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If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.
1st Team: WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL)
This was not a very close decision. Bayaraa made the All Star team in 2007, but barely squeaked onto it, mainly due to overall weak performances from the majority of other Board Four's. In 2008 she exploded onto the scene, with a tremendous +6 record, including a 3 – 0 record in the playoffs (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals), all in must win situations for her team. Without her stellar performance, it's safe to say that the Destiny would have had no chance at repeating as Champions.
Zorigt has clearly established herself as a very clutch performer, winning two very critical games in both years of the Finals to give her a team a chance at the title which they of course made good use of. Destiny fans can only hope that she returns next year in the same form that she ended this season on to try to help Dallas achieve a three-peat.
Record: 8 / 10 (80%)
Performance Rating: 2461
2nd Team: NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA)
Rodriguez had one of the most unusual seasons of any All Star in USCL History. He seemed well on his way towards becoming the first team All Star, when suddenly Miami reverted to using a lineup that didn't include him. This was a very natural decision as the lineup they used continued to win match after match and lead Miami to the division title. Unfortunately, this also meant that Rodriguez shockingly never played again after Week 7, despite having amassed an amazing 5 – 1 result at that point. However, his impressive +4 score, with several match critical victories like this and this, was good enough to get him onto the second team even though he didn't end up competing in the most high pressure matches for his team.
In all, Rodriguez was easily Miami's best Board Four performer to date, a place where they'd definitely struggled in the first three seasons. Should he, along with first All Star Becerra and near All Star Perea all return to next year's campaign, look for Miami to be competing for the Western Division crown again.
Record: 5 / 6 (83%)
Performance Rating: 2516
3rd Team: NM Ilya Krasik (BOS)
This was an extremely difficult position to figure out. It basically came down to choosing a philosophy: Do we take a player who had a much higher win percentage along with a much higher performance rating (due in part to playing on Board Three several times), or a much lower rated player who played many more games and really caught fire at the most important part of the season? In the end we went with the latter, as Krasik got this spot instead of IM Angelo Young. Krasik won five consecutive games late in the season, and it's pretty clear that without those victories, we definitely would not have seen Boston in the USCL Finals. Also, although his performance rating might have seemed low at 2301 compared to Young's, it was still 170 points higher than his actual rating, an impressive stat to maintain through eleven games. Although this decision, like many, was very close, we felt that it had to be valued more to perform at such a level in comparison to one's rating over that many games, instead of just six like Young.
Despite the disappointing way the season ended for Krasik in the Finals, it still overall was a very impressive season from him, definitely demonstrating his mettle with his five consecutive victories at the most crucial part of the season and helping the Blitz overcome draw odds twice in the Playoffs with his Quarterfinal and Semifinal wins.
Record: 6.5 / 11 (59%)
Performance Rating: 2301
Other Candidates: As mentioned IM Angelo Young (CHC) (4.5 / 6) with a 2505 performance was very nearly an All Star, but unfortunately the close decision wound up going against him. He nevertheless had a very strong season, winning some key games which were huge in helping the Blaze stay in the thick of the playoff race until the very end. Solid showings were also turned in by NM Matt Herman (NY) (4 / 6) with a 2367 performance rating and NM Joel Johnson (ARZ) (2 / 2), 2590 performance, both of whom could well have been in the running, especially if they had played more games.
So there you have it! The All Star Teams are (using August 2008 USCF ratings):
First Team:
1. GM Julio Becerra (MIA) (2640)
2. IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) (2528)
3. IM Alex Lenderman (QNS) (2528)
4. WFM Bayaraa Zorigt (DAL) (2217)
Average Rating: 2478
Second Team:
1. GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL) (2592)
2. FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA) (2437)
3. SM Marc Esserman (BOS) (2315)
4. NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) (2242)
Average Rating: 2397
Third Team:
1. GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN) (2668)
2. FM Tom Bartell (PHI) (2386)
3. IM Sam Shankland (SF) (2364)
4. NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) (2144)
Average Rating: 2391
Congratulations as always to everyone who made the All Star Team this year, all of whom made the 2008 USCL Season very memorable for the spectators. Next up comes the Game of the Year Contest which will begin soon with the releasing of the seven "Wildcard" games and then the contest itself soon after. So everyone be sure to keep close tabs on the USCL site so you don't miss any of the GOTY announcements as the contest will be going by at a much quicker rate this year!
