gomab2

TeamTenn....you seem to be showing the first signs of having a grudge toward my program. Don't tell me how to act as a Coach. I am simply stating my opinion, backed by facts, that we in 15's this year, are as good as any team in the state, and honestly any team in the country..... The AAU Nationals are not the end-all or measuring stick for a great year for us. Would we have liked to be in the Nationals in 15's? Yes, of course. But the Nationals are just another great tournament with talented teams from accross the country, just like Boo Williams, Charlie Webber Inv, Southern Inv, T.O.C., Vegas Big Time, Atlanta Basketball Classic, etc. AAU Nationals are just another in a long line of great tournaments out there (only 17's Nationals have a higher stock than other AAU Nationals, because of the NCAA Sanction). That is why some great programs elect not to go to Nationals (or participate in AAU), such as the Travelers, Atlanta Celtics, SE Pump 'n Run, Southern California All Stars, Riverside Church, Belmont Shores, Michigan Hurricanes, just to name a few...... So, yes I feel we definitely compete at a National level, and have all year. Just like Stokomo stated, one bad weekend, and you're out; that's the name of the game in AAU. But that doesn't take away from an outstanding year by our 15's, who won Two Tournament Championships this year, beat a number of teams Nationwide (4 wins over out of state teams in Nationlas, 2 wins over teams that were in the Championship bracket), a 4-1 record vs older teams, and a 19-6 overall record in a tough schedule: that qualifies for a very good year, and the ability to compete nationally...........................

Well, it looks like I am going to be the first one to disagree.................. Coach, I firmly believe that Memphis YOMCA is not the only team that can compete at the National level, especially in the 15's age group. At this point in time, I believe that there are three programs that can compete Nationally in every age group: YOMCA, the Travelers, and the Midstate Ballerz.... As for specifically the 15's age group, I am not as impressed with the competition as you are, and I truly believe that the Midstate Ballerz 15's could compete with any team in the AAU Nationals. I think the Ballerz 15's are better than the YOMCA 15's (though the YOMCA 16's and 17's are better than the Ballerz 16's and 17's). I really believe this, even with the disasterous weekend that left that group short of even AAU State in that age group..... The Ballerz 15's had a great season, even with the one disasterous weekend. The Ballerz 15's won two big tournaments, the Memphis Basketball Classic (including two convincing wins by 8 and 22 over the Memphis Wildcats, who at that point had Josh Stafford and Jordan Mincy) and the Arkansas Wings Challenge of Champions (including two wins over the host Wings, who were doing Very well in AAU Nationals even without two of their star players, who did not make the trip to Clarksville). The Ballerz lost by 7 to Virginia state champs Team Richmond (also in the Championship bracket at Nationals) while missing 4 starters (including the Delks and all but one post, playing with just 6), and beat 1st Baptist Crusaders (MD) by 12 with the same depleted lineup (1st Baptist also attended AAU Nationals). The Ballerz also, with just 6 players, beat Nationals-bound St. Louis Gateway. The Ballerz are 4-1 vs 16's competition, with the only loss to Nationals-qualifying Tn Breakers by 9 points (Ballerz only having 7 players)....... The Ballerz 15's were a great group, with the top players playing 16's and 17's the rest of the year. This group was as good as any team in the state, and could play with any team in the country. What team, outside of YOMCA (AAU State champs and Midsouth-hoops.com Tourney champs) can bost even one Tournament Championship, more or less Two? The Ballerz 15's can play with the elite teams in the Nation..........

this guy didnt have a mustach or black hair...it was brown..i played against him too..did he ever make it anywhere??

BTW will be one of the very best.... Dyer Co will be as good as anyone, with All World Sr G's Montrelle Crittendon and Brian Fisk, Super-soph Antonio Mitchell, 6'5 F Robert Harris, and 6'11 C Dustin Byrd...... In Middle Tn, watch for Giles Co to be the best after a great season last year, losing just one player from the roster.....Top Soph in the state, Tyler Smith returns, along with Seniors Travis Gentry, Tristan Fletcher, and Eric Howard....top AL rising Junior Shay Shannon is rumored to be transferring in as well....

