theglove d-up

I disagree whole heartedly with many of the comments I have read about Shockley to this point. I think he is a nice individual but have a different opinion about him as a coach. I don't think he puts the girls in a position to win and I don't think he has proven that he could do that with any of the teams he has coached in the last 10-15 years. Its not extremely difficult to coach great talent like he did at White County, but the true test of a good coach is what he can do with a team less talented. He has had opportunities to prove himself at some of his more recent stops but has done nothing to exceed expectations at any of these schools. Those teams were expected to lose, and they did just that. I wish him the best of luck and it is nice to see he has loyal followers but . . . . .

Im not exactly what it is that MIDTN has against Harpeth but Im sure he would be disappointed to find out that Harpeth beat McNairy Central yesterday in Lexington. That is two wins on this early season. It would be great if the young Lady Indians could have MIDTN choking on his foot by tournament time.

May be ugly this year? That could be true but this team will learn from the regular season many lessons that other teams may take for granted. They will be looking for new leadership and will have to learn to play together while Holli Flippo is out, BUT I'll bet nobody, not Cheatham County or anybody else, will want to play this team at tournament time. When Flippo gets back and the rest of the inexperienced young team begins to mature, they will be a force. At full strength this summer I heard this team won close to 20 games and lost to Northeast by just 4 or 6.

I think it is quite possible that all of Pleasant View is retarded. It is certainly not something to boast about that the coach resigned because the community wanted his head. I think it is pretty sorry that a human would be run out of their job and have their livelihood affected by a group of individuals who had differing opinions than he, what is this world coming to? So and so doesn't like the coach so lets get him fired or force him out, great idea, NOT. I would be ashamed if I were in association with any of those who tried to have someone's job taken from them without a great reason, and I know the reasons first hand. "He has my daughter playing the point guard and she should be a two guard." "He's trying to get Becca a scholarship and not gettin the other girls involved." "He only recognized the seniors at the banquet." Yada yada yada, who gives a rip, you are sending a ridiculous message to your children and should be ashamed of yourselves. How can the children grow up to be upstanding adults when their parents still haven't grown up yet???

It is my understanding that Coach Martin had decided that he would be stepping down at the end of this season, prior to this season. I may be wrong, and in some ways hope that I am because I have great deal of respect for the man as a coach, but this was something that was being said long before the controversy began several weeks ago.

Wow, it is amazing that you, lilmansyndrome, could call anyone tacky. I have been an observer of coacht message boards for several years and have yet to read any posts with less couth and validity than those posted by yourself. I suspect you get a great deal of enjoyment out of causing controversy and making dramatic statements while hiding behind your screen name; and it is interesting that this scaredy cat mentality is something that you brag about. That is really the only negative about message boards such as this; anything can be said about anyone and there are no consequences for their blanket accusations and ridiculing comments. I think having your teeth kicked in might really be a step in the right direction for you. Chances are this will never happen because you could possibly be just smart enough to never make these same comments to someone's face, which is an amazing sign of cowardice. I understand that you are a freshman and are still in the process of maturing, but it is truly a shame that you are most likely a reflection of your upbringing and have obviously had very little parental guidance. In other words, your parents should have beaten you more often or quite the opposite. Maybe had they shown you more love and attention you wouldn't be such a ridiculous jerk and show more respect to those that you do not actually know. It may seem as though I am contradicting myself by making such a statement but as the old cliche says, "You only get one chance to make a first impression." Based on my impressions of you, I feel comfortable saying that you need to grow up and focus on becoming a decent human being. Also, check your last post for agreement errors. Your English teacher would be disappointed.

I think it is likely that Greeneville will make it back next season but to say that Northeast will is a big stretch. They not only lose their best scorer and overall basketball player in Evans, but they also lose one of the better coaches in high school basketball today. Both of these elements are irreplacable and will make it a huge mountain for whoever takes over the program to climb. I think they should really just focus their attention on soaking it up this year because there will be a long stretch where they won't get out of their region.

What kind of message are we trying to send kids these days? If you don't like something go tell your mommy and daddy and maybe they can get the coach fired. This is ridiculous and parents and students alike, not to mention the school administration, need to buck up and let the coaches coach. Some of the most influential people in my life were coaches, many of which I did not care for at first, but later came to respect and truly love and appreciate. I just don't understand how two programs, Harpeth and Cheatham County, could have so much of a problem with the coaches that they would prevent them, or in Cheatham's case try to prevent them, from coaching a single regular season game. What a shame! If these coaches do not have the support of the administration, then why were they hired in the first place? And who is running these athletics programs anyway, the kids and their parents or the schools and the coaches they have chosen to represent their school?

