dirkdiggler

Where was Hammaker zoned to play?

I don't claim to be a basketball coach, but I have seen every CAK game this season including the CAK / Elizabethton game at ETown. Betsy is the best team CAK has seen this year IMO. In the first match up, ETown had an incredible shooting night. #33 (I think) was 7 of 8 from 3 point territory and I think the team had around 16 - 18 3pointers. Betsy was really on that night; I have never seen anything like it. While they are the better team, their incredible shooting night did skew it a bit. I don't think 30 points would separate these teams on average if they played 10 times.

 

CAK played their best game tonight so far this year. Overall, they are a young team and had a very good night. Hammaker (8th grader) is the real deal, as was proved tonight with 32 points. Elizabethton will be fine in district and region play, in fact, this may be a good wake up call to get their attention. CAK had a very good game plan, which allowed them to hang with and eventually defeat an outstanding team.

 

I have really enjoyed the nice rivalry that has developed between these 2 fine schools, both football and basketball. Nice pizza party after the games were completed, open to everyone! I hope our friends from ETown had a safe trip home and have a great run in the region!

 

.PS: #33 is the best 3 point shooter I have seen this year, male or female

What's the word on Bearden...I heard they had a lot of kids quit this year.

Are the LC parents still whining like crazy?

Don't get to see as much bball as I used to but I know Farragut is pretty good at all levels.

I believe it's going to be an exciting district tournament coming up next month. Glad we are hosting it at William Blount. Lots of parity on the girl's side. West is awfully tough when they are hitting on all cylinders. Maryville, with the two strong posts, Vaught and Maples, have to be one of the favorites (injury to Bekah Singleton will hurt the Lady Rebels, hopefully they can get her back by tournament time). Haven't got to see Farragut, but their record speaks for itself. William Blount girls are very competitive and have the potential to make some noise. Guard Tatum Burstrom is a shooter (she eclipsed 1000 points for her career on Friday night ... she's still just a junior.) Had a great opportunity to beat Maryville this past week, but couldn't get it finished. Coach Cowan at Bearden is a veteran, savvy coach who can "x and o" you to death. His girls a have pulled off a couple of big district wins. Lenoir City has district wins vs Farragut and Bearden ... lots of athletes and very good coach. Heritage girls will absolutely compete to end. Coach Howard has some great young players, some good shooters, and Kathryn Inman (senior guard) is capable of taking over a game. Catholic is young but I love the way they play ...lots of hustle, getting on the floor, diving for loose balls, etc. I don't think I forgot anybody did I?

 

I really believe the tournament is up for grabs and should be great. Oh yeah ... I would be hard pressed not to stick with Torie Vaught for Player of the Year. Her game continues to improve. Not only a force inside, she has a deadly jump shot from 15 feet. Also, surprisingly, against WB this past week, she handled the ball on several occasions, going coast to coast a couple of times for lay ups. Not bad for 6'0". She's got my vote.

Anyone care to give a pre-season look at what Knox County schools will look like this year?

Farragut, Bearden, West, Halls, Central????

Where did the new West coach come from?

How the Central girls looking? More players this year?

Please let's not make this another LC thread.

I've been to just a couple of games this year and haven't been able to talk to my source much this year cuz a change in my work schedule....

It looked like Maryville would be the best and they have been. After that, it looked like Farragut, Bearden and West would battle....and they have.

No surprises if you ask me. Everyone is bout where they should be.

This has been a great thread. I hope more people post 'cause I'm interested in hearing what more parents say.

As a parent I've never understood how other parents talk badly about the coach, especially in front of their own kids. There is absolutely nothing positive that can come about from this. I know the good coaches like to teach there kids about life...well, some of the parents could use the same lessons. So if the boss of a company isn't to your liking, complain long enough and he'll be fired? Doesn't work like that. Teach the kids to adjust...that's what life is about.

My kids no longer play but like to watch still. They quit playing when they realized they were passed by other players in the talent level and were mainly going to be on the bench full time. They weighed the pros and cons of being a practice player and decided they'd take different avenues with their spare time.

Like someone else said...the reality is the players that are better will get most of the playing time. Why should it be any different?

Basketball is close!!!!

One of my main sources told me to tone down a bit so I'll try to do that. (you know who you are...heh)

Lenoir has some talent this year. Not sure what they'll do with it but they have some talent. Halls has 13 girls....in the entire program. Girls have been training since school started so they should be in shape. Heard boys will be better this year at Halls. Farragut will be good again but Maryville is clear frontrunner to start season. Bearden will miss Hurst but how could they not? Heard nothing on Powell and nothing on West.

Heard Catholic is in on a 4th grader with serious skillz.

Can anyone confirm that Farragut has a bunch of young talent coming up this year? I was told that they'll be deeper this year and Lenoir also has young talent coming up to varsity that's pretty good. Might mess my rankings up.

Talked to a couple people who are closer to the program than I am...

They did lose a few that quit...none were starters...not sure if they were good enough to improve to a starter. Nobody was sure on the number.

As far as players coming in, they all said to wait 'til practice begins and we'll know more. If no players came in from middle school, will they even have a 9th grade team and a JV? I'm in the dark on this part.

That's not really answering anything but figured I'd report what I heard.

As far as what I've heard, read or seen....

None of the starters left. The ones that left didn't play very much...hence the reason they probably left. A couple of JV players have moved up. I'll check on the other stuff as far as freshman and other players. I do know that the recruiting affected them.

Oh please...they're ZONED for a certain high school. They are SUPPOSED to go to that high school. That's why they call the middle schools "feeder schools" for the high schools. If you didn't have zones then kids could go to whatever school they wanted to which would be mass chaos and simply wouldn't work.

