One that was left off

[acasualfan]

I noticed Waltia Rolle was left off the Mcdonalds All American roster. I realize they can only take 4 centers 2 for each side.

All the posts came from Texas except for Monique Oliver. At least for her senior season Waltia's stats are better than any post except Britanny Griners.

The only game her team lost was when Waltia was away on vacation over Christmas. I know all the players nominated are very deserving and congratulations to them all.

I have not seen Waltia play in person. I have not even seen a film of her. I only have her stats and her teams success to make an evaluation on. My question is did the selection committee miss something here.

[Soonersbred]

acasualfan,

I don't want you to take this out of context but are you serious? You 'nominate' someone to play in the McDonald's All American game that you have NEVER seen?? Not even game tape?? Really??

What if, hypothetically, Waltia Rolle plays in a district where there isn't anyone to challenge her? What if she consistently plays against 5'9" post players or what if she plays 32 minutes regardless of the game situation, racking up STATS when the game is meaningless??

Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of seeing this kid play and she is very good, very talented. She's 6'6" and plays for a Christian School in Houston, TX. That being said, every good player in the country can't be a McDonald's and implying that "one that was left off" minimizes the achievement of those that did make it.

The caviett to me was when you said, "The only game her team lost was when Waltia was away on vacation over Christmas". WHAT!

Honestly, casualfan, to be a McDonald's All American sometimes means sacrificing and if you leave your team in the middle of the season to go on vacation, my question to you would be, do those people around her want greatness for her more than she wants it for herself?

Nothing wrong with going on vaction over Christmas but if you do then you may be telling the selection committee what is important to you, giving them reason to overlook 'One that was left off'....

[acasualfan]

Sorry if I misled you or the fans on this board. Waltia is from the Bahamas and went home over Christmas Vacation. I am sure if you lived away from your family Christmas would be a time you would want to go home. She went to be with her family who most likely only gets to see her on holidays. Every one of the posts players that made the MCd game are good. I in no way would diminish what they have accomplished. If I did I am sorry that was not my intentions.

What I was trying to say is that based on stats and some head to head games with other MCd players unless the box scores lie she may have been one and let me clarify one and I am sure there are others who was left off.

Stats are very objective in nature. I am sure a lot of subjective data is also used to make mcd choices. Since I have not seen her play the subjective nature of the choices is lost for me. I only have the objectiveness of stats.

Btw unless I am mistaken Westbury Christian is the highest ranked team in Texas. I would love to see them play Nimintz but that will not happen. The reason is consenus has Britany Griner as the best post in the land followed by Kelsey Bone. Westbury has already played Dulles so from a purely fan standpoint I would have loved to see 2 posts both 6'6" and 6'8" play. It might also help determine the best team in Texas.

I have a feeling we will all get a chance to see all these great players compete against each other at the next level. Btw she will be in the WBCA allstar game along with these other posts and Nikki Green.

[sim111]

Westbury Christian is a private school and the competition is not that strong in Houstons private schools. They beat Dulles and Kelsey Bone by 22 but if they played them 10 times, they may win 3. The only head to head match up I see is when they played Dulles. Dulles is the only public school left in the playoffs WC played against and many of the others were knocked out early or didn't even make it, so the schedule was not that hard.


http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?tpl=Team&site=default&SearchType=Teams&Sport=22&TeamID=1245

If you want to make a comparison, they beat Humble, a third place finisher in their district behind Nimitz. Nimitz beat Humble by 17 and 18

http://www.chron.com/sports/highschoolsports/results.html?site=default&tpl=team&SearchType=Teams&Sport=22&TeamID=1197&Season=2008&DistrictID=&SearchDate=02%2F22%2F09&SearchDateEnd=02%2F22%2F09

Is she better than the girls picked from Texas? No, but she is a very good player.

[acasualfan]

I did some searching and noticed Westbury won all 5 of the tournaments they played in including the Katy ISD which included both Dulles and cy-fair.

They have some very good wins. I think it is unfair to make comparisons based on opponents strength or weaknesses. They have dominated the teams they have played this year. Are they better than Dulles or Nimintz. I would have to say beating a team by 20 points says something. Are they better than Nimintz we dont know because they will not play.

You guys see these teams play day in day out. I will defer to what you are posting I guess until these girls get to the next level.

I do think the Westbury has a very good team. One of the best in the State it would seem. Private or Public.

