aj1133

Since when does being stuck on yourself constitute not being allowed to play sports. If that were the case Kobe, Iverson, Shaq, Arenas and a boat load of other athletes would have never had an opportunity. Being stuck on oneself is most likely a personal problem rather than a discipline problem. And lets remember we are talking about a 17 year old young lady, kids make mistakes. As long as she accepts her punishment and improves on the behaviors, who are any of us to chastise her for her actions.

The expectations for Portland were very high to begin the season. Why is Greenbrier suddenly a favorite in that game? I understand that that prediction is an opinion but am just curious as to why someone would feel that way. The DCA vs Goodpasture game might be an interesting match-up. Last year DCA was clearly a better team, but this year they dropped off in talent and Goodpasture has struggled but has the personnel to win ballgames in my opinion. I expect the Station Camp / White House game to be a tight one as well. White House has had a roller coaster of a season thus far and the same might be said of Station Camp, however Station Camp is a team on the rise. Expectations weren't quite as high for them coming in to the season but everyone in the district knew that they were dangerous. With the new coach and some young talent that doesn't realize that they aren't supposed to win that game, they could make for a very worthy opponent.

There are different levels of punishment ranging from not allowing a player to play all the way up to kicking them off the team. Just because he didn't keep the player out long during the Sycamore games doesn't mean he didn't stick to his guns, it probably means her actions weren't as disruptive at that point as they were on Tuesday night. Also, he didn't put her out there in the Sycamore game because the team was struggling, they were up by 8 or 10 when he went to the bench and the team that was on the court was playing well together. Obviously it was the same player so the second time she is to be punished might have more consequences than the first. He didn't play her for three quarters (which is long enough to make a point) before starting her in the fourth. She was a huge difference in the game and most likely will not make the same mistake again. When a new coach comes along, it his/ her responsibility to instill in their team the qualities that they feel are important. It is hard to break a kid of bad habits in a 5-6 month time period but it can be important for the younger kids in the program to see what is and is not going to be tolerated by the coach. This player is an example to the girls coming up, good or bad, and how the coach treats certain situations with her will be important to how those younger girls act as they progress. I think they at the very least understand that there are consequences for their actions and will act accordingly due to this.

The problem is he has been doing this for years and apparently Marshall Co. has no problem with his behavior. I thought this was about what is best for the student-athlete and I just don't see how witnessing his circus act on a regular basis could be healthy. Beyond that, he is taking any recognition that the girls might get and having that focus placed on his shinanigans.

I've been on both sides of this story. I did play Westview at Westview in a playday and felt that there was some very questionable calls being made, none in our favor obviously. And prior to going to Westview for that play-day we played Marshall County at Belmont Camp where Coach Beth, who is the father of former Vanderbilt player Aaron Beth, made a complete nut of himself at that camp as well. He cried about the officiating the entire game and even at one point called Coach Cross out onto the court where he notified everyone at the camp that he would not be coming back to the camp ever again, not that anyone really cared. My problem is with the example he is setting for the young ladies that play for him. Someone must step in somewhere and tell him that he is not positive for the game and has a personality that could be more harmful to young, impressionable athletes than helpful.

Where do you get your info? The whole love affair with the coach thing is tired. Find something else to blame on him or something else negative to say about him!

Harpeth High School has three outstanding guards, two that are seniors. Mandy Mendenhall and Salem Richardson are the seniors and they have a junior in Holli Flippo that is awesome.

Right on target bighurt. I'm thinking Drew must have hurt crimsontides feelings in the SEC tournament several years ago.

I am trying to remember which game Drew must have torched Alabama? That is the only reason for such ludacris remarks.

Flippo most certainly should be considered throughout the state. Any sophomore or junior that averages a double-double for the season while also leading her team in steals and plays along side two seniors that are D1 basketball players should be deemed worthy of consideration throughout the state. She averages 13ppg, but that is irrelevant really, she does all of the other things that help make her team better.

No, Cheatham did not do a better job than Sycamore offensively. Cheatham did, however, have a better defensive game plan than Sycamore. Apparently Harpeth has strung together several of these games where evryone gets hot, and they all seem to be against Sycamore. I am not sure, but I think the Sycamore girl's basketball team is winless against Harpeth, and it appears that Harpeth is always clicking on all cylinders when they play Sycamore. Outside of the Cheatham game, Harpeth has been very consistent with scoring coming from the group collectively rather than just one or two individual players. Without question, the game at Sycamore was one of their best performances of the year, but you don't go 10-1 by being extremely inconsistent.

"newfound abilities"? There was not one girl in the boxscore who scored whose abilities were "newfound". Everyone knew that Holli Flippo could score, that's precisely why Cheatham County face guarded her the entire game. Several of those girls played AAU basketball with the girls from Sycamore, therefore they knew prior to the game what they were capable of. Defensively, Cheatham County just did a better job of defending Harpeth than Sycamore did. If you'll archive some of Harpeth's previous games you will find that they have multiple girls who have been in double figures throughout the season and all of the kids who play have the ability to score. If a team focuses on one or two players, then they have other players who can step up and score. Pick your poison! To say that they are inconsistent could be true in several ways but to say that these young ladies have some "newfound abilities" is completely ludacris.

