kentuckian

BrentwoodAcademy is playing in the Marshall County Hoopfest in Kentucky next season, as are Mitchell, Ridgeway and Bolivar. I wouldn't be surprised if BA meets one of those teams, possibly Mitchell in a great matchup of Brandan Wright and Thaddeus Young.

Ridiculous. Comparing stalling to steroid use and goons ... not even close. As long as high school coaches think that slowing down the game gives their team the best chance to win, I don't ever want to see a working shot clock in a high school gym. And don't tell me your views reflect your love for the game. I love basketball in all forms ... not just run and gun. If one team slows it down and the other one wants to speed the game, tell them to go out and pressure the ball and force a turnover or a faster tempo.

Amen. Vashon is ranked #1 in the nation, yet beat Louisville Male by three points ... Male is 16-12 and not ranked in the top 10 in Kentucky. National rankings are, for the most part, a joke.

Hatcher doesn't have enough years in Kentucky to draw his full retirement benefits. He is a few years away, and considering that he is also the AD at Graves, it would take a substantial offer, money-wise, to lure him from there. Some may not like Hatcher or his style of play, but there is no doubt that he is a very good coach. His record, 600-plus wins and a slew of regional titles, speaks for itself.

Judging from the Commercial-Appeal story on the poll, much of Memphis is also in disbelief.

Judging from the Commercial-Appeal story on the poll, much of Memphis is also in disbelief.

Both came off the bench against Trigg County.

Trigg County beat Lake County 83-57 on Tuesday night. Russell Mackins, a 6-6 sophomore, led the Wildcats woth 21 points and ex-Westview point guard Rodney Davis had 16 points and 5 assists and was 3-6 from the 3-point line. Lake County gave Trigg County a battle for two quarters ... led 19-16 after one and trailed 36-27 at the half, but got blown out in the third quarter.

Lake County lost 82-52.

Obion Central was a late replacement for Turrell, the team from Arkansas. I was told that Turrell is down to five players because of injuries and asked to be let out of the tournament.

Mayfield is awfully young and expected to be a little down this year by its lofty standards ... the way they handled Milan came as a surprise. The Cardinals were 10-4 last season and were beaten in the Class A semifinals. So ... does this mean Milan is a little down this year?

The plan has been all along for Smith to go to Oak Hill for his senior year. It will help him make his grades and expose him to high-level competition every day, even in practice. Ron Slay left Nashville for Oak Hill and signed at Tennessee, so there's no guarantee that his going to Oak Hill hurts the Vols' chances of signing him.

Where in Kentucky? And I guarantee you he wasn't an all-stater.

Here are some examples of Tennessee teams playing Kentucky teams this season ... Haywood went 2-1 at a tournament at Mason County, the defending state champion. Haywood lost to Clark County 65-59 in the semis. Clark was probably a top 25 team in Kentucky, finished 21-8 and gave Mason County its toughest game in the regional tournament, losing 83-72. Mason County finished as the state runner-up last weekend. Clinton went 2-1 in Wayne County's tournament. Clinton played Wayne, a top-10 team in Kentucky, and lost 83-62. Wayne County was beaten in the first round of the state tournament, losing 71-57 to Mason County. Chattanooga Christian and Oak Ridge played well at a tournament in Paintsvillle. Chattanooga Christian wemt 2-1, beating a team that made the state tournament and losing 52-46 to Louisville Seneca, a top-10 team. Oak Ridge won the tournament, beating Seneca in the finals. Two Memphis teams, Sheffield and Lausanne, beat Carlisle County in a Christmas tournament at Carbondale, Ill. Carlisle made both the Class A and overall state tournaments. Sheffield also beat Hopkinsville, a top-20 team in Kentucky, at the same tournament. On the other hand, Portland was an unimpressive 0-2 at Carbondale. Beech and Millington were also there ... both lost their first-round games. Overall, I think Kentucky plays a better brand of basketball than Tennessee, with the exception of the Memphis area. I think that Kentucly teams are generally better-coached ... to be expected in a state that emphasizes basketball. I think the opposite is true in football.

I think Illinois has a great two-class system. Its cutoff for Class A is usually around 700 students.

Not true. Covington Catholic is an all-boys school with an enrollment of about 400 ... doubled to about 800 for classification purposes.

Your Hampton question isn't relevant .... no one is claiming Byrne's depth got them to the semifinals. And who's complaining about Wright? I love his game and was simply commenting on his performance and the game I saw. Lose the paranoia ...

Are you referring to White Station or White House? Or maybe White Station's JV team? I have some friends that saw Rhea County in the Christmas tournament they played in up in Illinois. When I told them Rhea was in the state tournament, they about fell out of their chairs. If Rhea gets to face White Station, we better hide the women and children.

Once again, this thread (and my comments) are referring to the semifinal win over Bishop Byrne, not the championship game.

No one is discounting Hampton's role in Byrne's season ... besides, what relevance does it have to the issue of how BA won the state title?

I was there ... and I can watch the game fine for myself, thank you. Bishop Byrne lost because it couldn't get the ball inside with any effectiveness, and that was because of Wright's presence in the post. Byrne was forced to settle for the mid-range and perimeter jumpers, and they didn't shoot well. Depth played a role, but only in conjuncton with Wright's intimidating presence on the court. Funny, but the Tennessean story on the BA-Byrne game I read on Saturday raved about Wright's dominating performance, but said nothing about the Eagles' depth. Amazingly enough, the online version reads much the same. Finally ... no one's putting an asterisk by Brentwood Academy's title ... as I've stated, they were clearly the best team. But I stand by my statement that if Wright isn't on the court, the outcome is far different.

Yeah, but I'm not the one that implied that BA's depth was the difference in the game. Byrne -- and every other team in the tournament, for that matter -- had nobody that could match up with Wright. Face it .... he's a future McDonald's All-American. It's not a crime to say he's the straw that stirs BA's drink.

No one said Brentwood Academy didn't have the best team ... they clearly did. But the win over Bishop Byrne and the state title is more attributable to Brandon Wright than the Eagles' depth. I'm not sure that BA is much more than an average team without him. And for the record, my nick says it all ... Bishop Byrne certainly isn't "my team" any more than they are yours.

Depth wasn't the issue. Brandon Wright was the deciding factor ... take him off the floor and Bishop Byrne's in the finals.

Took in the Division II state tournament this weekend ... if there's a better center than Brandon Wright of Brentwood Academy, he's one heck of a player. Wright is a future big-timer.