All Americans

[fcnews]

I am sure there is nothing sweeter for Greg than someone saying "Maybe they were before your time". Makes old timers like him feel young again. Unfortunately it's not true. Only King D predates Greg I'm afraid. 

Alas, there are many of us older than Greg!

e.g., He is too young to have seen Jack Sikma; I graduated 4 years before Jack enrolled.

Based upon the various CCIW Chat regulars I have met over the years, I'd say that I'm either right at the median age for the room's regular contributors, or a just a little bit older than it. There have been times on CCIW Chat when Bob Quillman has been kidded for his youth, and Bob's now old enough to have run for president this past year. As d3boards.com rooms go, CCIW Chat is definitely Matlock in a sea of Gossip Girls.

Unfortunately, there aren't many other rooms on d3boards.com where I can claim to not be superannuated.

I know all about Randy Smith, though. As a kid growing up in the Syracuse area I was a big Braves fan, so I was an enthusiastic supporter of Smith, Don May, Elmore Smith, Bob McAdoo, Bob Kauffman, and Ernie D.

We were practically neighbors back then, as I grew up only 65 miles away in the Watertown-Carthage area. Spent many Friday and Saturday nights in the summer of '67 at the Red Dog Saloon in Manlius. The house band that summer was some college buddies from Potsdam St. You may or may not remember the place as it might have been history by the time you were drinking age.  And of course there was always the obligatory trip to the State fair every summer. Ah, the good old days.

Anyone who grew up in Watertown/Carthage has my sympathies. I mean, man, I thought that I had to suffer through interminable snowstorms every winter!

I graduated from Liverpool H.S. in '79, so the Red Dog Saloon was both before my time and on the opposite side of the city. Most of my bar experiences in CNY involved various establishments on the Hill during visits home when I was a recent post-collegian, since SU bars seem to be the best thing Syracuse has going for it when you're an early-twentysomething.

The State Fair was a major highlight of the year, of course, if you grew up in the Syracuse area.

'79 now I do feel old. But, Hopefan gave a clue to his age. Wow 

I was just watching the Final Four Festivities on ESPN and John Grotberg just shot a 17 in the 3 point contest.  I dont think that is going to get him to the next round, but not a bad showing for the only d3 contestant.

Update: Grotberg missed the semifinals by 2 points.  4th place had 19 points.

I'd of taken Fontbonne's Patrick McCoy and Chris Forrest against them all.

[Hugenerd]

Here is a link to DIIINews' year end newsletter. 

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/D3NApril09FINAL.pdf

Congrats to Kent Raymond for being named player of the year. 

Sean Wallis and Jeff Skemp, however, do not appear on any of the 5 all-america teams (Djurickovic didnt make any team either, although all three did get listed as one of the 35 Honorble mention players).   And since when was Justin Short in the conversation about being one of the top 5 players in d3?  I am not trying to take anything away from him, but I had not heard any discussion about him being a candidate for the first team, or as an all-american for that matter.

To me, though, the biggest head-scratcher is Skemp.  He was named d3hoops and NABC west region player of the year (he was also named 1st team all-america by both).  He was also named co-WIAC player of the year by the WIAC coaches, along with DJ Marsh.  However, DIIINews named Marsh to 1st-team All-America and didnt name Skemp to any of the 5 teams?  I am not saying Marsh shouldnt be an All-American, I am just saying that if Marsh is 1st team, you would expect Skemp to be up there also (considering both had similar numbers: both scored 19 ppg, Marsh had more rebounds and steals, Skemp shot much better from the floor and had more blocks; while Skemp was on a better team).

In addition to this glaring omission, the also misspelled several players names.  I understand how someone could misspell a tough name like Chmielowiec, but how do you misspell Kathan (who, by the way, did not make any of the 5 DIIINews teams either)?  Do they even proof-read their season-ending publication or does the proof-reader not know enough about dIII basketball to know that those are mistakes?  You think that they could find someone to edit their 8 page newsletter (of which 2 are advertisements) since they are charging $40 for a subscription.  Anyway, it was my first time looking at the publication and I was a bit disappointed.  I also thought it was amusing that they acknowledge NABC given awards (listing it in Raymond's bio), but completely ignore his awards from d3hoops.

