ChoctawFutbol

DC scorekeeper was right behind the scorers table, she did not have room to sit at it. That woman is uber anal retentive with those books. I have seen her tell the refs on many occasions that one of our own players has fouled out, even before opposing book keepers notice. She might have made one mistake, maybe even two, but we are talking about several mistakes. I personally counted, along with most of the DC side, 5 fouls on #32 and #24 long before the game was over. #24 ended up with about 7. #32 had 3 in the first half, then got 2 more very close to each other in the third quarter.

If TSSAA would just require a unbiased, neutral book keeper to keep the so called "official books" none of this would ever be an issue. It is not a good idea for the "official books" to be kept by an official from either school involved. Yes DC has some "sore loser" fans whenever we lose, but no more than any other school. But I agree with Adsmom, I have watched alot of games and never witnessed anything like last night. It will show on the tape what really happened. Who knows what will come of it. In the end, it is the kids who will suffer, all because adults can't handle honest competition. Doctoring of books to this extent is something I never thought I would see in high school basketball. It was not the idea of the BTW players I'm sure, yet they are the ones who will suffer the most when the truth comes out. Sad, sad, sad.

Facts are facts. BTW had two of their best players in the game till the end when both had fouled out in the third or early in the fourth. DC had one of its best players "fouled out" with only four fouls. Yes, it will be on one of the TWO tapes of the game. TSSAA will probably investigate, watch tape, compare books from both schools with the tape. Who knows what will come of it. DC only had one book keeper. The other two keep up with other various stats of interest to the coach, not covered in the score book. Did DC still have opportunity to win?.........Yes. We could have played a little better defense at times, hit more shots and definitely made more free throws. Will this big a big issue? Probably. Just remember. The kids from DC nor BTW should have to deal with any of this. They were just two great teams playing a game they love and leaving it all out on the court. It wasn't the kids, it wasn't the fans, and it wasn't even the referees. It was the adult(s) in charge of keeping statistics. Why was there not a neutral book keeper there? Who knows? It is sad when adults have to ruin something like this because of pride, stupidity, or just plain bad sportsmanship. I don't know what will happen, but now, no matter how this turns out, there will always be an * beside this game in the minds of everyone involed. That is a shame.

I take DC in a close one. Covington is definately talented and athletic, but DC is a little quicker. DC will win on the boards and in the turnover game. That will be the difference.

I'm not going to get on the transfer topic with you because it gets old after a while. Our district has players transfer constantly. D'burg has a handful of former DC players right now. We just happen to be winning. I agree with you that the coaches you have mentioned are excellent coaches. I just see the amount of work DC's coaches put in and how much they care about their kids on a daily basis. One of their biggest goals is to produce college players. I'm probably a little bias, but no one can deny what has been done at DC in the past couple of seasons.

I didn't say HEAD COACH, I said coaching staff. Granted I think McCord is great, but I don't think any coach has the support he has from his assistants. I also doubt you'll find a coaching staff that as a unit watches as much film and studies the game as much as DC's coaching staff. Give McCord a decade in TN and then you can compare according to state titles. He has almost 100 wins in just three seasons, that's amazing. No, he is not the only one to do it in West TN, but it is still an amazing feat.

No Sir. I have seen crappily called games, some in our favor and I will always admit when DC is getting a break (which almost never happens). That was not a badly called game. It was a tightly called game. There is a big difference. Read a rule book sometime. Most games are called a little on the lenient side in the foul dept. ( which I am glad of usually). The biggest complaint I've heard is on charge calls. they were calling charges on lowered shoulders and raised knees last night. It may not be what we are used to but it is not wrong. Prather got his TWO not Four charges called for ducking his shouler into players on his drives, not for running them over. a ducked shoulder is a charge even if the defender's feet are moving. Bobby Knight said the other day (paraphrased) " if two bodies make contact while one has posession of the ball, there is a foul there on one of them". While I don't completely agree with that, it is consistant with basketball rules. Last night was a decently called game.

No one else is saying it, so I will. DC and NS were very equally matched athletically. There was not a major tip to the scales in talent either. It really came down to one thing.............................COACHING! Love them or hate them, DC has the best combination of Head and Assistant coaches in West TN, probably the whole state. They were flat out more prepared for last night's game. They watched and studied several hrs of film on NS and knew most of NS's playbook going into the game. After last night's game they spent most of the night watching film on Covington in preparation for thurs. No one has a harder working or more game intelligent coaching staff then DC......period. As for the bad calls, that was an extremely small amount of bad calls compared to a Region 7AA regular season game. I thought last night was rather refreshing as far as the officiating went. No they didn't make every call and it was called a little tight for my taste, but I did think it was an evenly and consistantly called game.

I haven't seen Prather play this season, but if memory serves me, he isn't a defensive giant. He does well inside but can't defend at high speeds. I don't think he will stop CJ or Fred from going to the basket. When he tries, their acrobatic style is going to get him into foul trouble. He WILL get his on offense I suppose, but I agree with whoever said " one man can't win a game". Don't know if it's true, but I heard someone mention that Prather has a little trouble with other big men inside. Anyone know? Apparently NS doesn't do well on the boards either, Milan outrebounded them by around 15. If Big Ced has another double double like friday, NS will struggle there again. Yes, DC squeaked by Haywood, but the only two for DC who had a good game were CJ and Ced. Fred was way off his usual game, JDH only attempted one 3, and Rex scored less than ten. If you can chalk Fred and JDH's off games up to nerves, then they ought to look much differently on Tues. night. Rex never has to slow games in a row. I pick DC by 5!

Ok. I don't post much, in fact, hardly ever. I normally just read to see what others are saying. But, I cannot just let the above remarks slide without comment. Dyer County has a great team this year, hence the record, hence the #1 ranking. Yes, we have beaten some teams by rather large margins. I can even see how someone, especially if not at the games, might think the coaches run up the score. In most cases however, the first string players build a lead and then the second and thirds maintain it. Yes, they continue to press. Do you ask young players without much game time not to play the game that your team runs just because you have a lead? These kids are trying to learn! Last night, however, was different. Firstly, I would not call 24 pts "running up the score". DC was up by 15 after only three minutes of play and won by 24. Yes the starters and main subs played the whole game, but with good reason. At one point early in the second half DC had gone up 26 and, with three starters still in, Covington cut the lead to 12 within two minutes. Now, tell me you wouldn't have left your starters in. I have taken beatings in several sports, well worse than 24 pts, and never felt the score was "run up" on me. With the abuse some of these DC players and coaches have recieved throughout this year, I feel that they act in a very sportsmanlike manner. They DO NOT "run up score", they are just deep enough to get a lead early and then maintain it. The DC v Haywood game should be a good one. I just hope maturity prevails no matter what the outcome. I am absolutely sure that, win or lose, the DC players and coaches when it comes time to will be respectful to the other team when it comes time to shake hands at the end.

I agree with you on all your predictions. DC, Covington, and Haywood are by far the top three. DC and Haywood in the final in a GREAT game. They both play fast and agressive, soit should be exciting to watch. I say DC has more left in the tank at the end and wins by ten or less. Go Choctaws!!

BTW is always strong, and no doubt they deserve some hype. However, looking at their schedule, it seems to me they have played some tough teams, but no great teams. It will be interesting to see how they compete in sub-state, assuming they make it. There were only a couple of teams on their schedule with winning records. Teams like Dyer County, who have played and beaten some good AAA teams in AND OUT of state, seem to have had a little tougher schedule. But thats just my opinion, don't set it in stone, I'm not an expert.