As highschool girls and boys basketball groups throughout Massachusetts await their state match destiny, one cloud looms over the whole seeding course of.
Since its implementation within the fall of 2021, the choice so as to add Margin of Victory in figuring out a staff’s energy rating has acquired criticism from coaches and athletic administrators alike as people query whether or not such a knowledge metric needs to be half of highschool sports activities.
As constituted, the Margin of Victory knowledge level is capped at 10 factors each methods, which means a staff can not get credit score for greater than a 10-point win or be docked for better than a 10-point loss. The different side of the system, which measures a staff’s power of schedule, has been met with way more reward.
“To me, margin of victory should not matter in a game, period,” Beverly coach Matt Karakoudas stated. “A win is a win whether it is by 31 points or one point. Teams should not have to worry about getting to a set margin in order to feel satisfied with the outcome.”
Still, there’s proof that coaches throughout the state are paying eager consideration to the rating differential within the sport’s waning moments. Schools in a number of circumstances have referred to as timeout up seven and the shot clock turned off in hopes of drawing up a three-pointer to extend their victory whole to 10 factors. Other packages, with the ball up 9 and fewer than 10 seconds remaining, have notched a layup on the buzzer to make sure they get most credit score.
Who may blame them? Last yr on the boys aspect, the distinction between No. 16 Worcester North and No. 17 Everett was simply two factors scored in the course of the common season that decided a first-round residence sport. In the MIAA’s energy rankings replace on Feb. 10, the No. 32 and No. 33 seed in Div. 1 have been separated by half a degree… half of a single free throw.
“Yes, I pay attention to it, of course I do,” Pembroke coach Matt Vincenzi stated. “I believe coaches who say they don’t pay attention to it are just saying that. If you can do something that could give your team just a slight increase in their seeding, why wouldn’t you do it?”
Vincenzi, nevertheless, doesn’t look kindly on the event.
“It’s a terrible thing for high school sports,” Vincenzi stated. “It creates an added emphasis that has never been a part of this game before. It makes you think twice about going to the end of your bench at the end of your game which hurts your team culture. This is not what this game is about.”
St. Mary’s athletic director and women basketball coach Jeff Newhall has a extra nuanced view. He believes that groups in direction of the highest seemingly pay much less consideration to its impacts than groups battling to get within the match.
“To be totally honest I do not think about it, but we are also towards the top of our division pretty consistently,” Newhall stated. “I think If I was seed 32 or seed 33 and was fighting to get into the tournament, I would maybe pay closer attention to it.”
Then there are coaches like Catholic Memorial’s Denis Tobin, who pay no consideration to the top differential. Tobin’s staff benefited from the brand new statewide energy rating system a yr in the past however not when it got here to margin of victory. Rather, Tobin’s staff made the state match regardless of an total damaging margin of victory because of their robust power of schedule.
“I pay no attention to it at all,” Tobin stated. “Against Needham we were up six and could have taken a layup to boost our margin of victory but we did not out of respect to our opponent and the game. To me doing what I believe is the right thing at the end of the game, in the way you conduct yourself, is far more important than MOV.”
The Knights enter the ultimate weekend six whole factors behind Lawrence for the highest total seed in Div. 1.
Source: www.bostonherald.com