(03-13-2018 05:25 PM)dekalb222 Wrote: https://t.co/3XMrJJQzyv?amp=1
Armour248, apparently I’m not the only one that felt German was first team All-MAC!
Apparently, Korcek also agreed with you 222. Can't seem to get a link to work,so here's a copy/paste:
Korcek: German deserved first-team Mid-American Conference selection
By MIKE KORCEK
Some of ua just remain hardcore.
Three weeks after the Northern Illinois men’s basketball season came to a halt in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, I still wonder. Don’t you?
Eugene German – first-team or second-team All-MAC? That is the question.
Within eight days this month, the mystery grew. The Huskies’ sophomore scoring sensation went from being named second-team All-MAC on the official squad picked by the league’s coaches to first-team All-District 14 in essence – another All-MAC unit – selected by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. What? Isn’t this the same body of voters – the NABC members in the MAC?
As the regular season closed, this old observer had a hunch that our local league scoring champion might get relegated to second-team status. It’s not the first time. Whether it’s the MAC or life, there’s slights everywhere. So, some dark, long-forgotten memories entered my brain: German got screwed.
Full disclosure: Almost four decades later, some of us still are livid that NIU all-time great, three-time first-team All-MAC choice Allen Rayhorn was snubbed for MAC Player of the Year in 1981-82. Instead, the honor went to guard Melvin McLaughlin, the leading scorer on a last-place Central Michigan club that finished 10-16 overall.
So while Rayhorn, one of the first 10 performers in MAC history to amass four-digit career totals in points (1,874) and rebounds (1,077), got mugged, pushed, abused in the lane by rigged defenses and double, triple teams, McLaughlin was firing wide-open jumpers from the perimeter. Hoops life just isn’t fair.
Guess Rayhorn got the last laugh and won the award that counted – MVP of the MAC tourney, the team bid to the 1982 NCAA Tournament and Honorable Mention AP All-America honors that year. That aforementioned player of the year was voted by the MAC News Media Association. One must figure the tolls on I-88 hacked off all the Ohio members.
Historically, German has company. What do these 11 other ex-MAC players have in common, dating back to 1947-48?
The list: Western Michigan’s Joe Shaw in 1950-51, Kent State’s Jim Nowakski in 1951-52, Marshall’s George Stone in 1965-66, Bowling Green’s Walt Piatkowski in 1966-67, McLaughlin in 1982-83 (ahem), Akron’s Derrick Tarver in 2003-04, BGSU’s John Reimold in 2004-05 and Martin Smarco in 2006-07, Toledo’s Tyrone Kent in 2007-08, WMU’s David Kool in 2008-09, and CMU’s Kyle Randall in 2012-13.
Add German and all are league scoring kingpins who did not make first-team All-MAC. In the conference’s first six seasons, there was only a five-player All-MAC squad, which Shaw and Nowakski did not make.
Twelve such players in 72 MAC seasons. Is that a good or bad ratio? I have no idea. (Note: League play started in 1946-47, but there are no documented individual MAC stats for that winter).
By 1974-75 and with 10 league members, the MAC honored 27 players. The number has varied. In 1958-59, the All-MAC first-team was comprised of six players. This winter with 12 schools, 20 student-athletes were tabbed either first, second, third-team, or honorable mention.
In an NIU context, only two players – Rayhorn (1979-80) and Kenny Battle (1985-86) – have made first-team All-MAC as sophomores. On the other hand, since 2004-05, there’s only been five league scoring champs that averaged more than 20 points a game. (German had 20.6) – and four made first-team.
Even NIU coach Mark Montgomery admitted that the slight could’ve been a “standings” thing. Many individual awards – MVP, all-league – in team sports are tied to win-loss records and titles. Being the point guard on a Huskie team that went 13-19 overall, 6-12 in the MAC and 1-13 on the road raises this question: With his scoring prowess, did German make his team better?
First, it is difficult to believe there were five better offensive players in the MAC this year than German. Second, yes, he did play on one of the nation’s most inefficient half-court offenses (351st in NCAA team assists). Was that German, his teammates or the structure (or lack thereof)?
Finally, why the disparity between the All-MAC and All-District units? Some MAC coach changed his vote. Why?
Years ago, whether it was the NABC, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, Basketball Times, Basketball Weekly, making All-District Four was exceptional. It was significant recognition, including D-I players from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. So when Rayhorn, Battle, Jim Bradley, Billy Harris, Matt Hicks, Paul Dawkins, Tim Dillon, Donnell Thomas or T.J. Lux made first-team All-District, it was with Big Ten, Missouri Valley, Notre Dame, DePaul, etc., personnel.
The NABC’s new All-District set-up is due to the college basketball map running amok and having, for example, Creighton in the Big East. Hence, districts via leagues.
After this episode, No. 10, you have a motivational chip for the other shoulder during the offseason. Make those MAC coaches pay.
• Mike Korcek is a 1970 graduate of NIU, and was the school’s head sports information director from 1984 to 2006. His historical perspective on NIU athletics appears periodically in the Daily Chronicle. Write to him at sports@daily-chronicle.com.