season includes 8-9 non-conference games (are we not still all part of the NCAC in November?) and as many as three conference tournament games and to me it seems like ignoring as many as a dozen games is a bit too head-in-the-sand-y for a league full of smart people.   

I've stated pretty plainly who I think will win Coach of the Year and why.  I've also stated pretty plainly that there are two other coaches that ought to be considered more than strongly should either of them win the league's tournament.  My problem with the CotY discussion is that people seem to want to base the award either on only a fraction of this year's season or they want to base it on an aggregation of results over seasons beyond the current one...neither approach seems appropriate.   

[pennstghs]

...........or people want to base it on whatever premise will make their choice/preference of coach win.

Personally, from a Wittenberg fan perspective, I would award the award to either Coach Moore of Wooster or Allegheny's coach, for a pretty good coaching job.

Wooster shouldn't be penalized for their loss to Albion in the non-conference as every team has a bad loss in a season (i.e. Wabash vs Denison).

Ultimately, I don't think NCAC COY is thought of anything more than a line in the preseason media guide for the veteran coaches who have won this award before.

I don't think any upsets occur tonight in the tournament; Allegheny vs OWU game wouldn't be an upset in my mind if Allegheny won.

[ScotsFan]

What preseason poll are you looking at that had Witt picked 2nd and Allegheny picked fifth?  It wasn't this season's poll. 

Sue me! Sheesh...  I was going on memory.     Looking at THIS season's poll, I see that only 5 points seperated 2nd from 4th.  Not exactly what I would call a huge discrepancy.  And furthermore, Allegheny was also a whopping 5 points behind 5th place Hiram.  So sorry.    I guess that changes my perspective on everthing... 

And I'm not whining about anything.   

Really?  Sure could have fooled me.

I don't think any upsets occur tonight in the tournament; Allegheny vs OWU game wouldn't be an upset in my mind if Allegheny won.

Thank you for reminding us that there are actual games being played tonight.   

I agree with you that I don't see any upsets from the top 3 seeds.  Although, isn't it interesting that all 3 match-ups involve lower seeded teams that have either beaten their higher seeded opponent or given them all sorts of problems.  This isn't lilke the good 'ol days when first round games could be considered glorified scrimmages for the top seeds in the tournament.  If any of the top 3 don't show up ready to play, it could be exit city.

The only game that I can't nail down is the Allegheny/OWU game in Meadville.  I really don't see either team as a favorite so I wouldn't really view it as an upset regardless of who wins.  I'm leaning towards the Gators at this point only because of their experience.  Given the choice between OWU's youngsters and Allegheny's 4 senior starters, I'm going to side with experience.

[wally_wabash]

We're closing in on a one day record for eye roll smileys...and the day is young!  The record will be smashed if the Scots only win by 15 tonight.   

[ScotsFan]

We're closing in on a one day record for eye roll smileys...and the day is young!  The record will be smashed if the Scots only win by 15 tonight.   

You're just getting me warmed up.      

[wooscotsfan]

At the Half:  Wooster 41  Kenyon 32

Wooster is being led by Ian Franks with 14 points (3 three pointers), Matt Fegan with 9 points (3 three pointers) and Nathan Balch with 7 points.

Kenyon's top scorers are Dave Knapke with 8 points and A.J. Clair with 7 points.

Scots shot over 50% in the half and they made 8 three pointers.

11:29 Left:  Wooster 55  Kenyon 44  Ian Franks now with 20 points.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg won their game by about 20.

-------------------------

I've received some more info on how the player awards process works.
1) The coaches nominate players from their own team for 1st team and for 2nd team.  That was due/submitted last Friday.
2) The conference sent out the First-Team All-Conference ballot on Monday; the coaches vote on that ballot, it was due back in at noon today.
3) The conference compiles the first team, then prepares the ballot for 2nd team and HM, using nominations for 2nd team and any nominations for 1st team who didn't make it.  That ballot also has the POY vote (basically, between the seven first-teamers) and the NOY vote (not sure how that's nominated).  The coaches will vote this second ballot this week; not sure of the due date but it might be Friday noon.
4) Any team that doesn't get anyone voted onto the 1st, 2nd, or HM team can have a player named to the HM team by the team's coach.

My source didn't say anything about the COY voting.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg 85, Hiram 63

Halftime:
OWU 40, Allegheny 28
Wabash 30, Denison 17

[David Collinge]

I'm intrigued by Wally's increasingly strident assertions that the conference awards should be for the full season, including non-conference play and post-season tournament play.  I'm wondering how the rest of you feel about this, so I've added a poll.  Thanks for voting.

[wooscotsfan]

Final:  Wooster 73  Kenyon 59  

Wooster notches the win and they will host the NCAC tourney (semis and final) this weekend!

Top scorers for the Scots were Ian Franks with 25 points (8 boards), Nathan Balch with 13 points and Matt Fegan with 12 points.

The Lords were led by Dave Knapke with 15 points (11 boards), A.J. Clair with 12 points and Marcus Healey with 13 points.

Jake Mays and Justin Hallowell did not play tonight but Wickliffe and Claytor played well.  Mike Evans and Kaleb Reed came off the bench and made contributions.

Scots shot 51% from the floor and made 12 three pointers tonight.

Wooster is now 21-5.  Next up is a NCAC semi-final game on Friday night.

GO SCOTS!