MBB: Great South Athletic Conference

[old_lion]

Old Lion I guess Haynes,Glenn, and whoever is at Huntingdon sat together and said if we can't beat them, a least we can determine who gets awards!! 

Killer, simply stated, the all gsac selection process is an embarrassment ... selecting only 8 guys, 4 on the all freshman team, not even bothering to select a first and second team, as virtually every other conference in the civilized world does ... it's just sad.

With that said, they did get the POY right ... apparently Pittman, like Baldwin last year, was just too obvious to miss.

The winner of this year's "I got the shaft award" is Sam Coppage.

http://www.greatsouth.org/News/mbball/2009/2/24/22509_MBB_awards.asp

Consider this ... when you compare Sam to the 8 guys that did make it, Sam was in the top 8 in every single category ...
    * 4th in minutes per game
    * 7th in FG pct
    * 2nd in 3 point pct
    * 1st in FT pct   
    * 8th in rebounds per game
    * 7th in points per game
    * 1st in points per shot by a wide margin ... 1.76 vs. 2nd place Pittman at 1.53
       (Cromwell and Sprouse brought up the rear at 1.15 & 1.14, respectively)
    * 1st in assists
    * 1st in assist to TO ratio ...
       (Heck, he is the only one of the 9 with a positive assist to TO ratio!)
       (Consider that, not one all-gsac guy with a positive A/TO ratio ... no wonder they ignore PG skills!)
    * 6th is steals per game
    * 8th in blocks per game
    * and 6th in the overall measure, player value rating

But I figured out why Sam was omitted.  Apparently, there is something in the gsac bylaws that makes the conference assists leader ineligible. I believe that's at least 5 years in a row. Sad ...

[old_lion]

Consider this ... when you compare Sam to the 8 guys that did make it, Sam was in the top 8 in every single category ...
   

The numbers: (sorted by player value rating)

Player                     GP -   GS    mpg     FG Pct   3 Pct   FT Pct   rpg   ppg      PPS   PVR      apg   tpg   A/TO   spg   bpg
                                                      
Pittman, Jeremy....   24   -   23   32.2   51.8%   52.6%   64.4%   8.4   19.8      1.53   47.4      1.5   2.1   0.7   1.8   1.3

Eryk Watson........    23   -   22   29.7   45.5%   41.4%   85.3%   4.1   18.7      1.34   37.7      2.1   2.7   0.8   1.8   0.3
Herebia, J.C.......      25   -   25   26.2   60.0%   0.0%   74.4%   6.2   17.6      1.49   37.6      0.7   1.4   0.5   1.2   0.4
Greg Hernandez.....   24   -   22   25.3   56.0%   0.0%   76.2%   8.0   15.7      1.50   37.4      1.0   1.8   0.5   1.0   0.6

Joe Cromwell.......    24   -   23   30.8   48.5%   36.7%   70.2%   4.7   14.6      1.15   31.8      1.3   1.8   0.7   0.8   0.9
Coppage, Samuel...   20   -   20   29.8   48.2%   46.5%   86.7%   3.5   14.5      1.76   31.4      4.0   3.4   1.2   1.0   0.1
Nic Whitfield......      24   -   22   27.8   49.8%    0.0%   61.9%   6.4   11.9      1.26   31.3      1.8   2.5   0.7   1.0   1.3

Rubio, Michael.....    25   -   25   30.2   37.5%   36.6%   76.1%   2.8   14.6      1.32   29.3      1.6   2.2   0.8   2.0   0.0
Sprouse, Reggie....   24   -   24   26.7   41.6%   30.3%   59.0%   4.1   12.7      1.14   27.4      1.8   3.2   0.6   2.1   0.2

Obviously, Sam got screwed.  Not only should Sam have made it, he s/h/b PG on the first team.  Oh yeah, I forgot ... the gsac ignores positions also.

Next question is, who should have gotten the last spot on the 2nd team ... who s/h/b the 10th guy.  That's assuming, of course, that the gsac wanted to pretend to be a real conference.

[Spencer Beaty]

I think that there should be no second team.  We have too small of a conference to have 8 people make the first team.  That is almost half of the starters that make the first team all conference.  In comparison, a conference with 12 teams would have 24 players on the first team.  That is ridiculous to think that we should have more than eight all conference performers.

[bballlover]

Old_lion,You do numbers much better than I but, how does Tracey Gardner not make All Freshman?

[old_lion]

I think that there should be no second team.  We have too small of a conference to have 8 people make the first team. 

