An objective look at the postseason

The Tommies officially kick off their postseason run tonight when Aurora comes to town. No disrespect to the squad from Ilinois, but the top-ranked, undefeated home team should win handily. Still, some are preaching caution in an apparent attempt to lower expectations and relieve the pressure.

It's a fair point, but not something I entirely agree with. For better or for worse — make no mistake, it's been the latter the last few years — St. Thomas carries the standard for the entire league. It's been voted the best team in the nation for months and now has the chance to back it up after so many lopsided victories. An early upset would simply add to the recent embarrassments. However, a loss to Steven's Point or Cornell in the second round would be nothing to hang your head about. Disappointing to be sure, but hardly shocking. A loss to Aurora would be both disappointing and shocking.

Here's a quick breakdown of the teams playing at the Shoe this weekend.

The Division I comparison I've used for these Tommies is that of St. Joseph's and Memphis — neither played a difficult schedule during their magical regular seasons and one was exposed early in the Big Dance. The other went to the title game.

Are these Tommies more like Jameer Nelson or Derrick Rose? It's a debate that could go on all day. Thankfully, we have a very quantitative measurement called the NCAA Tournament to answer that question. When the final buzzer sounds, only one can walk off the court victorious.

Not everything is so cut and dried. Take the recently announced postseason awards, for example. There are some very compelling cases to be made for those who got "snubbed."

MVP Race
Joe Scott vs. Zach Johnson vs. Tim Madson

To most observers, this was a two-man race all year. Johnson or Madson? Madson or Johnson? Supporters of either player could make a very strong case. Johnson led the league in scoring and was 12th nationally at 22.4 a game. He also became Carleton's all-time leading scorer and the 18th MIAC player to score 2,000 points in his career. Madson put up 19 PPG and led Bethel to a second-place finish in the league.

Scott averaged just 13 PPG — the lowest ever for a MIAC MVP, I believe — but also led the league in steals at 1.75 and 3-pointers made (44). However, he isn't a big rebounder and doesn't register in the assists department. In fact, you have to go back 10 years to find numbers even remotely similar to Scott's.

Augsburg's Jeoffrey Reed split the MVP award with St. John's Troy Bigalke in the 1999-2000 season. He still averaged more points, more rebounds, more assists, more steals and shot better than Scott did in almost exactly the same amount of minutes. The eight recipient's between Scott and Reed averaged a cool 18.97 PPG.

If you're primary skill is scoring and you aren't among the top scorers in the league, how does this system work? Is the vote perhaps a nod to the Tommies' undefeated season? I guess four on the All-MIAC team and three on the All-Defensive team weren't historic enough. As best as I can tell, neither of these feats has ever happened before — even during UST's undefeated run in 1994-95 and in the multiple times the defensive team has included seven players.

Can I pull a Franken and demand a recount?

The Last All-Conference spot
McCoy vs. Robinson vs. Van Sickle vs. Hipp vs. Fong

This is highway robbery at its finest. How does Hipp not earn a spot? He was eighth in scoring (13.1), fifth in rebounding (9.1), sixth in FG percentage (57%) and first in blocks by a wide margin (2.6). Are you really telling me he isn't one of the best 16 players in the league? If so, I'm calling you a liar.

It's not like the current list is extraordinary. St. Thomas seniors Al McCoy and Lonnie Robinson, along with Gustie junior Jesse Van Sickle are all very marginal candidates. McCoy is an undersized post who isn't among the Top 30 in scoring, Top 15 in rebounding or Top 15 in blocks — but he did lead in the league is layup conversions at 69 percent and make the All-Defensive team.

Robinson is the best defender in the league, but not much of a factor on the offensive end. He averaged just 7.6 PPG, while sitting sixth in assists (2.85) and third in assist/turnover ratio.

Van Sickle is, essentially, a one-trick pony. He's an amazing shooter, as evidenced by his league-leading 48.6 perent shooting from deep. However, he often struggles to create his own shot and isn't really a factor anywhere else on the court.

St. Olaf freshman Bobby Fong is another player some feel might have been snubbed. He led the Oles in scoring at 11.8 and pulled down 3.1 rebounds a night. However, he was invisible defensively, shot 38 percent on a bad team and missed time to end the year. That's not a very glowing resume.

Buena Vista gets a turd sandwich

The Beavers, who returned everyone from a team who upset the Tommies last year, finished this season 23-3 and ranked No. 14 in the last D3hoops.com poll. But they are still home crying right now. The BVU coach doesn't like it — and I don't blame him — but they'd be better off looking in the mirror than pointing fingers.

You lost on your home court to a decidedly average Wartburg team in the conference semifinals. You knew the West region was stacked and this was possible. If you're truly as good as your record indicates, just win. Any excuses ring hollow otherwise.

But I feel a little bad that the Beavers got beat out for local coverage by a chunky kid who just made state.