viking6

Ok, just one guy's opinion, but you did ask: VB- A very good chance of beating their D10 opponent, they can play with anyone. Solid D, you can beat the guards of the dribble, but that just runs youn into Smith in the paint, which is tough as it gets. A good dish done quickly can work. One on one shooters can break loose for good looks. They can score: Smith will get his points, but if you keep him down in the teens you are in good shape. Baker will burn you if you let him drive or shoot without someone on (and I mean on) his shooting hand. If you keep these two down they can be beat. If not its a long night. Eaglville- A very good chance of beating their D10 opponent, they can play with anyone. Trapping D, collapsing zones, vulnerable to a disciplined offense especially one that brings the ball up quick and can penetrate. They contest every rebound at both ends. The offense is relentless, they transition well off their trap and off rebounds and get alot of folks downcourt quickly. Their post play is inconsistent, but when it is on they are very tough to handle. They have good perimeter shooting from 3 players and Porter can drive with skill. Forrest- On the right night against the right opponent sure, but not likely. They have been running the same few traps for a long time and are very good at it. If your forwards can't shake loose, catch a tough pass and get the ball back to a guard in the forecourt they will give you fits; you can't break it consistently with your guards alone. Disciplined in the half court (and very good at closing down on a post that puts the ball on the floor) but vulnerable there. Schnapp is to them as Baker is to VB, but they do have a few others that can hurt you if you leave them open. Cascade- On the right night against the right opponent sure, but not likely. Mostly a halfcourt team both ways. Lots of experience. Good zone D. They are very physical with lots of incidental contact and they go hard on every play. That can disrupt you on both ends and get in your head. Carcuff can be a real handful on O, and they run alot of screens to shake him loose, and feed the post or cutters if you overreact to him. Their ball handling is vulnerable to traps. A fast paced offense and good drives rocks them back a bit, but they won't give you anything. They are good at second and third tries off the O boards. Best wishes to all.

Well, we beat somebody in the district besides Boyd and MTSC. We gave Van Buren and Eagleville all they could handle in close losses. Can we at least admit this team is legit.

I'll agree with that. This is a game we should win. We played extremely well in all but one phase of the game against Eagleville. It's hard too win against a team that good when you miss layups. The last two games it looked to me like we put alot of talented players on the court, and that makes a team tough for anyone to beat. It looked as if both VB and Eagleville had to work hard to cover all the threats on offense and to find a weak spot in the defense. If we can just get a little better at finishing on offense we will be a very hot team. If we keep missing layups and 6' jumpers the Forrest game will be tough, but I don't think that will happen. Go Vikings. /hungry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":hungry:" border="0" alt="hungry.gif" />

Ditto that Ice! Champions vs Rockets, Vikings vs E-Eagles, and VB-Eagles vs MTCS. Sure does look like tourny time. To answer the mail: Based on records this should be a Forrest win. However, taking Cascade twice is tough for anyone. This should be one heck of a game. That said, the Eagles-Vikings game should be a barn burner also. Cryptic comment of the day: Cascade's problem is not that they lost Hall, it's that they ever had him. /ph34r.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":ph34r:" border="0" alt="ph34r.gif" />

To date: VB 9-0 / Eagleville 7-1 / Community 4-4 / Forrest 3-4 / Cacade 4-5 / MTCS 2-6 / Boyd 0-9 The best these teams can finish is: VB 12-0 / Eagleville 11-1 / Community 8-4 / Forrest 8-4 / Cascade 7-5 / MTCS 6-6. VB and Eagleville have 1 & 2 locked up. Of the remaining games Forrest vs Boyd is a given. Forrest and Cascade vs MTCS should be given also. Eagleville vs VB is only important if Eagleville beats Community this Friday. The Eagles are clear favorites. Unless Community pulls one out the VB game is for the money. Forrest beat Cascade by 9 and Cascade beat Community by 10 so the easy pick is Forrest wins out at 8-4 / Cascade 6-6 / Community 4-8. But the fact is all the matchups between Forrest, Cascade and Community are competitive. It looks like Forrest has played the toughest non-district schedule and beat some good teams; so they are the team to beat in this mix up in the middle of 9A. I said at the begining that Community should take one from Eagleville, Forrest, and Cascade. In that senario its Community 7-5. If we loose to Eagleville and split with Forrest and Cascade we are 6-6. If Forrest and Cascade then split its Forrest 6-6 and Cascade 6-6. MTCS: If they upset Forrest or Cascade it could affect the final seeds but they still finish #6 unless Cascade looses out. On a lighter note: a friend told me the other day that we (Vikings) have a hard time against teams that tackle well. /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