I forgot about the Steam....honestly, they are probably Top-4 17:u AAU/Summer...... Sorry, I accidentaly got in under my roommates name... [Edited by gomab2 on 5/16/02 9:28A]

As far as the Rankings go........ 15's are wide open...much more so than the other age groups.....In this age group, a team like Tn Thunder or Midstate Ballerz, etc may be better than the Travelers or YOMCA (Memphis is spread out in this age group), yet it is so balanced, a team like the Ballerz, Columbia Bullets, Team Tennessee, Raleigh-Egypt, etc don't even make the State Tourney.....there is a lot of talent, and yet a lot of parity in this group......

The Travelers 15's played in the Southern Invitational this past weekend, but failed to make it out of Pool play, losing to the Richmond Squires (a top 4 or 6 team out of VA)...... I think the 16's and 17's Travelers played out in St. Louis this past weekend at the Eagles' tourney (Eagles went to the Travs tourney, so this is like returning the favor)..... Charlie Benson coaches the 17's Travelers, a guy named Ian coaches the 16's and a guy named Andy coaches the 15's......

I wasn't at the game.....I was scouting the 16:u South Substate.....also, Shawn is no longer with the program, though he is a great coach and is already sorely missed......

flyer.... The Bullets have a very good Program, led by my good ole friend McBee...they have been one of the big suprises of the Statewide AAU scene thus far..... As for their placement, I think they are placed very accurately in the three age groups....they are not behind anyone they have beaten in the 16's and 17's rankings....In 15's, there is so much depth and quality amongst teams, that there is very little gap between #1 and even honorable mention...... McBee's grandson is a nice player....we were actually hoping he would give us a look at running PG for us, but he wanted to stay local and play it out with the Bullets. The kid can really play, though...

TnBball...... There are just so many quality teams in the 15:u division, some had to be left off....Your 16:u team is very good, and I thought had a legit shot to make it out of substate past either Stallions or Pacesetters... If you don't mind, could you email me with the info about the KY Hoopfest: I have been looking on how to get info on that tourney all year (I know Mike was looking into it). Thanks in advance.....and best of luck to ya'll for the rest of the year (hopefully we'll see ya'll in 15:u Nationals after it's all said and done).....

Lilkobe.....I think you're just about Right on the Mark with your predictions for 15:u State....I'll give a stab at it, too, since we're not in it..... 1)YOMCA 2)Tn Thunder 3)Memphis Rebels 4)Nashville Royals 5)Charles Davis 6)Run 'n Gun 7)Knox Lakers 8)Nashville Titans The 15:u age group is a DEEP, TALENTED, but Spread out age group in AAU, and a number of the best teams in the State didn't even qualify, inlcuding Team Tennessee, Midstate Ballerz, Columbia Bullets, Raleigh-Egypt, 2nd Blackhawks, Memphis Wildcats, Memphis Idlewild, to name a few...... It is interesting, because it is Thunder's best age group (IMO), YOMCA's worst, West #2 seed's weekest (compared to 16's and 17's), and some of the best didn't make it....Memphis is spread out in this age group, unlike 16's, and this is Nashville's best class since Class of 2002.....Plus, Nashville Royals have home court advantage, which is why I have them finishing Top 4...... It should be a great State Tourney, and since I won't be there to watch, I hope these boards are lit up with info from the Tourney.....

Hopefully, we'll see eachother up in Bloomington, and then in Clarksville, huh?

The new Rankings hopefully will be out before I leave for Arkansas friday..... Coach Gamble first alerted me to Jamal, who is a really good player with a big heart (and was impressive vs Bearden)..... Yeah, the Titans are weak...we beat them this year in a "run the clock" game by 30+ points, but they made honorable mention because of their appearance in AAU State Tourney...... Thanks for the agreement...you will probably end up going on record as the only person on these boards to agree with me on these rankings (haha).......

