What would your All-Centercourt teams look like?

Why does anyone care if MIG is a man or a woman? Who really cares? We all use funny names. Nobody is obsessed with finding out who Center Court really is. I just don’t get it. I mean there must be more important things you can do with your time than trying to figure that out. I just don’t get the obsession over MIG. Nobody cares.

McShea is God

My official All WNY 1st team prediction:
Stan Weir (MVP)
S Taplin
M Hart
Reggie A (That kid from Ghana)
J Crumpton
Let’s c how I do this year 🙂

PJB

!st-S Weir,A Weir,RA, Hart and Crumpton; 2nd- Ekstrom, Williams(NF) ,Williams(TSJ), Taplin,Schmidt

ECIC/MMA fan

when talking all wny it should be based on this season only,who cares about last year not a career award.so b/c one makes 4th team last year means this year has to be 3rd or higher?no way, doesnt have to make it at all unless deserves it.based on 11-12 season only,with that said no way taplin should be on 1st or 2nd team he may be better in some eyes but didnt have better year and 2 games in playoffs doesnt make season.a few facts, st joes overachieved clearly and good for them.but they are not #4 and they showed that over the last few weeks of season,#8,9 or 10.Timon not #5,they beat nobody in league and close means nothing.Timon & Joes both lucky to be in top ten due to lack of strong teams.Hart only missed 2 games I believe this year so no injury issue for him.all have favorite players so opinions will be all over the place but results speak for themselves.lastly,nice year for otc but to say they should get a player on 1st team b/c team made it to state final(food for thought: no way they should be a class C school)is crazy.

centercourt

A few questions for you ECIC/MMA fan:
– Where does Taplin belong?
– What does your top 10 look like (where should Joe’s & Timon be ranked)?
– Where should OTC be classified? Is Class C is crazy because they are too good for it or you disagree with the way the school is structured?

WT716

PG- Taplin
SG- Hart
SF- Stan Wier (POY)
PF- Eckstrom
C- RA

Ricky

G- Taplin
G- Stan Weir
G- Matt Hart
F- Crumpton
F- Reggie A

Gus Buster

Reggie, Matt Hart, Stan Wier(poy), Tommy Campion, and Crumpton. Taplin played two very good games in the sectionals but was not 1st team worthy for most of the season. He should be a second teamer.
This team would lose by 20 though to CC and my true All-CC team,

StateChamps2003

1st Team:
Stan Weir (POY) – East Aurora
Reggie Agbeko – St. Joe’s
Jermaine Crumpton (11) – NFHS
Matt Hart (11) – Canisius
Aaron Frasier – Seneca
2nd Team:
Sterling Taplin (10) – W. North
Cordell Torres – OTC
Adam Weir (11) – Canisius
Taijay Williams – NFHS
Sam Eckstrom (10) – Olean
3rd Team:
Jamaal Carter – City Honors
Jesse Lalka – Tonawanda
Nick Schmidt (10) – Olean
Reyzon Jordan (11) – McKinley
Jordan Williams – Timon
4th Team:
Darnell Carson (11) – CSAT
Jordan Farrant – Holland
Justice Feggans (11) – Riverside
Tommy Campion (11) – Jamestown
Ryan Whelply – Walsh
Just Missing the cut:
Kyle Kobis – Timon
Lovell Smith (11) – McKinley
Marcus Morris (11) – McKinley
Aaron White (11) – Canisius
Martin Bailey – Ken West
Tyler Martin – Wilson
Wil Bathurst (10) – Olean
No way Taplin should be 1st team All-WNY. The five players above had better years and putting sophomore guard on the All-WNY first team puts you in the class of Jason Rowe and Tim Winn and Taplin is no where near that caliber of a player.

Roundman

When will the individual league all-star teams be announced

centercourt

Most have been announced already. If I can gather all that info, I’ll put up a post with the all-league teams.

Roundman

Ok thanks

WT716

First of all Matt Hart is a senior. Second of all on your comment towards Taplin, I don’t know what kind of players Winn and Rowe were and what the competition was like back then, but it is tough to compare players over a 10+ year time period.

