GovMan

Grider, Remember what you said about "Houser being much better than Golden." I want to be able to remind you of it come Saturday. Houser and Stoutt are both helpless against "The Big Show" if he gets the ball down low. They can either foul him or let him score. Maryville's best hope is to pack it in and deny him the ball. If he gets it ... it's scored. BTW, remember I asked you a few weeks ago. Are you a Maryville graduate? Or a transplant from another local school perhaps? Just wondering. GovMan

SCBballfreak: Thanks for lightening up my day with some humor. Broyhill, indeed is a great player. MVP of the regular season. She's very good at what she does. But if she were on Heritage's team--instead of on a team with 2 more all district caliber players and 2-3 more really, really good players--she couldn't do all Cait does. There's only one other player in District 4 AAA that is better all around than Cait. She plays for South Doyle. But I wouldn't trade Cait for her, because Cait gives you everything she has every minute she's on the floor. In three more years ,barring any injuries, Cait McMahan will be the best player to ever come out of this area ... maybe out of any area. GovMan

Dear Dirty Dawg 15, Just accept a loss bro. Your outmanned squad did an incredible job of just forcing it to overtime. William Blount has no input on the refereeing crews. They are assigned by the powers that be on the district level. The majority of the officials being used are not even from Maryville. So far, every game that a Bearden team has been involved in the tournament ...boys or girls ... if you base it on a number of very vocal, very unsportsmanlike adult fans that sit in the section right behind the Bulldogs bench, I get the impression that all the referees are out to get your teams. Its funny, because after close games especially ... you hear people from both teams complaining about how "one-sided" the refereeing was. Refereeing ... it's a tough life. GovMan

Rebels01, Pretty good assesment. William Blount (i.e. point guard Everett) MUST protect the ball. Having Eakins in for WB is a big lift for the Govs (he'll be the second best long range shooter in the gym on Friday night). If Eakins and Johnson can loosen up Maryville's zone so that they can't collapse on Golden, the Reb's are in trouble because they don't have anyone capable of stopping the big 6'6" post one on one. I think Gaskin or Tipton is a key for Maryville (I don't envision Blount stopping Lee like they did last year). For WB, Dustin Rose could be crucial. He's a great hustler, but his shooting has been off. Last night, he showed some flashes of being able to hit some big shots. I really think Blount goes a little deeper on the bench than Maryville. Who knows? Maryville has beaten the Govs twice. Maryville has Lee Humphrey. Maryville's student section is great and they travel anywhere (especially across town) so that negates much of a home floor advantage. Homecooking has not really been an issue thus far in the tournament from an officiating standpoint -- it never seems like Blount gets any calls. Lafoy (Blount's 6'9" post) is severly limited on a bad ankle. A lot of things would appear to be in Maryville's favor. I guess it would be an upset of epic proportions if Blount were to somehow pull out a W. GovMan

I think one thing to consider in the Maryville City system is their junior primary program. I don't know how long it has been in effect, but I believe a lot of kids have like an extra year of kindergarten. I can't envision a lot of people doing that strictly for athletic reasons ... I believe their are many more considerations. Here's a noteable exception ... Angela Puleo, who was the best 8th grade girls basketball player in Blount County and one of the best in East Tennessee, is actually a year younger than most 8th graders ... she could be in 7th. There are other variables also. My oldest daughters birthdate kept her from starting school a year earlier by 5 days. Has it made a difference? Athletically, not much ... still could before she graduates high school. Socially and academically? Absolutely. GovMan

Redrage, Yes Bearden meets Farragut at 6:30 on Friday in consolation game. Should be a heck of a contest. Farragut plays hard. It'll be a good up-tempo, trapping, furious type of game I think. I would not be surprised if all four teams from 4AAA win in their first game's of regional tournament. GovMan

Blue, Yeah, it's ready to be laid to rest. Like I said, "hang in there young trooper." You're young ... you'll learn. GovMan

Dear Scott Meadow's brother (oops, I mean Alcoa champ), No, I'm not related to Coach Webb. I'm glad you're so sold on Scott. From his successes, it would certainly appear that he is a great coach. It's certainly understandable and acceptable for you and BlueSally to get on here and sing his virtues and even to share your opinion that he's a better coach than a legend like Dan Webb. But for you, or anyone else, to attempt to belittle Coach Webb ... to trash his coaching ability, which he proved over many, many years. That shows two things : 1. a complete lack of respect for one of the finest gentlemen to ever walk the earth; 2. a complete lack of knowledge on what makes a great coach. But guys like you and Blue, you're young. You'll learn. Hang in there. GovMan [Edited by GovMan on 2-26-03 6:20A]

Dickenson, I believe that was the name of that fine little shooter from Bearden. Boy, could he let it fly. He also looked pretty good handling the ball and penetrating. Gov

OK, I've had the chance to watch all of the girls teams play in District 4 AAA both during the season and during the tournament. There are some great players. Broyhill, Uner, and Wilhoit from Sevier County. Lange, Dalton, Munday from Farragut. Buley from South Doyle. I take nothing away from these players. But, I'm telling you people, if I had to pick one player from this district who I think can make the biggest impact on a game, I don't even have to think about it ... it's freshman Cait McMahan from Heritage. For those who would say, "Oh, I don't know, I think I'd still take one of those other girls over the freshman" ... well, that's ok ... everybody has opionions and judges impact in different ways. For those who say, she's just a freshman and isn't on those players levels yet ... YOU'VE NEVER WATCHED HER PLAY. GovMan

