bballfan01

Good guy or not, if a player doesn't live up to his capabilites, sports announcers are real quick to point out their flaws; Howard did not live up to his responsibility of being an adequate announcer today. To be honest, this is not the first time he has been "off his game", so to be honest, he doesn't deserve a break. It was annoying to listen to all of his mistakes and blunders!

Mark Howard left channel 5 a little while ago. He was so terrible tonight that it makes you wonder if maybe he was drunk or something. How can an announcer mess up that badly? Drew Maddux was on point and many times corrected Howard. UPN needs to re-think letting Howard do any more broadcast. He was flat out awful!

Do you know if he has signed with any college yet?

I'm not sure if you are giving him a compliment or saying he isn't a good basketball player. He has improved his game tremendously! He is well deserving of AAA Mr. Basketball without any doubt.

The case could also be made that by Josh playing on a team with someone like Brandan who gets double and triple teamed a lot, that Josh probably gets a lot more opportunities. This is not a comparison post, please don't misunderstand me, Josh is a good player on a very good team. I have seen both play DII and AAU. Gaines played up on a 17 year old team this past summer and contributed significantly against some of the best players in the country. The Midstate Ballerz finished 6th in the nation. Remember, these two really don't play the same position either; Gaines is a true point guard and I believe Josh is a 2 guard. Gaines may not be in the top three either, but he is pretty close as well.

HotSauce11: Sagging pants got started in the prison system. Actually a pretty gross story that I won't go into. I don't think it would even matter to most of the guys where it came from, they would still do it which in and of itself is pretty sad!

The question was what criteria are you basing Dylan and Joshua being more deserving? If it's more deserving than Oher then I can't comment because I have not seen him play. If the criteria is more ppg, assists, blocked shots, steals or rebounds, as being more deserving than there is the case for Deon Gaines @ MBA. He has averaged more points in less games than both Dylan and Josh with less set 3 pointers, had way more blocks, rebounds, steals and assists. If it's individual stats than I would have to say Gaines of MBA because he is a better all around player than both Dylan and Josh. However, if you are taking into account their team then that's another story.

If the criteria is more ppg, assists, blocked shots, steals or rebounds, there is one kid in DII who averaged more points in less games than both Dylan and Josh with less set 3 pointers, had way more blocks, rebounds, steals and assists. Let's not even talk about academics. I think all of these guys have great character, so how do you pick someone else besides Brandan in Middle TN? If you use the above criteria, then it is individual stats and not team, so it can't be if they are on a winning team. More deserving?!!!

What criteria are you basing Dylan or Joshua being more deserving?

I am rooting for BA because they are a TN team and it is good to see a TN team get some pub. I am pretty sure Brandan will play big time, he always does. I hope he gets help from the other guys.

I am not sure what game you were watching, but the MBA student cheering section was not taunting. Everyone could see when Brandan got the ball just past half court that he was going to dunk it. The cheering section was rooting him on. Who doesn't like to see a great dunk?!! It was awesome.

You can actually remember something worth remembering, good for you! thumb

I have witnessed first hand in many instances where BA does in fact put sports ahead of academics. Maybe not in every instance, but in too many! I will not give names, situations or circumstances because that would not be right. There is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise because I have experienced it first hand. I am not flipping out about MBA basketball, I don't even go there, just stating the facts. I am sure you are probably right about the MBA football fans, I just haven't noticed that as much because I follow the basketball post more.

Good sports do not equal bad academics. I never said that! I personally don't trash talk or make fun of any team. Let's see how long the BA fans stick around when basketball takes a down turn, and it will, just like all other schools. The point is schools that have good athletes and better academics says a lot about a school. It says their priorities are in the right place.

That's real big of you! Instead of replying to his question, you have to be negative (as you usually are if it doesn't pertain to BA). If everyone cared more about basketball instead of what going to school is suppose to be about, which is getting the best education they can get, I guess more guys would be at BA and their test scores would be up! Talk to me in 10 years and we will do a "Where are they now?" and see where MBA "Student, Athletes" are.

If BGA could not "control" Wright, there is no way in the world that Father Ryan can. Bone is shooting well, so they better figure out a way to stop the inside and outside threat. Remember, Father Ryan had a big win over MBA only because Heim was a shooting maniac and MBA allowed him to be open time after time. This will not happen against BA, believe it!.

Actually, if I am not mistaken (someone please correct me if so) the officials are accountable to the schools that hire them in to ref the games. Several years back I had contact TSSAA about two refs that were totally outrageous and I was told in addition to filing a written complaint, which I did, to let the school know since they pick from a pool of refs available for particular days. Then the schools have it on record and know not to accept certain refs at their home games.

There are a lot of things wrong with HS baskeball and the officials are just one part of the problem. Illegal recruiting, wacked out fans, big headed players just to name a few. I have seen too many officials this season alone that think that people come to watch them. If a fan is not cursing, the official should ignore it and ref the game. How can they do both? They can't so they decide to show who's in charge. And the reality is, they are. So the players must learn to play the game in spite of the officials and the officials need to learn to ref the game in spite of the fans. The other area you address is bias. I am not sure how you get around that. Very unfortunate, it does take away from the game.

That is pretty much human nature. We lean towards our favorites regardless of the other factors and there seems to be more mid-state posts than the Memphis area. Don't loose any sleep over it. National rankings mean more anyway.

Sometimes I think there is bias towards all good players, regardless of where they are from. I am often surprised by the number of negative posts on many of the mid-state players such as B.Wright and several others. People like to think that if it is someone they know or they have only seen another player play one time, that they are experts on talent and ability. I have seen all of the above mentioned players play in big tournaments and I think they are all really, really good players. However, I do not have the expertise to say who is better than the other. I just know that they are extremely talented from watching them play more than once.

Come on guys! Are you serious?? I don't hear anyone saying that baseball, tennis, hockey or any other sport that allows men, and that is what you are when you turn 18 years old, should ban players that have not gone to college for some period of time. You can go to foreign lands to fight a war at 18 and loose your life, choose to be a garbage collector (without an education) at 18, or choose any other profession you want to. This is a no-brainer! The NBA is no worse because of guys going straight out of high school. If they are drafted, someone thinks they have the potential. Is this any different than graduating from college with a degree and going on interviews for a job and some company hires you, (more than likely you don't have any hands on experience) because they think you have the potential? I think not. He has tons of potential, if he didn't I doubt very seriously that we would even be having this conversation. Dare I say that many people do not like it that so many high schoolers are jumping to the NBA because of the color of their skin? I don't hear the same comments about kids going straight to the armed forces or the countless number of drop outs before they even finish high school. Where is all of the concern then? Why does it seem that it is a major event when a pretty good kid who loves the GAME and has been blessed to play a GAME and make millions chooses to take that route at 18 years of age. Think about it.

I think everyone for the most part have high regards for this young man. I think he is in a win win situation; if he is ready he will go to the NBA, if not, he is a good student and awesome player that will do very well in college and get prepared for the NBA. Either way, I think he should ultimately end up in the NBA. The route he takes will be what's best for him.

Deon Gaines from MBA and Barry Stewart from Shelbyville moved up to play for the 17 Elite team. The Ballerz 17 Elite took 6th in the Nationals in Orlando last weekend. Both kids got some good playing time and contributed well in all games including the final game to place them at 6th in the nation.