PulaskiVols

Clay Sanderson

Givens does not have enough ball handling to run point. He needs to stay right where he is.

If blowouts are awesome. Giles is the class of this tourney, and while any upset is possible there is simply not a team in this region with enough fire power to stop them. They average over 90 points in their last 4 games playing similar competition. Smith and company will be to much. They will probably get challenged in the sub-state. I am a fan but I worry that we simply do not have the point guard play to make it to the title game, unless we get a great draw in the state tourney, should we make it. I would like to see Giles play Smith at PG, put the ball in his hands every time down the court and let him make decisions. He is the best ball handler on the team, the best assist man and easily the best scorer.

Somewhere between 1600-1800

From what I saw he got pretty well handled vs Giles County the 2nd go around. I'm a homer but I believe Smith wins AA this season.

His grades will not be a problem. He is not a straight A guy but will more than qualify at any school he signs with.

Which game?

Giles County will not lose again until either the sub-state or state tourney. Lawrenceburg is a better team this season but not enough talent to win this one. I look for GCHS to cruise through the district and region tourney. They will play substate at home vs Jackson Southside.

Tyler had 30, Coffey 13, Givens and Shannon had 10 and I think Morris had around 10 or 12. Giles actually trailed at halftime, something like 27-26, but went on to win something like 82-62. The starters were put on the bench for most of the 1st quarter and start of the 2nd.

GCHS is a tough place to play WesVols. Brentwood is going to be tough tourney time. There are not many players in TN that can take Wright to the glass. If your guard play improves just a little you likely will repeat as State Champions. BA also looks very young and looks as though they are going to be very good the next couple of seasons.

It was a two point win for GCHS, 72-70, I think was the final. Giles County missed a ton of free throws tonight.

Another fun game to watch. Would have been a lot better had it not had the little shot clock mishap at the end of the game. Smith and Wright are easily the two best players I have seen play on the floor at GCHS. Smith was great even though he only played 3 quarters because of foul trouble. Wright is very good as a sophomore. Add some weight to him and he will be as good as there has ever been to play in Tennessee. As for Smith there are not many players in the state that could do what he did tonight. While Wright got the best of him on several occasions, Smith was great at backing him down and putting the ball in the basket. Wright is going to be a great shooter. His elevation and form on his jumper are great. He handles the ball well for 6'9". Every team in the country is going to be out for him. Buzz from UT and a recruiter from KU were in attendance tonight! Great game and atmosphere.

I would think that on a school night the trip to Belmont which is over 1 hour away and in a pretty populated part of the city might have had something to do with that. The best thing I thought about the game being in Nashville with two great talents is that a lot of past lettermen for GCHS showed up. I am sure some of the guys that made the trip that played with Billy Smith vs Coach Billy Holt back in the 70's had a big time. There were also many players from the 80's that played on some great teams in 85,86,87 to show up.

I thought the Brentwood fans did ok. Most of the student guys I am sure were not yelling that much because of the cute blonde in the stands with them. When Smith and Morris missed the alley oop their cheer of Fun-da-men-tals was pretty funny and original as was their Rick Pi-Ti-No cheer. Don't go patting the GCHS crew on the back to much, you are not that original and half the time you can't even make out what you are saying.

Does that really matter?

Just a note but that was Belmont's gym, not BA.

It was fun tonight to watch those two go at it. Brandon Wright is a great player. Once he learns to be a little more aggressive, puts on a little weight, he will be unstoppable at the high school level. As for the match up, they were both very impressive. I was impressed with Smith's ability to put the ball in the basket vs the taller Wright. Giles could not put the ball in the basket in the first half. They continued to take the ball to the glass and Wright continued to swat it away. As for the game itself, two pretty good basketball teams. Giles I thought had more talent but BA was the better coached more fundamental team. Giles seemed to be asleep for 3 quarters and turned it up a notch in the fourth. Shannon and Smith played as hard as they have in the last two years and those 2 players were the difference. The Belmont gym is a great place for these type of games. I was very impressed with the facilities and any Mid-Major player looking for somewhere to play in college, this is the place!

Well I do have a clue about the game. The only thing Zach offers is an occasional three pointer and good hustle. He plays the game hard and that is what you want your point guard to do. The problem is that he is both small and slow. He does not penetrate, sometimes struggles to get the ball past the time stripe, and does not distribute the ball that well. Because of his lack of quickness he is a liability on the defensive end and because of his size he does not offer anything in terms of rebounding. He should be in the rotation, but he simply does not contribute that much. As for the guard situation at GCHS, Givens does not handle the ball well enough to play the point. Coffey gets my vote to be the point guard. He handles decent and plays good defense. He is a very lanky player who sees the court well and moves well both with and without the ball. The only spot Holt can play is the point so when he is in the rotation he should and does play point. They have another guy off the bench who is really an exact replica of Holt only he does not shoot as well and does not play any defense. I think the starting five should be Coffey at Point, Shannon and Givens at 2 & 3 with Smith at 4 and Morris at 5. I would not let Morris EVER leave the paint. The only significant playing time from that point on would be Holt spelling either Coffey or Givens. The Perry kid looked decent the other night but has played so little he can't really be relied upon for big minutes. I would like to see Coach Holt play his son a little bit more. The kid can flat put it in the hole and knows how to score. He also has the most basketball smarts of anyone on the bench. The Garrett kid has a LONG way to go before he is going to contribute. That being said, I like the way Zach Holt plays, but when he is on the court and Coffey is on the bench the Cats are a weaker team.

