I was far from thrilled about driving to Deptford (1 hour 55 minutes from my house for the Central Group I state final Wednesday, but I here is what I will say. The folks at Deptford put on a great show for the following reasons:
1) A courtside press table, just like Cranford High School had the night before. For a writer with me with unimaginably early deadlines, you have no idea what a relief it is to have a power strip for my laptop and a table where I can lay out all my notes.
2) A free bottle of water. Pumping out stories on deadline gets a sweat going and being hydrated is key.
3) MOST IMPRESSIVLEY, someone at Deptford kept an official box score. The kind that reporters get at professional and college games. It included shooting percentages, turnovers, second-chance points, points in the paint, etc. I have this person to credit for writing a very informative game story, which is difficult to do at the high school level.
NOW...To summarize the past few days...
1) New Providence made a great run to the Group I semis. The Pioneers' victory over Highland Park in the Central I sectional final is a candidate for Courier News Game of the Year. I wish fans were allowed to see how the game against Wildwood would have unfolded without Shelly Montagna in foul trouble because I would have given New Providence a puncher's chance, but it is just as well because neither team is coming close to beating University in the Group I final.
2) It was a difficult sight to see Watchung Hills lose to Columbia in the North 2 Group IV sectional final. I've come to know those five seniors and coach Sandy Whelan very well during the past three years, and I can tell you they epitomized the good in high school sports. While the group went 0-3 in championship games (2008 Somerset County Tournament final and two straight sectional finals), they turned a former perennial loser into the best public school program in Somerset.
3) Gill St. Bernard's plays on! How many of you even knew that the Knights were still alive? Not many, but that's just the way the school near the cow farms likes it. Gill faces Marist in the Non-Public North B sectional final at 5 p.m. tonight at Belleville High School, and most people I've talked to say it's a 50/50 game. What this unheralded team is doing is very special, and you should join the bandwagon now. If you haven't seen Gill play, the team -- especially sophomores Daisha Simmons and Niiya Ruth -- is worth the price of admission. Even if that is a steep $6 for state games.
DON'T FORGET TO KEEP POSTING YOUR OPINIONS FOR COACH OF THE YEAR, PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND THE THREE ALL-AREA TEAMS....Nobody has correctly guessed the Top 5 I have penciled in right now, though one person did guess four out of five.
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Sorry, but Gill is overrated. ALL they have are Ruth and Simmons. Any kind of defense is close to nonexistant. The rest of the players, minus Rizzo who is a decent shooter from behind the arc, are well below average for the county/area. No offense.
OK, so here's let's play the "who has Ryan has penciled in for first team" game:
First, we know that someone has correctly guessed 4 of his 5. Thus far, there are three predictors. I am figuring it is from this group, for the following reasons, along with some commentary:
Zigarelli WH - we know he loves WH (he just told us in this post,) claims them to be the "best public school program in Somerset County." Of course, that will become apparent only if they do well NEXT year, when their talent has left. If so, hats off to them. I think not, and they will fall back to the pack, just like Hillsboro did this year after Kutch and the gang left.
Scott Franklin - D1 recruit (Monmouth) unquestionably leader of the team, who went farther in States than many suspected.
Myatt - Pway - 1000 pts, and, in the words of Jerry Carino (listen to the podcast,) Ryan is a "Piscataway shill." Never mind that in the two big games they played this year, they came up short [McCarrick in GMCT finals and to WH in States.]
Simmons (Gill) and Mgbada (RP) - Ryan has already told us, multiple times, that he loves the privates. Never mind that they basically have to get focused for about three games each year. Just for kicks, go to www.maxpreps.com, to see for yourself. Done entirely by computer, based on a wide database of results, strength of schedule for a sample of schools as follows: RP 4.1; Gill 3.2. This compares quite unfavorably to HC 17.7; Voorhees 18.3; WH 15.9; NH 16.2; Monty 16.4; FHS 15.5; SP 18.7, to name a few.
If I am correct about this group, who does Ryan pencil out? I suspect either Scott or Simmons. Given that Simmons is only a soph, and that Franklin beat Gill in the SCT, I am going to guess he picks Scott, and leaves Simmons for the second or third team. Then, who does he pick? No one who has already posted has paid any attention (at all) to Hunterdon County. Ryan has to do so. It sells newspapers. So, I'm guessing he picks Ericsson from HC. Unquestioned leader of the team, good defensive player (he wrote an article about her last year,) Hunterdon/Warren champs, senior.
