The Herald's All-County basketball teams are coming out in a week.
Whether you believe it or not, it's not a popularity contest as one disgruntled parent has suggested.
We don't judge players based on age or year in school.
Is it the top 10 players in the county?
We think so. And I stress 'WE' as in The Herald.
I realize there will be people that will disagree.
And you could have a valid point.
But we don't base it strictly on league play. Some leagues are clearly stronger than others.
You can't be one dimensional. Dropping in 15 points a night means nothing if you can't pass or play defense.
It's not a senior all-county team. It's a high school all-county team.
Do we rely on coaches for input? Absolutely.
Are we misguided? Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
You could probably make an argument that there are 15 players worthy of being a top 10 player in this county.
But there aren't 15 spots.
John Devine has been writing about high school sports in Monterey County since, well, practically since he was an athlete at King City in the days just after leather helmets. In PrepNation, John has even more in-depth analysis of the latest results and news he's brought to you in The Herald and in his weekly videos.
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11 comments:
How many games do you attended per year on average? Of those games how often are you seeing teams you've already watched? How many teams do you see play more than once a year on average? I am legitimately curious
Coach's input? Coaches will speak well on their players and disparige others ! Have you ever sat in on the all league meetings ! That's all it is! What " We the Herald " should ask coaches is who do they game plan for ? Who do they put their best defender on? Not what do you think of this or that player ! Every coach is always going to say whatever it takes to get their player on All-County as the Herald being so short staffed can't see every game! The last question " We The Herald " should ask is regardless of stats including points because those are always SO misleading is who Really impacted games ! Who did kids not want to have to guard !! Kids know ! Not pompous Adult Coach's who
have their own agenda !!
I'll be curious to see how many kids " We the Herald " really got out to watch in Person that made All-County! If " We the Herald actually believed you picked the right 10 then why write this post over 1 disgruntled Parent ? If coaches are having a say so then their trying to protect their kids who THEY feel didn't get the All-League award they felt their kid deserved!! People have to do their homework otherwise it is a Popularity contest!
Can't wait to see " We the Heralds" Top 10
All-County Team !!!
Thanks John for all your hard work and dedication to supporting and recognizing high school athletes in our area.
I (and others) appreciate the crazy long hours you work seeing more games than pretty much anyone in the area. (Not easy on your family life, I imagine.) And all the while working for a newspaper where we all know pay is low, and you constantly have to wonder if you are going to make it through the next lay-off.
Deciding on an All County, All League or All State is a thank less job. There is no way to please everyone. But the alternative of simply not picking a team so that everyone can be happy doesn't make a lot of sense.
I am thankful for the effort made by you and the Herald staff to do your homework so that you can give it your best shot to name an All County team. If others want to post criticism and parents want to be disgruntled you should know there are many out here who appreciate your efforts.
While I do disagree with a lot of your opinions, you do provide us with great coverage of local sports. Parents are idiots and they just want their friends to see that their son or daughter made an all county team. There are always going to be a few kids left out which happens in every sport. Im glad you dont make it like all league selections where they give out 50 1st team spots.
Why would JD waste his time at pointless games that people dont care about. Just because you want him to see your kid doesnt mean the rest of monterey county cares what he does against terrible teams. Last time I checked his job is to cover the games that people care most about because that is what people pay for.
How about you guys or girls post what you think the all county team should be and why and we can critique it just like you want to do to him.
Like I said I disagree with JD a lot and I think he is a complete goober whose opinion mean very little. Him and Tommy wright are complete fools.. But the guys do a great job covering local sports and it requires a lot of time. Give him some credit and stop being babies.
^^^It does matter. I currently coach high school basketball in another state. If I were to provide a scouting report on an opponent without ever seeing them play, that would be incredibly irresponsible of me. In order to really judge, compare, and make decisions about another team, I hope we both agree that I would need to see them play at least for a half, maybe more.
My point? devine says in his blog that you can't base things off of stats due to differences in league strength and such. So what is he basing it off of then. If he is not going to games and watching teams play, the only thing he has to fall back on is word of mouth, reputation, etc.
