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Daily Dribble: Mid-Major All-American Thoughts
October 26th, 2008
by Shawn Siegel
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CollegeHoops.net Awards
CHN released its official Preseason Mid-Major All-America team this past Friday.. here are my personal views on our selections. All CHN awards are voted on by staff writers.
CollegeHoops.net Preseason Mid-Major Player of the Year: Stephen Curry (Davidson)
- Big shock here.. Curry was a unanimous POY by all of the voters.
CollegeHoops.net First Team Mid-Major All-America
| Stephen Curry | Davidson | JR | G |
| Patrick Mills | Saint Mary's | SO | G |
| Lester Hudson | Tennessee-Martin | SR | G |
| Matt Howard | Butler | SO | F |
| Diamon Simpson | Saint Mary's | SR | F |
- Mills was also a unanimous First-Teamer along with Curry, while Hudson also got a large percentage of votes. Howard, last year's HL newcomer of the year, is in a position to put up big-time numbers with so many new faces at Butler. (But Cleveland State's J'Nathan Bullock might be an even better forward in the HL, and Bullock didn't even make our top three teams). Simpson is also a deserving pick, as he might be the most talented big man amongst the mid-majors. All in all, no complaints with this squad.
CollegeHoops.net Second Team Mid-Major All-America
| Al Fisher | Kent State | SR | G |
| Josh Akognon | Fullerton | SR | G |
| Kenny Hasbrouck | Siena | SR | G |
| Marqus Blakely | Vermont | JR | F |
| John Bryant | Santa Clara | SR | C |
-
MAC teams and players always seemed to get overlooked (I'm sometimes guilty myself), but Fisher is the real. Most years he'd be worthy of First Team Mid-Major, but its rare to see national stars like Curry & Mills on this list. Hasbrouch beats out teammate Ubiles (3rd Teamer) for this spot, but both could make the 2nd team if they finish Top 30 as expected. You simply don't see true big men (ie, actual post players) who can play at the lower levels of college basketball, but Bryant is the real deal. He could average 20 and 10 this year, and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he knocks Howard or Simpson off the first team. (He finished 6th in voting as is).
CollegeHoops.net Third Team Mid-Major All-America
| Brandon Johnson | San Diego | SR | G |
| Edwin Ubiles | Siena | JR | G/F |
| Jonathan Rodriguez | Campbell | JR | F |
| Ryan Wittman | Cornell | JR | F |
| Carlos Monroe | Florida Atlantic | SR | F |
-
One of the major preseason annuals (Lindy's) thinks so highly of Johnson, that they put him on the WCC All-Conference team over Mills. Johnson did have that great WCC tourney game against Mills/SMC, but he belongs here. As noted above, Ubiles could certaibly move higher if Siena dominates as expected. Rodriguez is a numbers guy (20 & 10), but is on a bad team and most people have probably never seen him play. Wittman, unlike Rodriguez, doesn't put up the big numbers.. but is probably a better ballplayer on a team that should most likely make the Big Dance.
CollegeHoops.net Honorable Mention Mid-Major All-American
| Josh Alexander | Stephen F Austin | SR | G |
| Michael Bramos | Miami | SR | G |
| J'Nathan Bullock | Cleveland State | SR | F |
| Garrison Carr | American | SR | G |
| Louis Dale | Cornell | JR | G |
| Devin Gibson | Texas-San Antonio | SO | G |
| Jeremy Goode | Mount Saint Mary's | JR | G |
| David Holston | Chicago St | SR | G |
| Robert Jarvis | Oral Roberts | SR | G |
| Dior Lowhorn | San Francisco | JR | F |
| Donovan Morris | Long Beach St | SR | G |
| Courtney Pigram | East Tennessee St | SR | G |
| Gyno Pomare | San Diego | SR | F |
| Ryan Thompson | Rider | JR | F |
| Mike Trimboli | Vermont | SR | G |
| Desmond Yates | Middle Tennessee St | JR | F |
| Ben Woodside | North Dakota St | SR | G |
- There are some solid guys on this list including a couple who probably deserve more respect. J'Nathan Bullock is the best player on the HL's preseason favorite (Cleveland State) and is good enough to make the First Team. Michael Bramos is a very intriguing player, who bounces around between all-world and all-ugly depending on whether his jumper is falling. With just a little more consistency, he's looking at 20 ppg this year. Garrison Carr and Josh Alexander are two other guys who stand out as being of higher quality than the rest.
No one on the Honorable Mention teams stands out as being particularly overrated. Perhaps Ryan Thompson, who might have gotten more respect due to his brother's stardom. Thompson will be the best player on Rider this year, but the Broncs might only be a 4th-5th place MAAC team.