Which all goes to say, even though Ryan has no skin in the game, compared to some parents, he has his biases as well. Undoubtedly, they will come out in subtle ways with his selections. They have to.
Anonymous #2,
That's one of the best blog posts I've ever received. While I don't agree with your player choices or that I am biased, I love how you used facts to back up your selections. You'd make a good sports journalist. And that thing from MaxPreps is awesome. I did not know there was any such ranking system and will definitely check it out before finishing All-Area. You were right about no remembering Hunterdon, too. There is very good basketball played out that way. Thanks for the good opinions and the information tip. I might use that blog post as a sample for future posters as to what I'm looking for.
P.S. No, I am not biased towards private schools or Watchung Hills.
Gill overated. You know absolutely nothing about basketball. Gill Played hillsbourough beat them. Played West Morris beat them (a top twenty team earl in season) beat Montgomery by at least 16 -18 points. Lost to Franklin by 6 or 7 and quite frankly was home jobbed.Played Trenton catholic and lost by 11 oh by the way number 3 team in state. Won the 1st quarter and last. Just lost to marist by 3 and was up 6 late in the game. Finally, simmons by far the best player in area and ruth not too far behind.
In addition to the Hunterdon players getting no attention, how come there aren't many names on the list of girls from the Group 1 and Group 2 schools?
Gill is overrated. You say they only lost to Franklin by 6 or 7 but you fail to mention that they did that with Scott in foul trouble for most of the game as I'm sure was their plan. They have 3 good players but they are young and make defensive mistakes.
In the next year or two I expect they will be something to see.
Again,overated. id gill beat Montgomery pretty good? Did Gill beat a very good West Morris team pretty good? Did Gill beat a Somerville team who won I believe their conference? Did Gill beat a hillsbourough team who beat I believe Watchung pretty good? You still failed to answer the 3 point loss to a Marist team who will probably end up finishing in the top 10 in the state. Not bad for a small school.
Ryan,
You cannot possibly claim that you are not bias. Regardless of which teams it is toward, there is some sort of bias in your writing. There always has been and likely always will be. Certain players and certain teams get way more ink than others. Is this not bias?
Also, anonymous #2 pointed out that you said that you love Watchung Hills in this very post that we are leaving comments for. Don't try to backtrack and say you are not biased towards them. Please. You've been fawning over them for the past three years. And have you become close with every other team that you cover? If the answer is no (which it is), then that is what is commonly known as bias. If you are still unsure what that word refers to, try "playing favorites".
To those who are debating over whether or not Gill is overrated, I have to agree with "anonymous #1". They are overrated and while they have some decent players they have a long way to go defensively. Also their schedule is a joke. Their quality wins weren't that great. Hillsborough was terrible this year, Monty was not full strength when they played, and West Morris is overrated as well. Oh, and losing to TCA without Lakeisha Sutton even playing (which if I remember correctly she didn't) isn't that great of an accomplishment. And in terms of Simmons being "by far the best player in the area", not even close. At best I'd give her third team.
As usual when parents of kids go on these opens forums they all think they know what they are talking about. Marist a top 20 team and soon to be a top ten team was in big trouble against Gill. By the way, St. John's head coach was specifically there to see simmons. Now tell me a head coach at a big east school thinks simmons is a third team all area player. I laugh at all of you non-basketball minds. Do you people really watch basketball?
And just what qualifies you as a "basketball mind", exactly? And who says we're not? You don't know us, don't go accusing us when you don't even know our level of involvement with the sport.
Wake up and smell the coffee,oops I mean smell the basketball. Last time I post something here,obviously way too much bias going around. Keep rising Gill, the beatings are over from the past and I'm looking forward to watching you gals play next year!!! Great Season!!! watch out somerset the knights are for real!!!
I've seen Gill half a dozen times this season and Gill is primarily Ruth and Simmons - both very talented players (Rizzo is streaky in her shooting although very dangerous when she's on). Allow for Ruth and Simmons to score 50 points a game between them with a few more chipped in by role players whose primary job is to get the ball to Ruth and Simmons - score a little bit more and you've got a win.
It's similar to when Catherine Carr was playing - teams would allow her 30-40 points a game and still beat Bernards. It's difficult (not impossible - but difficult) to beat some quality teams with only two players.
As for the Franklin game (which was one of the one's I saw Gill play) - saying Gill was home jobbed is ridiculous. There were tons of fouls called on both teams. As I recall the Courier (Ryan) made a point of talking about how Simmons sat out something like 90 seconds because of foul trouble but did fail to mention as another poster did that Scott (leading scorer and rebounder for Franklin) sat out more than half the game with foul trouble and fouled out halfway into the fourth. It also failed to mention that two other Franklin players (including another starter fouled out as well).
