MVC Player of the Year?

[real fan]

Egsleder hands down would get it today because they are in 1st place and would not be without him , his presence makes everyone else better on their team.

[Da Coach]

Egsleder hands down would get it today because they are in 1st place and would not be without him , his presence makes everyone else better on their team.

I thought it was time to revive this old thread about possible POY candidates. I think Eglseder will lose some support because his numbers have slipped a bit, and now he's serving the suspension.
It's possible the POY will come from UNI since they ran away with the MVC this season. But I am not so sure.

Kwadzo Ahelegbe is only averaging 2.7 assists per game (13th in the MVC- behind even several reserves), and he leads the MVC in turnovers by a wide margin with 3.2 turnovers per game. Also, his scoring average is only 11.1 ppg, which is not even in the top 20 players in the league, and is lower than he scored last year. His shooting percentage is also down from last season. Combined with the fact ISU has been around .500 for the year, and I think the support for Eldridge will not be too strong.

Adam Koch is UNI's leading scorer at 12.6 ppg, about the same as last year, but that is only 11th in the MVC. His shooting percentage and rebounding average are both lower than they were each of the last 2 seasons.

Osiris Eldridge, the preseason POY pick, will get some votes, but he is also having a slightly disappointing season. His scoring average is actually lower than it was his sophomore season and is fallling fast, his shooting percentages are down, his rebounding average is lower than it was all 3 of his previous seasons, and his turnover average is higher than it's been in his 3 previous years.

Other players having good seasons and who could get some consideration include Josh Young, Andrew Warren, Sam Maniscalco, Taylor Brown, Harry Marshall, Kyle Weems, Kenny Lawson, Toure' Murry, Clevin Hannah, Dinma Odiakosa, Tony Freeman, and Kevin Dillard. But because they play for teams with little or no chance to win the MVC, their chances may be lower.

Who will be the POY?

[tornado]

here's the list of guys who got preseason mention, both All-MVC and Hon. Mention...

Preseason Player of the Year -- Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State

2009-10 MVC Preseason All-Conference Team
Name, School, Pos., Ht., Wt., Year, Hometown, High School
Kwadzo Ahelegbe, UNI, G, 6-2, 200, Jr., Oakdale (Minn.) Tartan High
Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State, G, 6-3, 215, Sr., Chicago (Ill.) Phillips Academy
Tony Freeman, Southern Illinois, G, 6-1, 195, Sr., Maywood (Ill.) St. Joseph's / Iowa transfer
Adam Koch, UNI, F, 6-8, 255, Sr., Ashawubenon (Wis.) High
P'Allen Stinnett, Creighton, G, 6-3, 180, Jr., Las Vegas (Nev.) Brewster Academy [N.H.]
Josh Young, Drake, G, 6-1, 174, Sr., Lawton (Okla.) Lawton Christian High

HM: Kevin Dillard, Southern Illinois; Clevin Hannah, Wichita State; Jake Kelly, Indiana State; Sam Maniscalco, Bradley; Harry Marshall, Indiana State; Toure' Murry, Wichita State


Of the 12 players mentioned in the preseason....(and Eglseder was NOT one of them)
--3 are out for probably the rest of the season which hurts their chances (Kelly, Marshall, Stinnett)
--and several are having off years or their teams are doing badly--

Dillard - his team is 6-9 and one spot out of last place, his individual numbers are still pretty good, though.

Kwadzo - is with the 1st place team so he'll get consideration, but individually he's only averaging 11 ppg, and 2.7 apg - not real impressive.

Osiris - overall scoring numbers are still good, but everything's off from last year and basically he gets points just by jacking plenty.
He is hurting his team with selfishness, and I suspect the people who vote on the awards notice that.

Tony Freeman - one dimensional - and I doubt the 2nd best player on a 9th place team will get a single vote.

Adam Koch - he might get votes on reputation, but if anyone looks at the numbers, the case gets weaker...individually, as hard as this is to believe,
he's not top-10 in any scoring, rebounding, or defensive category in Valley play!

Josh Young - still has strong numbers, but like Osiris, he's way off from expectations (plus his team is 6-9 tied for 9th) and gets his points
by launching lots of shots and isn't really helping his team.

Hannah - is better than expected and should be 1st team

Toure Murry - again...decent numbers, but not really top 10 in much at all...

Then we come to Sammy - who was given only Honorable Mention status in the preseason, but Sam is Top 10 in practically every Valley category that numbers are being kept!!!
I think he is the clear favorite as the MOST valuable player in the league and is the best candidate for Player of the Year

Then a couple other players who were left off the preseason accolades have clearly played well enough to get 1st team mention (or 2nd/3rd)...

Andrew Warren, Taylor Brown (only player in the TOP 6-8 in scoring AND rebounding AND FT%), Dinma Odiakosa, and just maybe Kyle Weems or Kenny Lawson....

[peoriaspitfire]

I think he is the clear favorite as the MOST valuable player in the league and is the best candidate for Player of the Year

I'm highly biased, but I have to agree. SM has had a great MVC year, but I'm like others have said, I don't see a middle of the pack team's player getting this award.

[bigdaddystuck]

Clearly SM has had a very good MVC season. But voters do and are going to look at how his team is doing and I just don't think he will win it. I am not saying he isn't worthy, just don't see it going to a guy from a 4-6th place team.