In terms of snubs, one guy that sticks out is Siena forward Alex Franklin.. the other main cog on the Saints besides Ubiles & Hasbrouck. From the NEC, Jeremy Chappell of Robert Morris could be a breakout player. He's the leading returning scorer on a team that won 26 games last year. Perhaps the biggest miss was Portland State PG Jeremiah Dominguez. Portland State is favored to win the Big Sky, in large part because of Dominguez, and not even one player from that league made our list.
Comments
Thanks for the post Kirk.
Submitted by Shawn Siegel on Mon, 2008-10-27 10:26.
Thanks for the post Kirk. Obviously his shooting % numbers, as you noted, are some of the best out there. Out of SG's he was 4th in the country in FG % behind 2 Draft picks (CDR, George Hill) and a probable one (Lee Cummard). No one in the country can match those numbers
But no one is saying he's not good.
Its just that the rest of the guys on the Mid-Major Team are projected Conference Player of the Year type players, or guys who are the leading player on top level NCAA tourney projected squads. For example, look at a Garrison Carr, who has already lead his team to the NCAA Tourney by scoring 28% of his team's points last year. (ie, Thompson only scored 19% of his team points. Plus Rider was a highly efficient offensive team that was 11th in the country in overal FG%. Almost 50% as a team. A lot of guys on Rider has big effiency numbers. Mansell shot 44+ from three, Mike Ringold shot 58%, Jason Thompson was 56%. If you go by shooting efficiency alone, Rider should have been an all-world team, yet they couldnt even crack the Top 100).
Plus there other snubs like Western Michigan's David Kool, who is the leading scorer (16 ppg) on a squad that's probaby better than Rider.
Thompson just doesn't fit in in that sense. He most likely won't be the MAAC POY. He's never been the leader on a Tourney team, nor will he lead them there this year.
Ryan Thompson Analysis
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2008-10-27 05:38.
I agree completely with the analysis of Ryan Thompson. Hes a solid player but needs to prove that he can do it on his own. An NBA draft pick at Center drew a lot of attention and in a conference like the MAAC that can make the other 4 positions on the floor look like world beaters.
LOL
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2008-10-27 06:03.
"But Cleveland State's J'Nathan Bullock might be an even better forward in the HL"
LOL, no.
mid major all-americans (hm)
Submitted by stan (not verified) on Mon, 2008-10-27 11:58.
Andrew Lovedale belongs on your honorable mention list. In the NCAA tournament, he averaged 10 pts, 7 boards and a block against the outstanding front lines of Gonzaga, Georgetown, Wisconsin and Kansas. His defense was stellar. There are very, very few players in the country who can play like that vs. that level of competition.
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About Shawn Siegel
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Shawn Siegel - CHN President & Head Editor
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CHN Editor
Shawn Siegel is the self-proclaimed "hardest working man on the internet." He created CHN back in the summer of 2002, and it has since grown into the web's largest independent college basketball site. Shawn's college basketball and NBA Draft commentary has appeared across the web & print media, and he's beena featured guest on numerous radio programs. Please email him with any and all media requests or advertising inquiries.
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Issues With Ryan Thompson Analysis.
Shawn,
With no offense intended, I am going to have to dispute your claim that Ryan Thompson is overrated because, as you state as your only reason, "will be the best player on Rider this year, but the Broncs might only be a 4th-5th place MAAC team." You preceded that statement with the statement: "Perhaps Ryan Thompson, who might have gotten more respect due to his brother's stardom."
I'm wondering if you have any other basis for that statement. If so, I'd love to hear it, but considering that NBA scouts were present at Rider games to watch both Thompson brothers and he is considered to be a legitimate prospect on draft outlets such as Draft Express.
I find your criticism of Ryan Thompson to be extremely flawed and I will look forward to hearing your criticisms of Thompson's basketball ability in the future. Hopefully in this space! Based on the times I have seen Ryan in person and on television, he is a versatile perimeter player with outstanding basketball IQ and solid athleticism as well as the ability to score in a variety ways from all over the court.
After all, we're talking about a player who averaged 15.0 ppg (on 54% FG, 44% 3FG, and 75% FT), 6.2 rpg, 3.4 apg (2.4 TOpg), and 1.7 spg, all while improving on all of his freshman per 40-pace adjusted numbers while almost playing the same amount of minutes. His efficiency numbers, for a guard, are simply off of the charts, as well.
Thus how is he overrated? I await your response eagerly.
Best,
Kirk