Saniya Chong just completed one of the great individual Slam Dunk tournaments in history. Maybe the best ever. On Tuesday she set the tournament scoring record with 40 points. Two days later she set it again with 46. She also had a near triple-double the first game and 12 rebounds the second game.
She would have been a no-brainer for MVP if Ossining had won it all. But it didn’t. Peekskill won, and Asia Jackson was named MVP.
This has been a point of some contention. Some say Chong should have won it because of her incredible performance, one that exceeds anything at this event in recent memory. They say Ossining would have lost to Peekskill by 40 without her.
Others say that a player can’t win MVP if she’s not on the championship team. If her squad didn’t win, she’s not the most valuable.
What do you say? Can a player on the losing team win MVP, a la Bobby Richardson on the 1960 Yankees? Don’t vote based on Chong specifically. I’m asking, in general, could you be persuaded to give a losing player the MVP of a regular-season or postseason tournament if she plays exceptionally well?
Vote in the poll at the right.
According to the last poll result, 55 percent of you said Chong will average 30 ppg this season. That looks like a better bet now that she’s up to 34.5 ppg.
46 Comments
Jake, you have to stop these poor polls.
HS sports is not about who can score 30 points a game and who gets MVP honors. When journalist, parents, coaches and esp. athletes care more about individual awards high school sports is failing its main objective.
Jake, for the sake of the kids, the individual attention that the the last two polls create should be out of bounds.
And we wonder why athletes just care about MVP trophies and being the high scorer on their team.
I think a Tournament MVP must come from the team that wins the tournament.
Jake it’s a very good poll. Don’t listen to nitwits…. 95% percent of the time the MVP comes from the winning or championship team. This was the case yesterday. Jackson deserved this award for several reasons. Chong did not deserve this award for several reasons.
What a stupid poll! Jake are you in the “pocket” of the LK or what. She’s a great player—but your not doing her a service by having these polls. It does however show your are not really a non biased reporter. Report the news Jake—that should be all. Maybe actually start covering ALL of the Hudson Valley Girls Basketball not just the Ossining team.
Why would Chongs parents keep her at ossinin? Get her to nyc or nj where the basketball is better
Get Real Please,
GET REAL PLEASE!! The polls are for fun and you are making a big deal out of nothing! If a player is outstanding, then what is wrong with giving that player “individual attention.”
The tournament organizers can do whatever they chose to do but the MVP is usually a player from the winning team. Who cares?
Lol Why would you want leave a team built around you and you can score 40 plus points a agame.
Why would she leave the Chong show?only Mr.Ricci can offer her that not NYC or NJ they are stack with Chongs. That’s why her mom has her withMr.R. Vision a team with 5 real players chongs stats drop big time no real team players would stand for that nonsense. Want big time ink stay with MR.RICCi . THE END . Congrats Ms.Jackson on your win and MVP you earn it.
The question posed will only serve as a vehicle to comment on the names that are pluged in…..which does make me wonder about the intention. Why fuel the Chong fire? All I can say is that I would be proud of her if she were my daughter and that’s without the BBALL
To answer the question , the MVP can be from either team. It has happenened at all levels from pro down to the level where trophys are first introduced. It’s rare but certainly not unprecedented
Saniya is a great player I’ve seen her play since she was in the 6th playing Tri County.. What I don’t like is that that the coach keeps her in the whole game without a rest which is not good. If she was to get injured what is he going to do..
this is an awful pole. nobody caresssssssssssssssssssss. She didnt win a meaningless trophy. so whattttttttttt. She is gonna get numerous awards over the next few years. Horrendous blog.
Hey “get real”, maybe we should also have rules about playing time so your litt;e Janie is not offended by having to sit on the bench
sorry eric – an unbias observer here with no specific interest in athletics except for the students as a whole
Chong blaahh blaaahhh blaaah… Shes an excellent player. Stop all the hate comments on her or the coach… They do what they have to do with such limited talent besides her… More focus from this blog should be on the 2 BEST TEAMS in westchester (Carmel and Peekskill) play next Saturday at Carmel…. Chong contiue to thrive in Section 1, get a free college education from bball and who cares about all the upset watchers and complaining parents
Maybe Chong can win the MVP in the Carmel-Peekskill game, too!
