bigbird

Correct me if I am wrong, but I was thinking that the state tournament started this Wednesday. Since it has not started yet, how could Temple lose twice, especially, since it is a win or go home format, not a double elimination?

Manassas is not one of the top two teams according to the coacht.com standings. I think they were actually ranked about 8th. They are the fourth best team in the tournament according to those same standings. There is no way that you can rank teams by standings for a tournament unless they all played the same teams or at least played similar teams. Humboldt has a right to brag for being undefeated but what does it really mean to be undefeated when 24 of your 33 games were in your own district and almost all of them are weak teams, most with losing records. Humboldt was the only team out of its district or region to make it to the state tournament. The same with Manassass. Temple and Grace both play in the same district both made it to the state. Temple has 6 losses on the season. 3 losses against a late awakening Grace and three losses against very good AAA teams. One of those AAA teams, Walker Valley, has the best record in their class and the only A team they played was us. We did lose to them 96-92 but no other team scored as many points on them as we did. What does that mean? Nothing. I posted in an earlier thread that I would love to see Temple draw Humboldt in the first round, play Manassas in the second, then match up with Grace Baptist in the final. No team had any control over where they fell in the bracket and to be honest, with all the trouble Temple had with the TSSAA over violations last year, do your really think that Carter is going to consipire to put Temple playing against Cloudland, who has the worse standing of any team in the tournament of 27th?

Sexton and Jarrod would both start on any team in the state.

In all fairness to Jeremy Sexton concerning the negative comment that was made about him, Coach Marcum was quoted in a Times Free Press article saying that he asked Jeremy to take a different role this year than last year, a role that involved the rest of the team scoring more points per game, increased Sextons' other stats, and taking a lot of pressure off his shoulders. Temple's overall record is much better this year than last year. I would be careful about judging too harshly... /sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />

I want to match up with Grace in the finals because they are a fellow district Christian school and I want them to be successful until they match up against us for the final time of the year. I want to match up against Humboldt in the first round because they are undefeated and the team to beat right now and I would just as soon get them out of the way right off the bat (I loved matching up with Union City first round last year). I would pick Mannassas for the semis just because I know they are good and I think we can win against them. The bottom line is that I do not want to see Temple win another gold ball and have the west teams continue talking about how good they are and how they should have won and are the real state champions like they did in 2007. /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

Call me crazy, but I would like to see Temple match up against Humboldt in the quarters, Mannassas in the semis, and Grace in the finals.

More underachieving than the 2006 team that lost to Grace four out of five times and lost to Clay County at the Dawg House by one point and sat out of the state tournament that year?

Until Humboldt loses, they certainly have a right to brag. But, I would not let the success at one end of the state be a benchmark for success against the other end of the state, especially if the other end of the state includes the dynamic duo of Grace Baptist and Tennessee Temple.

I was at that game at Franklin. Temple spotted Franklin 25 points in the first quarter just for fun /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> I think the next two quarters were a draw with Temple winning the fourth quarter. It would be a real stretch to say Temple was beat from start to finish. Franklin was defnitely a good team and they had some real athletes on the team but I think you really mean to point out how hard it is for Franklin to make it to the tournament, not how hard it is for a AAA team to make it. Last year, Temple was the only team in any classification to return to the state tournament from the previous year. I would say it is very difficult for most teams to make it to the state, regardless of classification.

Congratulations Grace on an impressive win. If you are short of a few fans because of Spring Break, some of us Temple fans won't mind filling in at Murfreesboro if you will have us (as long as we are not playing each other, of course /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" /> ).

Gracefan423 #12 has what looks like a 12ft wingspan and I have yet to see anyone who can outjump him or consistently out rebound him. I have never seen anyone we have played who can dunk the way he does. And as far as I know, no one has beat him in a tip off. There may have been a draw or two. #3 has some serious hops for being one of the shorter players on the team. Very quick and fearsome defender, comes out of nowhere and picks you, very deceiving rebounder.

It has been a very long day. I was terribly nervous making the drive up to the Dawg House tonight and it was as loud or louder than I remembered, and bigger than I remembered. I guess we only had about 20-30 fans, maybe? Where in the world do you guys fit the fans from local teams when they show up? It looked like your whole town showed up for the game. Temple came out hard and fast in the first quarter but Clay maintained composure and came storming back on a big run during the second quarter to make it close going into half-time. Clay made a great show during the third, taking the lead, but Temple battled back and took an eight point lead going into the fourth quarter. Temples strategic control of the ball in the final quarter forced Clay to have to play in a way they did not want to and Temple continued to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves, stretching the lead to fourteen by game's end (I am still trying to figure out how you guys held Jeremy to just nine points). The officiating was balanced. There were some hokey calls but I thought the officials did a good job overall not calling a bunch of touch fouls and just letting both teams play ball. The Dawgs really did show a ton of heart and effort tonight and showed real character. Temple looked very good and I was extremely proud of the intensity, composure, effort, and attitude. There was a great flow and unity on the floor tonight that really had been missing previously. They really looked like a team that could go all the way at the state tournament. TopDawg, it was great meeting you and keep up the good work you are doing there.

Will do!

It has been a ton of fun and I hope you have found me to be as good a sport as you have been (Some folks do not realize it is all just for fun). I appreciate your hospitality very much and I would sure like to take you up on the food but you know as well as I do that there is no way I can eat anything that close to game time and keep it down /sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> (I had a hard time just eating supper this evening) but I will definitely try to make it by the table and say "Hello" (and also find out what this question is that only I would know the answer to) I am sure I am more anxious than all 12 of our players and their coaches put together.

You Grace guys take care of business and hopefully Temple will do their thing and we will see each other in Murfreesboro.

TopDawg, Again, I am glad that you have a great sense of humor.

You Clay County fellas have talked about your famous open pit bar-b-cue so much it has made me plumb hungry. I would like to go ahead and place an order for some right now if you do not mind. Can I have several hundred pounds of slow roasted Dawg? (It comes out better cooked over maple but I will take it anyway you cook it) What's that? We are going to have to cook it ourselves? Where are we supposed to cook it? Oh, I see. We are going to have to prepare it and cook it at the Clay County High School gym. Not a problem... /biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" /> Can I have extra napkins? You know how messy it can get.

Dad, We chatted earlier in the season about Temple's defense. I disagreed with you at first but later saw some of the things you were talking about. From my perspective, it seems Temple is playing good defense but I was curious if you thought anything had changed?

For what it is worth, I have laughed hysterically at many of your posts. I always took them as good natured jabbing. I thought I was going to have to get some help up out of the floor over your post about the "big boy panties." In fact, I am still grinning about it. /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" /> TopDawg is grinning about it, too, he just does not want to admit it. You may not want to make any more "white trash" comments, though. I think some people really get riled up about it...

Will we be sitting in the far left corner again? From what I remember, you guys have a pretty decent sized gym for a single a school in a little town.

Pickett wins, 29-26.

Pickett up by three with 35 seconds left in the game.

Pickett up by 3 with one minute left in the game.

Pickett up by 5 with three minutes left in the game.

Now TopDawg, you know the ride home from a season/career ending loss feels like the other end of the country even if it is just to the other end of the county. /cool.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="B)" border="0" alt="cool.gif" />