I'm not sure how big of an upset it would be if Cheatham were to beat Harpeth tonight. 1-They are playing the district tournament on their home court. 2-These two teams split in the regular season. 3-Coach Carr has a 375 game advantage in the coaching experience department over the new guy at Harpeth. Finally, 4-It is going to be hard for Harpeth to sneak anything by the Cubs considering Coach Carr was practically sitting in their huddle at the game last night. To win, Harpeth will have to out work a prepared Cheatham County team. I don't think it would be an upset at all the more I think about it.

I think Harpeth had a starting senior out with illness. I know they played JV players in the 2nd and 4th quarters. I think getting that game out of the way with no injuries was the main focus with the district tournament around the corner. How did Brentwood do against Hillsboro the other night? Or is it Northeast that you are a fan of?

Just curious what thoughts were on Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in 11AA? I'm not sure that anyone could argue that Mendenhall isn't the best player in the district, not to mention one of the best in the state, however, Hunter has had a productive year at Cheatham as well. I think it would have to be a two player race at this point. The third best might play along side Mendenhall at Harpeth. Coach of the Year will be a close one. You have Montgomery Central and Waverly who have both played better than most expected. The same could be said for Cheatham with a very young team, Coach Carr always does a solid job! The new guy a Harpeth has kept a good basketball team on track and led them to just one loss in the state, and I was his biggest critic to begin the year, but that is sometimes a difficult task in itself. I would have really expected Coach Derrick to have been my pick to begin the season but Sycamore has struggled of late. That doesn't necessarily mean he is doing a poor coaching job, in fact, sometimes in these adverse situations the importance of the coach is even more extreme. What are some of your thoughts?

If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas. I didn't realize that Harpeth had only lost one game in the state, maybe I'll wait to trash them more when they lose again.

The upset almost happened, but I honestly can't say, as much as I dislike Harpeth, that Waverly is a better team. Harpeth is the better team and has the potential to be a good team but the coach has no clue how to motivate his girls to play. They have some good individual players on that team but from what I continue to read, they don't really impress anyone the way they have in the past. He thought he would instill some discipline and teach them to play defense, I think he has just basically coached them out of reaching their potential. If the previous coach just let them play, then maybe he should take a page out of that playbook. I'll bet he is scrambling over there after several poor performances. Obviously this discipline and defense is getting in the way of their point production. That tends to happen I guess when you wear the players out pressing the whole game or sit your best player for off the court issues. What does the off the court stuff have to do with basketball? Get a clue!

I smell an upset. Harpeth always comes out flat. Somebody is going to make them pay and it might as well be Waverly. They can get away with playing like crap against teams like Fairview and Greenbrier, but a team on the rise like Waverly or Montgomery Central will make them pay and really shake up the district. I will say Waverly by ten because when the Indians get down the coach will have no clue what to do to get them back in the game. Rawlings from Waverly will just outcoach the Harpeth KID.

It's all fine and good if he benches one of his better players and they still pull out the win, but if they lose that ballgame he looks like an idiot. I saw the write up in the Tennessean and can't help but wonder what the so called "differences" that the coach and player had. More often than not it is some kind of power trip by the coach. I would love to know the low down. He benched a player against Sycamore as well but put her in during the first quarter, he didn't stick to his guns much on that did he?

I heard the new guy at Harpeth has already run off one of his players. Does anyone know which player quit? I knew the love affair with the coach wouldn't last long.

This district is going to be extremely competitive. I think a team like Montgomery Central or Waverly is completely capable of knocking off one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the district on any given night. I don't think there is a team in the district that will finish with less than two district losses. How did Harpeth beat Sycamore after such a terrible game against Cheatham? Harpeth's coach looked terrible in the Cheatham game but must have done something to motivate for the Sycamore game. I don't see how there could be much difference in the top teams in this district.

Doesn't seem like the girls from Harpeth really respond to their new coach. I think he pulled one of his starters with three or four minutes left to go in the game for mouthing off and she never returned. They do not seem to respect him any more than the last guy.

I got to see Harpeth for the first time tonight and was not at all impressed. I thought they were supposed to better defensively but that did not show tonight. Megan Hunter dominated in every way. The new guy definetly got outcoached in this one. He has a lot to learn and Coach Carr could probably teach him a thing or two. I expect more of the same unless he can get a couple of his players under control.

I'd take a team over one individual any day. However, Harpeth has more than one threat. Richardson is taking more shots than anybody on the team for them right now, and Flippo has the ability to score. But they are definetly not playing as a team. As I mentioned, Richardson is taking tons of shots, this is not based on whether she is making them or not, she is just shooting. Seems like every time Mendenhall scores Richardson tries to shoot when she touches it until she can score too. If she would learn to play with her team and not compete against the others on it, this Harpeth team would be much more dangerous, and she would probably find that she would be a better player as well.