Editor’s Note: This post was submitted by Evan Eyster, the newest contributor to Indomitable City Soccer. Follow him on Twitter here.
With the exception of Coach of the Year, all of my first choices have ended up as runner ups in the USL voting. I swear I’m not trying to be contrary, I just like all the people who are finished second in the real voting.
Before this starts let me say that these nominations confirm what I already believe in that USL is intentionally including at least one team from both East and West. That is the only way that Josh Phillips of Colorado Springs Switchbacks is not on this list. He was amazingly underrated and I would have had him on the All-USL second team for defense. That aside, it should be no surprise that I see this as a two player race between Tulsa’s Brady Ballew and Portland’s Kharlton Belmar.
They are two different players, and this argument will be rehashed when it comes time to choose who I think is the MVP. Belmar ended the season with 12 goals and 3 assists over 28 games where he averaged 85 minutes a game. Ballew was quieter on the season stat wise, with 6 goals and 4 assists in 23 games (75 minutes a game on average). At first it looks like Belmar is the runaway victor, but then you take into account that Ballew had less playtime and really took a step up when Mata showed up for Tulsa to provide multiple threats.
If Ballew played the same amount of minutes as Belmar, he would likely have ended up with 8 or 9 goals to go along with 5 or 6 assists. That suddenly makes this a more difficult pick, and it needs to be decided if Ballew should penalized for having less playtime.
This comes down to comparing two very different positions in the end. Belmar is a goal scorer and finished 7th in the league in total goals scored. However, he does drop off of the top 10 lists when you look at both goals scored per game and points per game. Ballew is a piece player, the type that you notice when he is not there, but will not always see as the focal point of your team. Both are talented and have very bright futures. Both received plenty of in season honors, with Belmar earning 3 USL Team of the Week honors, and Ballew ending up with 4 (including the Week 12 one as a defender).
There is no wrong choice between these two players, I lean a little more on the player who is harder to replace. That to me is not your top scorer. The hardest player to replace is the midfielder who will at times go up and get a goal or an assist, but also drop back and help your defense when they are under duress. I ended up watching a decent amount of Tulsa this year, and unless I was just very lucky, Ballew always seemed to be that player who just showed up in the right place in the right time, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. That ability to be able to put yourself in that position is something that is invaluable and something a team can spend many years searching for. If Tulsa continues to put pieces around a strong combination of Ballew, Ochoa and Bond, they will be a very strong team in 2016.
Belmar is great at what he does, but I will take versatility. 19 players have scored 10 or more goals over the past two USL seasons. I will take a Ballew type player who has the versatility of being able to help your defense out, gets team of the week honors as both a midfielder and defender, and if his play continued over the season would likely end up around an aforementioned 8 goal, 5 assist season.
Belmar will probably win this award anyway, but it should be far closer than what it seems like.
Winner: Brady Ballew (TUL)
Runner Up: Kharlton Belmar (POR)
Stay tuned to Indomitable City Soccer for more of Evan’s picks for the 2015 USL Awards as the week goes on.
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