TribeAllDaWay

I agree with you that Morgan has no better option than Sylvester on the point. However, I take a little issue to the "talented role players" statement, only for the fact that if Halvorsen or McConnell were on most of the other teams in the conference they could be stars averaging close to 20 a game. Fact is, Morgan's entire offense is designed to get the ball inside and doesn't leave very much freedom to the perimeter players. Since you are a TN High guy, take your team for example. I think about 5-7 years ago, TN High had a player by the name of Buchannon? I believe that was his name, correct me if I'm wrong, but he was an all-conference wing player for Dale Burns. Most of TN High's offense ran through him one way or another that year because they would send him off of screens and let him shoot the ball coming off or give it off to the 2nd or 3rd option on the play. I think Halvorsen and McConnell shoot the ball well enough to thrive in a system where some plays would be run specifically for them. I believe Todd is shooting between 30%-35% from downtown this year, and Dustin is over 40%. This is not a knock on Morgan THIS year at least, because he has 2 of the best, if not the 2 best post players down low so common sense says get the ball inside. I do think that if you put McConnell or Halvorsen on, say Sullivan East for example, Dyer runs plays specifically for them and they could get up 15 or 20 shots a game, and with their ability, be close to 20 ppg average. What do you all think?

Cap, I am not making excuses for DB losing. Science Hill was the better team that night, and the better team on DB's court in January. DB was the better team in the Arby's. There will be other meetings, so we can have this same conversation shortly. You say that Sylvester has come up through the ranks at times playing point guard and noone will disagree with that, however point guard in varsity high school ball is much different than point guard on an 11 year old team traveling around the Tri-Cities. I am not criticising Justin at all, just simply stating that he is not a TRUE point guard. He is MUCH better on the wing, as evidence by you pointing out a couple pages back that he was All-Region, All-conference, District MVP/Region MVP (whichever one it was), while earning ALL of those from the wing because he had a TRUE point guard in Jamel Williams to get him the ball in the right spots and he was able to create for himself within the framework of Morgan's offense, which is not easy to do unless you are a post player. He is the best all-around perimeter player that the Indians have, but he still is not a TRUE point guard. Problem with this DB team is that they don't have one.

I don't think Sylvester played timid, but yes, he did have some turnovers because he is NOT a true point guard. He is great at creating for himself and others off of the wing, but not so much from the point. Ashlon did show up, and I wouldn't expect anything else from him going back home. However, I don't agree with you that Halvorsen kept them in the game. For every basket he scored, he would give up one on the other end. He played pretty well on offense, but they did not get any help from him on the defensive end of the floor. But, the same can be said for every perimeter player DB had out there with the exception of Sylvester.

First, Cutlip nor Morgan have been at their current school for the 14 years so that argument is invalid. Second, I am not making excuses in regard to DB "being left with Edwards" or losing Williams. I was simply saying that when you look at what they lost from last year, nobody with any sense would claim this team was better than last years. Third, Sylvester is a natural 2-guard, not a point guard. What you aren't mentioning that was in the post earlier is that he also had 7 turnovers to go along with those 7 steals. Sylvester is a great player and competitor and always seems to step up against the Hill, however he is not a true point guard. Fourth, if you are happy being the 3rd best team in the conference consistently, I don't know what to tell you.

After sweeping Science Hill last year 4-0, and winning the previous 2 games in the Palace before last night, I don't think you can say Cutlip has Morgan's number, or that Science Hill is DB's daddy. But if you want to make that claim, that is alright by me. But what would that make TN High? /tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" /> As far as this supposed to be the best team DB has put on the court in a long time, those who think this DB team could have been better than last year's is nuts. DB had 4 really, really good post players, 3 of which are/will be playing in college (Hardy, Flack, Edwards) and now gone. This team was left with only Edwards before added 1 more this year in Ashlon that could play in college if it were not for football. Keep in mind that they also had an all-conference point guard (J. Williams) that is now gone. Basically, DB is playing with no point guard, and only 2 players with any size down low, and no depth whatsoever. I would match up DB's starting 5 with any team this side of Knoxville, but there are many teams with a better bench. With that said, there is no excuse for the way DB's starters have come out of the gates the last 2 matchups with the Hill. Aside from Sylvester, the rest of the team looks scared and plays with no aggression at all. As long as DB continues to try and run with Science Hill they are going to have a tough time winning. Science Hill is by far the more athletic and quicker team. It would serve DB well to come up with a gameplay that didn't include a man-to-man press, throw in some zone, and include some press offense.