Well, I really did not mean to offend. I thought it was Cascade because I overheard a very similar comment at the chilli supper before our last matchup. I did not think it was Forrest because we have not faced them this year and that particular player has not played them in a game since the first matchup freshman year. I was not making a comment about the relative classiness of the teams or their fans. I happen to love the intensity of the Cascade team and it's fans. We could use a little more of that ourselves. I was upset by the comment because I though it was directed at an individual and that always gets me rilled up (it could only be one of two kids and one of them has been ill). I would be happy to get on here and claim the kid but unfortunately I can't. I would in fact be glad to claim any of the boys, its a great group of young men. Back to basketball.. I think our weakness has been inconsistency. Particularly 2 things: First we play great ball for a while, then for no reason start forcing plays and that leads to turnovers or poor shots. Second it seems that one quarter our guards play great and our post game is weak, the next quarter our post game is terrific and our guards struggle. When we put the inside-outside game together for a quarter here and there we have looked like a dominating team. It seems to me more a focus or a confidence problem than a talent issue. I have only seen Forrest at the Eagleville camp and they were missing a couple of players, but we have seen everyone else at this point. I think that in any rotation of our top 7 players we put a more balanced team on the court than anyone in our district, with the possible exception of Eagleville. That is the reason I believe we can beat any team in the district. /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

Don't worry VB Booster it was our defense, not your shooters. I don't think we let you shoot more than three uncontested shots and we gave you very few good looks. Wow what a game, and yes you guys are real good.

I'll make one last comment on this and let it go. First, it was a nasty comment, and I would be very suprised to hear it from a Forrest fan. Second, unlike Cascade we did not loose a key player at that position, so the analogy does not work, Third, the team has bought into the new coach's plan and that does not have our PG doing alot of perimeter shooting. I have not tracked it but he takes very few perimeter shots and is probably well over 40% on the ones he has taken. He is running the offense the way the coach wants it run, and doing it well. Without giving away too much on what we are really building here, we rotate the ball to others for the outside shooting. Perimeter shooting may be a weakness for us, but up to this point it has not been the PG's role to do that, as is clear to anyone who has played us. Our best perimeter shooter has been ill and not playing much at all. Note to ECU.. Thompson is a lovely young lady who plays on our women's team. She returned to play last night. And MTSC can't contend with us for 5th place. We have beaten them twice already. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

What a nasty thing to say...Are you at Cascade? The Vikes clearly have a point guard, are you saying the kid playing the position is no good? If so why not just say it. I doubt the kids who match up with him in the games would agree. What is the source of your annimosity? Top 4 teams? who would that be? VB and Eagleville at the top at this point we can all agree. But next, who is that? Is Cascade tearing it up, is Forrest? Community is playing as well as either of those teams. The matchup games will tell the tale, but to count us out is a mistake.

If our frontcourt and backcourt can both have a good game at the same time, I think we can take eagleville. The VB game showed we are close but not quite there yet. Tuesday may be the night, I feel good about this! Go Vikings.

D9 has 5 good teams this year, it should be a very competative season, lots of fun and excitement. I think we match up well at the region level also from the little I have seen and read. Could be very interesting come tourny time.

WHH beat its division opponents by 7, 8 & 9 points, but Community (region opponent) took them to the last 20 seconds in a 2 point win for WHH. WHH fans, I would like to hear an objective opinion about our boys (can't get one from our didtrict, too much emotion involved): Which of our boys looked like real players to you? How did our D and O look? What gave you problems? Where did we seem weak? By the way, I think WHH is for real, I can't figure out why others in your district seem so derisive.

First: great game! VB is good for sure. I was proud they felt the need to keep their starters on the court to the end. The play was that close even though the score got away from us. Community did not shoot well, I think the boys got too much adrenalin flowing when they realized that they really could play with a quality team like VB. There is a fine line between hustle and jitters. Second: Jeez 7t's eagle will we never get a rest on that coach thing. Only the people who were there can have any idea what really happened. For sure no one "treated" him any way; the kindest thing that can be said is that it was time for him to move on and he did. It happens in all walks of life, why not in education? As to the play, it was rough on both sides a few times in the game. The refs were strange, missing clear fouls and calling fouls on clean plays. I thought VB had a slight edge from the odd calls, but not enough to effect the outcome. It was in fact a very good game played hard and skillfully for the most part.

MTSC is better than last year. No standout players, but solid at post and guard, a little weak at the forward spot. They run inteligent plays offensively and play pretty good team defense; a little weak against isolations. I thought I heard the regionals were at Community this year NCSfan..is that right?