I was wondering if Chong is one of the best players in the Country for her class. Does anyone know? Her numbers are unreal and have not been seen in Section 1 in a while.
Guest, I know she’s ranked pretty high in the state but am not sure about nationally.
Does anyone know who picks the tournament MVP? I thought in many tournaments it’s the coach of the winning team.
@Fan I heard Santa picks the MVP LOL
Jake:
Are you happy now??? You are really showing your true colors—setting this “poll” about a minor child—so all these weirdos and men “focused” on a minor child can make their petty comments. Someone should start a poll about you. I will certainly be letting the journal news higher ups to take a look at this weird focus on one minor young woman.
Jake got some haters mad damn..
The poll is a legitimate question that sport fans have been debating for many years. The question asks if a player on the losing team can win the MVP, not should Chong have won. Sure the question stems from her performance, but isn’t that what a blog should do? Take what has happened in girls basketball recently and create a statement/question for discussion?
I personally think that the MVP of a tournament should come from the team that won.
I too believe the MVP should go to the winning team. Overall we saw some great performances. Saniya is terrific, but my Slam Dunk MVP is B Lai she shot close to 50%. Published reports have Saniya at 23 for 64 or roughly 36%. Both great young players!
You are indeed”Crazy”. Jake clearly said they poll wasn’t about any one specific player. There was a lot of back and forth on the topic and his job is to stir and guide debate. He is doing his job. If you don’t like it why don’t you go dry up? What do you think this forum is for? Should we be talking about NBA players on a HS BB blog? Why are you even on here?
And the rest of you weenie’s whining about the coach and others worrying too much about stats and individual accomplishments you all must be from the “if you had fun, you won” school of thought. What do we keep stats and have awards for then? This particular kid, in this particular tournament, had a better two games and a better individual performance than any other girl in the history of this tournament. That is significant damn it. I have no connection to this kid. I just believe that a performance like that needs to be appreciated and rewarded without jealousy and bias. The MVP award was the perfect vehicle for that.
B Lai is indeed a terrific player, but I never saw an MVP selected based on shooting percentage. And if we were being honest, I think you would have to admit that neither have you.
bbdad—”There was a lot of back and forth on the topic and his job is to stir and guide debate. He is doing his job.” Stir debate on One minor child—your wacked dude. Go focus on your own daughter—he’s had how many “polls” regarding this ONE player. Good or bad—I don’t see him taking the negative comments down—so really he and you (bbdad) are just way too focused on this one KID. And YES it is his job to moderate this forum—she is NOT a pro player—she is a minor child—did you hear me—MINOR CHILD.
bbdad, Please stop with the hate. This is a blog and not a forum to attack everyone.
Stanner Grad – I have read most of yours and bbdad’s comments. bbdad is simply expressing his point of view as you have on a number of occasions. He is not spewing any hate! Let’s move on…..
“i’m gonna report you to the higher ups at the journal news”... what a cry baby… oh, i like the stress of the “minor child” line, aren’t all of these girls minors? i had to comment on that one, too funny, yeah crazy is a good name for that individual… now as for the original purpose of the blog: i suppose mvp should be the most valuable player, to the team, win or lose… not the most talented player, but the most valuable player… that usually works out for the winning team, since their value assisted in the win, but you shouldn’t count out a player from the losing squad, just because they lost… not sure about the game that started this question because i didn’t see it, but based on what those in charge of administering the award decided, i can only hope they made the right choice… i can’t believe anyone would award someone something they didn’t deserve… and again, stop hating so much on this site, remember it’s purpose, disagreements and heated discussion is always good, but hate, come on…
Exactly. Come back at me with valid points not rhetoric. There’s no hate here. You have nothing in intelligent to add so you accuse me of hating someone? You gotta do better than that.
And please, stop with this “minor” nonsense. This is a blog about HS BB. They are all “minors”. Trashing minors is unacceptable but no one, except maybe those accusing a kid for shooting too much, is disrespecting any “minor” on here so grow up please.
You guys crack me up. You can’t debate intelligently, so instead you reduce yourselves to attacking people personally. Pathetic. The majority of the debate her has been on philosophical differences not the value or integrity of any one individual or “minor” as you disgracefully put it.
Chong did score 46 but her shooting percentage was terrible. If any girl on peekskill shot 50 times they too would probably get 40 plus points!