[magicman]

Here is a link to DIIINews' year end newsletter. 

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/D3NApril09FINAL.pdf

Congrats to Kent Raymond for being named player of the year. 

Sean Wallis and Jeff Skemp, however, do not appear on any of the 5 all-america teams (Djurickovic didnt make any team either, although all three did get listed as one of the 35 Honorble mention players).   And since when was Justin Short in the conversation about being one of the top 5 players in d3?  I am not trying to take anything away from him, but I had not heard any discussion about him being a candidate for the first team, or as an all-american for that matter.

To me, though, the biggest head-scratcher is Skemp.  He was named d3hoops and NABC west region player of the year (he was also named 1st team all-america by both).  He was also named co-WIAC player of the year by the WIAC coaches, along with DJ Marsh.  However, DIIINews named Marsh to 1st-team All-America and didnt name Skemp to any of the 5 teams?  I am not saying Marsh shouldnt be an All-American, I am just saying that if Marsh is 1st team, you would expect Skemp to be up there also (considering both had similar numbers: both scored 19 ppg, Marsh had more rebounds and steals, Skemp shot much better from the floor and had more blocks; while Skemp was on a better team).

In addition to this glaring omission, the also misspelled several players names.  I understand how someone could misspell a tough name like Chmielowiec, but how do you misspell Kathan (who, by the way, did not make any of the 5 DIIINews teams either)?  Do they even proof-read their season-ending publication or does the proof-reader not know enough about dIII basketball to know that those are mistakes?  You think that they could find someone to edit their 8 page newsletter (of which 2 are advertisements) since they are charging $40 for a subscription.  Anyway, it was my first time looking at the publication and I was a bit disappointed.  I also thought it was amusing that they acknowledge NABC given awards (listing it in Raymond's bio), but completely ignore his awards from d3hoops.

My guess would be that they view D3hoops as competition and and don't want to give their competitor any ink in their publication. They also give Jimmy B a write up for his Jostens award but fail to mention he was the D3hoops POY. I agree the Skemp omission defies logic and putting Bartolotta on the 2nd team instead of the 1st  wasn't too swift either.

[sac]

I was just watching the Final Four Festivities on ESPN and John Grotberg just shot a 17 in the 3 point contest.  I dont think that is going to get him to the next round, but not a bad showing for the only d3 contestant.

Update: Grotberg missed the semifinals by 2 points.  4th place had 19 points.

The shots from straightaway were killers, I think he missed all 5 of those.  Otherwise he has a nice looking stroke.

Made sure to pop the jersey for everyone to see. 

[Hugenerd]

Here is a link to DIIINews' year end newsletter. 

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/D3NApril09FINAL.pdf

Congrats to Kent Raymond for being named player of the year. 

Sean Wallis and Jeff Skemp, however, do not appear on any of the 5 all-america teams (Djurickovic didnt make any team either, although all three did get listed as one of the 35 Honorble mention players).   And since when was Justin Short in the conversation about being one of the top 5 players in d3?  I am not trying to take anything away from him, but I had not heard any discussion about him being a candidate for the first team, or as an all-american for that matter.

To me, though, the biggest head-scratcher is Skemp.  He was named d3hoops and NABC west region player of the year (he was also named 1st team all-america by both).  He was also named co-WIAC player of the year by the WIAC coaches, along with DJ Marsh.  However, DIIINews named Marsh to 1st-team All-America and didnt name Skemp to any of the 5 teams?  I am not saying Marsh shouldnt be an All-American, I am just saying that if Marsh is 1st team, you would expect Skemp to be up there also (considering both had similar numbers: both scored 19 ppg, Marsh had more rebounds and steals, Skemp shot much better from the floor and had more blocks; while Skemp was on a better team).

In addition to this glaring omission, the also misspelled several players names.  I understand how someone could misspell a tough name like Chmielowiec, but how do you misspell Kathan (who, by the way, did not make any of the 5 DIIINews teams either)?  Do they even proof-read their season-ending publication or does the proof-reader not know enough about dIII basketball to know that those are mistakes?  You think that they could find someone to edit their 8 page newsletter (of which 2 are advertisements) since they are charging $40 for a subscription.  Anyway, it was my first time looking at the publication and I was a bit disappointed.  I also thought it was amusing that they acknowledge NABC given awards (listing it in Raymond's bio), but completely ignore his awards from d3hoops.