There hasn't been a whole lot of activity on the Hoops board lately, so I thought I'd start up a thread that would be very interesting........ The following are my AAU/Summer Team Rankings....there is no precedent for this (no AP, etc), but I think it would be very interesting to rank, and then discuss the Rankings......Obviously there will be a lot of disagreement with these Rankings, but I put a lot of thought into them.....And as you all know, I coach the Midstate Ballerz, so you can obviously take that into consideration if you like, though I feel these are very impartial....... _______________________________________________________ 17's--This group is weaker accross the state, but Stronger in East Tn, with Travelers, Yellowjackets, Steam, and Breakers 4 of the top 6..... 17's: 1)YOMCA 2)Tn Travelers 3)Memphis Lions 4)Tn Yellowjackets 5)Chattanooga Steam 6)Tn Breakers 7)Charles Davis Fdn 8)Columbia Bullets 9)Tn Thunder Select 10tie)Nashville Hawks 10tie)Midstate Ballerz Honor: Memphis Wildcats Sumner Co Black Knights Murfreesboro Nets Tn Thunder Gold _______________________________________________________ 16's--This is a very Strong age group, with YOMCA and Travelers best teams, some of the best in the country. Also, Breakers are great, with a very good Ballerz team thrown in with three top Memphis teams, and three top Middle Tn Teams..... 16's: 1)YOMCA 2)Tn Travelers 3)Tn Breakers 4)Midstate Ballerz 5)Memphis Bulldogs 6)Nashville Stallions 7)Memphis Idlewild 8)Whiteville Falcons 9)Columbia Bullets 10)Nashville Pacesetters Honor: Tn Soldiers Clarksville Magic Tn Tornadoes Tn Thunder Alcoa Ballers _______________________________________________________ 15's--Age group is loaded with talented teams. Much weaker at the top comparitively to other age groups. Ballerz and Thunder are every bit as good in this group as YOMCA and Travelers, yet the number of talented teams here is astounding. Ballerz substate loss was a setback, but this is a quality age group.... 15's 1)YOMCA Bulldogs 2)Tn Travelers 3)Midstate Ballerz 4)Tn Thunder 5)Memphis Rebels 6)Charles Davis Fdn 7)Raleigh-Egypt 8)Memphis Wildcats 9tie)Team Tennessee 9tie)Run 'n Gun 9tie)Nashville Royals 9tie)2nd Pres Blackhawks Honor: Memphis Idlewild Knoxville Lakers Columbia Bullets Nashville Titans _______________________________________________________ [Edited by gomab2 on 5/14/02 7:55P] [Edited by gomab2 on 5/16/02 10:24A]

Boyce is moving to the three spot.....Grooms and Donald will start side by side down low.....

Oakland, Blackman, Lebanon, and Riverdale are the top teams in District 7AAA for next year, and all four are contenders to reach the State Tourney..... 1)Oakland is my pick to win the district, losing two starters off a district championship team...Joe Barker (6'4 G) is one of the best players in Middle TN, and will team with 6'4 F's Derrick Duggin and Shane Harb, to go along with 6'3 athlete Marease Crawford, incumbent PG Nick Watson, and underclassmen Brady Neal, Carlos Crawford, and Matt Joines..... 2)Blackman will be a popular pick for the District champ, returning Everybody from last year's surprising team. Rising Sr's Nathan Stephens, Will Redding, and Tim Herbert team with Jr's David Price, Kris Lee, and Isiah Phillips as the starting line up..... 3)Lebanon is my pick for #3 in the district, led by rising seniors 6'5 F Jon Boyce and PG Jeffery Dixon. Rising soph Andrew Donald will start down low and will be the best soph in the district. This team won't be as deep as last year's, but Dixon could be a major surprise, and the Blue Devil's should be very good..... 4)Riverdale could be the surprise of the district, and is one of my most intriguing teams. This year could be a change from the high expectations of last year, which could be a good thing. 6'3 G LaBrian Lyons will challenge for the deep district's title of Best Player. 6'6 F Josh England will surprise, and will team with underclassmen Onwu, Dixon, Harris, and Perkins. The key may be the development of PG Tim Corder, who sat out last year after transferring. This team will be the district's most athletic..... 5)Warren Co will be good and play as hard as anyone, led by Randell Harrell and rising Jr G Bishop.... 6)Cookeville loses much senior leadership from G's Cobb and Burks, but returns lefty Mario Burnett..... 7)White Co will finish last again this year, and will hurt from the loss of Sr Sam Agee. Coach Slatten will have this program back up again in a few more years, so teams better get their shots in now, trust me.....

"Weak and Pityful", Goldbolt? I wouldn't want to play the Midstate Ballerz in the very near future....The 17's are going to end up being pretty good (though still very small).....You may not recognize the Ballerz from what you saw last weekend-the team looks completely different....If we work hard, we'll see how far along we've come in Virginia, North Carolina, Bloomington, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and (hopefully) Orlando (or Las Vegas if not Orlando)....

Bradley and Cleveland both have legit shots at State.... Cleveland's guards are EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS BRADLEY'S, and they are rising-juniors as well.... Tim Cooper and Jay Davis are special players....