[jeffsu]

Clearly SM has had a very good MVC season. But voters do and are going to look at how his team is doing and I just don't think he will win it. I am not saying he isn't worthy, just don't see it going to a guy from a 4-6th place team.

Unfortunately, I think that's the case. Though I'm glad we can make a case for having him!

I wouldn't be surprised to see it be Hannah or Murry from WSU. I think Dinma (assuming they end in 3rd) could make a case, too. Don't be surprised... seems like Dinma has shined quite a bit lately. Haven't Dinma and Sammy won the last 4 POWs??

[BradleyJD]

Individual awards are wonderful to have. They say a lot about a season of consistent production.

However, the team is what is most important.

I would agree that Sam has done a wonderful job for most of the year. However, I think you have to look at Bradley overall and realize that their team record will be a factor in the voting.

[kds]

I love the guy but get Warren off the list now. Those have to be the most mis-leading stats of all time.

You are joking right?

[Garland 22]

While I think that Sammy's efforts have been courageous this season, I don't think he has earned the Player of the Year honors.

Keep in mind that the Player of the Year award goes to the best player in the Valley for the entire season, not just the MVC season. Plus, you could argue that Sammy's numbers are inflated because he plays on a bad team. If we were to run the table and end up with 11 Valley wins we still aren't in the picture for 20 regular season wins. I know he may have been injured but he did play on a team that wasn't in position for an NCAA bid after the non-con.

I think there are three logical choices, and agree you have to look outside the numbers a bit and look at the Value to a good team: Egelseder, Koch, and Hannah are the only logical choices in my mind.

[tornado]

I just checked something on Osiris Eldridge...feel free to check yourself...
since the ISU site has a game-line play-by-play for every one of their games, I thought I'd check how often Osiris helps his team down the stretch...
I counted all of his shots and scoring in the final 3 minutes of every Valley game...

What I found is quite interesting...
If you're a gamer, a POY candidate, then you want the ball in your hands and you help your team by hitting baskets down the stretch, right.....

Well, in 15 MVC games thus far (and I included their one OT period), Osiris Edridge has made only 4 baskets in the final 3 minutes of games & OT's...
only 4!...and if you expand that search to the final FOUR minutes, then the number jumps all the way to 5 baskets in the final four minutes of Valley games & OT periods..... (he had one bucket recently at the 3:58 mark).
This is where he should shine and be making buckets, instead his shooting pct in the final minutes of games is abysmal...plus there are turnovers, fouls, etc...

PLUS...of the four baskets in the final 3 minutes...three of them came in one game...a bad loss at Drake when ISU trailed at half 35-15!
The game at Drake was where OE was scoreless in the first half then launched a bunch of shots in a losing effort in the 2nd half...(they still lost by 10 and the game was never really that close.)
Those 3 buckets in the final 3 minutes of that game were meaningless, as they were just to pad O's stats, and he was launching against Drakes subs.


The one and only decent 2nd half or late game performance came in a blowout loss...and the only other basket inside the final 3 minutes of any Valley game was when he lauched 5 times in the overtime period at SIU and made only one of them helping his team to the loss down at Carbondale...
(finishing the game 5-21, while his counterparts Dillard, Freeman, & Bocot went off for 44 pts.)

I can't find any examples where OE helped win a game in the late minutes. Has there ever been such a game?

[BradleyJD]

How many rebounds, assists, steals, or deflections did he have in the final minutes of those games?

Also, how many of ISU's games were under 10 points at the end?


Those might be things to look for.

[tornado]

so you think the guys who vote on POY check the guy's deflections??
but if you want the answer....just check for yourself....or read this more expanded version of my opinion...

http://bubravesblogger.blogspot.com/2010/02/who-will-be-mvc-player-of-year.html

Eldridge's performances in the final minutes of several recent games has been so bad that the Pantagraph reporter has commented on it and even Jankovich has yanked Eldridge out of close games down the streatch and subbed in someone else...
read it and weep......

"He isn’t helping the team and is randomly jacking up shots...
Eldridge is mired in a horrendous shooting slump and yes, he does launch some ill-advised shots...Jankovich has taken him out of some recent games after putting up 25-footers."

also..
" Why doesn’t Jankovich just bench Osiris Eldridge? He isn’t helping the team and is randomly jacking up shots.
...ISU is going to need Eldridge to snap out of his offensive funk down the stretch"

http://www.pantagraph.com/app/blogs/main/?p=4779

[real fan]

Eglseder out as a candidate because of suspension, Odiakosa in as of now, S.M. real close but needs 3 more good games.

[BradleyJD]

[QUOTE=tornado;166305]so you think the guys who vote on POY check the guy's deflections??

I have no idea what they vote on.

However as a coach, I know I look for them.

Give me the guys who set good screens, rebound, and make deflections any day.

[tornado]

those weren't my words...
many such comments are coming from their own beat reporters and even their own fans...

Basically they are saying he is "hurting their team"...
so I ask how can a guy who's being removed from games because he's hurting their team POSSIBLY
be considered a candidate for the Player of the Year??

and as I said, check the play-by-play for yourself, OE has a lot of late game turnovers, fouls, and basically nothing but bad shots and plenty of misses...I didn't see many screens, deflections, or rebounds mentioned anywhere...
those are qualities of unselfish players and we're not seeing or hearing too many observers use those terms with OE.