StateChamps2003

WT716 – I don’t think it’s too tough. The game hasn’t changed that much from the mid 90s. It’s not like we’re comparing the 60s vs. 00s. Competition in the 90s was a lot tougher IMO than now without a doubt.

PatrickMoran

HS Hoops in the 90’s was incredible here and ABSOLUTELY no disrespect to Taplin intended, but he’s not even in the same class as Winn or Rowe; at least not now. If you younger guys saw Rowe play today the way he did then, your jaws would drop.
Taplin may end up being the best player to come from WNY in at least a good handful of years, and Im a huge fan of him–but he’s not First-Team All-Star material quite yet.

TML1000

Pat…if Taplin is not in the top 5, then to me, Frasier is not either. Frasier is a very good player but if you are going to put him that high, on a team that did not go far in the postseason. then you have to have Bailey and Feggans much higher.

StateChamps2003

In agreement with everything that Patrick said.
Frasier is my dark horse. I don’t think he will GET first team but IMO I think he should. Didn’t Robbie Seyler from Lew-Port get first team a couple years ago? I may be wrong. His team didn’t do anything but he was an outstanding player who put up numbers against tough competition.

centercourt

Seyler averaged over 29 per game his senior year. I had him on 2nd team. The News had him on 4th team.

TML1000

First Team:
Stan
Agbeko
Hart
Taplin
Wier
Second Team:
Crumpton
Torres
Williams(NF)
Williams(Timon)
Bathurst
Third Team:
Frasier
Bailey
Feggans
Campion
Eckstrom
Fourth Team:
Lalka
Carter
Schmidt
Farrant
Whelply
Fifth Team:
Smith(McKinley)
White
Carson
Wilkes
Kobis

TML1000

Williams from Silver Creek probably deserves to be in there somewhere, as well. A Grove player too…
Jordan from McKinley, Khalid Brown, Blanch, Keenan, Martin all have a case.

TML1000

St. Mary’s definitely deserves someone as well…every time I saw them they were just very deep…couldn’t pick one but defitely would be well deserved.

TML1000

Frasier is certainly a great player…more than just a scorer, but I don’t know if I buy that he played against that tough of competition. I wouldn’t put Yale Cup small school high than ECIC 1/3 or NFL…all had good top 3-4 teams but a very weak bottom half.

PatrickMoran

The problem with Mary’s, which is also what made them such a good team is they had so much balance and no standouts.. Simmons would carry the load one night and have 2 points the next, because Redden would carry them, then the next night he’d be off the scoresheet while Meyers carried the load, etc.
They didn’t really have all-star players (at least not among first 3 All-WNY teams) but they made for one hell of a team overall, which at least in my opinion warrants Gill for being in upcoming coach of the year discussions.

the real deal

Ok, first off there is absoutly no way that taplin is 1st team, he is very good, no disrespect but as a 10th grader he doesnt deserve 1st team. Next year he will be. Second of all, Crumpton is in no way derserving of 1st team, possibly not even 2nd team. I thought that the kid was really good, until I saw him play at Buff State, he can’t finsih strong and he seems like he doesn’t want the ball and can’t handle pressure. Then Tommy Campion should at least be 2nd team, the kid can play. Finally people… MATT MCCORMICK OF ORCHARD PARK…. is derserving of 1st or 2nd team, the kid is a great kid, teammate and overall player, o yea, and the kid can shoot like crazy. he single handly lead orchard park the whole season, he was basiclly there whole offense. Wake up people!!!