My hat's off to the Bulldogs. They played a heck of a game tonight against William Blount, even though they came out on the short end of the score. William Blount was up by around 20 at one time and it would have been easy for the Dawgs to pack it in, considering what all they've been through, but they didn't and they ended up sending the game into overtime. Some kid who kind of looks like the waterboy (no offense) hit a couple of threes from about 8 - 10 ft. outside the arc. And Matt Cox hit a huge three to send it into overtime. It was almost like the Bearden squad used up everything they had to even it up at the end of regulation and just didn't have anything left for the overtime period. William Blount showed a lot of character and fortitude to put it away in the overtime, but it was a big scare. And hats off to Coach Baumann of the Govs. Near the end of the game, the WB cheering section began chanting "You need Cruze." Coach quickly put an end to it. I later heard him say, "Those Bearden kids played way to good and showed too much character and class for our fans to do that." That's why I think Baumann is on his way to being one of the best coaches around. I look forward to my son playing for him someday, I hope. GovMan

William Blount cruised. Close for first half, but then William Blount just wore South Doyle down in second half. Hope Blount comes ready to play tomorrow night agains the 'Dawgs. BTW, sophmore Logan Johnson of South Doyle was voted 4AAA "newcomer of the year" and a lot of people have talked about how great SD freshman, Stephen Kite is ... but it was clearly obvious tonight that William Blount sophmore Aaron Eakins was the best "young player on the floor." Eakins will be the cream of the crop in 4AAA for the next 2 years. GovMan

It just stands to reason that anyone who would be gullible enough to believe that my post about Frye and Fickert was for real would also say that Coach Meadows is better than Coach Webb was. I'm not surprised at all. GovMan

Monday: South Doyle vs Bearden girls 4:00 West vs Farragut boys 5:30 Heritage vs William Blount girls 7:00 William Blount vs South Doyle boys 8:30 Tuesday: Farragut vs WB/Heritage girls 4:00 Bearden vs WB/ SD boys 5:30 Sevier County vs SD/Bearden girls 7:00 Maryville vs West/Farragut boys 8:30 Thursday: Girl's Consolation 6:30 Girl's Championship 8:00 Friday: Boy's Consolation 6:30 Boy's Chanmpionship 8:00 GovMan

Jonathan Johnson from William Blount deserves consideration. Blount is such a balanced team, it is hard for one player to get a lot of attention. On a lot of teams, J.J. would probably be throwing up 25 a night. Great shooter, excellent ball handler, sees floor very well, great position rebounder, very quick. His older brother was a two-time player of the year in Blount County who currently plays for Georgetown College (not as in John Thompson). Jonathan, while maybe not quite being as athletic, is close to him in talent, but has had several more talented players on his team to share the spotlight with. GovMan

It will be interesting. Earlier in the year, WB played Bearden on their court, Cruze went down early in third quarter I think it was was an ankle sprain and Bearden still absolutely whupped the Governors without him. Who knows, the Bulldogs could rally around this ... us against the world, nothing to lose, let's show 'em we can win without Cruze ... you know what I mean? William Blount must take care of business today. South Doyle is young, but extremely dangerous. Kite is best freshman boy I've seen in a while. Lovin' the tournament. GovMan

I don't have my bracket with me so I can't remember the specific games but Monday's round starts with a girl's game at 4:00; boy's game at 5:30; girls game 7:00; boys game at 8:30. Gates will open at William Blount at 3:00. With school not getting our until 3:30, there could be some logistic problems. There is supposed to be a tournament only parking section reserved for early arrivers next to the tennis courts at W.B. GovMan

Amen. GovMan

Word is ... it's been narrowed down to either Steve Fickert or Charley Frye. Can't give away my sources, but trust me ... I'm on the "inside." GovMan

John Elway,in his prime, couldn't even throw a regulation football 100 yards. I'll agree that Bo was a fine an athlete as there ever has been, but he couldn't throw a football 100 yards even in the thin air of Colorado ... which by the way, is the place that I wish Coach Washington was now working. GovMan

MHS, I remember 2000. That's the year you all decided to give all of us "other" local schools a chance to beat you before you began your incredible run of dominance. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell William Blount. You beat us that year like you do every year. You Maryville folks actually owe us a debt of gratitude, because that WB game was the win that got this whole three year run started. GovMan

George Parker, Terry Whitted, Little Al Davis, Chad Smith, Billy Williams, Tyrus Gilmore, Willy Lundy, Michael Colquitt, ... "3 yards and a cloud of dust???" --just how familiar are you with Alcoa football over the past couple of decades? "3 yards and a cloud of dust???" GovMan

Walker went through Casteel at the line of scrimmage before he ever got to Bates. One reason Bates has always been talked about is because there was an incredible photo that ran in the paper the next day showing the point of impact between him and Walker. Casteel was a great one, but he was no Danny Spradlin. GovMan

I'm posting this on both Boys and Girls B-ball threads. Maybe belongs on Coach's Thread ... but I thought I might get more response here. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who's ever had an experience with selecting all tournament teams. How large of a committee have you used? Do you set any guidelines on how many players should be selected from each team in the tournament? Does a round one loss automatically knock a team out of having a representive on the team? Does the mvp "always" come from the team that wins the tournament? How, if it's possible, can you keep selection committee members from just looking at the scorebooks and picking each teams leading scorer? Weigh In ... GovMan

I'm posting this on both Boys and Girls B-ball threads. Maybe belongs on Coach's Thread ... but I thought I might get more response here. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who's ever had an experience with selecting all tournament teams. How large of a committee have you used? Do you set any guidelines on how many players should be selected from each team in the tournament? Does a round one loss automatically knock a team out of having a representive on the team? Does the mvp "always" come from the team that wins the tournament? How, if it's possible, can you keep selection committee members from just looking at the scorebooks and picking each teams leading scorer? Weigh In ... GovMan