I was also at the Gill/Hillsborough game - to tout that as a quality win given that Hillsborough itself was in a rebuilding period stretches the imagination. Yes Hillsborough beat Watchung (saw that game as well) and they played a tremendous game to do that but please don't build up your team's resume by using teams that are struggling as examples.
"Ryan has already told us, multiple times, that he loves the privates. Never mind that they basically have to get focused for about three games each year. Just for kicks, go to www.maxpreps.com, to see for yourself. "
Seems like an intelligent post until the paragraph above. I thought playing a tough schedule gave you an advantage, what's the adage again about being "battle tested?" Based on what you wrote here it's easier to win when you don’t have to play any tough games until the counties. I disagree vehemently with that. If Watchung Hills and other Publics do play a schedule that is so much tougher than Prep schools then logic would dictate that in a close game with those teams, the Prep schools would have no chance. I caught plenty of the county tournament games to see that the prep schools did not get killed, they managed to win a few games even the last one. I also see in your MAXPREP site , Morris Catholic which the Star Leger has as the #1 ranking team in NJ has a scheduled strength of 3, what do you make of that? Oh yes! the Star Leger is also bias. You should also know that mathematical formulae are only as good as the data input and much of the data on that MAXPREP site is wrong and incomplete.
BTW, how can you be overrated when no one thinks you're very good? No Gill is not overrated, maybe you all meant that they have overachieved. They were not ranked high in the county nor in the state so I am not sure how they are overrated. Also, whoever said that when Gill beat Montgomery, Montgomery was not at full strength is off base, all their top players played that game. I know, I was there.
Yes Simmons is likely the best offensive player in the county. Maybe not the best player but offensively very few in the state attack the rim as well or as often.
Yes there are some weak teams in the prep league but the better teams like Peddie, Hun, Pennington who Rutgers Prep and Gill have to play are some of the best teams in NJ.
there are 2 players from hunterdon county that belong on the first team. jacques from hunterdon central, the best point guard in the skylands conference. she is the main reason her team had a 20 win season. and ferdinand from voorhees, best all around player in the skylands. ability to play all 5 positions and play them them very well at both ends of the court. there is one player from warren county that belongs on the first team, she is probably the best bball player in the skylands conference, and should be the bball player of the year, . . the young lady from belvidere . . . . thorsen. leaving any one of these three youny ladies off, would make the all-area team insignificant.
"Seems like an intelligent post until the paragraph above. I thought playing a tough schedule gave you an advantage, what's the adage again about being "battle tested?" Based on what you wrote here it's easier to win when you don’t have to play any tough games until the counties....I also see in your MAXPREP site , Morris Catholic which the Star Leger [sic]has as the #1 ranking team in NJ has a scheduled strength of 3, what do you make of that? Oh yes! the Star Leger is also bias. You should also know that mathematical formulae are only as good as the data input and much of the data on that MAXPREP site is wrong and incomplete."
OK, I even took out a Blogger name (I will henceforth always be "Anonymous #2" on Ryan's blog. Ryan, I will work something out with you on my royalty check.) to respond to your criticism of my post:
This is exactly my point. It is far easier (in my opinion) to "get up" for one or two games a year, as compared to "getting up" for every game over the grind of a difficult schedule. Sooner or later you are going to get knocked off. This is as true at the HS level as it is in the pros. If you schedule tough teams throughout the year, yes, you are battle tested, but, no, you will not win every game. Ask Shabazz. Ask the New England Patriots. So, when a team like RP (very talented, clearly top 5 in the area) comes in, and has only played a few "big" games, they can focus on these few. In contrast, a team like HC or WH, who has to play tough games almost every time on the court, they will lose some. They just have to hope it's not in the finals of a tournament.
As for the Morris Catholic comment, this is also my point. Thus far, they are undefeated. So, just like all sportswriters everywhere (sorry, Ryan) the Ledger has them ranked number 1. This is the theory of "until you lose, you are the best." It is a very hard theory to argue against. However, the computers say that Morris Catholic has not played very many difficult teams. So, will they lose to Vianney today? I can't say for sure, but it wouldn't surprise me. Will they lose to a Shabazz or a University? Given the strength of schedules, quite possibly. To use another old adage, this is why you play the games.