If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.
1st Team: IM Alex Lenderman (QNS)
Before we start to go into the Board Three All Stars, it's important to note that the competition for the spots on this board was simply ridiculous in 2008 (as it was for Board Two in 2007). There were a few players who had very strong seasons who were not really even on the radar for consideration, due to the incredibly strong play of those who did make the team. Despite winning League MVP and having an insane score of 7.5 / 8, Lenderman incredibly was not automatically going to make the first team. If either of the other third board All Stars had had a torrid postseason run, they likely would've overtaken Lenderman for this spot. In the end, neither of them did quite enough to push themselves above the League MVP, and so Alex remained in first place. Alex's fine season included wins over IM Dean Ippolito, IM Emory Tate, IM Richard Costigan, and FM Oleg Zaikov, two of which won GOTW.
Also, please note that Alex was also eligible to be an All Star on Board Two (having played four games on each board). We strongly hoped that we would be able to put him there, as the resumes of Board Three's this season were much more impressive than the Board Two's, making it natural to put someone who could be in either place in the less competitive spot. However, Kuljasevic performed so well in the postseason that we would have felt it necessary, even with a bit of a lower win percentage, to place him ahead of Lenderman if we'd put Alex on Board Two. Since it's against League policy to place a player on a board which they would finish in a lower place (second in this case) when they're also eligible for a board where they would finish higher (first), we had no choice but to leave Lenderman as the first team All Star for Board Three.
In all, it was a very memorable first season from Lenderman; there obviously can be no debate as to how instrumental he was to the Pioneers' overall success, and it should be interesting to see how well he can perform in his second season.
Record: 7.5 / 8 (94%)
Performance Rating: 2726
2nd Team: SM Marc Esserman (BOS)
We had a ridiculously difficult decision to make for the second team between Marc and Sam Shankland with both players having incredible +6 results. Usually this kind of score would automatically give someone first team honors, but as mentioned, due to the dominance of several Board Three's, they ended up having to battle it out for the second team, while FM Ron Simpson, who finished at +5, was unfortunately left out altogether.
When it all came down to it there was very little to distinguish between Esserman and Shankland. A couple factors that finally pushed us over the edge were:
1. Esserman drew Shankland in their individual matchup with Black, but was clearly dominating the game and possibly played it safe due to the match situation.
2. Esserman was part of a Boston team that had a very deep playoff run, and he won a crucial game in the Finals.
It really could have gone either way as both players had tremendous seasons.
In all, Esserman had an amazing season, and though the last match ended in disappointment for his team, he certainly did a huge part in making it so close with his impressive victory in the Finals.
Record: 8 / 10 (80%)
Performance Rating: 2603
3rd Team: IM Sam Shankland (SF)
Sam was very unlucky to finish on the third team with a +6 record. He was the main star for the Mechanics, helping them to finish second in the West, and doing all he could to push them further in the playoffs as he was the only team member to win his quarterfinal game.
Despite the somewhat disappointing placement the third team might be for him after his great season, there should be no doubt as to how valuable he was to his team, and how remarkable his improvement since the 2006 season has been, having gone all the way from being an expert to now being an IM, along with scoring an incredible 15 / 18 in his three seasons.
Record: 7.5 / 9 (83%)
Performance Rating: 2605
Other Candidates: As mentioned above, FM Ron Simpson (CAR) (7.5 / 10) with a 2506 performance was ridiculously unlucky not to be an All Star as his +5 performance would be worthy of an All Star spot (and perhaps in some cases the top All Star) in nearly every other circumstance. Although he unluckily missed out on being an All Star, he clearly was a tremendous part of Carolina's Cinderella run, winning many crucial games for them when it mattered most and helping them secure the division title. Another strong performer was FM Osmany Perea (MIA) (6.5 / 10) sporting a 2546 performance while playing on Board Two several times. Also, both NM Mackenzie Molner (NJ) (5 / 8), 2491 performance and FM Robby Adamson (ARZ) (4.5 / 7), 2450 performance had solid +2 seasons, likewise winning some very critical games for their team. In addition, despite not playing an excessive amount, NM Parker Zhao (QNS) (2.5 / 3), 2638 performance was also noteworthy given his relatively low rating amongst Board Three players. All of these players might, under different circumstances, have made the All Star team, but the competition was just too strong this season.