I assume you mean too small to recognize more than 8 guys.  That's certainly the prevailing logic ... I just disagree.  I think the current methodology makes the gsac seem even more half-assed (worthy of respect, if you prefer) than it already is.  The gsac does not need to be reinforcing that image.

In comparison, a conference with 12 teams would have 24 players on the first team. 

Sorry Spence, I can't even figure out what you are trying to say here.

  That is ridiculous to think that we should have more than eight all conference performers.

You are certainly entitled to your opnion.  Unfortunately, the "gsac brain trust" (one of my favorite all-time oxymorons) apparently agrees with you.

[old_lion]

Old_lion,You do numbers much better than I but, how does Tracey Gardner not make All Freshman?

I agree he's worthy ... but I can see several reasons why he was left off.

* 4 man team ... he could have been the 5th guy
* Tracy is not a big scorer ... he is a great intangibles guy ... that means very little to the gsac selectors
* PC didn't win enough ... I think the winner take all sentiment is strong (I think the only way Sam's absence the last five games was figured into anyone's logic is it got Sam over looked) ... considering that, it's surprising that PC guys were recognized as much as they were.

Re the winner take all sentiment ... had Pittman (and Baldwin last year) not been obviously more outstanding than the competition (Murvul's top player) then neither of them would have been POY.

[Spencer Beaty]

Old Lion,
I am saying there are too many players on the all conference team.

[old_lion]

Old Lion,
I am saying there are too many players on the all conference team.

I got that ... it was the "24 players on the first team" comment that I found incomprehensible ...

[Spencer Beaty]

there are eight players on the first team on the Great South Athletic Conference, and we only have four teams.  That means that there are two players for every team that made all conference.  I think we should shrink it down to maybe five, because some of these players are a little iffy.  A bigger conference has proportionally less players.  These larger conferences all conference teams are more legit...that is all I am saying.

[old_lion]

I think we should shrink it down to maybe five, because some of these players are a little iffy. 

Again, I just disagree ...

OK, how about this ... let's pretend for a minute that the gsac did not appear to aspire to be perceived as the most obvious red-headed step child (with apologies to read heads and step children everywhere) of a conference in the history of Western Civilization.  With a different perspective, maybe they could acknowledge the fact that a typical basketball team is made up of 5 guys, usually playing 3 basic positions ...

With those caveats, perhaps they could have selected as follows ...

First Team:
Bigs:  Hernandez and Herebia
Wings: Pittman and Watson
PG: Coppage

Second Team:
Bigs:  Whitfield and Cromwell
Wings*: Rubio and Sprouse

and ... drum roll please ... the 10th guy ...

PG: Damron

* Picking the wings on the second team would be the toughest call ... strong cases could also be made for Chris Roberts, Justin Rush, and Wes Lambert.  I, unlike Spence, think all of these 13 guys are good players and I wouldn't describe any of them as "iffy".

[Spencer Beaty]

They are good players, but good and all-conference are not the same thing.

[mattgrubb]

would your conference player of the year make the starting five on the maryville college team???

[scottiedoug]

DailyTimes on the Scots and the tourney:

http://thedailytimes.com/article/20090227/SPORTS/302279965

[old_lion]

would your conference player of the year make the starting five on the maryville college team???

Grubb,

I know you are known for your quirky sense of humor and your fierce Murvul loyalty to the point that your tongue is frequently firmly in cheek ... so I assume that was the case with that question.

But if not ... it would be intersting to see the 5 guys you think would keep him on the bench.

I'll answer your question with a similarly serious question ... do you think Lambert is an idiot?   

Pittman had a pretty strong game today ...
http://www.maryvillecollege.edu/athletics/livestats/mens-basketball/index.asp

[MCScotsFan]

Watson nor Hernandez MVP? I don't care what stats that kid had.. MVP will their teams to wins!! Absolutely nuts!!!

A knowledgable basketball fan knows that the MVP should have been Hernandez or Watson!!

I totally agree with you. Hernandez is my favorite player out there. However, Erik Watson is the most amazingly awesome player on the court. The man comes through time, after time, after time. He thinks and stays calm. I just think he should have been the one. Rarely do we see a player like him in this conference.


FOY, not being Damron or Lambert? I dunno...it sorta reminds me of how they do the karma on this board, LOL. Maybe they couldn't pick between the two so they just gave it to someone else.  Yeah, that's gotta be it.

FWIW, I thought Piedmont played their hearts out tonight.