red_16

Vikings win in convincing fashion tonight 34-14

I think Humboldt had 7 guys dressed out for the game against Westview...Whether or not it counted is irrelevant isn't it? As far as you talking about Humboldt choking...It depends on whom you are directing that towards...Hopefully you don't mean the players...Bottom line is this...as long as Boykin is calling the shots at Humboldt, we're going to be outcoached in 90% of the games...Every year Humboldt has a loss or two that makes you scratch your head...I chalk that up to coaching...Let's be honest, if Humboldt had a good X's and O's guy, as well as a motivator in the locker room (I don't believe Boykin is either), we'd have ATLEAST 3 gold balls in the last 6 years...Oh well, guess we will never know....Merry Christmas

In order to beat Humboldt this year, you're going to have to be able to move the chains and put together long drives. Humboldt has a lot of speed on defense but not a lot of size. A team that will line up and play smash mouth football can get 5 yards a pop on the inside. You aren't going to get a lot on the edges against them and you're not going to break many. Henry Co was just bigger and deeper with just as much speed. Horrible matchup for this Humboldt team but will make them better prepared for the rest of the season. I say Quan gets somewhere in the 250 yd range tonight as Humboldt rolls to a 45-14 victory.

#1 - Clarksville Acad. #8 - Oliver Springs #4 - CSAS #5 - Grace Baptist #3 - Westwood #6 - Wayne Co. #2 - Humboldt #7 - Harriman

I don't have a problem with Humboldt's draw this year...I think Clarksville has the best team in the tourney this year outside of Humboldt (remains to be seen if they are better)...I, along with all the other Humboldt fans, had a huge problem with our draw last year for the simple fact that Humboldt and Manassas were BY FAR the two best teams in the state in single A...HBT fans were complaining about this the Saturday before the game ever took place, not after...Last year, Manassas beats Humboldt on a three point shot at the buzzer in a game Humboldt gave to Manassas due to horrible free throw shooting...Now, look at what Manassas did the rest of the tournament...Two blowouts...There's no question the two best teams got matched up in the first round...A seeding system based off of the state AP Polls would work best in my opinion...Also don't allow teams from the same region to play each other in first round...Yes, there would be some complaining about seeds but that's much better than random draws potentially placing the two best teams (regardless of class) in a first round matchup..

I know that Hbt scrimmaged Liberty earlier this week and got beat pretty badly...However, Liberty's awfully good and will help prepare us for the tourney...Also heard rumors of a possible scrimmage with Bolivar sometime this weekend.. I'll take Humboldt by 12...If Humboldt is hitting their outside shots (mainly Brooks), it'll be worse..

P & G, what does Westwood bring to the table?

As a Humboldt fan, I have no problem with this first round matchup...Besides, we all knew it was coming...I'm pretty confident going into this tournament...I feel like Westwood is just going to be happy to be there while Humboldt is looking at anything less than a championship as a failure...I'm also glad to be out of that 10 am Wednesday morning game...That was brutal last year.. Humboldt will pull away late and win by 12...I like our chances to win it all this year...Hope I'm right

I'm not exactly sure what part of my post made you think that but.....no

Humboldt has two 6'4 players in the post...Darren Dunbar (Sr) is about 6'4 195 lbs, great athlete, jumps well, left handed with nice touch around the basket and the ability to shoot it (although he doesn't do it much)...Tevin Bryson (So) is about 6'4 235 lbs, very good athlete for his size, not a great jumper but does a good job of getting position...He also has nice touch around the basket...Rendell Martin (Jr) is about 6'1 185 but plays bigger than that...He rebounds well and plays good defense...Humboldt also brings 6'0 Freshman JK Kimble off the bench...He's about 200 lbs and is exceptionally strong on the inside...He also jumps well, finishes well, and is a good passer in traffic...That's about it for the post...

P&G, I've pretty much given up on being optimistic when it comes to the state tourney draw...We're going to catch either Clarksville or Westwood in the first game...Let's think back to the 4 first round matchups Humboldt has had in the last five years...05' was Raleigh-Egypt, 06' was #1 ranked Cosby, 07' was Wayne Co., and last year was Manassas...Outside of Wayne Co., Humboldt's gotten a bad draw everytime...Now, the approach I want this year's team to take into the first round game is the same that they took in 06'...I promise you, the guys on Cosby's team that year are still hurting from that one I say give us Clarksville or Westwood in that first game and go out and make a statement..

