NSIC Midseason All-Conference

[Stanger86]

We are 11 games into the conference season across the league, which means we're halfway home. Any thoughts on midseason awards at this point?

NSIC Player of the Year:
NSIC Defensive Player of the Year:
NSIC Freshman of the Year:
NSIC Newcomer of the Year:
NSIC Coach of the Year:

All-NSIC First Team
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7.
8.
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10.

All-NSIC Second Team
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2.
3.
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5.
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8.
9.
10.

[laker]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

At this point, I could see Fuqua on the first team with Witthus on the second now that he is back from injury.

[Stanger86]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

Gage Davis will probably be POY, considering he's putting up 23.9/10.3 in league play. Cleary will win the freshman award. I think Coach will be between Bigler and McKowen, depending on how the final standings shake out. No idea on DPOY.

Is the newcomer award for someone who is new to his team or new to the league? Would Busack be eligible? Otherwise the only name I can think of is Doyle.

[MrMustang]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

I would say Coach Bigler and McKown are the leaders for coach of the year.

For SMSU I see Bruggeman as 2nd team all league, maybe Carter Kirk. Otherwise the stats just aren't there -- which is fine. The Mustangs have done it via a team effort so far, but I don't see many ind. accolades coming

[simple as a $3 bill]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

I would say Coach Bigler and McKown are the leaders for coach of the year.

For SMSU I see Bruggeman as 2nd team all league, maybe Carter Kirk. Otherwise the stats just aren't there -- which is fine. The Mustangs have done it via a team effort so far, but I don't see many ind. accolades coming

I think that for COY, they may be the leaders but Matt Reimer needs to be included somewhere in that mix.

That's just doing it the Southwest way. It seems like they are always pretty good when everybody buys in.

[MrAugustana]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

Definitely not saying he'll win Defensive Player of the Year, but John Warren has been playing some ridiculous defense the past few weekends, just maybe not in ways that clearly show up on the stat sheet. Just this weekend he held Kretchman to 5-13 shooting (still put up 16 points), but Kretchman only had 2 assists and had 2 turnovers to go with those assists, well below his typical assist and assist-to-turnover numbers. Then on Saturday night, Warren held Arvidson to 10 points on 3-8 shooting (2-7 from three) with no assists and 4 turnovers.

Warren is really long and he's sneaky in that his body language is sort of...lazy-looking maybe?...but he's never playing lazy, it just seems like he's built in a way that makes him look kind of lazy and relaxed. He gets a ton of steals, tips, etc., and held two of the better guards (#7 in scoring for Arvidson, #8 in scoring for Kretchman) in the conference to 8-23 shooting and a total of 2 assists to 6 turnovers between the two of them.

Again, not saying that makes him DPOY, but he's definitely becoming one of the tougher defenders in the league with his length and athleticism. Has anyone watched the kid from Crookston who leads the league in blocks right now (by almost double the next closest blocks leader, who happens to be Walford from Augie)? Is he an all-around defensive presence or just a decent shot-blocker?

Also, interesting question on Busack. I'd be surprised if someone transferring from one NSIC school to another can win Newcomer of the Year, but I don't know the rules. Are any of Mankato's newcomers playing particularly well? Charlie Brown, maybe? Or Arias Austin? I could see one of those two getting some votes. What about the Doss kid for Moorhead? Or, as Stanger noted, Logan Doyle. If his numbers continue to reflect his Player of the Week numbers from last week, I could see him maybe being a front-runner, even if he didn't dominate like I expected him to against the Vikes this past weekend.

The thing about McKowan and Bigler is that I could see both UIU and SMSU having tougher South Division match-ups than Moorhead will face in the North Division as the season goes on, and unless people start knocking off the Dragons, they may be the likeliest team to win the regular season title (and, consequently, make Walthall the likeliest coach to win Coach of the Year, even if his Dragons were picked to finish higher than the Peacocks or the Mustangs at the start).

Even though he hasn't quite been himself the past couple of weeks, I would imagine Spencer is 1st Team worthy and Busack is starting to look like he might be a 1st Teamer as well if he can keep up his production. I would love to see Adam Beyer make the 2nd Team, partially because he has remained under-appreciated for most of his career, but there's just not enough consistency with him. One week he's Player of the Week and the next he kind of slips through the cracks.

Gage Davis as PoY seems like a lock at this point, barring some shocking drop-off in his production. Kretchman is probably up there on the 1st Team list, as is Fuqua and probably Witthus if he can get back to where he was right before his ankle injury. I haven't seen enough of the teams like Bemidji, Crookston, Minot/Mary, Duluth, etc. to know if they have any guys who are 1st or 2nd Team worthy, I'm mostly just focusing on the schools that are usually hovering around the top of the standings each year.

Good thread to start, Stanger. Fun to think about these things.

[MrMustang]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

I think that for COY, they may be the leaders but Matt Reimer needs to be included somewhere in that mix.

That's just doing it the Southwest way. It seems like they are always pretty good when everybody buys in.

Good call on Reimer.

[MrMustang]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

Definitely not saying he'll win Defensive Player of the Year, but John Warren has been playing some ridiculous defense the past few weekends, just maybe not in ways that clearly show up on the stat sheet. Just this weekend he held Kretchman to 5-13 shooting (still put up 16 points), but Kretchman only had 2 assists and had 2 turnovers to go with those assists, well below his typical assist and assist-to-turnover numbers. Then on Saturday night, Warren held Arvidson to 10 points on 3-8 shooting (2-7 from three) with no assists and 4 turnovers.

Warren is really long and he's sneaky in that his body language is sort of...lazy-looking maybe?...but he's never playing lazy, it just seems like he's built in a way that makes him look kind of lazy and relaxed. He gets a ton of steals, tips, etc., and held two of the better guards (#7 in scoring for Arvidson, #8 in scoring for Kretchman) in the conference to 8-23 shooting and a total of 2 assists to 6 turnovers between the two of them.