I think Harpeth has an outstanding junior that is kinda under the radar becuase she plays along side two college bound basketball players. As a two guard, Holli Flippo is leading the team in rebounds, averaging 10 per game, and steals. She is also second in scoring with a 13 ppg average. She is shooting the ball nearly 40% from three point range. She is very dangerous and will make teams pay for double teaming or boxing Mendenhall. I also agree that Megan Hunter from Cheatham County is a treat to watch. She is skilled in many areas and I look forward to keeping up with her recruiting process in the next year because she will make a very nice college basketballplayer.

It absolutely blows my mind that there is not more mention of Mandy Mendenhall. She has offensive skills that are matched only by the likes of Holdsclaw and Catchings. I have never seen a young lady shoot a spinning fall away jump shot with more consistency not to mention her outstanding athletic ability. She is 5'7 and slaps glass on lay-ups and reverse lay-ups. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal but it is not omething that happens often in high school girls basketball. She is averaging 19ppg right now but is playing outstanding all-around basketball. Her on the ball defense, another lost art in high school basketball, is tenacious and has helped prevent teams from being able to run set offenses against Harpeth.

It seems to me that wareagleblue is very quiet this weekend. An aweful lot of trash being thrown around prior to the Sycamore/ Harpeth game, but now a very tight-lipped coacht poster, or maybe he has a foot in his mouth.

After their first regular season district loss in over a year, I think the Harpeth Lady Indians program has decided to forfeit the remainder of the season. I think Cheatham may have hit on something last night. Hunter face-guarded Flippo and they played Mendenhall and Richardson straight-up, Flippo wasn't very productive offensively, though she did everything else you could possibly ask for, and that may have been the key to the game for Harpeth.

HOLLI FLIPPO - Harpeth High School Leads the team in rebounds, steals, and assists. She is playing aside two D1 guards and is not looked upon to score much but has put up 26 and 17 in two of the last three games. Flippo has unbelievable instincts. If you watch Harpeth play, her determination and hard work is very evident!

MANDY MENDENHALL - Harpeth High School Her percentages are outstanding and she is playing unbelievable defense on the opposition's top player. She is very impressive!

Any results from week 1 of district play?

wareagleblue- You must have really relaxed on your Coach Johnson research, he has been mentioned in every UT media guide since 1996. And if you do in fact know his family as well as you claim, you should stop by his mom's office in Ashland City and ask to see the National Championship ring he had sized for her. All this is really border-line humorous, but the chances are that Coach Johnson has probably made more of an effort to get to know the students and community here in the past four months than he did growing up on "that" side of the river. But why would you even care to carry on such research of someone that you think so little of? From what I know of him, if you have any questions for him he will happily answer them for you. Call and interview him for your extensive Coach Johnson research project. And by the way, I'm sure the chat room demensions of your buddy (6'5 260) has everyone in Kingston Springs really giving a rat's butt. That's ridiculous, trying to use such a scare tactic online is completely hysterical.

He was not just a scout player, he also assumed managerial duties and was a student assistant. He was only on the scout team for the first semester of his first year there. They do not give National Championship rings to scout team players, and he has two. Regardless of the schedule ranking, I apologize for the mistake, their schedule is still very good. Thus far they beat the team that they lost to in the sub-state last year, beat last year's single A state champions who had everyone back, Dickson (who despite struggling is a AAA school with a rich tradition), and have a potential game over the Christmas break with a team that is ranked in the top 5 in the country. I think this schedule is a tough one. Obviously, with this being a thread devoted to this district, you must know how similar girl's basketball will be to SEC football in terms of these teams beating up on eachother throughout the year. Outside of 7AA I would put our district up against anyone's. The probability of anyone going undefeated in the district is not very good, my hope is that if they do slip up and get beat that they will learn from it and bounce back. My, you Sycamore fans are all over it! Congratulations on proving my previous post wrong on the strength of schedule, you deserve some great honor for that but I wouldn't know where to start. Being a Harpeth fan and all, heck I don't suppose I could afford or even have the competency to order you a plaque or a button, but by all means, please continue to pat yourself on the back because that is an outstanding accomplishment.

FYI.....Coach J didn't pay a penny for the academic or basketball education he received at UT, five and a half years on Pat. I don't think he is real worried about pleasing the parents, he seems to be a guy who does what he believes is best for his team and the young ladies on it. But that's neither here nor there, the real issue is whether or not he can get his girls to play at a high level for the duration of a season schedule that is ranked #2 in the state by CoachT, just behind Upperman. Harpeth begins district play on Friday with their first three games being at Creekwood, at home against Cheatham, and at Syacamore. That's brutal!

I would take Harpeth's guards over anybody in the state. The previous mentioned three are as good of a trio as there is but the Felker and Lawrence are no slouches. They play a role on this team but they are as good as many in the district.

You might be right, there is a definite possiblity that Harpeth loses some games in a very good district. For a new coach, it is possible that some of the teams you mentioned in the district know as much about Harpeth's team as the coach does, but with time they will continue to get better. Harpeth has high expectations, but the fact of the matter is, they are not the same team they were last year. When they get this fast paced up tempo defensive basketball gameplan under their belt, and it could be a few losses down the road, they will give lots of teams fits. What really matters is that they learn from the season so they are prepared for tournament time. Going undefeated in the regular season is not nearly as important as winning games come tournament time.

"From what I have seen you will need to get better to compete on the AA level." Great point, I made it myself in the post that you replied to. I have no doubts that Harpeth will get better and will compete for a trip to Murfreesboro towards the end of the season. You said it yourself, the key is to be the better team tournament time and for a program with a brand new coach, defense, and playbook, Harpeth appears to be headed in the right direction if they can continue to progress at this rate.