Robbery

[eddantes]

Once again, the Big South doesn't reward LU players with the ultimate prize - Player of the Year.

Both Dees and Blair were named to 1st team all-conference... Player of the Year went to Pele Paeley, from Coastal Carolina... Eighth place Coastal Carolina.

If he was such a great player, then why did his team stink?

Sure, he led the conference in scoring (17.0 ppg to Dees and Blair's 16.4), but there's a reason - Coastal Stinks. He's the only option.

Ridiculous. Expected, but ridiculous.

[Realist]

Yeah, that was insane.

The POY should have either gone to Dees or Martin. Dees was the model of consistency throughout the season, Martin played the biggest in the big games.

No player on an 8 seed should get it.

[eddantes]

Thanks for the backup, Realist. You know, this is the second time in three years that Coastal had a lousy team and still had the player of the year (Torrey Butler won with his 7th place Coastal team because he outscored Gabe Martin by like a point)...

The Player of the Year has to go to one of three people - the best player on the best team (Torell Martin of Winthrop), the best player on a team that wouldn't be there without him (Dees) or, if there is no clear winner, the best player in the league (I'd argue Larry Blair... Pele would be way down the list. But it doesn't matter, because there were clear MVPs).

Now, because the Big South is inept when it comes to handing out awards, I'd say that any player in the bottom half of the league is automatically eliminated from POY consideration.

It's like when the Pittsburgh Pirates (then in last place) were negotiating a contract with Ralph Kiner, who led the league in homeruns that year - "We came in last with you, we can come in last without you."

[PAmedic]

yo ED: is virtual-ed down for repairs or what? getting outfitted w/ new gear I hope (maybe some Oakley's?)

[eddantes]

Yeah, I took Virtual Ed down because he needed a new look, but ESPN's virtual host is also down, so I can't do it just yet.

I decided to send an e-mail to the Big South via its Ask the Commissioner feature on the website about the ridiculous selection of Pele as its POY. I got a snide e-mail back saying that Pele had finished in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and steals, which only like six players in the nation had accomplished, and added that he was one of two players in the conference to have two 20 point, 10 rebound games. The e-mail also said that Coastal could have feasibly grabbed third in the conference had things fallen their way on Saturday.

I responded by saying that going into the last day of play, Pele had led his team to a sub-.500 record, not exactly the type of value expected from an MVP, and that an eighth place finish is an eighth place finish no matter what.

I then went on to say that of Pele's two 20 point, 10 board games (neither of which were in conference), Coastal lost both... And then I added that the Coastal coach would probably trade Pele's individual performance for a chance to beat perennial powerhouse Evansville.

I continued, adding that he failed to carry his team in big games, going a lowly 2-4 against the top three teams in the Big South (Winthrop, LIberty and UNC-A). Not exactly POY material.

And then finally, I concluded by saying that you were sending the message to the players that team performance doesn't matter, just rack up the individual stats will get you the POY nod (the concept of team is secondary to individual accomplishments, according to the Big South)... And then added that bad teams allow one good player to get stats, by being the only go-to guy on the team.

And that's that. I await a response.

Of course, none of this can explain why Dunton wasn't named the Coach of the Year when Liberty was second in the league, thanks to him guiding the program to the second-biggest turnaround in the NCAA that year.

Liberty bias, my friends. Liberty bias. Even the Winthropians on this board has to admit that something is fishy.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Let me be the one to say that I don't think anything fishy is going on, it's just the nature of awards voting to go with the guy with the numbers, that's all...besides, I think it is the coaches and SIDs voting on this stuff (not just some guy in the conference office), so if there is a conspiracy against certain teams, it is very well orchestrated. Especially when there are teammates involved (like Dees and Blair & Martin and Shuler), it is generally the case that voters will put one from each team high on their ballot, but not usually both. And since everyone probably then put Paelay high on their ballots, he ends up winning as he's high on everybody's, but the other four are splitting votes to some degree...or maybe people are out to get Liberty players and coaches, I don't know...either way, individual awards are nice, but give me a championship team and I don't care if High Point players win the awards.

[Realist]

I don't know if I buy into any conspiracy theories, but it does seem sometimes that the big south likes to promote and publicize certain teams and not others. UNCA and Coastal come to mind with getting favorable awards and press from the Big South, LU and WU don't seem to get just rewards sometimes. I won't argue that dunton should have been COY that year you mentioned. Marshall should have won it a couple more times than he has gotten it as well.

But eaglefan probably made the best point---Dees and Blair might have canceled each other out (hard way to word it) as well as Martin and Shuler, and Paeley is certainly deserving of votes, which he obviously received---just not "the" POY.

Also, WU received a Top 25 AP vote today---why does the Big South not put that on the website? Has any Big South school ever received that distinction before? Seems like you would want to at least acknowledge it if you're the conference.

[Formerplayer]

WU isn't the first Big South School to get a top 25 vote. LU got one in the 99-00 season. That was the year they started off like 8-1, 10-2 USA Today had them receiving one vote. They finished that year at 15-14 or 14-15 I can't remember, way to go Mel.

Sly, who made it out of our region? Did Marshall make it or at least make it to the regional final? I heard Dulles lost, I heard they were ranked nationally. Willowridge had them beat Dulles threw up a prayer from half court and won by 1 (So I heard).

[LUconn]

AP votes to me are much more impressive than ESPN/Coaches poll. That poll is a joke. It's my understanding that most coaches have their wives/secretary/children fill it out. Coaches don't have time to make an observation about every team in the country. That's what the writers are for. That's the poll of choice for me.

Besides, how often did Kerry Green vote for LU in the women's poll last year anyway? I'm pretty sure, every time.

[Sly Fox]

LUconn -- You have much more faith in the writers than I do. And I work alongside them everyday. They don't see much more of schools outside their beat than the coaches do. Getting votes in either poll is nice. But it often is a throwaway vote on somebody's ballot because they can't bring themselves to vote for somebody they don't like. But that's just my two cents worth.

formerplayer -- You need to check back with Jim Hick's RCS Sports website for the latest scoop. The big game tonight is down at Hopson with Marshall facing Aldine. Marshall is absolutely loaded (in the way Willowridge was back in the day) but Aldine probably has the player on the floor who is just a sophomore (top-5 nationally in his class behind OJ Mayo). We're sending a photog out there but I won't be with him unfortunately. Tonight is the Regional Quarterfinals with the Regional Tourneys Friday & Saturday. The Dulles girls were ranked #1 in state and #2 in USA Today before getting shocked in the regionals this past weekend. The Dulles boys weren't anything special.

[PAmedic]

it took me a minute to realize the school you bronco bustin' cactus eatin' hicks are referring to was NOT, in fact , the real Marshall (as in Thundering Herd). shoulda known it was a Texas thing!

[Realist]

WU with now 2 votes in the AP, plus no big south team has gotten a vote before. Confirmed that.

[Sly Fox]

AP votes mean nothing now. But it does indicate you Winthrop boys are likely to get better than the standard 15-seed.

formerplayer -- Wheatley (4A) and Kingwood (5A) are headed to State. Kingwood knocked off Marshall in regionals.

PAmedic --- This Marshall HS has more talent than the Thundering Herd.