Anyone want to let me know the easiest way to Blankenship Field coming from 40 West...??

Check their schedule/results on this site. It has everything you are looking for. Is the roster correct for Red Bank when it says they don't have a player on their team taller than 6'5"??

Here is the flat out truth, take it for what it's worth: DB would have lost AT LEAST 3 regular season conference games this year and would not have won either tournament without Jamel Williams. They would have, at best, split with Science Hill and would have lost at East and at least 1 more game without Jamel. He is what makes this DB team go. You can talk about the depth, the size in the post, the ability of Sylvester, Halvorsen, McConnell, and King on the wings, but without Jamel running the show, those guys don't get the looks they got. I could live without him being selected 1st team because the Big 9 awards are about politics, always have been, but for him not to make at least one of the 3 teams, is completely ridiculous. There are many that could make a case for him being the best player in the conference, and to say he is not one of the best 15 is the biggest joke I have seen in my entire life following the Big 9. I won't even go in the Coach of the Year conversation because it is pretty much a consensus from all on here, including non-DB fans, that Morgan deserved that award. He didn't lose a game, what more can you do? But Jamel Williams not making all-conference is a joke and every single Big 9 coach should be embarassed for the garbage that has been put out there.

Halvorsen hit the 3 with 3.2 seconds on the clock. Science Hill called a timeout and immediately following the timeout Gray threw the ball away trying to get it to Odem. The ball was then inbounded to Sylvester who knocked down 2 free throws for the 5 pt win. I guess technically they did not win on Halvorsen's 3 pointer, but it was the shot that put the nail in the coffin. I agree with your assessment for Monday's game. Bearden is a very good team that will hand it to DB if they do not play with more intensity than they have shown ALL year, and keep that intensity up for 32 minutes.

Congrats to both teams for a great season from a Dobyns-Bennett fan. It is going to play out like this: Science Hill @ Oak Ridge Bearden @ Dobyns-Bennett Looks like both SH & DB will have their hands full Monday night but it should be 2 very good games. Again, congrats to both teams and good luck to all Monday night.

Also, Oak Ridge defeated Bearden over in Knoxville. Science Hill will travel to Oak Ridge on Monday. Dobyns-Bennett will host Bearden High School.

Dobyns-Bennett completes the season sweep of the Hilltoppers with a 64-59 victory on a Todd Halvorsen 3 pointer with 3 seconds left in the game. DB was up by as much as 18 points in the first half but got complacent at the time when Science Hill was turning up their pressure. This has got to the 1st time one team has beaten Science Hill 4 times in one season, but the Indians got it done. With the win, DB goes undefeated against ALL Big 9 teams throughout the entire season. They won the Conference Championship, District tournament Championship, and Region tournament Championship. How's that for a season? On a side note, it was good to see that the Northeast Tennessee refs did not fail to disappoint in one of their last games of the season throwing out another spectator. I realize that refereeing is not a desireable job by most, but can the TSSAA not find anyone better than this?

Is the game being played at Hal Henard gym or the high school? And an address would be very helpful. Thanks.

I believe that East beats TN High for 3rd place in the region. I would like to believe that DB beats Science Hill for the 3rd time this year, but I am not confident that will happen. It is difficult to beat a team twice in one year, let alone 3 times. Furthermore, it is that much more difficult to beat a GOOD team 3 times in one year. I will not make a prediction on this game other than to say it is "too close to call." I will say this, though -- The outcome of the DB/Hill game shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I don't think that any team from region 2 will beat either of these teams so a 1 vs 2 seed will not make that big of a difference next week in Greeneville.

There are those that would and do argue the revenue sharing aspect because it is without a doubt that DB and Science Hill draw more fans to these tournaments on average than do the rest of the conference. If you were to share the revenues from tournaments, the fans from DB, SH, and TN High would basically be contributing to the athletic departments of schools such as Crocket, Boone, South, and Volunteer who generally do not bring many fans and may or may not make it past the 1st round.