tomcatfan

It wasnt the prettiest game that has been played. It was a defensive battle all the way. Kemp really didnt shoot the ball a whole lot but he had some nice assists. The way to beat Bolivar is to hold their role players in check. This was something that Haywood has not been able to do with Bolivar. The freshman led the way in scoring and Arkansas played well off the bench too. Arkansas seems real athletic and should make some noise down the stretch. Haywood wasnt able to knock down open jumpers last nite. It was a good game and both of these teams should be still playing long after some other teams have gone home. My hat is off to Bolivar they have had our number for quite some time and still do. Nothing more that I can say. Im not with alot of that junk talking that goes on here. People should recognize good teams and when they lose to them just give credit where credit is due.

Bump

This game must not mean anything to anyone anymore. You have two of the top teams in AA battling it out in Bolivar tomorrow and no one mentions the game. It should be a good one after Bolivar lost to Fayette-Ware. Haywood is also coming off a close one to JCM. What does everyone have to say about this game? It should be a good one and another get there early and get a seat game.

Galilee, You guys are playing an NBA schedule aren't you. Four away games in four days is a little extreme isn't it. Plus one of the games was in St. Louis and didn't it snow up there. Getting back at 5 AM and then having school and a game is a lot on a kids body. But I am still surprised people are not talking about that game. I hope that Thad is able to play.

Doesnt Mitchell travel to Hamilton Saturday night. This should be another top matchup in the state also. I havent heard much talk about this one. You are talking about one of the top AA teams vs one of the top AAA teams. All kinds of D-1 players on the floor and no one is even mentioning this game whats up with that.

Baseballa I just looked at your member number and when you joined. Look at yours and look at mine. That is wild LOL.

I wouldnt look for a blowout. I know that Liberty has a good team but I dont expect them to blow Haywood out at home. People dont realize that Varnado can get up and down the floor too. He has played with up tempo teams his whole basketball career. Baseballa I just looked at your member number and the day you joined. Look at yours and look at mine. Thats crazy LOL.

I have been posting on CoachT for one year now. I feel like I have arrived. LOL I am now officially a veteran on here.

I just want to know how many of them are there? I have been hearing their last name for seems like an eternity. Are they all brothers or what? Kinda a high school version of the Barry family. Have any of them gone on to play in college if so where?

The matchup with Haywood will be a good one for your team. Dont just look at the scores of their games and think they cant slow it down and play with you. If thats the tempo you want I believe they can adjust to that. Your team will be full court pressed which if you are not careful will speed up the tempo. When you get in the half court they play good half court defense too. They have size at 6'7 and 6'8 and are good shot blockers. They also have guards and small forwards that jump and rebound like big men. How much size does MLK have I havent really heard alot about the matchups? I heard Coach Patino was supposed to be picking up tape on MLK and he has a week to disect it. He will have a game plan in place for them. It should be a good matchup. I dont think MLK will be totally able to dictate the pace of the game. They will have to play some up tempo.

Btown, We have gotten shafted with the brackets every year for the past three years. The first year we played Southside a team that we had played twice that season already. Played in one of the best state tournament games ever and won that. Went on to face Giles Co. and they beat us by a couple points and won the whole thing. Last year we played SouthSide AGAIN. Lost to them by about 3 points we had played them twice in the season too. We lose to them and they end up playin Bolivar for the championship. This year we have to start out with MLK who will not be a push over. Might end up playing Bolivar to make it to the championship game. The road is HARD but it is passable. I would love to see a rematch with Bolivar. In the words of Rick Flair, "To be the best you have to beat the best." The only thing I dont like is the fact that not many people respect Haywood and their abilities. We have played some of the toughest competition around and come out victorious or lost by a few points and no one seems to think they have what it takes to get to the Championship game. Even when I looked on the Big Ones earlier 54% of the people thought MLK will win. Guess we will have to shock the world.

Btown, Thats why I have come to appreciate your posts. I know that you are a Bolivar fan and I respect that. It seems that you are realistic in what you say. People should know by now that I am a Haywood Tomcat fan. But I try not to cloud my views just because I am. I keep an open mind and realize that anyone can be beaten on any given night. Some people however think just because they cheer for a particular team that no one can beat that team. Their ideas are unrealistic. This should be a good state tournament because the teams that I feel have a legitimate shot at winnining arent all playing each other in the first round like last year. It will at least be the semifinal round before some of those teams meet.

First let me say, I am not hating on Bolivar they are a very good team. They have given Haywood two of their three loses this year. But this is HIGH SCHOOL NO TEAM IS UNSTOPPABLE!! I hope the players dont have the same views as some of the fans on here. If they do then they will be gone before the championship game. You cant take any team that is in Murfreesboro lightly. ALL of the teams there have to be good teams or they would not be there. So I hope that you wouldnt just pencil in Bolivar as the STATE CHAMPIONS. There are seven other teams there that are hungry to be named the next AA champs. I know for a fact that Haywood is one of them. Learn a lesson from the UNSTOPPABLE Mitchell Tigers. The game cannot be talked it has to be played on the floor.