I really do not have any say in this but my understanding is that some childish, dumb and ignorant statements have been made towards the officials during games from the GCHS student section. The you stink ref crowd is pretty lame. There have also been some over the line things said about opposing players. You also have no respect for the other team when they do something good. Example the other night was when their small kid had his open court dunk, their fans cheered and you guys went straight to the ol Scoreboard, Scoreboard cheer. You also sit down the entire girls game, never helping them out at all. It is my opinion that the student section should continue to have fun and bring excitement, but you are a long way away from being a respected student section.

Tyler handles the ball well. One of his best attributes is his hands. As for his size, he is a legit 6'6 but plays about 6'9" because of his wing span. As for body and leaping ability I agree a little, but what seperates Tyler is that his leaping is freakish, 40+ inch and because of his body control it allows him to do more with his. You take a kid that is 6'6" with about a 7 foot arm span and 40 inches of hops off the floor and you are getting up there. Add to the fact that he has the same type of body control that greats like Vince Carter and the young guns of Carmello and Lebron and you have a top prospect. Delk will have a great career and has good upside but he just does not have these attributes. Today's game is about getting to the basket and finishing. I don't like today's game but that is what we have today. Smith is perfect for today's game. He will have a great career, not only in college but probably in the league as well.

I think that Lewis County has a very good team, and on any given night any team can get beat. The cats are very beatable. Smith is as good as it gets and Shannon is a mid-major talent. The rest of the team in my opinion is very suspect. Givens plays hard and is a quick jumper, great rebounder for 6'1", not a great talent. Morris is a 6'6" rocket, skinny as a rail, hates contact, doesn't shoot well and unless he decides to show up simply is not a weapon at all. I like Zach Holt's hustle, but that is about all, he is a streak shooter and can on occasion get hot. Channing Coffey is the 2nd best prospect on the team but just stays in the coaches doghouse and does not get enough opportunities. They do not have any bench. They have a couple of very young players that could mature into decent players, but none of them are capable of playing long productive minutes. That is how they match up with very talented teams like Bradley who have more talent. As for Lewis County, it is my humble opinion that the Smith Shannon combo is just to much talent them to handle. Lewis spends to much energy on these two and it allows the rest of the team (GCHS) to shine through. While anything can happen, and the cats are very beatable, I just see them winning the Lewis County game. I do not see them losing a district or region game this season. They will struggle this year in the sub-state and or state tourney. I hope they prove me wrong but I do not see the gold ball for the cats this season.

Why are you not high on Tyler. You say lack of effort but every scout I have spoken with say the same thing, that the game is so easy for him and he seems to be a very unselfish player. Mark my words, whoever he signs with, whether it be North Carolina, TN, Syracuse, Florida or Kentucky will say the exact same thing. The facts are simple, he already has an NBA body, he has the great hands that great players have, he has very good basketball instints, he has great body control with the ability to turn, twist and stop at any given time, he runs the floor well, he can create his own shot, drive to the basket and is a great finisher. He has good defensive skills with lots of room for improvement, he does not turn the ball over. He is a decent shooter with room to improve (he shoots nearly 50% from the floor). He is a very unselfish player with very good passing skills. Those are the attributes that every scout that watches him play write down, he also does not seem to have any attitude problems. He simply does not have many liabilities to his game and these are the reasons that he is looked at as one of the best Juniors in the state. Unless something drastic happens, Tyler will sign with whatever school in the country that he wants to attend. The facts also show that both Jamont and Delk, regardless of their great games, have more liabilities to them. Both are Div I talents, but it would not suprise me if only 1 of the two sign with a big time school. Neither will make an impact as a freshman at a major program and neither, unless they improve dramatically will make the league. Smith will play in the NBA unless something in him changes dramatically from what he is now. He is one of the few hyped players in the mid-state that lives up to the expectations and has done so since a freshman. He is only a junior and should the Cats make it back to the state the next couple of season he will have done all he can at the high school level.

Does anyone know why Coffey did not play today?

Surely you must be kidding. Smith is hardly all dunks and he has a good supporting class. He was not hogging the basketball and I thought played a great game. He got wore down in the 4th quarter. He hardly abandoned his team nor did he show immaturity. I would say that 95% of the people at the game would say that Bradley was the better team but that Smith gives GCHS a chance to win every time he plays hard! Smith is a great player, and Giles should make the Sub-State pretty easily. From that point on however they will be tested and will have to play great team ball to make it back to the State.

Bradley won tonight 84-72. It was a very well played game on both sides. With 4:00 minutes to play it was a one point game, from that point on Bradley outscored GCHS 22-11. Bradley as a team overall has very good talent, more so than GCHS. Hare played a great 1st half and a solid 2nd half. Pickel caught fire midway through the third and early in the fourth. Hare finished with 24 and Pickel 18 with 3 or 4 back breaking 3s. The big kid inside 00 had a strong game and was probably the difference tonight. He is a physical player and when allowed to play like they were tonight he played well. Bradley is a very talented basketball team and appeared to wear the Cats down in the 4th. As for GCHS, Tyler Smith was clearly the best player on the floor. He had two points in the first quarter but what a 2! His opening dunk, over #20, was about as good as you will see in High School basketball. He ended up with something like 31 for the game. Zach Holt started off pretty hot with a couple of 3s but was nowhere to be found after the 1st quarter. Shannon got hot about the same time Pickel did and made 2 or 3 from behind the line. Cash Givens was solid, made some big baskets. Morris was a non factor the entire game. The Coffey kid for GCHS has big potential, and may very well be the 2nd best player on the team. For some reason he seems to stay in Coach Holt's dog house. GCHS has nothing to be ashamed of as the better overall team won, but it was evident tonight that any team Tyler Smith plays for has a chance to win every night.