Stay tuned until tomorrow as we will announce the Board Four All Stars!
If you are wondering what criteria was used to determine these All Stars, please refer to the first post on the subject.
1st Team: IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL)
This was a no brainer, as if postseason play counted in the MVP contest, Kuljasevic likely would have been league MVP. Not only did Kuljasevic go 3 – 0 in postseason play, but he was also the only player to defeat GM Julio Becerra, won a must win game in the Finals to send the match to a tiebreaker, and also knocked out three Boston Blitz players in the blitz tiebreaker, to give Dallas their second straight USCL Championship.
It would have been difficult to script a better season this year for Kuljasevic from the start, and his two super impressive seasons have obviously been the key in giving the Destiny their back to back Championships. The Destiny can only hope that with his impending graduation from UTD that he will still remain in the area and continue to serve them well while other teams can hold out hope that his graduation might lead him elsewhere in the country into allowing some lucky team to pick up what would likely be the most valuable free agent in league history.
Record: 6.5 / 8 (81%)
Performance Rating: 2778
2nd Team: FM Slava Mikhailuk (SEA)
There was a large gap in between the first and second team for Board Two, and it was much more difficult for the League to determine the second and third team All Stars. Slava ended up making the second team because while his resume was similar to some other Board Two's, he won four matches in a row, including a do or die performance in the final week, at the end of the regular season to send Seattle into the playoffs. If he hadn't won even one of those four games, Seattle almost certainly would not have made the playoffs, and due to the clutch nature of his performances, he seemed like the best candidate for the second team.
In all it was a very strong season by Mikhailuk as Seattle, a team which mostly drew its strength from the top and bottom board in previous seasons, really needed this huge boost from him on the second board to put them in the playoff picture. If Seattle can achieve their normal first and fourth board success next year, with him holding down the second board, the Sluggers will definitely be a team to watch out for.
Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)
Performance Rating: 2610
3rd Team: FM Tom Bartell (PHI)
When you look at the performances of Bartell and Mikhailuk, most things are similar on paper, except that Bartell's performance rating is 70 points higher. So one may wonder why Mikhailuk was on second team instead of the third, and as mentioned above, it was mainly because Mikhailuk's victories had such a monumental effect on his team's success along with being at the most important juncture of the season.
Despite the fact that Philadelphia finished with a 2 – 8 record, Bartell provided the lone spark for the Inventors in 2008. He had wins over IM John Barthlomew, FM Oleg Zaikov, IM David Vigorito, and GM Larry Kaufman. His only draw was to GM Eugene Perelshteyn, and his only loss to GM John Fedorowicz. Clearly his results were way above what one would expect for someone of his rating, and so he was a fairly natural addition to the All Star Team.
Although his team's performance was very disappointing, with such a strong underrated Board Two player available to them next year, if the Inventors, like the Sluggers, can return to the overall strength they've shown themselves capable of on the other boards next year, they will also definitely be a team to watch out for.
Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)
Performance Rating: 2680
Other Candidates: The two strongest other candidates for the Board Two All Star Team were GM Josh Friedel (SF) (4 / 6) with a performance rating of 2629 and IM Dean Ippolito (NJ) (4.5 / 7) with a performance rating of 2565; both had solid +2 seasons, but very simply the two players that they were in contest with for those spots had slightly better scores along with lower ratings making the All Star decisions fairly easy. Although ineligible, the showing by GM Boris Gulko (NJ) (3 / 3), 2876 performance was also noteworthy, and he would very likely have been a strong contender had he played enough games to be considered.
Stay tuned as in the next few days we will be announcing the All Stars for the other two boards!
Greg and I have determined the players on this year's All Star Teams, with there again being three All Star team members for each board. We again made our selections independently, compared our selections, and then conferred to determine the final choices.
There is a small bonus awarded to each All Star team member with those on the first team receiving $200, those on the second team receiving $100, and those on the third team getting $50. The criteria we used to determine these were the same as last year (recall also that these decisions do include playoff performances unlike the League MVP Award).
1. Win Percentage
2. Total Number of Games (with a five game minimum to be eligible)
3. Performance Rating
4. Rating; if a player is lower rated and does well, this leaves extra rating points for the team to use on the other boards and could be very important to a team's success.
5. Clutch Factor: Did this player come through in crucial situations?
6. Replacability Factor; do we think that the player's team would have greatly suffered if that player wasn't on the team?