Haywood beat Northside WITH Richard the first time!!!!

It made me mad to see the hear the things that were said and the way that the players acted. So I know that it pumped up the players. I have one big question, What has Mitchell proved? They went to the state a couple years ago when they were Single A and they have not been back since. Isnt this basically the same team that they have had. They are going to AAA next year arent they. They should learn some humility which it looked like they had a little of last nite when they left the gym with their tails tucked between their legs. Hillcrest came in here a little cocky last year and got ran out of here. Same thing happens to this group this year. See a pattern developing. I dont think anyone really wants to come and play here.

Thanks it was a good clean game. I really enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed your brief stay in Brownsville.

btown, You see what I said about how they acted before the game. Dont add fuel to the fire. They just fired everyone up with that one. Its OK to get your team fired up but dont degrade the other team.

btown, That would be a good one.

Mitchell's players were totally tasteless before the game tonite. They got in the corner by the visitors locker room and huddled up. They were chanting "Haywood Haywood stink our @@@@" very loudly. Then when they came out on the floor all of them walked around the court 3 or 4 times with one finger for #1 in the air. They were very arrogant like I said at Gibson Co. talking about how they wasted their time coming down to watch our team play. How they were gonna kill our boys come Monday nite. The coach was arrogant too getting in the newspaper saying how they were 10 points better than us. They ended up getting stomped by 15. The coach from Georgia Tech was there tonite to check out Thaddeus Young. I had been hearing about Young maybe being ready for the NBA. I dont know about that one after seeing him tonite. He is a good player but I dont think he is NBA ready at this point. Mitchell was out of shape and sucking air by the end of the first half. So much for them scoring 100 they almost got 100 hung on them. Haywood should get some respect after this one. They have not lost in 2 months. They have won about 17 straight. They have beat some really tough teams this season. Teams that were still playing tonite and some that are still playing next week. I hope that the Mitchell folks liked when we shook our keys at them. Better luck next year and I hope that they see "country" boys can play too.

Its about 4 hours from game time. Anybody feeling the butterflies about the game yet? Its a real electric feeling around here. The whole town is buzzing about the game tonite. Thats one thing I like about small towns. When something like this is taking place it brings everyone together for once. Good luck to all the teams tonite. I am really hoping my team wins because I want to see them go back to Murfreesboro for the third year in a row.

You can see for yourself if you look at www.commercialappeal.com that he made the comments about them being better. I really do believe that Memphis always thinks they are superior when it comes to playing teams out here in the "country". Who has the last 2 gold balls. Bolivar and Giles Co., two teams in the "country". Thanks for the compliments that you gave the Tomcats. I think that they are in for a surprise when they show up in Brownsville tonite. It will be electric and the guys will be pumped We have played some of the top teams around this year and beat most of them except for the Bolivar Tigers. Good luck to Bolivar tonite and maybe we will get a chance to hook up again with the Bolivar in Murfreesboro.

I think that Coach Johnson from Mitchell is doubting the Tomcats ability. He said in the Commercial Appeal that his team is 10 pts. better than Haywood. I dont know what makes him believe that Haywood will be an easy victory. He also said that he knows it will be hostile in the gym tonite. But it cant be worse that Raleigh Egypt. He has obviously never seen the fans at Haywood's gym. The players from Mitchell were at the regional championship the other nite. They were overheard saying "I dont know why we wasted our time coming to watch this team play. We are going to kill them Monday night." Both coach and players sound a little too cocky to me. You dont get to be 28-3 for nothing. And two of the losses came to Bolivar, who we all know will be in the 'Boro next week. The other came to Kingsbury early in the season. Kingbury played Mitchell tough last week and only lost by a few points. If Mitchell gets into foul trouble its over for them because they dont play but six players. I dont know if the officials tonite will allow them to play their "Memphis style" of basketball ( physical play, pushing, reaching, etc.) It should be a good one. A word of advice for anyone coming, get there early because the Haywood faithful will start filing in at 5:00 and the game starts at 7:00.

Dont be so sure that Mitchell will win. Haywood will have a game plan in place and it will be a tight game I believe. I see the talk of how Bolivar and Giles are selling out the gym. The same thing is taking place here in Tomcat Town. People were lined up at 8 this morning to buy tickets. This will be one of the best games played Monday night. The Tomcats have won about 16 in a row. Their last loss was to Bolivar on Jan. 8. Thats almost 2 months. Mitchell only plays about 6 people and will have to bring it because it will be hostile in "Doc" Crowder gym come Monday at 7:00. LETS GO HAYWOOD!!!!

Can any other game say they had J-Will, Bonzi Wells, James Posey and Antonio Burks at the game? I heard it was a star-studded affair at the game last nite. Thats quite impressive that 4 or 5 players from the League take time out to come see you play.

Championship game.