My guess would be that they view D3hoops as competition and and don't want to give their competitor any ink in their publication. They also give Jimmy B a write up for his Jostens award but fail to mention he was the D3hoops POY. I agree the Skemp omission defies logic and putting Bartolotta on the 2nd team instead of the 1st  wasn't too swift either.

I agree with your assessment, but they also dont mention Bartolotta being named NABC player of the year, while they mention Kent Raymond being named NABC first-team.  That makes me think that they not only are not reporting competitors' awards but they are also not reported awards that do not agree with their assessments (or so it appears).  I don't see why else they would mention NABC awards for one player but not for the other.

[Hugenerd]

I was just watching the Final Four Festivities on ESPN and John Grotberg just shot a 17 in the 3 point contest.  I dont think that is going to get him to the next round, but not a bad showing for the only d3 contestant.

Update: Grotberg missed the semifinals by 2 points.  4th place had 19 points.

The shots from straightaway were killers, I think he missed all 5 of those.  Otherwise he has a nice looking stroke.

Made sure to pop the jersey for everyone to see. 

Yeah, he really struggled from the top of the key, which is usually considered the easiest spot on the floor to shoot from.  He was 0/6 points (0/5 shots) from the top and was 17/24 points everywhere else.  Would have been nice if he could have made it to the semi's to represent for dIII. 

It will be interesting to see how Bartolotta does tomorrow, although I am keeping my expectations reasonable considering the competition.  His best chance to succeed, in my opinion, is if: a) Bartolotta gets some playing time, and b) if Woodside (or whoever plays point) is able to get penetration into the paint and draws help D, like he did against Kansas, and Bartolotta has the oppurtunity to shoot some open shots, because he will have the 3-point range of anyone in the game (if his ankle is healed).  I dont expect him to be able to out-quick anyone in the game, but, you never know, he may even be able to post up a little because 3 of the 4 guards on the opposing team are 6'1" or shorter (and he is 6'4").  I know I am being overly optimistic in my assessment, but I can't help it.  I wish him the best of luck tomorrow. 

[magicman]

Here is a link to DIIINews' year end newsletter. 

http://bearsports.wustl.edu/mensbball/D3NApril09FINAL.pdf

Congrats to Kent Raymond for being named player of the year. 

Sean Wallis and Jeff Skemp, however, do not appear on any of the 5 all-america teams (Djurickovic didnt make any team either, although all three did get listed as one of the 35 Honorble mention players).   And since when was Justin Short in the conversation about being one of the top 5 players in d3?  I am not trying to take anything away from him, but I had not heard any discussion about him being a candidate for the first team, or as an all-american for that matter.

To me, though, the biggest head-scratcher is Skemp.  He was named d3hoops and NABC west region player of the year (he was also named 1st team all-america by both).  He was also named co-WIAC player of the year by the WIAC coaches, along with DJ Marsh.  However, DIIINews named Marsh to 1st-team All-America and didnt name Skemp to any of the 5 teams?  I am not saying Marsh shouldnt be an All-American, I am just saying that if Marsh is 1st team, you would expect Skemp to be up there also (considering both had similar numbers: both scored 19 ppg, Marsh had more rebounds and steals, Skemp shot much better from the floor and had more blocks; while Skemp was on a better team).

In addition to this glaring omission, the also misspelled several players names.  I understand how someone could misspell a tough name like Chmielowiec, but how do you misspell Kathan (who, by the way, did not make any of the 5 DIIINews teams either)?  Do they even proof-read their season-ending publication or does the proof-reader not know enough about dIII basketball to know that those are mistakes?  You think that they could find someone to edit their 8 page newsletter (of which 2 are advertisements) since they are charging $40 for a subscription.  Anyway, it was my first time looking at the publication and I was a bit disappointed.  I also thought it was amusing that they acknowledge NABC given awards (listing it in Raymond's bio), but completely ignore his awards from d3hoops.

My guess would be that they view D3hoops as competition and and don't want to give their competitor any ink in their publication. They also give Jimmy B a write up for his Jostens award but fail to mention he was the D3hoops POY. I agree the Skemp omission defies logic and putting Bartolotta on the 2nd team instead of the 1st  wasn't too swift either.

