MVP, All Stars & Other NBL tips
TweetIF it was up to me, Kevin Lisch would win his second NBL Most Valuable Player award tomorrow night.
And that's exactly why it shouldn't be up to me. Or you. Or anyone else - media/fans/referees - not directly involved in the playing process.
It too easily could degenerate into a popularity contest. That's why there's a fan vote.
Having the media vote, copying the NBA's system, would be a huge mistake. For a start, there's just not enough media and some of what there is of it includes reporters seconded from other sports who may not truly understand the game.
Basketball is massive in the USA, though you already know that. The NBA has had the media system since its 1980-81 season, the award decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the USA and Canada, each casting a vote for first to fifth place selections.
We're a long way off from anything approximating that.
LISCH: Will the voting system help or hurt his chances?
The present system has the head coaches vote after every game, 10 votes at their disposal, five the maximum any one player can receive.
It's been sound in theory. But boy are there pitfalls?
During the 80s, one coach of a lower ranked club gave his import the top vote for every game, regardless of his performance. Yes, he won the MVP.
There are games when a coach, agitated by circumstances or the match's result, may not be particularly receptive to the additional MVP voting chore. Or his commitment to getting it right.
Some coaches handball the job to an assistant. And at least one assistant charged with that job, stuffed some early ones up this season, believing he only had to award votes for his team!
So while the system has merit if it was handled as intended, it isn't.
Forget referees awarding 3,2,1, votes too. They've got enough on their plates already.
The system that could be tinkered with to work here is the previous NBA system upto the end of the 1979-80 season.
NBA players voted on the award at the season's mid-point, then again a second time at the regular season's conclusion.
A system where the head coach, lead assistant and five starters cast 5,4,3,2,1, votes on the MVP (and where they cannot vote for their own club) could work, provided they voted after every team had played half of its schedule, then again at the regular season's conclusion.
It's easy to overlook who played well in the season's first stretch when you get to the end, and easier to recall who played well lately then. That's why a mid-season vote AND a post-regular season vote makes for a more accurate MVP winner.
(Remember how well Chris Goulding was travelling early in the season, or the impact Corey Webster had when he returned from his NBA tryout?)
Anyway, as it stands, players who missed a chunk of the 28-game season or play in teams where teammates can rob each other of votes, have less chance of winning it. The evidence of the latter flaw is Rotnei Clarke winning from James Ennis. If the 7 voters (coach, lead assistant, five starters) had voted mid-season and again at the end, do you reckon Ennis would have been the MVP two years ago?
This is who the staff here at Basketball On The Internet have compiled as selections for tomorrow night's big gala event in Melbourne. (All Star Fives were chosen by positions played, not most votes.)
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Lisch (Illawarra Hawks)
Coach of the Year: Tie - Rob Beveridge (Illawarra Hawks) & Shawn Dennis (Townsville Crocodiles)
Best Defensive Player: Jordair Jett (Townsville Crocodiles)
Best Sixth Man: Hakim Warrick (Melbourne United)
Most Improved Player: Shaun Bruce (Cairns Taipans)
Rookie of the Year: Nicholas Kay (Townsville Crocodiles)
Referee of the Year: Michael Aylen
All Star Five (First Team)
Point Guard: Jerome Randle (Adelaide 36ers)
Shooting Guard: Corey Webster (New Zealand Breakers)
Small Forward: Josh Childress (Sydney Kings)
Power Forward: Matthew Knight (Perth Wildcats)
Centre: AJ Ogilvy (Illawarra Hawks)
All Star Five (Second Team)
Point Guard: Kevin Lisch (Illawarra Hawks)
Shooting Guard: Chris Goulding (Melbourne United)
Small Forward: Casey Prather (Perth Wildcats)
Power Forward: Mark Worthington (Cairns Taipans)
Centre: Daniel Kickert (Melbourne United)
All Star Five (Third Team)
Point Guard: Cedric Jackson (New Zealand Breakers)
Shooting Guard: Jordair Jett (Townsville Crocodiles)
Small Forward: Kirk Penney (Illawarra Hawks)
Power Forward: Tom Garlepp (Sydney Kings)
Centre: Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)
OK, I hear you screaming: "How can Lisch be your MVP but only in your NBL All Star Five Second Team?"
Damn fine question.
Just because he's my best overall player over the season (20.4ppg 5th; 3.6apg 7th; 1.8spg 1st) doesn't mean he's the best point guard in the NBL. He's not. Best combo guard? Different question.
I have Randle, Webster, Goulding, Cedric Jackson all deep in the MVP equation, some of their All Star positioning based on how their teams finished or how they did in particular head-to-head stats categories.
We won't have long to wait to see how well - or poorly - B.O.T.I. did, there being any number of worthy MVP winners this season.
In the meantime...:
Shot of the Year: Torrey Craig, halfcourt catch and heave to close first quarter
Block of the Year: Nathan Sobey on Stephen Holt