Bellingham on the way out?

[Minor League Man]

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3459568

If you read this, it's just one big rant on how unfair the ABA is for not naming any players to their lineup.

I'm thinking Bellingham might not be back next year...

[besl]

If you read this, it's just one big rant on how unfair the ABA is for not naming any players to their lineup.

I'm thinking Bellingham might not be back next year...

Maybe the team's just trying to stick up for its players?

At any rate, I'd say someone who averages 30 points a game is probably worthy of a mention on the All-ABA team.

If I remember correctly, wasn't Caleb Gervin from Bellingham in the running for MVP last year? I don't think he averaged nearly as many points as Mike Parker did this year.

[The Magician]

Why the ABA should have an:

ABA Game Night PR Report Sheet and an ABA Weekly Info Sheet to determine the ABA Player of the Week & ABA Team of the Week.

Add in up-to-date player statisics for the entire season & playoffs ...

And you can pretty much select the All ABA teams within 48-72 hours of the ABA Championship game.

Let's not forget to check that ABA All-Star Game Roster!

[Alumni96]

This is what happens when the list is basically compiled by one coach. It means nothing. I don't believe Mr. Terrell ever got to see Bellingham play. The list is made up of Frost Heaves, Tycoons, People from teams Mr. Terrell got to coach against, and the rest were big name players (by ABA standards). This should have been done by conference instead of by league. Even with 3 teams your going to have guys left off the lists when your pulling form 50 plus teams.. Heck Vermont's best player IMO was Ty Levett and he didn't make any of the lists either.

[OneBetter]

Maybe the team's just trying to stick up for its players?

At any rate, I'd say someone who averages 30 points a game is probably worthy of a mention on the All-ABA team.

If I remember correctly, wasn't Caleb Gervin from Bellingham in the running for MVP last year? I don't think he averaged nearly as many points as Mike Parker did this year.

That's exactly what is happening. The coaches or GMs of the other teams are just sticking up for their best players now. The Maywood Buzz are doing the same thing:

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3459592

I agree that it is completely bogus to let ONE coach from the league decide on the All-ABA teams. It's very obvious he only picked guys from teams he played against or just "big name" (relative to the ABA) guys he's heard of.

This is another perfect example of the ABA screwing things up.

One person's opinion does not constitute the makings of an All-ABA team or an ABA rankings system. Both are horribly flawed.

Were the ABA rankings addressed at the Owner's Meeting?

[Fells]

This is what happens when the list is basically compiled by one coach. It means nothing. I don't believe Mr. Terrell ever got to see Bellingham play. The list is made up of Frost Heaves, Tycoons, People from teams Mr. Terrell got to coach against, and the rest were big name players (by ABA standards). This should have been done by conference instead of by league. Even with 3 teams your going to have guys left off the lists when your pulling form 50 plus teams.. Heck Vermont's best player IMO was Ty Levett and he didn't make any of the lists either.

Now what should have been done is a ballot should have been sent out to all the teams/local media, and have them vote for the teams and other superlatives. (Rookie of the Year, MVP, etc.) Alumni makes a very good point in that Chris most likely made his choices based on the teams he saw play. But, he should not have been allowed to vote for his own team as that is biased. I am not saying that happened, but if I was making up the teams, I know more than a little thought would go into making sure my players ended up on the all league teams.

Alumni, you are also correct about Leavitt; he was awesome this year, and showed how good he really is during the playoffs. Tyrone is also one of the nicest guys on the planet and deserved some credit.

[brucker]

Sheldon Pace of SanDiego deserves a mention as well. He might just be the best pure point guard in all the ABA. He was cut from the NBDL during training camp. Got some serious skills.

[tbayz1]

there are alot of players that didnt make it, thats what happens when one coach from the midwest region do it, mr terrell hasnt seen alot of the players that play here on the east or even a few on the west too much, the ABA itself shoulda did it

What # was Levett for Vermont??

and Lamar Castile, Kueth Duany, Antoine Sims for Buffalo are some really good players, Lamar w/o a doubt should be on that list, he was ALL-FIRST team last year, Kueth if he wasnt hurt for so long and played the whole season wouldve put up numbers and established himself as one of the best in the ABA and the Silverbacks wouldnt have started 0-4 and then get to .500 if he wasnt hurt :( but man once he came back in mid-Jan, thats when we went on our like 10 game win streak

i think by teams releasing their opinions on this topic really shows how frustrated some are and arent too pleased, they shouldve picked these players at the owners meeting!!

[Minor League Man]

So do you think Bellingham and Maywood could be on their way out?

[brucker]

I just read the Maywood article, and I have to respectfully disagree. I saw several games between Maywood and San Diego, Hollywood, Beijing and Bellingham. I would rate several players from these teams ahead of Lamar Gayle, mainly due to the following reasons:

1) Maywood doesn't play much D, so individual scoring is really run up
2) Lamar is probably the only player on the team with any kind of offensive game, no one else can really create for themselves
3) He's a volume shooter and jacks up a lot of bad shots
4) He saves all his energy for offense and does puts up very little resistance on D

Here are the players I would rate ahead of him from the teams I saw:

Sheldon Pace (SD)
Cardell Butler (SD)
Jamison Brewer (HF)
Billy Knight (HF)
Sun Yue (Aos)
Fred Vinson (Aos)
Mike Parker (Belingham)
Jacob Stevenson (Belingham)

There is an argument to be made that Sun Yue only played half the season and therefore should not qualify, but c'mon, his team went on a tear after he came back so let's not overanalyze here.

I do agree that Billy Knight does not deserve the hype...he was good, but not great whenever I saw him. Being a purist, I rated him fairly high because he plays good defense and a team-oriented game. Somehow he learned something under Steve Lavin.

[preeths]

Maywood is not going anywhere.

[besl]

Maywood is not going anywhere.

Agreed. Maywood/Carson's owner has been suckling at Joe Newman's teat (so to speak) for years now. In what other league could a team like his get every single one of their road trips paid for by the league?

[Alumni96]

there are alot of players that didnt make it, thats what happens when one coach from the midwest region do it, mr terrell hasnt seen alot of the players that play here on the east or even a few on the west too much, the ABA itself shoulda did it

What # was Levett for Vermont??

and Lamar Castile, Kueth Duany, Antoine Sims for Buffalo are some really good players, Lamar w/o a doubt should be on that list, he was ALL-FIRST team last year, Kueth if he wasnt hurt for so long and played the whole season wouldve put up numbers and established himself as one of the best in the ABA and the Silverbacks wouldnt have started 0-4 and then get to .500 if he wasnt hurt :( but man once he came back in mid-Jan, thats when we went on our like 10 game win streak

i think by teams releasing their opinions on this topic really shows how frustrated some are and arent too pleased, they shouldve picked these players at the owners meeting!!


Ty Levett was #45 6'5" SG/SF. He is very strong and his outside shot really came on as the year progressed. He was absolutely on fire in the championship game. He is fantastic on the glass due to his strength and leaping ability.

Duany was absolutely hands down Buffalo's best all around player. Castile and Simms can fill it, but give me a guy with Duany's size and skill set on my team anytime.

As I stated before there should have been 3 conference first teams (Blue,Red, and White) chosen by a pole of the coaches of their respective conferences. This shouldn't be too difficult to achieve I would think. Then based on the all conference teams put out a vote for an all ABA team (again amongst all the coaches).

[zeke41]

As I mentioned earlier in another thread, Alex hill from the Orlando team is being scouted by Marty Blake to attend the NBA pre-draft camp. He wasn't listed, either.

Ballots, my friends...ballots. The ABA isn't the NBA, but there are certain standards practiced that really can't change (like All-Star and All-Team voting). The NBA is the highest standard. You have to at least acknowledge and in many circumstances customize what your league is doing in the same manner as the standard bearer. Everyone is striving to get to that level anyway.

[tbayz1]

Ty Levett was #45 6'5" SG/SF. He is very strong and his outside shot really came on as the year progressed. He was absolutely on fire in the championship game. He is fantastic on the glass due to his strength and leaping ability.

Duany was absolutely hands down Buffalo's best all around player. Castile and Simms can fill it, but give me a guy with Duany's size and skill set on my team anytime.

As I stated before there should have been 3 conference first teams (Blue,Red, and White) chosen by a pole of the coaches of their respective conferences. This shouldn't be too difficult to achieve I would think. Then based on the all conference teams put out a vote for an all ABA team (again amongst all the coaches).

oo ya i member him when we beat the Heaves here in Buffalo, he is a VERY VERY good player!! and yea Kueth is best all around, but u want some points ya go to Lamar, and u want a deadly shooter, Sims is ur man, hopefully Lamar and Kueth come back next year since theyre from out of town, i think we will have a better chance to get Lamar back than Kueth, plus Lamar also lives fairly close in Pennsylvania and Kueth is from Indiana, and i hear maybe some future workouts with a few NBA teams for Kueth

i think he woulda been in the NBA if he didnt get hurt before the draft while working out with the Utah Jazz

[jamesaba]

Hill probably wasn't chosen because there aren't enough spots and Orlando was 9-19.

My All Aba Teams would be:

First Team:
Aaron Cook, Vermont
Rob Sanders, Cape Cod
Jamel Staten, Minnesota
Sun Yue, Beijing
Curtis Haywood, Arkansas

Second Team:
Drew Washington, Maryland
James Reaves, Rochester
Donnie Beacham, Texas
Lonnie Randolph, Quad City
Billy Knight, Hollywood

Third Team:
Greg Plummer, Strong Island
Tyrone Levitt, Vermont
Cedric McGinnis, Wilmington
Cardell Butler, San Diego
Mike Parker, Bellingham

IMO, Burks was on some games and off others and somewhat one dimensional - compared to Levitt. Creddle is a great player but he was a backup point guard - I would chose Barley over Creddle but they are close, but at some point a great team can't have every player on the All-Star list. No way the Tycoons other two players should be on the list.

[Pounder]

NBA teams have "public cows" over underappreciated players every year... it's one way of getting player names out in the media. That's probably one reason why there's an NBA sixth-man award these days, not to mention all-defensive teams and all-rookie teams.

I don't expect Bellingham to leave because they feel disrespected. They might leave because of geography.

[Juicemann13]

I don't expect Bellingham to leave because they feel disrespected. They might leave because of geography.

Completely agree.

[brucker]

The problem is that a lot of these players noted for their great scoring do not play any defense. I heard of the "great" Cardell Butler before I ever saw him live, and was disappointed to say the least when I eventually did. Don't get me wrong, he is a talented offensive player with a nice, smooth release...he's got range, can post and is pretty crafty with the ball. But when you don't play any defense, I just can't put you on an all-league team.

[The Magician]

How are they feeling these days?