All-state selection

[bigpoppakdog]

[Bob Holiday]

I had heard about Benz early in the season and because of that went to a game they played against Trinity in the Bismarck arena. She was very impressive. When their starting point guard got in foul trouble, she brought the ball up against pressure. She played inside and outside , blocked several shots and it appeared she shoots with either hand. I followed the Kidder County team in the state tournament and while she is not a scoring machine, she rebounded like crazy (she must have had 20+ rebounds in the semifinal), blocked shots and again occasionally brought the ball up court. She was clearly the best player in the tournament. How or why she was passed over for all-state honors completely escapes me.

[4thegame]

it's like this, and i'm sorry that but this is an ugly reality and i think someone needs to shed light on it. If a coach doesn't play up a player to the press, at least enough to get them watching for that player, then it's easy for a kid to get skipped over. it happens alot.

Now you can't throw stones at a coach for not promoting a player because it can wreck team chemistry as parent's and fellow players become jealous of that outstanding player. Have you ever watched a game and said to yourself "it's a good thing that our team is shutting a certain player down," or "it's a good thing that player isn't getting the ball." 9 times out of 10 it is because teammate's aren't getting the ball into that players hands. Talk to coaches......99.9% of them wish that rebounding, steals, assists, etc were listed in the paper along with scoring (or without scoring). This would give attention to those players who are asked to do these tasks more specifically than to score big.

sorry for pointing out the white elephant in the room.

[ndfan]

Here's just an idea:

Each region picks one media representative whether it be the media or the coaches vote for that representative which will represent the region. It will be that media representatives job to make sure he gains as much information on his/her region as possible by going to games, talking with coaches, and other media. As the season goes along it is there job to keep in touch with the other representatives in other regions to get and give information on players so that all representatives have some kind of information on other players in other regions. Then these representatives get together at some point more then likely at the state tournament and each representative gives a list of names that they believe is all state material and is voted on by the reps from the 8 regions.

Not sure if its a good idea or not, but its an idea. And that is by far the most times i've ever used representative in the same paragraph.

[bigpoppakdog]

Good idea. How about this one. At the end of the region tournament all the coaches from the district and region get together and decide who the best is. They also decide who will the region representative. Maybe there should be two reps for each region?? At the END of the state tournament the region reps. get together to lobby for the top 5 and the next 10.

[ndfan]

Good idea. How about this one. At the end of the region tournament all the coaches from the district and region get together and decide who the best is. They also decide who will the region representative. Maybe there should be two reps for each region?? At the END of the state tournament the region reps. get together to lobby for the top 5 and the next 10.

I could go with 2 reps for each region, one covers one district and the other covers the other district. I think the media should get as much information from coaches as they possibly can. I just think people who vote should have have as much information as they possibly can.

[bigpoppakdog]

Latest post by Mike Weber of the Bismarck Tribune.

Weber wrote on Mar 31, 2009 7:47 PM:
" We vote after game 1 (Friday morning) because it's the most convenient time for 10 to 15 media people to meet at once. Most media don't arrive until sometime Thursday, and usually depart sometime Saturday. Saturday mornings are tough because radio and TV people in particular are usually swamped preparing for the final games (taping interviews, etc.). And there are games most of the day Friday and Saturday. I suppose we could wait until the boys state tournament to pick the girls team, but then we would have to wait until sometime after that tournament to pick the boys team. Perhaps there are things we could do a little bit better, but overall, the media has done well in selecting all-state players - based on what those players have done in the 20 to 25 games leading up to the state tournament. All media people wish they could see all of the nominees play, but that's impossible. It was a loaded field this year, with a ton of nominees to fill 15 spots. The voters did the best they could. As for a state tournament MVP not making all-state, I can't answer that without doing some research. I would venture to say that it has happened before. MVPs of tournaments don't necessarily have to be all-state caliber players. In Benz's case, her stock rose considerably with her performances on Friday and Saturday - after the voting. I do know that in 1978, the state champion Larimore boys didn't have a single all-state player. It was such a well-rounded team that it was difficult to single out even one player. I heard the coach was more than OK with that. "

