MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[havej]

All conference team listed on the WIAC website - some 1st teamers that surprised

[basketballman14]

A big time surprise with the All-WIAC selections. Do coaches vote based on production or based on whether or not they like a player? Anybody know?

[basketballman14]

Clayton Heuer averaged 9 points and not even 5 rebounds on a team that is loaded and earns All-Conference? Maybe the WIAC should just do away with All Conference honors. Anybody have any thoughts?

[Pat Coleman]

Is there a defensive reason to vote for him that doesn't show up in points and rebounds?

[havej]

To Pat's point Heuer anchors Point's defense and is an excellent interior defender.  I think the fact he made it last year helped him make it this year, although that shouldn't carry any weight.

One thing stands out - the coaches vote the guys in who played on the best teams for the most part.  Peterson led the league in scoring and didn't make 1st team but he plays on a non-playoff team.  I think he lead the league in scoring last year as well.  Ollie White was selected and his team was worse than Peterson's so that contradicts.

I thought Heuer and Young were more impactful for their teams last year but their teams finished 1-2.

Still can't figure the Royston selection - something like 16th in the league in scoring at 11ppg and shot 34% from the floor.  Maybe they wanted to reward Oshkosh for making the playoffs??

[basketballman14]

Personally, to me, it should only be about production. Peterson was in the top half of every offensive category and his points-per-shot is second to none so it's not like he was chucking up shots for the heck of it. I don't know I'm just baffled.

[badgerwarhawk]

A big time surprise with the All-WIAC selections. Do coaches vote based on production or based on whether or not they like a player? Anybody know?

I suspect it's probably a little of both.  With some it's possible that a lot could depend on how that player played against that coach's team when the two teams met.  It's possible that the fact a team is loaded with talent reduces a certain player's role on the team and his stats aren't as good as they would be if he played on another team.  That doesn't necessarily mean that player is less talented than another.  That player on another team might score/rebound with much higher numbers.  I think overall the coaches have a pretty good idea of which players are better than others.  Definitely more so than the average fan who only looks at stats. 



Here's the process:
1.  Coaches nominate their players.  They are free to nominate as many players as they wish to.
2.  Then the coaches vote.  They can not vote for their own player(s).  The top 10 (or 11 if there is a tie for the tenth player) are first team.  The next ten honorable mention.
3.  The top 3 are candidates for the POY. 
4.  The coaches vote a second time on the top 3 and the winner is POY

[Pat Coleman]

Personally, to me, it should only be about production. Peterson was in the top half of every offensive category and his points-per-shot is second to none so it's not like he was chucking up shots for the heck of it. I don't know I'm just baffled.

Actually, you are saying it should only be about offensive production. Think the coaches watch a lot more tape than anyone on this board does and have a handle on whether a player is well-rounded or just a scorer.

[stoutfan1]

Just looked at the selections and a couple make you think. I was surprised that Jenny was selected, but do agree he was most deserving. Most of the attention goes to Oman and Whitehead and sometimes people forget about the other guy (even though I don't think Jenny went unnoticed by any means). The two players that I really just don't know about would be Heuer and Royston. I got to see Royston play and overall wasn't that impressive (offensively or defensively) and his overall numbers were not a head turner.
I also got to see Heuer play a couple times and I get that he was the inside presence and anchor on the defensive end, but it wasn't like Points defense struggled when Heuer was off the floor either. Offensively his numbers weren't much or any other statistic.
Honorable mentions were all deserving, but I will agree I was surprised by Peterson. Even when you are on a "bad" team,  if you lead the league in scoring it usually has a lot of weight with it. I never got to see him play so I cant shed much light. I would probably just have to say the coaches obviously thought he wasn't much of a "team" player or maybe he was a dick. Who knows?!?
Congratulations to the Sportsmanship Team and Merg on the Scholar Athlete.

Hopefully Whitewater and Point will be meeting in the NCAA Tourny and the winner will go on to make the WIAC proud.

[havej]

stoutfan - agree on Jenny being most deserving.  He plays as hard as anybody in the WIAC and any team would be better with him.  It's too bad he had to play with some injuries but great to see him make 1st team.

Hard to evaluate Peterson because his team was not very good.  He had to shoulder most of the offense which caused him to force shots and turn it over quite a bit.  Obviously coaches had varying opinions of his play.  Have to admit the guy competes but does some things that make you wonder.

[warhawkguard]

Wow. I have been watching the season from afar and I am impressed so far. Warhawks team is pretty great so far except for a couple unfortunate losses earlier, they can play anybody.

Only loss for SP. great job.

Go Hawks!

Go Hawks....and Pointers...in the tourney and hopefully one of them takes the trophy home!

Go WIAC!

[basketballman14]

stoutfan - agree on Jenny being most deserving.  He plays as hard as anybody in the WIAC and any team would be better with him.  It's too bad he had to play with some injuries but great to see him make 1st team.

Hard to evaluate Peterson because his team was not very good.  He had to shoulder most of the offense which caused him to force shots and turn it over quite a bit.  Obviously coaches had varying opinions of his play.  Have to admit the guy competes but does some things that make you wonder.

Peterson still shot nearly 48% from the field and over 40% from 3. Led in free-throws made, top 10 in rebounding, top 5 in free-throws attempted and other numerous categories. Having watched Superior a ton this season, he was the best player on the court between the two teams 95% of the time. While he did have an attitude, he played extremely hard. And yes he did turn it over a lot but he didn't force that many bad shots if he still shot nearly 48%. Idk. Oh well. It makes for a fun argument!

[Greek Tragedy]

http://www.wiacsports.com/news/2014/3/5/MBB_0305142845.aspx

Here's the complete list.

I'm shocked to see Heuer on the list. I didn't see many games but he didn't impress me much at all, offensively or defensively.

As for Joyston, I'm at a loss for words.

[havej]

bballfan14 - we do not disagree on Peterson being left off.  In a post on February 23rd I had him on my first team.  There's no way he's not one of the ten best performers in the league.  I was just trying to pose possible reasons for his omission.  We'll never know why some guys didn't include him on their vote.

You commented that you saw Superior play often - they won just four games in league play this year and might have gone 0-16 without him??

[John Gleich]

http://www.wiacsports.com/news/2014/3/5/MBB_0305142845.aspx

Here's the complete list.

I'm shocked to see Heuer on the list. I didn't see many games but he didn't impress me much at all, offensively or defensively.

As for Joyston, I'm at a loss for words.

See, I disagree. Clayton played three of his best games against Platteville in games that they NEEDED him to step up and match up against Chas Cross and carried the team at other times during the year.

Early on, Clayton may have struggled at times, but he's really turned it on in the second half of the year in my opinion.