McShea is God

I must say it feels good 2 c everyone put Stan as their POY when 2 months ago I was getting totally crucified 4 suggesting it :):):)
I’ll stick with my 1st team and we shall c how I do!!! I have a pretty good record going.
When it comes right down 2 it – who is the better player is the tiebreak. If we can all agree on Stan Matt and RA – Taplin and Crumpton r simply that – the next 2 best PLAYERS. 4get everything else. Both also r going D1 which doesn’t hurt. I mean granted Canisius isn’t really a D1 program the last 15 years 🙂
My 2nd team…which UNLIKE my 1st team which I have NEVER missed is NOT always right:
A Wier
A Fraiser
R Whelpy
J Williams
S Eckstrom
My 3rd team:
C Torres
A White
E Simmons
J Wilkins
T Campion
My 4th team:
W Bathhurst
J Farant
J Lalka
Z Williams
C Keenan
Again I NEVER CLAIM 2 nail all 4 teams, only have a 5 year streak of guessing the 1st team. I’m sure 1 of my 2nd and 3rd team guys will b switched. I could c Sam dropping to 3rd and Torres going 2 2nd
We shall c.

McShea is God

And State Champs nobody is suggesting Taplin is as good as Tim Winn or J Rowe. It is a DOWN year 4 sure. Maybe the worst 1st team ever. But it is what it is. In the words on Rick Pittino ‘Tim Winn and Jason Rowe are not walking through that door guys’…Tim was the BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN THE HISTORY OF SECTION 6! PG’s literally COULD NOT GET THE BALL OVER HALFCOURT against him!!! Granted back them Pat was leading Lasalle 2 back 2 back State titles and now Fall hasn’t won a State title in 7 years, but hey that’s a different story 🙂
And postseason DOES have a HUGE part in it. It’s basketball. 1 player if he is THAT GOOD should b able 2 lead his team deep into the playoffs. Now if Taplin loses 2 a team w 2 guys in the top 15 that is ok…etc.
My 5th team would b:
J Feagan’s
K Kobis
N Lenart
D Carson
M Baily
The only thing I would say is if u think some1 I don’t have should b on 2nd team don’t just say ‘Joe blow should b on 2nd team’ – u have 2 DROP SOMEBODY down 2.
Because last I checked there r 5 guys on each team.

johnny

Agreed with the real deal about Matt McCormick…… He is the most undderrated player in WNY. Kid is great

PatrickMoran

Good comments and lists by all. I don’t want to post my teams because I have them coming out in my online pub sometime next week, but strong debate here.
Seems Stan, Reggie and Matt are first-team locks by all(as they should be) and then the real debate begins. I can make a case for at least 6-7 kids being on the First-Team, either for or against.

jj43

real deal,
how can you say no way taplin or crumpton are 1st team and then say campion is at least 2nd team b/c “the kid can play”? watched taplin and campion vs. NF and the difference was taplin took over the game and was best player on the court. campion was good too, but played a role. BIG difference! and if you think crumpton isn’t 1st team then you are just nuts. matty mccormick is nice, but no way is he making one of the teams. just reality. sorry.

Roundman

Wish we had league all-star team from coaches with league poy to help make list I see some poy listed on prep talk but only about half.

Fan at the game

Please answer me this question? Why does everyone have K. Kobis so low. He was by far the best all-around player on his team. The second best all around player in WNY behind M. Hart, and i’m not saying either are better players than S. Wier, just better all around skills.
In comparing K Kobis to MIG’s second team
A. Wier- Kobis better shooter, dribbler, facilitater. Weir better finisher
A. Frasier- very good player, maybe similar traits to Kobis. Kobis did it against much, much better competition
R. Whepley- see Wier above plus Kobis did it against much better competition.
J Williams- Williams better shooter but much streecker. Kobis better in all other skills
S Eckstrom- Eck a better finisher and rebounder. Kobis much more skilled in all other areas.
I think you knowledgable HS analysts that have watched these kids play a lot should see that this kid deserves to be 1st or 2nd team.
Why no love for this kid. And by the way he’s done it for 4 Years.
I would put him on my first team, but no way should he be lower than 2nd team.

TML1000

Kobis disappeared in too many of the games I saw him play in…particularly against the top teams. Williams played much better in those big games, much of the time. Regardless of skills, a player has to use those skills during competition.

Truth Be Told

I think when making these picks you must look at the league/level and the overall competition they faced. I see some players names being bantered about (not mentioning) that played in weak leagues with weak teams and put up big numbers. They shouldn’t be considered!