Now that was a good point jogles...alot of players have spent the last few years whipping up on our boys and would consider it an insult to loose to us. I think perhaps they mistook the easy wins for a lack of talent on our team; that has never been the case. Good point about the seniors too, that extra layer of experience and desire can turn games. I have seen that intensity with our 2, especially Hull; he is on a mission this year. Take it from the other side, our boys are tired of loosing big to teams that we should be able to compete with, and this year the boys are ready to prove they belong. That is why the games this year are going to be intense. Win or loose the Viking are not going to be anyones easy win this year. The Marshall paper said that Cornersville's loss to us was "hard to take". I am sure Heritage was expecting an easy game, you could see the suprise on their face when they realized they were in a fight. Yes on Wilder, and he is playing great ball. Our PG, although a Jr. has very little experience at the position. He played PF in middle school and had season ending injuries early the last 2 years. But, our new coach was a standout at the position himself and the kid is really starting to look good under his coaching. In fact, I think our guard play overall is going to suprise folks. Also, a Jr. transfer from out of state (totaly legit move) with a real talent is being held up for elligibility. When he hits the floor it will kick our boys up another notch. PS..lets bury the hatchet on last year's hard feeling between community and cascade. We can have a good rivalry and compete hard without that nonsense. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Will someone please explain some of the people on here to me. Are they capable of conversation without nastiness? As to the vikes beating cascade, this is HS, the players change every year. What does it matter what happened in the past. I think that this year's community team has a good chance to take one from cascade, forrest and eagleville. The players match up well in every instance and some of our rotations are looking good (that is a depth gauge). Getting consistent during the rotations is still a weakness for us and fixing that will be key. Getting the TSAA off the dime on JL will help alot. It is tough to loose that kind of talent to an admin snafu. Try it on the matchups, be honest and run it down: Norris- who will outplay him? Stallings and Hall in the post- is there a stronger 2 low team? Natale is playing well at the PG and some of the boys out there know for a fact he will give them a game. White and Pierce are scoring well and playing real good ball in the backcourt. Again, some of the boys know White will give them a game. Haynes has added good height to his already good game and is a mathup problem when he rotates at the 3.

After a performance like that I am anticipating this introduction: Jimbo this is David....David meet Mr. Jimbo.... boy is this one going to be fun..... Vikes-Eagles comming to a gym near you! /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

Welllll! Congats to VB Eagles. decisive win over a good Forrest team, y'all might have something here. OK game 3 is in the books. My Vikes gave a very good and way unerrated Heritage team a fight to the wire, and really should have won that game. They handled MTSC tonight in a game that really was not as close as the score, some key players sat alot while we tried out different combos; when crunch time comes it's the rotations that count. I can say right now that the Vikes should take at least one each from Forrest, Eagleville and Cascade this season. I just don't know VB well enough to say. put it high and let it fly /hungry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":hungry:" border="0" alt="hungry.gif" />

Not suprised at all..you gave my Vikings a great game. That one could have gone either way and like the Patriots no one belived us either. See you at regions. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Why do the football playoffs run into the basketball schedule? One would think the seasons could be set up without overlap. /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

Just chiming in here- VB is always a steady winner, good athletes, good coaching. I thought they were vulnerable in transition the last 2 years. Has that changed? Baker and a few others can carry a team when they are on and that is strong, but is it enough? Sorry, but I still have to put Eagleville, Cascade and Forrest ahead of them. That being said, I would like to see VB prove me wrong; except against my Vike of course. Forrest is being underated. Anglin is HOW at point and that will free up Schnapp who is a phenomanal shooter. They are weak at post, but I have seen their C play some great ball at times. They have good forwards. at least one of whom has underperformed the last 2 years; if he gets it together they will be alot tougher. You can't discount the coach, he knows how to get the best out of what he has. If they get the frontcourt clicking they can take the district. Eagleville is, well, Eagleville. Big, fast, pressure ball; they will be tough, but vulnerable in the 4th quarter. Any team that can keep them from making big runs can win. If you let them run up a string or two just turn out the lights. Cascade is being underated because of Hall leaving. As with Forrest they have intersting talent in the backcourt and some abiltiy in the frontcourt. The coach is a proven winner and will wring every bit of ability from the boys. Rating my Vikes is impossible: For the last 2 yrs a very talented group has been through the ringer, but the talent remains. Can the new coach detox the boys? Can he teach them the game the right way? If so watch out! I mean that, these boys can play the game. (Oh, to whomever wrote it, the Community JV ran wild on the Forrest JV 2 years ago (Vikes almost all frosh at the time), the same Vike boys sat the JV game last year because they were playing varsity. The same set of boys will match up as varsity this year. It will be a lolapalooza! White vs Schnapp and Natale vs Anglin is going to be alot of fun; and our frontcourt is stronger right now.) Alot of unknowns in the district this year as opposed to the last few years. I will wait to make my predictions until game 3 or so. Great big "Good Lucks" to all the young men who leave it all on the hardwood for their schools. You make me proud to be an American. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />