Comments on: CIF will put open division basketball to a vote

By: Prep Fan

Prep Fan — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:26:44 +0000

I’m all for the teams that work hard to succeed be rewarded, but I just want to see the best teams play each other. Having DLS, Newark, BOD, Salesian and St. Joe’s in different divisions is not going to get the best teams playing each other.

By: hoops

hoops — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:10:01 +0000

EB JC…..I understand your point and the way the system is now it would almost be better to just let everyone in NCS in that has a winning record.It really bugs me now when I hear coaches crying because their team that was 15-13 got passed over by the selection committee for a team that was 16-14.I apologize if I am wrong about the criteria to get in NCS now,it has been a while since I was involved in it.

By: EB JC Guy

EB JC Guy — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:58:34 +0000

For all those who say getting to NCS or NorCal is a joke, have you talked to players or coaches who work to get there each year? Coaches who use it as motivation for their program that may be on the cusp of getting there? This is high school – if it creates a great experience for the athletes, why knock it? Yes, it may be a bit watered down, but who cares if the athletes enjoy the process and get to compete hard? What’s wrong with an extra round of competition? And any upsets which occur only validate the process (see Heritage girls taking apart Oak Tech, for example). Just saying . . .

By: GHN

GHN — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:21:35 +0000

agreed prep fan it is a joke now a days everyone gets into ncs and even more of a joke is getting to nor cal

By: hoops

hoops — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:29:08 +0000

Back in the old days when we still had the CAL….,ODowd,DLS,Sal,St,Marys,St.Joes,Moreau and St.Eliz were all in the same league.The CAL playoffs were awesome.The regular season champ had to be beaten twice in the league 1 thru 4 playoffs.The only team that moved on was the playoff champion.The CAL playoffs played up at Cal State Hay were intense and way better than any NCS watered down junk we have today.Can you imagine in todays world only one of the above teams even qualifying for NCS.

By: Jimmy Durkin

Jimmy Durkin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:12:30 +0000

It’s not as simple as saying just play those games in the preseason. It takes two teams agreeing to schedule a game. I know there are some teams out there Salesian would love to play, but hasn’t been able to get on the schedule.

By: Prep Fan

Prep Fan — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:51:21 +0000

Looking at the prior NCS brackets, there were only 3 divisions an only 8 teams from each division who made it to NCS, for a total of 24 teams for the first 10 years 1975-1984. In the large division (AAA), only the winners of each league made the playoffs (ACAL, DVAL, MCAL, FAL, CAL, MVAL, EBAL & HAAL).

http://cifncs.org/sports/basketball/files/Master%20Boys%20Results.htm

They just have champions listed and no brackets from 1985 to 2002, but in 2003 the field had expanded to 5 divisions and 12 teams from each division for a total of 60 teams.

Division 6 was added in 2009 and the field was expanded in 2010 to up to 16 teams. So if enough teams qualified, there could possibly be 96 teams that make NCS in the various divisions.

Somewhere along the line, we went from the best teams playing each other to everyone making the playoffs and getting trophies.

By: GHN

GHN — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 05:09:40 +0000

Lets just forget about the open division and play each other in the pre season and more importantly PLEASE go back to 8 teams from each division for ncs and PLEASE ONLY the top two teams make it to nor cal it is very watered down now and is becoming a big joke to make it to nor cal and ncs

By: Jimmy Durkin

Jimmy Durkin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:11:07 +0000

Agreed Prep Fan. Like you said, the six section champions (including Mack in the Oakland Section) were predictable from Day 1. I guess maybe some could consider keeping NCS playoffs the same as a compromise since teams would still have a good shot to win a section title, even if winning a NorCal or state title would be a tougher accomplishment.

Also, speaking again today with Mellis, one drawback we came up with is that the Open Division teams wouldn’t know they are going Open until after the section playoffs. That would make scouting tough. If a team was a bubble team for the Open, they wouldn’t know if they need to scout their own division or the expected Open Division teams. Despite that, Mellis believes the benefits outweigh the negatives.

One thing I would love to see with a potential NorCal regional is to have some double headers for the first two rounds, say at SMC or something. Using the suggested seeds I would’ve had for an open this year, say we had 1) Salesian vs. 8 ) O’Dowd and 2) DLS vs. 7) SHC in a double header at SMC. How many people would that draw?

By: Jimmy Durkin

Jimmy Durkin — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 00:04:17 +0000

Intheknow, as I’ve said, eight is the maximum amount of teams. I get the impression that they don’t HAVE to fill the eight team bracket. Since the section commissioners will choose, they’ll have an idea of which of their teams feel like they should got to the open division. I think more often than not, teams that get selected to the open will be teams that want to be there.

Don’t get so caught up on the teams that I suggested would’ve gone there this year. I’m not saying they definitely would’ve, those are just the teams I would’ve picked. But they might’ve chosen other teams or fewer teams. Also, the reason I didn’t put Mack in there is this year was there first Oakland Section title since 2009. Technically, they would’ve met the criteria by reaching NorCals three of the last four years, but I think this year’s team would’ve been a better fit not in the open. They are just two years removed from a below .500 season.