What would be the ideal state tournament system that would be fair to all teams? Ex: One that wouldn’t punish a team like Ursuline for playing a solid schedule & wouldn’t reward a Delmar Christian for playing a very weak schedule. Selection committee just like the NCAA’s does it would be my choice but would you have a bias with those on the committee being that Delaware is so small. Ex-coach or Administration from school “X” favors school “X” or teams in school “X” conference. Thoughts?
Best tournament system?
- Thread starter Filmore00
- Start date
Can't have a selection committee in a state this small, too many people could be influenced to make suspicious decisions. I worked and lived in Maryland for 4 years and I like their system to be honest - enrollment and regional brackets, everybody plays a tournament game. You can do that with now 50 schools in DE. Also for Delmarva Christian like schools - force them to play a DE-heavy schedule or they don't qualify for the tournament.
I agree with Gatekeeper. Would not be able to form a selection committee in a state this small void of being biased.
A round robin tournament would work with all teams participating based on a drawing.
Sorry, GateKeeperRefuge and debbie53, but I cannot agree with you having all teams participate in a state tournament. The majority of teams in this state are awful. It would cost more money to heat the gyms then the revenue coming in to watch them play. Bad business decision in our already cash depleted school systems and bad for girls' high school sports. The field should be limited. To how many, I can't figure, but the number now is too many, but its ok. The question is more around the seeding. And yes, a selection committee would be biased. Just look at the all-state voting - its an "I'll vote for yours if you vote for mine" bartering system.
Speaking of All-State. Each of the All-State Teams (First through Third) should only have 5 players. That's what a basketball team is - 5 players. Players earn the honor and placement by their play. It should never come down to well let's put 10 on first team so everyone will be happy. Again, this is what ruins girls' sports.
All State - There are 5 athletes selected for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd teams and 15 selected for HONORABLE MENTION
Perhaps there are coaches who do that, but I take my all-state vote seriously, and so do the other media members. It's usually a pretty lively discussion when we get together to tally up the votes.
We applaud you but most fans agree with Team Tom and question the integrity of the process which is a true disservice to the athletes who love and work hard to improve their game. Another big problem is this upstate-downstate nonsense. Geography does not have a place in honoring the best athletes in the STATE. The best is the best, so we should not reward undeserving athletes to even the upstate-downstate ratios..
Last edited:
Honestly, it's a disservice to the members of the media, who really are doing this for the love because it's not like it's a wealth-enriching profession, to suggest they can be swayed by geography, coaches, parents, fans, whoever/whatever - players still have to play and pass the eye test, period. I'd say there's an average of at least 20 years experience per voter, so they've seen a lot of come and go in terms of basketball and who they feel is best is who they feel is best - not a slight, not a bias, just pure observation.
Help me out here, GKF. All-State Teams are selected by the media? How embarrassed I feel. Being in Delaware HS Sports for as many years as I have been, and I did not know this. I truly thought the coaches made the selections. Thanks for enlightening me and educating me. I accept a 3rd party like the media making the selections. I've known many of the Delaware Sports Writers over the years and they are very dedicated to their responsibilities. They also get to see and hear much more than coaches or I do.
i withdraw my concerns also. I definitely was not questioning the integrity of the media. I thought the coaches were involved in the selection because a couple of years ago a coach stated that the process included coaches negotiating trying to get their athletes selected. I assumed that I was hearing the truth at that time. Thank you for clearing that up ;;;
The coaches DO pick All-Conference teams and that's where things can get a little...strange, but the media picks All-State, has for as long as I've been alive (which isn't super long, but long enough).
I know that wasn't a shot at me, GKR, but I'll accept that it is, I deserve it. I was a freshman for Christiana HS back when they played DeLawarr in the finals. So I have many years of being wrong about All State Team selections. Thanks again.
Nah, no shots, just speaking as someone familiar with the process. Not outing myself fully, but I've covered high school and college sports on and off for most of my adult life. I can say that the writers and broadcasters have the utmost respect for the athletes and the process of picking all state teams - we don't believe in popularity contests, lol
We live in Delaware - there is bias and the politics around it all is UNREAL!!!
The coaches also have votes. It's not a perfect system, but very few of us can get up and down the state to watch every player. We all have job responsibilities other than high school basketball.
Well then maybe they shouldn't be part of the voting selection? Just a thought...no personal interest. But that is like critiquing a book you never read.
If the writers/broadcasters we have didn't vote, then it WOULD be exclusively up to the coaches and I don't think y'all want that lol
My issue is that most teams don't keep complete stats no steals, rebounds, FG% etc. So the how does the media choose if they can't see all the games? How does the media take account of the impact girls have on their team success? I hate it when someone get recognized because they put up 30 to 40 shots to get 20pts a game because either their team is weak or their coach allow but somehow they should be all-state.
I'm a freelancer, so I can only go to games when I'm asked to, but I made an effort to find players and games on YouTube and 302 live streams. The guys who are full-timers still have to cover other sports. It's not easy, but the process is taken very seriously and the players picked are usually picked in agreement among the best seen in a particular year.
What your saying here is true. But I don't understand how you can coach a team and not track all of the relevant stats and all of the stats should be available to the voters because the box score typically fails to tell the whole story about an individuals play.
I agree with you 100% look at the big picture their overall stats. Just because they don't have 20points a game doesn't mean they shouldn't be an All State selection. Defense wins games in my opinion. But then stats aren't always a good picture if you are playing teams that aren't that good vs a school that plays top notch teams. It is Delaware and the politics are ridiculous so either way- ALL STATE means nothing. There will be a player that some of us have never heard of on 2nd team and probably from down state. But hey that is the society we live in- EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY- win or lose. We are in trouble....
Would love to see consideration given to PERCENTAGE of shots made, not how many points they score. Some score 20 a night but they shot 40 times.
If you film your games and utilize Hudl there isn't a lot of work that needs to be done to get stat information.
Here is the process because I was apart of it within the last decade. Each coach fills out 15 spots on a sheet of paper and sends back to media. They ask for your top 15 doesn't matter where you live. Most votes gets 1st 2nd and 3rd and honorable mention.
Each half of state meets and they do top 10 North and South. Coaches speak why their player should be there. Its a complete joke in my opinion because even when there is a clear cut player of the year some coaches won't vote for them for whatever reason. Honest to God this happens and I witnessed it and knowledgeable coaches laughed.
Another issue is sometimes a kid won't get top ten in the North or South but will end up being a 1st team or 2nd team all state which makes you think, "What are coaches looking at?"
Again this is first hand knowledge not here say.
Each half of state meets and they do top 10 North and South. Coaches speak why their player should be there. Its a complete joke in my opinion because even when there is a clear cut player of the year some coaches won't vote for them for whatever reason. Honest to God this happens and I witnessed it and knowledgeable coaches laughed.
Another issue is sometimes a kid won't get top ten in the North or South but will end up being a 1st team or 2nd team all state which makes you think, "What are coaches looking at?"
Again this is first hand knowledge not here say.
So if a player can make all state without being selected as top 10 north or south, what impact does this vote have on all state or POY honors?
Many coaches, on the boys side especially, have stopped listing heights for "competitive reasons". It's crazy
These coaches are so paranoid, it'd be hilarious if it weren't annoying to the reporters.
