Axeman

I'm not sure the reason he was hired was because he had "the least amount of paperwork." I think they chose the safest public pick. Everyone knows the guy and what they're getting.

 

The parents are apparently happy and that's what is important over there.

I thought it depended on which parents were happy.

Someone mentioned the other day that more applied this year than last. Not sure how accurate that is but that's the latest I've heard.

Any coach who can figure out to put the 6'2" girl around the basket instead of outside the arch, not to put the weakest defenders on the other team's best players and keep Carden on the court will compete for 2nd or 3rd in the district just by doing those things and getting out of the way. They probably could have gone 500 last year just by doing those three simple things. I believe the political climate has changed so they may hire a coach who's there to actually achieve something. With the players that are available and coming up on the AAU teams, it could be a good situation for several years to come for whoever is applying.

Ohhh I am shocked!!! AAU is the true path to basketball greatness!!

 

Im sure these girls are going to be awesome to coach when they get to high school with attitudes that AAU is the only place they will get "real Coaching"

 

We live in sad sad times....I truly miss the days when AAU wasn't Nirvana

The truth hurts, huh?

Halls girls basketball has many problems:

#1 Their is no starter program. The Jr. Pro program is horrible! 1 hr a week for practice on half a court. Basically the kids get 10 hrs of practice for the season on 1/2 court.

#2 To much parent envolvement from the middle school level and higher. Once your kid reaches the middle school team parents should no longer be apart of the program. Parents need to realize that not every child is going DI...how many girls from Halls have ever gone D1?

#3 Parents are not realistic about what the program can do! If Pat Summit was coaching the team last year, how many games would they have won? Talent level at the high school level is weak because it hasnt been developed. No matter who the coach is they will have to spend 3/4 of the season working on basic fundamentals because their is no feeder program for Halls.

#4 You cannot change a program that has been unsuccessful for nearly a decade in 1 year! 5 coaches in 6 years, it seems like the school lets each senior class pick a new coach!

Lets get a coach who will stay with the program for 8-10 years, let him/her be involved in the Jr. Pro process, the middle school, and see what happens!

 

 

Halls was once a sports power house and now it is slipping away! Not just in girls basketball but every sport. Its seems like every week you hear of a Halls player transfering to another school. Some of the best players in several sports in Knox county started in Halls.

Actually when Brian Selvage started helping at the Middle School the team had its first winning season in 5 or 6 years his first year. The first group of girls he coached as 6th graders won the championship as 8th graders. But then the ole boys at the high school ran him off to Karns and a lot of the girls from his AAU team quit because they didn't get to play under Turner and Lambert. Luckily a lot of younger girls up there now play for AAU teams and know better than to look for real coaching at the middle school. The question is will those girls go to Halls or go somewhere where they don't have to deal with all the politics.

I love parents!

In this case the disgruntled parents appear to be completely in the right. From what I'm told Halls girls sports in recent years has suffered virtually every negative associated with high school sports. Favoritism, cronyism, a booster led coup and a sordid coverup have all been on the menu. The parents coming in now got a good look at what some of the kids before theirs suffered thru, and what some of the parents before them did, and enough is enough.

What happened to Karns this year? Was it all graduation or did they lose girls to Hardin Valley?

Sydney Carden, Maddie Keith and Chelsie Bennett from Knoxville Halls. They should obviously be starting ahead of both the seniors and one of the juniors right now. They won the county in middle school last year and Carden and Keith have both already had team highs off the bench in games this season and Bennett is 6'3". Watch out next year once all the playing time just goes to the girls from the Halls Hazard AAU team.

There are plenty of camps for players but does anyone know of any clinics for coaches?

I have a 17u team that is having trouble finding tournaments in east Tennessee. Please post any tournaments you know of. Thanks.

Halls HAZ Hoops, May 16-18. email: hazardbball@tds.net

In Blount County, here are a few incoming freshmen to keep an eye on:

 

William Blount: Sarah Wilson and Tatum Burstrom, guards

Alcoa: Alisha Shiverdecker, guard

Heritage: Miranda Maples ( tall girl, I think that is her name)

Maryville: Rebekah Singleton, guard

 

Out of these girls, Maples for Heritage is the most physically ready to help at the varsity level. All of the other girls I mentioned are very skilled players and will no doubt make their presence felt on the court during their high school careers.