In my three years as a varsity basketball player, Devine went to a total of one of my games. And the lowest my team ever finished was fourth, btw. Just thinking of guys I played pick up or AAU basketball with, I can name three guys that currently play college basketball who were never selected as "one of the top 10 players in the county". I don't even know if we average 10 college basketball players in this county every three years. That's absolutely ridiculous
If devine's not going to attend games, and Parents, coaches, and kids should be pissed off. Cause what he's essentially doing is determining who is better than who without ever actually seeing some of these players play. And then giving some players extensive coverage and awards over others based on such. That naturally breeds a political "who knows who" atmosphere. More importantly, its just irresponsible and not okay. I get that this is a time consuming job. So what? most jobs are. If you are going to cover and award some kids while ignoring others, you better put enough time and groundwork in to be credible in doing so.
The reason why this bothers me has nothing to do with the coaches and parents. It has to do with the kids. this dynamic is not fair to the kids. Imagine a player who puts in hours in the offseason in hopes, clearly transforms himself into one of the best in the area, yet does not ever get any recognition or awards from this paper because John Devine is to lazy and disinterested to ever watch the kid play. Instead, he stays at home and writes a blog post about another kid he thinks is great that he has probably never watched, and may be nowhere near as good as the other kid. That is simply unfair
I second Carmelkyd's comments.
I don't always agree with any particular ranking all the time or all league/county placement, but this includes other sports writers and ranking services as well. As far as all league, etc. , it's tough to limit the number as there is always a worthy player (s) left off these lists and the ones on it are all worthy. Thanks for your passion covering and elevating knowledge of local prep sports in the Monterey Bay area.
JDs job isnt to rank players and give them awards. His job is to cover sports. He isnt going to go out of his way to watch every single player just to make sure he isnt missing a talented kid. His job is to write articles about sports and teams that people want to read about.
Word of mouth is how a lot of things get figured out. How do you know he isnt asking all the coaches about players from other teams? He could ask any coach who they thought was the best player they faced. I think he would take those coaches word of mouth over his own personal opinion any day
You obviously didnt play on that good of a team if JD only went to one game. Or your team never played anyone good that was an intriguing match up. The fact that in 75+ varsity games you were able to notice whether or not JD was at your game is sad. Maybe you spent a lot of time on the bench looking at the crowds.
I would love to hear who these 3 players are that currently play college basketball that werent selected to the all county team. And JC doesnt count. I dont think I cant even name 3 local basketball players that currently play college basketball.
JD doesnt attend games to watch players play. He goes to write articles. Would you rather go see King city play greenfield in KC or go to Palma vs Salinas? I can tell you which one people would rather read about. He covers the games that people want to know about. I can guaranteed JD puts way more time into his job than you think. He is probably on salary and makes less than minimum wage when you factor in the hours he works.
Kids are going to get left out. It happens get over it. JDs opinion means nothing. Maybe he shouldnt even have an all county team or rank any of the teams. I know people pay money to read those things so that probably wouldnt be such a good idea.
There are atleast 5 kids that are clear cut top players in the county..Jordan Graves. Wyatt Maker. John Stivers. Brad Sendall. Jesse Hurtado. I dont see how those 5 are not on it. Nathan Hunsdorfer will probably be on it. Maybe RJ johnson. Kobe Ordonio. Matt Chodosh. Chrystian Harrigan. There I just named 10 players. I only saw 3 of them play all year. Tell me which one of these guys doesnt deseve all county....
Lets hear your top 10 players. Or your ideal all county team...He cant watch every kid play. He just cant especially if he wants a job still. If he is going to base his selections on word of mouth then lets hear your opinion. He cant award a kid that he doesnt know anything about....
I'm not going to engage with someone who attempts to personally attack someone he does not know. I've said what I felt needs to be said. Outside of the kids I coach, I have better things to do than to discuss fourteen to eighteen year old athletes I have no association with.
HAHA I never personally attacked you. And you already engaged into my comments. You were the first person to comment on JDs post so if you dont care and have better things to do why did you even post?
Everyone wants to cry and complain about JDs opinion but you cant even spend 5 mins picking your top 10 players in the county..Hilarious.
Keep doing your thing JD. I travel a lot for work so I rely on your posts and the Herald articles to keep me up to date on Local sports. I know Norcal and Carmelkyd dont even live in the area so they clearly rely on you to keep them in the loop on monterey county sports. Dont let all these haters take away from the great job you do.
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