Again, not saying that makes him DPOY, but he's definitely becoming one of the tougher defenders in the league with his length and athleticism. Has anyone watched the kid from Crookston who leads the league in blocks right now (by almost double the next closest blocks leader, who happens to be Walford from Augie)? Is he an all-around defensive presence or just a decent shot-blocker?

Also, interesting question on Busack. I'd be surprised if someone transferring from one NSIC school to another can win Newcomer of the Year, but I don't know the rules. Are any of Mankato's newcomers playing particularly well? Charlie Brown, maybe? Or Arias Austin? I could see one of those two getting some votes. What about the Doss kid for Moorhead? Or, as Stanger noted, Logan Doyle. If his numbers continue to reflect his Player of the Week numbers from last week, I could see him maybe being a front-runner, even if he didn't dominate like I expected him to against the Vikes this past weekend.

The thing about McKowan and Bigler is that I could see both UIU and SMSU having tougher South Division match-ups than Moorhead will face in the North Division as the season goes on, and unless people start knocking off the Dragons, they may be the likeliest team to win the regular season title (and, consequently, make Walthall the likeliest coach to win Coach of the Year, even if his Dragons were picked to finish higher than the Peacocks or the Mustangs at the start).

Even though he hasn't quite been himself the past couple of weeks, I would imagine Spencer is 1st Team worthy and Busack is starting to look like he might be a 1st Teamer as well if he can keep up his production. I would love to see Adam Beyer make the 2nd Team, partially because he has remained under-appreciated for most of his career, but there's just not enough consistency with him. One week he's Player of the Week and the next he kind of slips through the cracks.

Gage Davis as PoY seems like a lock at this point, barring some shocking drop-off in his production. Kretchman is probably up there on the 1st Team list, as is Fuqua and probably Witthus if he can get back to where he was right before his ankle injury. I haven't seen enough of the teams like Bemidji, Crookston, Minot/Mary, Duluth, etc. to know if they have any guys who are 1st or 2nd Team worthy, I'm mostly just focusing on the schools that are usually hovering around the top of the standings each year.

Good thread to start, Stanger. Fun to think about these things.

John Warren is in the mix for defensive player for sure.

Gage Davis and maybe Matt Lien for POY depending on who wins the North.

I suppose I left out KJ Davis as a possibility for newcomer of the year depending on how the Mustangs finish. He's at 10 ppg as a transfer and has been vital in giving us more depth and leadership.

[Stanger86]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

Warren was one of the main guys I had in mind for DPOY

[Guest69]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

I would say Coach Bigler and McKown are the leaders for coach of the year.

For SMSU I see Bruggeman as 2nd team all league, maybe Carter Kirk. Otherwise the stats just aren't there -- which is fine. The Mustangs have done it via a team effort so far, but I don't see many ind. accolades coming

Since the coaches vote on it and if Southwest doesn't tank for the rest of the season, I see Bruggeman as a lock for first team. Lien, Kretchman and Gage Davis are locks for first team. I think Jordan Spencer earns a first-team nod as part of some lifetime achievement award since he deserved first team at least once the past two seasons, if not both -- oh and he's averaging 16 & 8. Tyler Rudolph has put up worthy numbers but 4-8 in league play at this point may not warrant it. I could see Mack Arvidson earning a spot on there at this point, either Mack Johnson or Drew Guebert, but not both despite really similar numbers (voter fatigue for USF). Fuqua gets a spot and Scottie Stone finalizes my ballot despite his attitude as the softest s*!t talker in the league.

POY: Gage Davis and it aint close
Midseason COY: Bigler (dropping fast switching vote to Walthall if SMSU has come back down to earth)
FOY: UMC's Cleary or BSU's Green (solely based on PPG)
NOY: KJ Davis, especially if Southwest somehow wins the league. He's instrumental to that team as a good athlete
DPOY: Warren, I guess. He gets the top defensive assignment every night and Augie has good team defensive numbers

[simple as a $3 bill]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

Since the coaches vote on it and if Southwest doesn't tank for the rest of the season, I see Bruggeman as a lock for first team. Lien, Kretchman and Gage Davis are locks for first team. I think Jordan Spencer earns a first-team nod as part of some lifetime achievement award since he deserved first team at least once the past two seasons, if not both -- oh and he's averaging 16 & 8. Tyler Rudolph has put up worthy numbers but 4-8 in league play at this point may not warrant it. I could see Mack Arvidson earning a spot on there at this point, either Mack Johnson or Drew Guebert, but not both despite really similar numbers (voter fatigue for USF). Fuqua gets a spot and Scottie Stone finalizes my ballot despite his attitude as the softest s*!t talker in the league.

POY: Gage Davis and it aint close
Midseason COY: Bigler (dropping fast switching vote to Walthall if SMSU has come back down to earth)
FOY: UMC's Cleary or BSU's Green (solely based on PPG)
NOY: KJ Davis, especially if Southwest somehow wins the league. He's instrumental to that team as a good athlete
DPOY: Warren, I guess. He gets the top defensive assignment every night and Augie has good team defensive numbers

That one needs some splainin Lucy. Not that I doubt you, I'm just confused.

[Guest69]

Re: NSIC Midseason All-Conference

That one needs some splainin Lucy. Not that I doubt you, I'm just confused.

I saw him play at USF and he had a quick spurt where he canned a series of threes and he looked like he was trying to restrain himself but also taunt USF/fans at the same time. If you're going to talk junk, own it and do it. He has the makings of a great white Duke guard villain, and I wanted him to sell out with his actions.