 

There are some other talented girls that will be freshmen in Blount County, but these are the ones that come to my mind right now.

KELSIE BENNETT from Halls Middle in Knox County. Legit 6'2" with a good touch around the basket. County MVP on the Knox County middle school champions. Blount County AAU teams will see her this weekend at the ET Air play day. She probably won't go to Halls High though, her brother played college ball and they know how important it is to have a good high school coach. JAI JAI MCLAUGHLIN from West Valley is also terrific, not sure where she will go to High School. SYDNEY CARDEN from Halls would also be the number 1 point guard walking in the door at a lot of schools with better programs than Halls but she probably won't get much playing time even though Halls was 8-20 last year.

THIS IS JUST A MATTER OF OPINION....YOUR OPINION OF COOKS PLAYIN ETHICS AND TREATMENT OF PLAYERS IS NOT WHAT HAS BEEN EXPERIENCED BY SEVERAL OTHERS..DOSENT MATTER ANYWAY...OTHER AREA COACHES ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME OF CLAIBORNES NON-RETURNING PLAYERS COMING TO PLAY FOR THEIR TEAMS.............IT WILL TAKE CLAIBORNE YEARS TO REBUILD WHAT THEY HAVE LOST.....SO KEEP FIGHTING TO KEEP COOK.....EVERYONE ELSE IS LOVING IT......

I'm conflicted, on one hand I would like to see her stay and have a more successful season just to stick it to all of her detractors. On the other hand I would like to see become available so she could come take over our program. Are you guys exclusive to Claiborne County or are you willing to run coaches off on a freelance basis?

I've Googled but can't find it. Do the Travelers have a website?

Everywhere my 12U Boys team goes we end up playing teams that are loaded with 7th graders who should be in 13U. This past weekend there were 10 teams signed up to play as 12U and it turned out only 3 were legit. Are there any non sanctioned tournaments where they actually enforce the AAU age guidelines?

Just go to aaubb.com and do a Tennessee search. They're all pretty much listed right there.

Sorry. You've got me confused with somebody else! Know anything about the meaning of that rule?

Does anyone know what this section of the TSSAA Handbook Eligible Transfer Student section means? According to the Handbook if you fit this description you're eligible. But what is it describing? Is this there to help new schools get started?

E. The student is transferring to a senior high school into the same system into the earliest grade offered at that senior high school, i.e. at the student's first opportunity to move to that school.

Like I said, just looking to vent after a long season. And I guess since people are guessing about what school it is, the situation I described is not exclusive to our team. And I did pick a new ID to go along with my axe grinding agenda.

I know, coaches are perfect, all knowing and unappreciated and the only things holding them back are bad players and bad parents like me who's never lifted a finger to help try to revive a cellar dweller. On a another coach related topic that I've followed this season on this board, I personally would love to have Lori Cook as a coach. I think she does a great job without pandering to one group of parents at the expense of the team.

Great coaches are usually made by great players but sometimes even talented players can't overcome questionable coaching moves. When coaches keep making the same mistake over and over again without learning from the mistake I would call that being Bone Headed! We can keep this nameless but here's a chance to vent over Bone Head Coaching we've seen this year. Here's my rant:

"Our team is up by 8 with less than two minutes to go over a team that had already beaten us by 15+ twice this season. Two starters (who should be more like 8-9 in the rotation) are out for most of the game due to early foul trouble and because of that the subs were able to build a lead. Then the coach decides to put the 2 starters back in the game. The other team is in foul mode and they start hacking one of the returnees right away because they know she can't hit foul shots. She misses 6 in a row including 2 front ends. The other foul plagued starter is the point guard who promptly fouls out by hammering a jump shooter on a desperaton 3 point attempt and they take a 1 point lead. Our backup point guard (who should be starting) comes in and draws a foul on a drive to the basket, makes her fts and we get the lead back with just a few seconds left. But it didn't hold since the other team fired up an airball which bounced off the face of our "can't hit a free throw" starter right to the other team's post player who made a game winning basket. Why is this Bone Headed and not just bad luck or the other team making plays? It was 5th loss of the year with virtually the same scenario and the coach can't figure out which players can win and which can't. And then last night he did it again but a last second 3 rimmed out for the other team or else it could have been a 6th loss for our team racked up by Bone Headed Coaching."