keno in reno wrote: ↑Sat Apr 20, 2024 12:26 am
Brownlax wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:55 pm
Nice win Eli’s!!
I think it’s CRAZY that people don’t think Matt Brandau is the best player in the country. He just lit up a 1st team AA for 3g and 5 assts.
Love watching him play. He is a gamer.
What people? Who thinks it's CRAZY that Brandau isn't the best player in the country? Is it really CRAZY for others to think that Shellenberger or O"Neill could be the best player? They're all great players, no? Or is that CRAZY?
Not presuming to put words in the mouth of Brownlax, but as a longtime sports fan (eg NFL), there can be a difference between "best player in the country" and "player having the best season." Where we are today, in the regular season, I think there's a strong argument that Matt Brandau is the offensive* player (because in the context of the Tewaaraton, as we know it really seems to be an offensive* award in all but name) who is having the best
best season so far. "Best season" depends on a lot of factors, many external, including whether the player is injury free, how the team is playing over all, what kind of schedule the team has, who is playing around him, etc. So far, Brandau has had eye-popping numbers; he's the #1 factor in keeping Yale's offense elite (#2 in the country even though 2 starting attackmen who had a combined 102 goals/34 assists were out with injury all year); and he's had some notable performances like 11 points against BU, 13 points against Colgate, and an 8 point game vs. Albany matched up against one of the best poles in the country.
If you are arguing "
best player" as in "most talented" -- hard to argue against O'Neill or Shellenberger. But
to date Brandau's season has been better -- even against common opponents (O'Neill had 8 points combined against Penn, Denver, and BU and Brandau had 21; Shelly had 2 points against Harvard, Brandau had 8). Is that partly because Yale needs Brandau to dominate whereas UVA and Duke have more elite weapons on attack and the "star of the game" shifts more game to game? Yes, certainly so. But that's often the case in sports.
To end where I started, in focusing on "offensive player having the best season," the season isn't over -- there are still a few big regular season games and then conference tournaments -- and then the NCAAs. As we all also know, because the Tewaaraton winner is selected after the NCAA, if a Shellenberger/PKav/O'Neill/Kirst/Malone heats up and takes his team on a big run, that may seal the deal. If O'Neill plays the rest of the season like he played against UVA, if PKav produces the rest of the season like he did against Duke, if Kirst plays the rest of his season like he played against Notre Dame, if Shelly dominates on a run through the ACC tournament and the NCAAs -- any could win and he would be more than deserving.