bigbluefan4ever

Grainger09, i agree with most of your comments especially the one about turnovers. Sometimes this past season it was painfully hard to sit and watch a game with all the turnovers. I'm not exactly sure how the teams in the new conference will be and if they will be graduating any players or will have everyone coming back. I believe that Claiborne Co. has almost everyone returning and its going around on coacht that former coach Parkey is returning, so they may be tough to handle. Cumberland Gap loses some of their best players don't they, I know they lose Shackleford and I believe one of the 3 pt shooters. I don't know how the incoming freshman will help if they are even put up on varsity. I guess we will find this out when they get things going in the summer. Also heard that Coach Roach is stepping down, does anyone know if this is true or not. So next year will probably be a challenge for the ladies but they just have to pull together and become a team, AND LIMIT THE TURNOVERS. I have said this before but I'll say it again I'm not related to Acuff, I have just enjoyed watching her improve and get better over the years. As far as what I have heard from her parents and others close to her is that she is being recruited by D-1 colleges. She might not have been being recruited as heavily as Skylar was but I know she made an official visit to Belmont, and is recieving attention from ETSU, MTSU, Purdue, Belmont, and Furman is the ones I know of. Alwaysapioneer would probably know more as I believe thats one of her family members as well as BigAmom. I think she has the talent to make it to any of these, but she needs to show that talent night in, night out. I'm just anxious to see who Skylar signs with this year and who Acuff will sign with next year. Good luck to the team over the summer and in 09-10 season moving into the new district. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

He couldn't be in too much trouble at the college level by air-balling a free-throw cause if I remember correctly Scotty Hopson has air-balled free-throws twice this year. Yeah thats right not once but twice, and he's still playing. I just wish the best to Skylar right now, cause as many of us Grainger fans know he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. For those out there that disagree with him being D-1 talent, well maybe you haven't really watched him play ball, and for someone not talented enough to attend D-1 colleges, its funny how there was 2-3 at school watching him the other day. I wish the best to all the Grainger seniors in the years to come as they figure out their places in this world.

bballmomma I'm glad to here from you again its been awhile. Let me correct you on one little thing, I think you meant to say "then come back to lose to Cumberland Gap" instead of Claiborne. Roach is a big loss on the defensive end, and I knew that from the moment she quit the team. Your right about Acuff she sure did pick the wrong time to take a nose-dive in the scoring department...lol. Crews hasn't been as good lately as she had been either. I liked it when in those few games Crews and Acuff were pulling 12-20 pts almost each game. Maybe they can get that back before Friday night, and bring it then. Waldroup didn't play to the potential she can play, which brings me to the question, how did she make the all tourney team over Acuff? I thought Acuff outplayed her in every aspect of the game. I know Acuff wasn't scoring like she had been, but from watching the games it seemed like she outscored Waldroup, and if it wasn't for her assisting these other girls they wouldn't have had most of the points they did. I don't won't to ruffle any feathers but from the reactions of many of the fans, I think I can honestly say that many people was shocked to learn that Waldroup made the team instead of Acuff. But anyway congrats to Crews and Waldroup making the all tourney team. Also just like to tell the girls good luck against Elizabethton Friday night. If you girls play like you did the 2nd half against Claiborne then you can make it to the next round in regionals. But remember you need to play as a team, and work together.

Well the district tournament starts tonight, and does anyone have any predictions on who they think will win. I know G-P plays Claiborne then Grainger plays Union Co. with the winners of these games playing Pigeon Forge and Cumberland Gap tomorrow and automatically getting a game in regionals next week. I don't know much about the G-P/Claiborne game or who might win, but I believe G-P beat Cumberland Gap recently so this might be a good game. Of course with the Grainger/Union Co. game I'm going to give the nod to Grainger based solely on the dominating victories during the season, but we've all heard the saying its hard to beat a team 3 times in a season. But I still think Grainger has to many weapons for Union Co. to overcome. If Grainger can get all their scorers going things could turn out ugly for Union Co. This is the time when Crews, Acuff, and Waldroup need to take on their leadership roles as veterns of this team and lead these ladies to good things. Will this be an easy tourney for the girls to win, no, but can they win if they give it their all and leave it out there on the floor, YES. Crews and Acuff need to keep the offensive intensity coming like they have in the past 8-10 games, and the guards need to handle the ball better and get it to the playmakers hands instead of the other teams hands. If I was a coach from an opposing team I would not want to play the Lady Grizzlies right now because in the past few games they have shown they are a team to be reckoned with if they set their minds to coming out and playing the best ball they know how. Ladies your going to have the home crowd rooting for you so go out there and give them a show. Let's put that district tournament trophy and nets in the trophy case for everyone to see for years to come. Good Luck to the ladies and good luck to all the teams, and may the best team win. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