I agree with you, the Maxpreps site is not complete. There are games missing. But, it's not far off. It is certainly directional. And, at this level, it's the only thing we have that uses cold hard numbers and not people's opinions. Yes, the numbers are not always right. Again, that's why you actually play the games. But, they are a good benchmark.
As for opinions, to the poster who responded to me, while I believe a Gill "fan," your arguments are cogent and strong. While I disagree, I respect them. To Ryan, I have a hard time believing that your preferences are not apparent. Look at the language of you posts: "I've come to know those five seniors and coach Sandy Whelan very well during the past three years. . . .they turned a former perennial loser into the best public school program in Somerset." In the words of a journalist I know, that's not the news, it's an editorial. Sorry, Ryan, but for me reading you and knwing you are the "reporter," you have to be a bit more middle of the road.
The problem with these posts is that too many people are bias. Everbody wants their girls and their teams to be the only ones deserving recognition. As for teams, instead of ripping schools like Gill and rutger's prep, parents should see that obviously these teams can play. Rutger's prep won the county and Gill who is very young had a great season. I think they won 21 or 22 games. As for players everybody should understand that each player gives something different to each team. I've been watching many games the past 10 years and many player's go by. In some Somerset county few player's go d1. This year there will only be one. Scott from Franklin. Respect that. In the next couple of years maybe 1 or 2. Rutgers prep Mgabada and Gill's Dasha Simmon's. Some others will play some division 2 and 3. And that's great for these young ladies. But all i ask is don't disrespect real talent. Simmons at Gill is very very good. She needs to score for that team. She steps up in big games. Whether win or lose she is a dominant force. Somerset county please support great player's. And for the parents who are fooled about his/her child's true basketball ability must remember that when it's said and done, true talent will show. Let the college scouts handle the criticisms. Opinions are great but everbody has them. Just be real and judge fairly. Don't judge because your kids play on other teams and thinking that bad mouthing schools is the answer.
For the max prep guy. I went on that site. Since you love the stats and ratios and all the statistical stuff. Look at Morris catholic number 1 in the state with a strength rating of 3 or 4. Have watchung, hc voorhees hunterdon play them they would all lose by at least 20. As for stats Simmons I belive is two in the state in scoring,one in assists and 1st in steals. HMMMM... I'm reading these posts and all I see is bashing of her. Not bad for a Sophmore. The anonymous writer who is a gill fan I am starting to believe everything you write now.
Before you go and say that HC, WH, Voorhees, North Hunterdon, etc. would lose to Morris Catholic by 20, here is something you should know: Morris Catholic only beat Immaculate Heart by 3. Hun played IHA and beat them by more then three. North Hunterdon beat Hun. By the transitive property, North Hunterdon and some others from the area would probably give Morris Catholic a good game.
Anyway, isn't this section supposed to be for our all-area guesses? What happened to that discussion?
I must be missing something here. One of the anonymous posts says "I'm reading these posts and all I see is bashing of her (Daisha Simmons)."
Help me out, one post says she's the "best offensive player in county..." another says she's "very talented" and while the third said they didn't think she was the best player in the area they'd put her on the third team in the county.
Where is the bashing? There are two discussions going on as far as I can see - Gill as a team and Simmons as a player on that team. It seems that the comments about Simmons as a player are fairly positive and no one has bashed her. What am I missing?
I must say after all this talk about Simmons I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to see her play this year. Lucky for us she's only a sophomore and we get 2 more years....
As far as the All-Area discussion...I personally think all the picks have been really good. I'm having a hard time deciding which '5' are tops for Ryan - I see 3 that I'd be really shocked if he didn't pick.... Myatt (Pway), Zigarelli (WH) & Houston (SP). I also think it will be hard for him to leave off Simmons even though she's only a sophomore. I don't know how he makes his decisions on younger talent. The last spot is up for grabs in my opinion. Scott? Miller? Mgbada? Tewksbury? Ericson?
POY - My vote would be for Zigarelli. She seems to be such a hard worker and a determined leader. I would love to see Ryan showcase her as the defensive talent she is. There are quite a few girls who put up bigger #'s day in and day out, but to me, she's the whole package.
COY - I'm not sure what Ryan's criteria is. We know he doesn't like picking coaches who received the honor in the past few years but I'm not sure that leaves off. Is it for the coach with the most accolades? Do they have to win their county tournament? Is it the coach who does the most with least talent? Not sure, but I'm looking forward to hearing which direction he goes. In any case, GOOD LUCK to all the seniors, especially those with college hoops plans. I'm already looking forward to next year!
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