Jim jones

The most underrated player in WNY is Michael Kyarunts the PG from Williamsville East. The kid averages 15pts,5assists, and, 5rebounds.He had a great overall year and came up big in the playoffs. He single handedly tore up the McKinley press. Without him East would not even have thought about making it that far in the playoffs.

the real deal

jj43,
did you see Crumpton play at Buff State……Disappiontment. He had one nice play the whole tournment and the was the in the first 10 seconds of the game vs Jamestown, it was an alley oop dunk, then he missed the next one he tried. Brenden Kellem of Jamestown, A FRESHMAN shut crumpton down. He only had like 8 points. Then against Aquainas, Phil Vailente,(also a caniuis commit) looked 10 times better then crumpton did. and to top it off, his coach called him out on tv saying that he needs to step up, he didnt…. they lost. Then, i remember Taplins stats against the Falls at Buff State. i think he was like 2 for 12 in the first half or somehting like that . But check matty mccormick stats, i think he averaged around 23 points and 8 assists and 5 rebounds a game, o yea he was mostly double and tripled teamed that entire game aswell. he single handly lead OP this year

centercourt

real deal –
Crumpton’s dunk was against Will North.
Going after a high school kid and calling him disappointing is disappointing.
Kellam came off the bench and played in Jamestown’s zone defense. Falls had Crumpton away from the basket quite often and had Ralands occupy the paint more often than Crumpton. You make it sound like Kellam played 32 minutes of stifling man defense on him.
Phil Valenti is the best high school basketball player from here to Syracuse and was the Class AA tournament MVP. Falls played brilliantly against Aquinas and came up just short against the team that nearly beat Mount Vernon to win the AA state title. Falls lost to a better team…period. It had nothing to do with Crumpton.
Matt McCormick had an outstanding season and is a great player. Wouldn’t it be annoying if someone who saw him play once or twice when he was underwhelming, came on here and bashed him?

Roundman

I think the only two locks for 1team would be stan wier and who ever is. Poy in the mma since it had the toughest competition.after that about 7quality players remain

Ricky

CC,
Valenti is awesome, I think he could have gone to a much better basketball program than Canisius. That said against St. Joes, Reggie won the match-up. Even with Valenti hounding RA all game Reggie still had 16 and 10, while Valenti had 10 points I believe. Him and Reggie don’t really compare. Valenti is a SF type player in that he does everything, great on the boards, scorer, and plays physical defense. On the contrast Reggie is a beast on the inside, plus an exceptional rebounder and shot blocker. I probably give the edge to Valenti right now because his scoring ability, but I think RA has better college potential. I love watching Valenti though, probably my favorite player to watch all season(besides Reggie, I had a blast watching him all season) Back to Valenti, he’s so lanky and quick, plus when his shot is on, he’s a very deadly player and almost singlehandedly beat the #2 team in the state, Mt. Vernon. Watching this kid was an absolute joy and I look forward to watching him at Canisius and I think he could be a very strong D1 player if he puts on some muscle.

StateChamps2003

Love it when centercourt just comes back on here and unleashes the BOOM on fellow bloggers with facts.