KevB, like I posted earlier I heard it was over the coaching staff, specifically Coach Roach. Like I said I'm not exactly sure what went down, but the night it happened I heard Heather tell some people that she could not take how Coach Roach was treating her anymore, and how some other things were transpiring. Didn't here her give details on that, she was mostly telling about herself. Thats why I came on here to find out if anyone else knew what happened. At the game Thursday night against Cherokee I overheard Heather tell another person that Mr. Cabbage had been called in on the situation and that he was taking the situation to Terry Acuff. Again, don't know how credible the info is it's just what I heard Heather saying. The bad thing is it is happening at a very crucial time of the season. I mean the girls have won, I think, 9 of the last 11 games, and on top of that districts begin this coming weekend. I just wished she would have chosen to follow through with the season and if she wanted to quit and not play next year then so be it. But quitting like this is doing nothing but hurting yourself, and most importantly letting your teammates down.

That's funny, but somewhat true. Skylar is a great player on a good team. He is an amazing player but had an off night last night. But all us McBee fans can look past that because he's going to have more great games than he is awful games.

Thanks for the info on Heather, and after seeing last nights game I guess she did really quit. By watching some of the girls actions, I think some of them miss her out their on the floor with them. Anyway getting back to the game, the girls won last night 47-43 (I believe was the final). Crews and Acuff are continuing to play like they know how. Yeah they still have a few slip-ups, but they are doing really well on the offensive end. Acuff had a great game last night scoring 19 points and nailing 3 out of 4 three pointers. Crews also did well scoring 12-14, and hitting a three of her own. The threes though were falling from everywhere last night. Acuff had 3, Crews 1, Lamb 1, Cabbage 1, and Waldroup 1. That's five three pointer from your bigs. Anyway back to the game, there are still too many turnovers especially coming from the guard play, and I don't care if that makes some mad but its just the truth. Yes the bigs turn it over quite a bit but not near as many times as the guards. If these problems still continue then that makes chances of winning the district a long shot because turnovers was the main reasons in the district losses they have now. If they can limit the turnovers and still get this kind of play from Acuff and Crews then the skies the limit for this team cause they can beat any of the teams in the district. Well just want to wish the girls good luck tonight against Hancock Co. and against Seymour tuesday night.

Well the Grizzlies took on Cherokee last night and won 61-49 (I believe). They played a fairly good overall game, but I believe that if it wasn't for Farmer's 28 points they would have lost that game. Skylar was definately having one of them not-so-good nights, and it seemed as though something else was bothering him causing him not to focus as much as his dad, Doug, had to keep telling him to focus. Its just a good thing Bruce wasn't there last night, but then again it just proves he is human after all because not everyone can be perfect night in, night out. Farmer had 7 three pointers last night, and the most I've ever seen him hit in one game has been four. He was just feeling it last night, that's all you can about him. Well, I would just like to wish the boys good luck tonight at Hancock Co., and good luck Tuesday night against Seymour on Senior Night. Maybee Skylar will be playing alot better then.

They have seen him play a few times this year, but Bruce Pearl has been to 2 games (Grainger/Union Co. and Grainger/Carter). I overheard his mom talking to some people last night and she said that they have not offered him anything yet, but that Skylar really hopes they do. I'm like you I don't know what else Skylar can do to show Bruce that he should get him at UT. I've heard that UT is where Skylar really wants to go, and being from around here I would like to see the Vols get a hometown boy. Because like you said he can flat out play and dropping 44 points on anyone should prove that hands down.