[sim111]

I understand you 100% however Westbury Christians schedule is not the toughest. Houston area basketball, as a whole has, been down this year. Sure, WC beat Dulles and Kelsey Bone by 22, but it's more to the story and I won't go into all of that. They also beat Humble by 1, a team that finished 18-13, came in 3rd in their district, behind a Nimitz led Brit Griner and Eisenhower. Nimitz, BTW, lost to Dulles by 1 it's first time around, they play tomorrow in a rematch. Eisenhower just lost yo Elsik in the playoffs and Humble lost to Westside, who came in 2nd in their district and just lost to Katy Taylor in the playoffs, so we can spin this all types of ways. Public school comp has been up and down all year, private school comp is NOWHERE near public school, at least in Houston.

[txbasketball24]

I agree with you Simmie when it comes to Westbury Christian. There's no doubt there a very good team but played a very soft schedule. Yes, they beat Dulles but don't think they could do it again. I'm picking Nimitz over Dulles only because of Griner's defensive presence inside. This will force Dulles to change their game plan all year long, i.e. Kelsey Bone. We lost to Nimitz the other night and watching Griner exterminate anything within 15 feet around the basket is something I've never seen in my life. Griner has improved 100% from last year and even from the beginning of the season. Dulles has a deeper bench but if they're counting on low percentage shots from outside to win, they're in trouble.

[acasualfan]

Ok I have to defer to you guys because I live way too far from Texas to see any games. I do however get a quite a bit of info from the people who recruit these players who jobs depend on the right decision sometimes. Sometimes what they say is not congruent with how all star games are picked. They of course do not use the same criteria as the selection committees. One thing they have reiterated to me time and again is that Texas had enough post talent to equal the whole US most years and sometimes multiple years.

What I do know is that you are a hot bed of girls basketball that should make all of you very proud. Having the number of elite posts in the State speaks volumes.

Nimintz was susposed to play in New Jersey but I think got snowed out over the Christmas break.
Would have liked to see the games for a national point of reference. BTW we all know B Griner is something very special.

Finally as to game comparisons it is very hard to draw hard evidence without seeing the teams. I did not see the Dulles game and only looked at the boxscores and media recaps. I will say and have found this to be case many times that game comparisons are very poor indicators to how teams who have played previous opponents predict outcomes of head to head combat. Ie That means Westbury should beat Nimintz by 23 points if you look at the Dulles Westbury game or Nimintz should beat Westbury by about 20 if you look at the Humble games.

Good convo and I appreciate the responses. I hope you guys will post a good game response about Nimintz and Dulles state tournament matchup. The rest of the Nation will be watching. Believe me all who love girls basketball in the rest of the land will be interested. Thanks ACF

[txbasketball24]

We appreciate your interest. In reality, the Dulles vs. Nimitz game is the semifinal for Texas 5A Region III. It's sad that one of them has to go so early but everyone pretty much knows that the game is for the state championship. A lot of locals will probably disagree with me, especially the College Park fans, but that's my opinion. In recent memory, the 5A state champion has always possessed a dominate inside player along with a great point guard. Cy-Fair was in the mix to repeat but lost their super sophomore guard, Cassie Peoples, to a broken leg in Tuesday's game against Westfield. Nothing has been confirmed but she was taken off the court in a wheelchair along with the Houston Chronicle hinting towards it. Griner has vastly improved her offensive game which is scary for the rest of the remaining state contenders.

[acasualfan]

Ok tonight is the night for perhaps the most revealing game in Highschool baskbetball this year. The first time was about just Kelsey and Brittany. Much more at stake now.

Any of you guys going to the game. Please post your thoughts and give a recap. Hope everyone is treated to a great game.

[txbasketball24]

Nimitz beats Dulles, by 18, in convincing fashion even though Griner fouled out with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. When Griner was in, she dominated Kelsey Bone. Bone's theatrics got Griner in foul trouble but Griner's coach left her in there even with her fourth foul????? The San Antonio based referees fouled out Griner on a moving screen???? The attendance was over 6,000 which will never be seen again for a regional semifinal. Bellaire wins their semifinal in convincing fashion as well. The regional final between Nimitz and Bellaire started off very slow but Griner started heating up in the second half. Bellaire couldn't throw it in the ocean with a 19% team shooting average for the game. Nimitz wins by 19!

The biggest shocker in Texas was Cy-Fair beating College Park by 16 to make their third trip to state in a row. Chiney went off by scoring 37 with 24 rebounds while holding Smalls to single digits in scoring and steals.

The final four in Texas 5A are Nimitz, Cy-Fair, Mansfield Summit and Pflugerville.

[defensewins]

I'm just curious about your statement that her stats are better than any post except Griner. Do you mean of the posts that were nominated to the All American team or all posts in Texas?