Honestly the best solution to the whole recruiting problem is to say there are no rules against it. If you're going to put a rule in place and nobody is there to police it, what's the point?

Sort of like the "no practicing" rule for right now. Only supposed to be conditioning....no coaching going on. Who is going to enforce it? Nobody. That's why teams are practicing 4-5 days a week right now and the coach is instructing/teaching/coaching.

I believe other states clarify the conditioning rule by saying you can't step on the basketball floor until late October. Don't touch a basketball.

This "honor system" that we use for coaches? Absolutely a joke.

When a bad program suddenly starts getting 2-3 players transferring in from several different schools, something is going on.

Do I have proof? Not at all.

But it didn't take proof to see that Barry Bonds was taking something illegal. I mean, c'mon.

And as far as proof is concerned, it takes ridiculous measures to prove to the state that recruiting is going on.

Excellent reply.

I appreciate your answer.

Someone said, "Programs recruit themselves." Sometimes they do but some of the schools losing these players are good to very good and at least one of the ones getting the players is very bad.

At any rate, thanks for all that chimed in.

Yeah, you're right. I didn't exactly get the answer I was looking for (a cut and dry one). LOL

I've talked to several coaches in Knox County (middle and high) and they're frustrated with losing so many players to the private schools.

I'll leave it at that.

So which private schools can recruit again? I get confused all the time.

I'm mainly referring to CAK, Catholic and Webb. Is it Webb that can recruit but not the other two? Vice versa?

So what's the background on Bowers? Anyone know? First name? First year coach?

How many coaches have they had? Any time you see something like 4 coaches in 6 years, you KNOW there's something wrong with the program be it parents, admin. or something else.

So do you know whom they hired?

Sounds like we agree on most everything but on Bearden.

While I agree that Hirst made a big difference on defense, that whole team played great defense. They won't be AS GOOD but they'll still be very solid defensively.

Great post, though.

You need a new source in Vegas.

I'll go with this:

1) Maryville (no doubt...they looked good WITHOUT Maples this summer)

2) Heritage

3) Bearden/Farragut

4) Farragut/Bearden (Bearden's style frustrates people)

5) West

6) William Blount (darkhorse)

7) Lenoir City

8) Catholic

From what I've heard/seen.....

1) Maryville looked like a different team in the summer.

2) Heritage is still talented and can shoot the ball.

3) Bearden plays tough defense. They win a lot of ugly games and that just wears on teams, especially at this age.

4) Farragut has Newby who is very tough. I think 3/4 is out of Bearden and Farragut...could go either way.

5) West is athletic and seems to be coached pretty well. They bring a different look to this district.

6) Blount is getting there....I've seen them look very, very good, especially on offense.

7) LC .... well, there is some talent there but I haven't seen them put it together. Internal strife on the bench and in the stands.

8) Catholic.....great facilities. We'll see what the next recruiting class looks like next year.

Does anyone know who they hired to take over this program?

Ahhhhhh, the full story. The full story is what Joey T originally posted. There was some infractions going on, captured on film for all to see. After watching the video, I don't need to know more info as some put it. Now lets see what happens, betcha not much. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

I've talked to a couple of coaches since this video became public. Let's just say they are very curious as to see what TSSAA does with such blatant evidence to incriminate.

If nothing is done or they receive just a slap on the wrist, you can bet there will be a lot of coaches just ignoring rules, dates, etc.

Many already do that but many also follow the rules.

As long as the parents are happy...especially the ones with kids that cannot play a lick!

So is everyone happy? I waited for the dust to settle and emotions to subside before asking.

Not what I was hoping for.

I thought it depended on which parents were happy.

It probably does.

I agree Dirk, another mistake by Halls Administration. When Moore came to Halls he stated he was glad not to be coaching 2 teams and didn't want to do it again. It looks like Halls took the easy way out again and hired the coach that required the least amount of paperwork!

Also, everyone keeps saying we have a young team. Halls will always have a young team because by the time the girls are jrs. and srs. they have all quit playing basketball.

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 believe the new coach is randy moore, the boys coach also. he is going to do both. he did this at seymour. from what im told he done pretty good job at doing both up there. its still gotta be tough doing both. can you give 100 percent to both? randys good guy and coach so we will see. i heard that most of the girls on the team wanted him as coach when they found out he had applied. also heard most parents approve of the move except for maybe one. cant please everyone i guess. really young team only 2 seniors and 1 junior, the rest fresh and sophs. brook will stay and be asst. coach. talked to one of the parents and brook. they said they had a good camp at tenn tech last week end. so good luck ladies!

It is indeed Randy Moore and he will coach both the boys AND girls teams. Never have understood schools that allow that to happen. You are just not doing both of your teams justice with a move like this. By that I mean can he give 100% to both teams? No. He can give 50% at most to both teams.

Nothing against the guy personally... I'm sure he's a good guy.

That just about sums it up - but add to that lack of coaching at the middle school level.

 

I had a friend a few years ago who had a daughter trying out for volleyball as a freshman and was begged by the basketball coach at the time to try out for basketball because they didn't have enough trying out to field a JV team. Other schools make cuts at tryouts, Halls has sign-ups.

 

Hallshasit ???

Lots of rumors flying on this one so it's hard to figure out what to believe. I've heard 2.

(1) More applicants this year and they're struggling to figure which one is the best fit. (but they like several and feel any of them would be a good hire)

(2) The new coach won't be so new. (figure that one out 'cause I can't...former coach? Old, local coach? Boys coach? Hope this is wrong 'cause they need FRESH blood in there.)

The other thing I keep hearing from too many is that politics hold too much weight here. I've read that from several posters on here but now I'm hearing the exact thing. At the same time, I hear good things about the AD so I guess the politicking is coming from elsewhere.