This year's Humboldt team has something special...We've got two athletic lefties in Dunbar and Bryson in the post that rebound very well, play solid defense, and have a soft touch around the basket. We've got a lefty shooting guard in Brooks with unlimited range and playmaking ability. He's young but when he's on his game, he shoots it as good as anybody. We've got a solid role player in Martin who does the little things. At first, I didn't like Martin's game but it's growing on me. He does the little things throughout the game that add up to a victory at the end. Loose balls, rebounds, steals, put backs...Martin does all of this very well and has a large part in our success. Most importantly, we've got a point guard in Campbell who is virtually unstoppable right now. Last night, against a team with great speed and athleticism, Campbell stood out as the best athlete on the court. He gets in the paint almost at will and either scores it himself or leaves someone with an open shot. Our bench is young but has shown some promise. I just wish Boykin would trust his bench a little more.

Saturday, the 13th

Sounds like Humboldt will have their hands full with CU tonight. Should be a great game and hopefully the Vikings can pull out the victory and get back to the Boro for the 5th time in 6 years. I'll stick with 77-70 Humboldt...Should be packed, get there early!

The Vikings will have their largest crowd of the season tomorrow night. When that gym is packed, Humboldt is a HARD place to win. We're peaking at the right time and that's why I give Humboldt the edge. I look for City University to be close to equally athletic if not more so than Humboldt but not as deep and not as team-oriented. This past Thursday's win vs UC was huge for several reasons but the main one is that Brooks only had 6 points and we still won big. I've said all year long that our success lies with Brooks. If he's hitting from outside, he changes games and we're tough to beat. If he's cold, our offense struggles. Well, UC has done a better job than anyone all season at not giving Brooks open looks and so we were forced to work the ball inside instead of being content with passing it around the perimeter. It seems this is when we are at our best. When we throw it into either the high or low post and run our offense from there, everything opens up for us. We exhibited some great interior passing and drew some double teams allowing passes for open shots or lay ups. In a packed house, I'm saying Humboldt 77 City University 70

Humboldt by 8 but wouldn't surprise me if we win this one by double digits...Vikings should be focused tonight after the slip up against Milan..

Not so fast Bigster...Humboldt had a bad shooting night but anyone who's watched Humboldt play this year knows that Brooks can put up a lot of points in a hurry if he catches fire...As I've already said earlier this season, he changes games...If he's on, this team is very tough...I expect us to be more focused against UC...Guess we will find out Tuesday

I was worried about this one and from the looks of things rightfully so...I don't think Viking fans should panic though...Now UC has to play a team that's looking to take out their aggression from tonight's game and a team that should be fully focused from here on out... From the games I've seen, the key to Humboldt's success is taking our time in the half court game...We're settling for too many outside shots and not working it inside enough...Dunbar and Bryson are very solid in the post and can score a lot of points if they get the touches...Now, I still like to see the Vikings get out and run because we're still athletic enough to run with any 1A team, but in our half court sets, we need to get better shots...I think you'll see a much more focused team Tuesday..

You're right..Most teams should be playing their best basketball..But maybe the ole Legend does have a plan..He started Ricky Boyd last night against Greenfield..has been starting a lot this year but didnt play against Humboldt until the 3rd quarter..Last night Raphael Tyler didnt start..He started the small Swift kid against yall and until the Humboldt game..he hasnt started a game or had much playing time since the football players were still playing football..All I can say is..We'll see..Come watch them play Dyersburg tonight..Cody Taylor is kinda a cross between Epperson and Kelcey Rose..Swift is probably more rounded..Taylor is strictly a rebounder and shot blocker..Just keep reading Coach T and see the comments from here on out..!And I'm not convinced that Humboldt has a good shooting outside team ..Dunbar is good if he's open..Antonio Brooks seems to be the 1 player that can hit on a consistent basis..Campbell is streaky.! I also stated that Lake Co wasnt going to do anything after what I'd been seeing..But two players can make a huge difference..Take Dunbar and Quan Campbell off the Humboldt team and you'd see..But I think you did see..when just Dunbar was gone..So..I believe if one player can make a difference on yall's team..why shouldnt 2 players make a difference on Lake Co's team? Two players can make a big difference but I don't see two unproven players making that big of a difference...And a mix between Epperson and Kelsey Rose?!? C'mon Bigster, I'm not that foolish... Bottom line is this, it doesn't matter who you have, it's how you play...and LC is playing selfish basketball right now...And even if they weren't, from what I've seen they're still not as talented as Humboldt, even with Humboldt having a down year..

