Headed to St. Louis - a few final Valley notes....

Most years several of the Valley writers will disclose their all conference picks before the news is released at the Media Day preceding the Valley Tourney...
but this year, the only one I can find who has released his ballot is Dave Reynolds...
Dave has made his ballot known for the post season awards...
he is not allowed to vote for players on the team he covers, and his is only one of 40 ballots (4 from each team, the team's coach & SID plus the team's beat writer and broadcast media person).

Here's who DR selected....
1st Team: Odiakosa, Hannah, Lawson, Weems, Eglseder
2nd Team: Eldridge, Young, Dillard, Koch, Marshall
All Newcomer: Ryan, Mallett, Freeman, Leonard, Blair
All Freshman: Ryan, Teague, VanDeest, Carmichael, Troy Taylor
POY: Dinma
NOY & FOY: Ryan

As I said...I really have no beef with any selections, but I sure would have had Koch on 1st team and Weems, Hannah, & Lawson on 2nd team..and Harry Marshall, although injured and missed some games (4 Valley games) was still the scoring leader among all players in Valley games - thus I would have had him on 1st team also...

UNI fans voted Ali Farokhmanesh as their MVP in this poll)
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100226/SPORTS020704/2270315/1091/SPORTS02/UNI-basketball-Who-is-the-Panthers-MVP

and other fans selected Adam Koch in this poll...
http://www.panthernation.com/showthread.php?t=30598

- but oddly, others have said it should be Eglseder...
I think Ali has been too inconsistent...


Another stumper is Dave Reynolds' inclusion of Troy Taylor on the All Frosh team and the EXCLUSION of Ethan Wragge!!
Taylor helped his Evansville team to a grand total of two conference wins by putting up such astounding numbers as this---
in 22.3 min/gm, 34% shooting (and those are all two pointers, as he took only 3 from behind the arc),
plus 62% FT shooter, 4.2 ppg, and 3.6 rpg, 3 apg.
These numbers make DSE look like all-conference!
Even Taylor's own freshman teammate Ned Cox scored 7.2 ppg and 40% from the arc (28-70)
Wragge (Creighton) meanwhile averaged 6.4 ppg, hit 41% of his 3's and 84% on FT and not only led the Bluejays in 3-pt shots made, he even finished Top-10 in the league in 3-pointers made.

Since Dave Reynolds' ballot wasn't due until Sunday - I suspect he changed it after he saw how well Wragge played Saturday!

And personally I think Sam Maniscalco is the clear choice for the most valuable and the best overall player in the Missouri Valley....just look at the stats....Sammy ranks in the Top 10 of almost every single offensive category, and is among the leaders in more statistical categories than anyone else in the Valley.



Here's a national article that quotes Jim Les......
It's about expansion of the NCAA Tournament, and many BCS coaches would prefer that all the additional teams be the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th teams in the big conferences...
Here's what our coach says...
(if more mid-majors get in...)
"No way is it going to take away from the excitement of the (NCAA) tournament. It will add to it,'' Bradley coach Jim Les said on a conference call for Missouri Valley coaches in early February, according to the The Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill. "That's why people love that tournament. We have diminishing spots where so-called small guys can have a shot against some of the bigger schools on a neutral court. It needs to happen and it's long overdue."
http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2010/02/28/mid-majors-dont-shut-us-out-of-96-team-field-too/


The Omaha writer doesn't give Sam Maniscalco and credible chance for POY...and yet includes Kenny Lawson....a guy whose credentials are wayyyyy softer than Maniscalco!
Talk about home town bias....the writer uses his pulpit to boost his home town guy...unlike Dave Reynolds who absolutely does NO SUCH THING!
http://www.omaha.com/article/20100224/SPORTS/702249760


One of the beat writers has an odd way of defining a "certainty"...
here is the Missouri State guy...
"The only certainty is that MSU's tourney game, or games, probably will be close."
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100301/SPORTS040101/3010366/Martin-ready-to-shake-off-close-loss


Deon Jackson's buzzer beater in the Valley Tourney was voted as TOP play ever!!!
http://www.mvc-sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=36371&SPID=2901&DB_OEM_ID=7600&ATCLID=204896096


Comparable?? Just check it out.....
based on what we have all seen and heard, obviously both Osiris Eldridge and Drake's Josh Young are fine players...but which of the two has gotten at least 10 times the hype and 10 times the spin as regards NBA ability than the other guy??

Well....here's a simple comparison between career stats of Osiris Eldridge and Josh Young...

(career numbers)
OE- 129 games played, 13.85 ppg (1787 total pts.), 41%FG, 36.7% 3pt, 75.5%FT, 264 asst, NCAA Tournies played in - ZERO
JY- 124 games played, 14.11 ppg (1750 total pts.), 42%FG, 36.3% 3pt, 78.8%FT, 256 asst, NCAA Tournies played in - ONE

so - I think when all the hype and spin is layed aside...the careers of the two are very similar, almost uncannily so.....and neither, unfortunately, will have anything but a very long shot of ever making an NBA roster.


Then in the department I will call...
"Duhhh....you have to do a scientific study to figure this one out??"

This researcher, after years of study, says that children who are horribly obese face more future health problems.......whoa..........
Check out the pics of the kids he seems to be studying...
http://kolkataobserver.com/?p=4486&cpage=1


Then the cartoon of the day -
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pantagraph.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/6/e0/7c1/6e07c150-223e-11df-9eb1-001cc4c002e0.preview-300.jpg?_dc=1267123738