Well the Hornets got stung in both the girls and boys action, as the Lady Grizzlies and the Grizzlies both come away with wins. BIG WINS, especially the boys. Well back to the girls, the ladies lead from start to finish (if I remember correctly), and played well. If the girls had found a way to stop Bennett from Carter they would have won by a bigger margin than 42-33. Bennett had 24 of Carter's 33 points. Crews and Acuff played well last night and according to the News Sentinel scored 12 (Crews) and 15 (Acuff) respectively. It's good when both come to play ball on the same night. The rest of the team did good too. I loved to see the hustle coming from the girls. They were diving on the floor fighting for those loose balls. Some of the calls were bad, but have to say they pretty much let them play ball last night. The one thing that worried me about the game last night was Heather Roach going into the locker room and changing then going and sitting in the stands. I heard some people say she quit the team because of disagreements with the coaching staff. Does anyone know anymore about this situation because I hope this info isn't true because she is one of the best defenders on the team, and they need her to continue playing throughout the rest of the season. If it is true then the rest of the girls will have to step it up and make up for her loss on the defensive end. If she quit who will take her starting place in the lineup? Hope someone can answer these questions for me. Anyways good luck to the ladies the rest of this week as they take on Cherokee and travel to Hancock Co.

Correction on the final score it was 49-39. Sorry i just remembered it was a 10pt difference.

Well the ladies traveled to Pigeon Forge last night and lost 56-46 (I believe was the final). The ladies started out like they came to win with Acuff and Waldroup scoring the first 9 points of the game as the raced out to a 9-3 lead. But then the refs showed up, and started calling the pickiest fouls ever which lead to Crews and Acuff with 3 fouls each by early 2nd quarter. Turnovers also lead to their downfall, and not just one girl turning it over but all of them. They had to have the most TOs in that game than in any other game this season. Then foul trouble continued to plague the team as Crews and Acuff both recieved their 4th fouls in the third quarter. Being in foul trouble the whole night those two could never get going and I believe Acuff and Crews finished with 6 and 4 pts. respectively. On most nights both of them are scoring 10-15 each, but last night they scored 10 together. They aren't going to win many games with those two just scoring 10 pts together. Well I hope the team has a better game tonight against the ladies from Cumberland Gap, and avenge the 10-12 pt loss they suffered over there. With a win tonight the ladies should finish 3rd in the district which if I'm correct would mean they would play Union County in first district game. I might be wrong but looking at the standings on coacht I believe that is correct, but don't hold me to it, cause I'm really not sure. I would just like to say good luck to the girls tonight, and go out there and make you hometown fans proud.

GC you are right, I also think the ladies can beat anyone when they play like they did friday night. If I was an opposing coach and seen how the girls played friday night I would not want to play them in the tournament especially with the tourney being held at Grainger. I was really gald to see Crews and Acuff playing good on the same night. Usually if ones playing good the other seems to be off, but not the other night they were both on and I think Waldroup scored in double digits too. It was just an overall good game for all the girls. I believe they have 3 district games left and only one is at home so the other two will be tough on the road, but if they play like they did Friday then I would tell the other teams to watch out. I hope the girls continue to roll right on in to tourney time and if they play hard like they have the past few games good things are to come for the girls. But they have to believe in themselves and in each other that they can do this because I believe they can. I would just like to say congrats to all the girls on their play Friday night.

Sorry i haven't been on here just been extremly busy the past few days. I was at the Union County game and was glad to see the girls get a big district win, and I mean big about 20-25 pt difference. It was a bigger margin until Coach R set the starters and played the backups which he should have done. But the backups did a good job of not letting Union County score that much on them. There was alot of threes going in, and this doesn't seem to happen very often. I didn't get to make it to the Cocke County game cause i didn't want to risk it with the weather the way it was. I seen the box score in the paper today and seen Acuff was the leading scorer with 14, and I believe the next closest to her was Crews with 6. Not going to beat many teams when you just have 1 or 2 girls scoring all the points. You need a total team effort. Also seen in the paper where the girls held DePew to only eight points, which if I'm correct is well below her average right now. Not exactly sure, would have to check the imac thread. Alwaysapioneer, thanks for giving some insight on the game, and was the officiating crew really that bad that Acuff and Crews fouled out and that Roach ended with 4 fouls? Well good luck to the girls friday night against Claiborne County, and if all goes well I should be there to see if they can get back at Claiborne for that early season loss. GOOD LUCK and GO LADY GRIZZLIES.

What does anyone think about the match-up with Union County tonight? I heard it should be a good game, and that if Grainger isn't on their game they may get it handed to them tonight. I also heard that Vittetoe was back to playing, is that true, because I didn't think he played with them in the Christmas tourney. I mean he might have and I may be wrong about that. Anyway good luck to the guys tonight.