Just to clear something up, the benches were not cleared in the Humboldt-LC game until around the 2 minute mark in the 4th...There was certainly a 30+ point lead before this happened.. Also, Bigster I gotta disagree with you about something...I understand where you are coming from with the two kids you're expecting production out of but I don't see it happening...This is the time of season that you should be playing your best basketball...Humboldt and Union City are...Lake County is playing their worst...I've also got to point out that I've seen several posts that you've put up talking about how the lineup will consist of "the right guys" next time around and how they'll play a zone and things should be different...I just don't see it... Humboldt isn't 40+ points better than LC, but I do think they are around 10-15 points better consistently..Last Tuesday's deficit was a result of two things...Humboldt putting together their best collective effort all season and LC falling apart...I haven't posted a lot on these boards this year but I made one prior to the first Hbt-LC game...It stated that regardless of whether Humboldt won the game in Tiptonville, LC would be facing a MUCH improved team the second time around...Humboldt has struggled at times this year but they are improving...Lot of these young guys are gaining experience and playing better and better...Guys like Tevin Bryson and Antonio Brooks will be huge come tournament time..

Little worried about Milan tomorrow night with the Vikings looking forward to UC...I'll say Humboldt by 7 at Milan then Humboldt by 8 at UC.

I like Humboldt's chances...Beat Union City by double digits and lost by 4 at Lake Co without Darren Dunbar...And yes, I've heard about Lake Co.'s player that just became eligible but I don't have any doubt that we can score inside with Dunbar and Bryson... As far as Humboldt's state chances, teams like Middleton and City University worry me...Memphis always has 1 single A school that is pretty good and apparently this year it's City University and Middleton has beaten Humboldt convincingly already this season although it was early and without a couple of guys...With that being said, Humboldt has good enough size to play with anyone at the 1A level and has a big time shooter in Antonio Brooks who changes games..This team is young and will only get better as the year progresses...Should make for an interesting and certainly more competitive post season than in recent years..

Well...I still haven't seen Humboldt play this year nor Lake County so I really don't know about this one..Both Lake Co. and Humboldt have had some less than impressive performances this year but have also looked good at times according to scores... Here's what I do know about Humboldt at this point...Sophomore center Tevin Bryson is the leading scorer so far...He's routinely been in the mid to upper teens and hung 30 on Haywood last weekend..Dunbar hasn't been producing points-wise (yet) but is starting to get the football out of him...Same goes for Campbell when he's able to dress out (not sure what the deal is there)..Sophomore guard Antonio Brooks has been a legitimate threat from three point range thus far...His range is pretty unlimited and he's becoming better at creating his own shot instead of just being a spot up shooter...McCurry has also shot it fairly well from behind the arc..We also have several other key contributors that I just haven't become familiar with yet.. I know this team is nowhere near as good as last year's but, this team will get better as the season goes along...With 2 VERY solid players in the post in Bryson and Dunbar, an experienced point guard in Campbell, a big time shooter in Brooks, and a streaky shooter in McCurry I think we will be ok...Depth might be an issue...I'll know more once I see them play... I'm going to try and make this one...I'll take Vikings by 2 but won't be surprised to see the Falcons take this one...Whatever the outcome, I can almost assure you this Vikings team will be much better after Christmas and heading into the postseason..

Channel 7 showed a 35-27 win for Liberty... I was told 34-26 in Humboldt's favor by someone there...Wouldn't be the first time Channel 7 missed a score but who knows...Either way, if Humboldt can play with Liberty without their two best players, I feel pretty confident about our team...I'll get my first look at the Vikings this Friday when we host Middleton in a Hall of Fame game..I'll know more then

Just got word that Humboldt is up on Liberty 20-9 midway through at the jamboree at Liberty...According to what I'm being told, Campbell and Dunbar aren't playing...That would lead me to believe that none of the other football players are dressed out either but I'm not sure...Maybe someone who was there can give me a little more info about it?