Her play does not make ossning a better team,when crunch time comes teammates become spectators and not players and that will hurt the teams chances of winning a (gold ball or state championship),when she gets to college things are going to change and she will struggle if the coach does not stop being stubborn chong is a great player but everybody needs help
Hawood, Amen!
bbdad, if it’s not hate then why do you make comments like “you’re crazy” and “why don’t you go dry up” and “why are you even on here” and “the rest of you weenies”? And after making those comments you complain about those who “reduce themselves to attacking people personally.” Pathetic? I agree!
Stanner, I hope you’re a woman because you bit sensitive at times. That would explain a lot. Did you attend college. I was wondering because you put such emphasis on your HS education and you seem to have a hard time comprehending things.
There’s nothing hateful in asking someone why they’re on a blog if they have such a problem with the forum. “Crazy” was a handle someone gave themselves, I just turned it back on them. “Dry up” is just a figure of speech. It basically means stop crying. No hate, just tough love.
So “dry up”.
)
And I love these guys who say, “if so and so took 40 shots she’d score 46 too”. It’s much easier to score 20 when you have a supporting vcast setting you up and putting additional pressure on the “D”. How many shots did this kid take against Baldwin when she scored 40? For those of us who were there we know it was a lot less. In that game her teammates were hitting the shots she was setting them up with and Chong was hitting herself so less shots were necessary. In the Peekskill game neither her or her teammates were hitting so she had to improvise. You guys make it sound like the kid hoists up 40 shots a night. That’s simply not the case. Talk about hate and negativity.
Regarding college, as anyone who watched this past years Empires can tell you, this kid plays much better with better players on her team where she can’t be double or triple teamed. In college she will have players taking the heat off her which will make her even better. Just the opposite of what you er, “haters” are claiming. Ask the two girls from Irvington what kind of player and teammate she is. I’m sure they’ll tell you she is anything but a ball hog. I’ve seen them play together. Have you Stanner?
bbdad when you grow up would you like to be Chong? Sounds that way .
In Peekskill game neither her or teamates were hitting//Why because Peekskill has some players not like Baldwin chong had a free for all with Baldwin she chould of scored a 100 pts. So be real my man.She a great player but take it easy on the kid to much expectation and it my back fire .
It is a player award and while most times it would go to a player on the winning team, it does not have to every time. This performance seems to be an example of such an exception.
However my guess would be that it is always given to the winner team. Most of these tourneys follow a formula of All Tournament and MVP. That is more the question. Is there a formula or procedure that is normally followed, which really ruled the award at the County Center.
Not specific to the slam dunk, however, many times politically correct things are done to the point of making such awards, in smaller local tournaments, a play on the absurd. It is weird some times how it is done. It is as if the coaches who usually do it, knew who they wanted to award it to before the performances played out. Because they have some agenda they are pushing. From giving to a senior who did not win it or awarding it in a way it was never intended. Some times it makes no sense at all such as giving it to a team or group and not to a particular individual. That is when it gets diluted and made irrelavant by the very people, the coaches who should take it seriously.
You dont get the MVP for missing 27 shots, i BET In the history of basketball nobody ever received an MVP after missing 27 shots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bbdad, Any more insults coming or are you done for now?
I’ve known this young lady since Tri County she’s not a sellfish player at all she will pass and rebound.. Who we should be talking about is her coach Ricci who keeps her out on the court the whole game and don’t rest her at all. I was at the game on Thursday and I saw she was tired at one point she was just taken shots.. Ricci has 2 more yrs with her and if he keeps this up she just might want to play anymore..
bbdad you sound like a bbfool… you went from ignorant hate to sexism… male or female that shouldn’t make any difference… again, if you have a difference of opinion from someone else, hey debate is all fair game, but don’t make it a gender issue…
I’m done for now Stanner. Didn’t mean nothin by it. All in fun. I’m going over to the hockey blog for a spell you guys are a bit too sensitive. I’ll see you during sectionals, might even chime in after the Autism Classic if the kid puts up 40 against Carmel. But only if they win though.
Peace and a Happy New Year to ya.
Hey does anyone have or know where a schedule for the Autism Classic can be found?
To my girl Chong- She bang She bang like no other on court!
William, I hear that Sylvan Learning Center has an excellent evening school program.