7. Did the candidate take a draw for the team when they were likely to win? Did they lose a game they could have easily drawn because the team situation dictated it?
8. Head to Head results versus other candidates
9. Total Number of Blacks
10. Luck factor; did you win because you generally played well or because your opponent made some colossal blunders/oversights?
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1st Team: GM Julio Becerra (MIA)
For the third straight year (after being on the second team in the league's inaugural season), this spot had to go to GM Becerra. While Becerra is clearly a very strong player, his domination in league play has been above and beyond anyone's realistic expectations. This year, after an early season loss to IM Davorin Kuljasevic, it might have seemed that Becerra's USCL dominance might not be as prevalent this year, but he quickly shrugged off this defeat and followed it up with victories over GM Nikola Mitkov, GM Joel Benjamin, IM Marko Zivanic, and most importantly a playoff victory over GM Hikaru Nakamura, without losing another game.
As always, it was a great season by Becerra, and even though the Sharks once again fell just a bit short of their overall goal, with him always available to lead them along with the several other bright recruits who also performed strongly this season, the future looks very bright for Miami.
Record: 7.5 / 10 (75%)
Performance Rating: 2761
2nd Team: GM Sergey Erenburg (BAL)
While Baltimore as a team finished with a last place 1.5 – 8.5 record, this certainly was not due to a lack of performance by Erenburg. It was a very difficult choice as to whether he belonged on the second or the third team. In the end we decided to put him here mostly because he played eight games, which was more than his closest competitor. When you are such a strong performer, it's very important to play as much as possible, and we believe that when resumes are very similar, we should go with the more active player. Erenburg had some unbelievable performances, most notably his 2 – 0 score over the 2007 All Star who held this very All Star spot, GM Joel Benjamin, once with a very nice game in Week 6, and also had a GOTW winning performance in Week 8.
Although the rest of the team did not back up Erenburg's great season, Kingfisher fans can only hope that he might be able to come close to duplicating this next year as when the rest of the team performs up to par, with such a dangerous and strong player leading them, the inaugural champs may just return to prominence.
Record: 5.5 / 8 (69%)
Performance Rating: 2733
3rd Team: GM Jaan Ehlvest (TEN)
Everyone felt that the addition of Jaan Ehlvest to the Tennessee roster would make them a much tougher team, and they were proven quite correct. With Jaan, the Tempo finished with their best record in league history, a solid 4 – 6 in the very tough Western Division. If Jaan had only played more games, the Tempo would likely have had very good chances to qualify for the postseason for the first time, and although he had a tremendous result in 2008, this is what pushed him slightly below Erenburg and into the third team. Ehlvest had three wins (vs GM Patrick Wolff, IM Rogelio Barcenilla, and FM Bruci Lopez), and in his individual battle with second teamer, GM Sergey Erenburg, they fought to an exciting draw, which netted them both Game of the Week honors. Ehlvest is also one of the only USCL players in history to play a pretty reasonable number of games without a single loss.
After nearly taking the Tempo to the playoffs despite barely playing more than half their matches, it's obvious that with him on the roster, the sky is the limit. Tempo fans have to like their future prospects if Ehlvest can continue to play for them (hopefully in nearly all matches) as with him holding down the fort, along with the rest of the team's continued improvement, we could well see the Tempo in the postseason for years to come.
Record: 4.5 / 6 (75%)
Performance Rating: 2768
Other Candidates: The most notable omission from the Board One All Star Team was GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) (5 / 8) who had a performance rating of 2652. Although his win percentage and performance rating were not quite as high as those picked as All Stars, his two big playoff wins were nearly enough to give him a position on the third team. However, we simply felt that the other candidates' performances were impressive enough that they had to get those spots still. Three other strong showings were turned in by GM Pascal Charbonneau (NY) (4.5 / 7) with a performance rating of 2721, GM Alex Stripunsky (QNS) (4 / 6) with a performance of 2694, and GM Hikaru Nakamura (SEA) (4 / 6), performance 2707, all of whom had nice improvements from their 2007 showings, each scoring +2, after being -3, -2, and =0, respectively in 2007. Once again though, the resumes of the All Stars were simply a bit better than each of them and as such were picked to be so.
Stay tuned as in the next few days we will be announcing the All Stars for the other three boards!