Andrew Webster

1st Team
Stan Wier (Sr) East Aurora (Player of the Year)
Reggie Agbeko (Sr) St. Joseph’s
Matt Hart (Sr) Canisius
Adam Weir (Jr) Canisius
Jermaine Crumpton (Jr) Niagara Falls
2nd Team
Sterling Taplin (So) Williamsville North
Tommy Campion (Jr) Jamestown
Sam Eckstrom (So) Olean
Connor Keenan (Sr) Williamsville East
Taijay Williams (Sr) Niagara Falls
3rd Team
Ryan Whelpley (Sr) Archbishop Walsh
Jordan Williams (Sr) Bishop Timon St. Jude
Cordell Torres (Sr) OTC Middle College
Martin Bailey (Sr) Kenmore West
Aaron Frasier (Sr) MST Seneca
4th Team
Justice Feggans (Jr) Riverside
Aaron White (Jr) Canisius
Darnell Carson (Jr) CSAT
Nick Schmidt (So) Olean
Zeddie Williams (Jr) Silver Creek
5th Team
Khalid Brown (Sr) OTC Middle College
Erik Simmons (Sr) St. Mary’s
J.J. Wilkes (Jr) Niagara Falls
Jordan Farrant (Sr) Holland
Alex Grace (Sr) Maple Grove
Honorable Mention
Daquan Griggs (Sr) East
Jonathon Lewis (So) East
Marcus Morris (Jr) McKinley
Reyzon Jordan (Jr) McKinley
Maurice Cheatom (Sr) I-Prep
Devonte Harper (Sr) OTC Middle College
Jamaal Carter (Sr) City Honors
Matt MacDonald (Jr) Canisius
Devin Redden (Sr) St. Mary’s
Joe Lowery (Sr) Niagara Catholic
DeMilo Gibbs (Sr) Bishop Timon St. Jude
Adam Cecchini (Sr) Jamestown
Matt Taylor (Sr) Frontier
Chaquiel Nettles (Jr) Williamsville South
Mike Kyarunts (Sr) Williamsville East
Jaden Cotton (Sr) Depew
John Gemerek (Sr) Depew
Glenn Belton (Sr) Amherst
Jonathan Belton (Jr) Amherst
Jesse Lalka (Sr) Tonowanda
Clayton Hess (Jr) Tonowanda
Daryl Spencer (Sr) Cleveland Hill
Ramir Burton (Jr) Niagara Falls
Quinton Campbell (Jr) Kenmore West
P.J. Blanch (Sr) Kenmore East
Tyler Martin (Sr) Wilson
Justin Black (Sr) CSAT
Kevin Holmes (Sr) Dunkirk
Wil Bathurst (So) Olean
Dustin Schauman (Sr) Cassadaga Valley
Kaine Kettle (So) Silver Creek
Austin Alonge (Sr) Westfield
Jake Reynolds (Sr) Franklinville
Sklyar Liddell (Sr) Maple Grove
Nick Lenart (Sr) Panama

Coach

Andrew good post as usual. From all I’ve seen I think you’ve captured the best rankings top to bottom. I especially like Keenan in the top ten. One big miss I see is Kobis. I think he deserves at minimum a top 20 spot. I would move White into HM and Kyle into his slot. Also McCormick is at least HM if not top 25. What do you think?

fan

coach it might be better if you just put your own team up instead of listing subs for andrew’s team.

Roundman

I like Andrews teams,solid young men highly skilled,strong looking first team selections

johnny

Agree witht coach- Matt McCormick is atleast top 25

Andrew Webster

Yeah coach as soon as I posted it, I thought about McCormick. He is definitely one of two or three guys that kind of got lost in the shuffle for me. It would be tough for me to put him in the top 25, because every player I had in the top 25 enjoyed either a good season with their team and/or a strong playoff run. Certainly McCormick is deserving of an HM spot, but like CC said even with 60 players honored, some good players will inevitably be left out.

Andrew Webster

Oh and about Kobis. Unfortunately, I did not get to see him play, but from what I gathered he had kind of an up and down season for someone who’s as experienced as him. But I could certainly understand someone making an argument for him. A very good, if not great player.

johnny

Andrew Webster,
I certinely agree with you about all top 25 players having a good season with there team and/or playoff run. McCormick had a tough season with his team, he battled through tough injurys the whole year and had a young/inexperienced team. Also for playoffs, they had a great win vs clarence but fell short by 8 vs Jamestown. But in my opinion be had excellent stats. about 23 pts per game and over 6 assists per game. Just my opinion, that perpells him in the top 25. But overall you have a great list of teams.

Andrew Webster

Thanks Johnny.
I certainly know how easy it is for great players on teams that struggle to kind of be overlooked for these kind of postseason honors. Also, having seen McCormick play I know how good he is and certainly respect that. Definitely a player that deserves whatever honors he will get. Unfortunately, he like many others in the past and present suffer from their teams not having a great season. But that is a part of the criteria when picking these teams.

Son