My question is this, do the media have enough time to do a thorough look to find out who are the top players from each area? Sounds like no. In their defense, girls bb, boys bb both Class A and B and wrestling are all going on at the same time. Just doesn't seem like the best process. At least if you have every coach from each district get a vote and then go from there, you can say that everyone had a vote. In this case, if everyone would have had a vote and the results still would have left her off, then I really wouldn't have a leg to stand on. But, to think, for anyone not just Benz, that the voting process comes down to essential one day/meeting with people who have no idea who the players even are is.....well....you can finish that sentence.

[q]

I think I've mentioned this in another topic, but the coaches are already polled in some regions. In Region 2, for example, all the coaches rank the players within their region. Those rankings determine who gets mentioned at the meeting.

[sekasum]

Hey Dog
Even though I according to you know nothing about basketball, I do agree about the ALL State team being a media circus. Trouble is the media hardly ever leaves their humble abodes to check out games and players. One year a girl from North Sargent made All State even though her team was getting hammered every night. Coach kept her in to get her 20 points vs team's B Squad and made all state.

[mplsfan]

2006 state tourney MVP-Kelsie Aide of Bottineau. Not on the all-state team. 2007 state tourney MVP-Mandee Kepin of Bottineau. Also not on the all-state team. 2008 state tourney MVP-Shaunna Knife of Bottineau, obviously 1st team all-state. It's not unheard of for tourney MVP to not be an all-state player.

[bigpoppakdog]

Benz stats were as good as first teamer Sand except in assists. Sand avg. 6 and Benz avg. 3.

It's over, and many officials and media outlets have indicated that it was a pretty major error.

[bigpoppakdog]

Hey Dog
Even though I according to you know nothing about basketball, I do agree about the ALL State team being a media circus. Trouble is the media hardly ever leaves their humble abodes to check out games and players. One year a girl from North Sargent made All State even though her team was getting hammered every night. Coach kept her in to get her 20 points vs team's B Squad and made all state.

It's not that, its just's bothers me when people who come on here with 10 posts start telling us who have been on here for some time and have a reputation for accurately predicting outcomes, that we don't know what we are talking about. Check out my posts...and compare them with what really happened and you will notice that I have been very accurate. When people want to argue about my predictions and justifications that's fine, but when when they come true, I'd expect the acknowledgment and not sarcasm to deflect the fact they were wrong.

[baseball]

Benz stats were as good as first teamer Sand except in assists. Sand avg. 6 and Benz avg. 3.

It's over, and many officials and media outlets have indicated that it was a pretty major error.

Major error because she had a great state tournament. maybe you would, cuz you were all over her from the get go for legit reasons...but i bet the media wouldn't have called it a huge error had she had an average state tourney.

[bigpoppakdog]

no a major error due to the fact she was one of the top 5 class b players in the state.

[Flip]

Benz stats were as good as first teamer Sand except in assists. Sand avg. 6 and Benz avg. 3.

It's over, and many officials and media outlets have indicated that it was a pretty major error.

1) what were her stats? I've never seen them.
2) who are some of these officials and media outlets you mention?

[bigpoppakdog]

I don't know if I have the link anymore. I know her stat's as well as sands were in the Jamestown sun and a link to that was available. Look up the officials for the region's surrounding kidder county and call up any one of them that officiated kc. I'm sure they would be more thanwilling to discuss their views on her. Anyway this thread died about 3 months ago...not sure how it suddenly got going again?

[q]

Is this topic really coming back?

She could have been a 2nd team player. It's way too difficult to say 1st team, because I'm not sure you can bump anyone out. The fact is there were three players being pushed from that region over her. Is there regret? Maybe some, but life goes on.