I agree with your assessment, but they also dont mention Bartolotta being named NABC player of the year, while they mention Kent Raymond being named NABC first-team.  That makes me think that they not only are not reporting competitors' awards but they are also not reported awards that do not agree with their assessments (or so it appears).  I don't see why else they would mention NABC awards for one player but not for the other.

Yes, you're right. I was so amused they didn't mention his D3hoops POY that I didn't even think about their failure to mention his NABC POY. Doesn't make me want to run out and subscribe to their newsletter.

[fcnews]

I only got the chance to see Skemp play twice this year. But, unless they were strictly out of the norm, I'm shocked. His performance against Wheaton was the most dominate performance of any player I saw all season. It wasn't like he was playing a team of undersized players. I considered Weile as one of the better to best post players in the midwest (Ruch is as good). And Skemp did it in his teams biggest game.

IMHO, Aaron Thompson would of been the best D3 choice in the 3 pt contest.

[Ethelred the Unready]

I only got the chance to see Skemp play twice this year. But, unless they were strictly out of the norm, I'm shocked. His performance against Wheaton was the most dominate performance of any player I saw all season. It wasn't like he was playing a team of undersized players. I considered Weile as one of the better to best post players in the midwest (Ruch is as good). And Skemp did it in his teams biggest game.

IMHO, Aaron Thompson would of been the best D3 choice in the 3 pt contest.

I think, based on watching him play SLU and WashU, I might take the kid from Richard Stockton

And maybe try to sneak Rob Dominiak in who based on the alumni game a couple months ago, can still hit consistently from 30 with little effort

[Pat Coleman]

I don't know if the shootout is treated like an all-star game, where it's only seniors because otherwise they'd lose a year of eligibility.

[Hugenerd]

I am pretty sure Grotberg was selected because he has hit the most 3s of any player in NCAA history (across all divisions).  He made 526 3s in his career, breaking fellow Grinnell player Jeff Clement's previous record of 516.  The most 3s hit by a D1 player is JJ Redick with 457 (although Redick hit that many in 139 games, while Grotberg on played in 96 for his career).

[fcnews]

DUH - Thanks Pat. Brain lock.

Hugenerd - I really enjoyed watching Grotberg play when they came to FU this season. But, 157 - 411, not to impressed.

Fontbonne College's Dino McKinney was the first college player to break 400. He had 153 in one season and shot it at 50.9 %. (those figures are based on my memory, but their real close). He only had 17 as a freshmen.

I think the Grinnell pub was a huge factor also. Great kid and don't get me wrong, he can shoot. But, there are better pure shooters in D3 who could represented us better.

[Hugenerd]

DUH - Thanks Pat. Brain lock.

Hugenerd - I really enjoyed watching Grotberg play when they came to FU this season. But, 157 - 411, not to impressed.

Fontbonne College's Dino McKinney was the first college player to break 400. He had 153 in one season and shot it at 50.9 %. (those figures are based on my memory, but their real close). He only had 17 as a freshmen.

I think the Grinnell pub was a huge factor also. Great kid and don't get me wrong, he can shoot. But, there are better pure shooters in D3 who could represented us better.

I agree with you, but I just think he was invited solely because of that distinction (most 3s in a career)

[Hugenerd]

I was able to watch about 3/4 of the NABC All-Star game today and the Reece's team beat the Hershey's team 105-100.  I havent seen a boxscore, but in the part of the game I saw, Bartolotta played about 5 minutes and made a shot. Heytvelt was clearly the best player in the game, he dominated in the second half.

In the middle of the second half, they did a nice feature on Bartolotta, outlining his stats and doing a live interview from the bench.  You had your typical questions about being a student at MIT, but it was clear by the last question that the lady doing the interview didnt have a ton of background because she asked him whether he would try ot play in the NBA next year, to which Bartolotta chuckled and answered he was going to try to play in Europe.  Anyway, it was nice exposure and I am sure he will have fun receiving his POY award this weekend.

[Hugenerd]

Boxscore for the All-Star game, for those who are interested:

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/gonz/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/NABCBox.pdf