Who should be MPSF Player of The Year?

[lalalaluuuke]

It appears that the top 10 players would be (in no particular order):

Scott Touzinsky, oh, LBSU
Fernando Pessoa, oh, BYU
Tyler Hildebrand, setter, LBSU
Pedro Azehna, opp, UH
Fred Winters, oh, Pepp
Sean Rooney, oh, Pepp
Evan Patak, oh, UCSB
Steve Klosterman, opp, UCLA
Carlos Moreno, setter, BYU
Kevin Hansen, setter, Stanford

These are the names that stand out the most so far this season. My top 4 (in no particular order again):

Scott Touzinsky-MPSF & Ntl. POW, huge stats
Fernando Pessoa-2x MPSF & 2x Ntl. POW
Fred Winters-consistent team stat leader
Carlos Moreno-Ntl. POW, setter for top team in nation

What does everyone else think? Who are your "frontrunners?" There are no wrong answers. Just say who you think and why.

[VBJunkie]

My vote goest to Moreno,

I like Scott, but I just don't think he's anything like Costas, Keenan, or Toppel... Moreno is a household name...

[Beachy]

no dis to Moreno's playing ability but he whines TOO much for POY

IMHO, pick someone else.

[VBJunkie]

Look who is talking about Moreno's whine problems, Mr.(s) B@#$%y himself (herself)!

How ironic!

[IdahoBoy]

Moreno is NOT household.

I follow the men's sport haphazardly, and didn't know who he was until this discussion.

Even after watching two matches. I'll re-watch Saturday's tape and see if he is worthy of POY.

Sean Rooney is houshold.
Scott Touzinsky is household.
Pedro Azenha probably is known in more households than any of the others... but he won't be the POY at this point of the season.

[VBJunkie]

You must have been living under a rock for the past couple of seasons then... Moreno has been leading the BYU team for the past couple of seasons, and if Im not mistaken, he was an AA last year...

I agree that Scott and Rooney are good, but Morene ranks just as High... if not Higher....

[lalalaluuuke]

Right, Moreno was a 2nd team All-American last year. If you watched the Final Four they did a feature story on him. Also the announcers both said that they thought he got shafted and should have been 1st team. I believe it went to UOP's setter (Tamas?) who was a senior last year and had a great year. The announcers said they thought they should have had both of them as 1st teamers.

In fact last year both Moreno and Martins were probably better than Tamas, but he did have a great career.

[IdahoBoy]

I am just saying, that I am one that does try to follow the sport, and I have to say, there has not been as much fanfare for Moreno as many other players.

[roy]

Moreno is definately a good choice for MPSF POY. The only thing that might hurt him is the fact that his team is very well balanced. Pessoa getting 2 NPOW awards might hurt since they have to share the spotlight. But Moreno is still a good choice.

Pepperdine doesn't sound like they are doing too well, so they might not get the award. I have yet to see Long Beach play, but I would think Touzinsky and Hilderbrand could be in the running. Azenha isn't going to win that award.

[beleza]

roy said:

Moreno is definately a good choice for MPSF POY. The only thing that might hurt him is the fact that his team is very well balanced. Pessoa getting 2 NPOW awards might hurt since they have to share the spotlight. But Moreno is still a good choice.

i definitely agree that Moreno is a good choice for POY...

[Beachy]

to VBJunk- (in a fake southern accent)..why, I do believe you flatter me, sir, with your kind words! ;D

Moreno is an excellent player who should maybe take some trash-talking lessons from Barcelona Bob, it might occupy his time more beneficially. He may be a great choice but Big Red said I could have my opinion. Please pass the merlot.

[lalalaluuuke]

roy said:

Moreno is definately a good choice for MPSF POY. The only thing that might hurt him is the fact that his team is very well balanced. Pessoa getting 2 NPOW awards might hurt since they have to share the spotlight. But Moreno is still a good choice.

I agree with you roy, although I think the balance across the board is a huge factor going for Moreno. His ability to distribute the ball anywhere on the court shows he can run a very effective offense. [That and the 16 game win streak his team is on--which could be 20 when they head down to UCLA for the big showdown. That would break the 18 game win streak that the 30-1 1999 championship team set with Ryan Millar, Ossie Antionetti, Hector Lebron and that bunch set. That would be quite an accomplishment.]

I think Pessoa puts up good numbers and his 2 Ntl. Player of the Week bids are good, but not sure if his stats are high enough to give it to him. He will be in the running though.

Another tribute to Moreno is that as good as his hitters are, very few of them are national stat leaders. He has 4-5 hitters in double digits every night.

[roy]

RedYukon said:

roy said:

Moreno is definately a good choice for MPSF POY. The only thing that might hurt him is the fact that his team is very well balanced. Pessoa getting 2 NPOW awards might hurt since they have to share the spotlight. But Moreno is still a good choice.

I agree with you roy, although I think the balance across the board is a huge factor going for Moreno. His ability to distribute the ball anywhere on the court shows he can run a very effective offense. [That and the 16 game win streak his team is on--which could be 20 when they head down to UCLA for the big showdown. That would break the 18 game win streak that the 30-1 1999 championship team set with Ryan Millar, Ossie Antionetti, Hector Lebron and that bunch set. That would be quite an accomplishment.]

I think Pessoa puts up good numbers and his 2 Ntl. Player of the Week bids are good, but not sure if his stats are high enough to give it to him. He will be in the running though.

Another tribute to Moreno is that as good as his hitters are, very few of them are national stat leaders. He has 4-5 hitters in double digits every night.

I agree with you. The balance of BYU could be a double edged sword. You could argue that Moreno has 5 good hitters around him and that allows him to distribute the ball effectively. Or you could argue that he is such a great setter that he is able to get all of his hitters involved in the offense. I think the latter is more true, but Pessoa is a great player who would get his kills regardless of how good the setter is.

Again, I think Pessoa might hurt his chances. Having 2 potential candidates on the same team may take away from each other, but I still say he is the definate frontrunner for MPSF POY.

[lalalaluuuke]

Roy I agree. I think all of these points we've hit on will be issues when votes are placed. I believe the coaches do the voting though, and if this is so then I think Moreno has the advantage. In almost every article I have read on BYU, the opposing coach talks about Moreno and his ability to distribute the ball and their blocker's inability to read where he will put the ball.

If the coach thinks what effect removing a player from the lineup would have on the team, it would give him a fairly accurate measure of how valuable a player is. If this is the case I think Moreno and Touzinsky will be the top 2 vote-getters. If Pessoa is having an off-night, he has 4 others to step up and help him out. If Moreno is off, the whole team reflects that--to his credit this just isn't happening a lot this season. Touzinsky is the same way. He has a good team, but if he isn't playing well, his team struggles. (LBSU's 2nd loss to BYU being the exception-40+ kills). This makes him very valuable.

Is this a fair analysis?

[beachman]

There is only one player on Long Beach State's team that they can NOT afford to lose and that is Tyler Hildebrand, who is arguably the best setter(American Made) playing college volleyball in this country.....If Long Beach wins it all he could end up being the MVP, not Scott.....Just my two cents worth....