rosebud

Great post HS. I totally agree. The girls have been fun to watch this year and have so much potential for several years to come.

I would hope to see a concentration in the off season of rebounding skills. I think this is our weakest area. Our pressure defense is awesome, but the defensive effort around the basket needs to step up several notches. Maybe we need to "beef up" a little with a weight program.

If was a great ride. Congratulations!!

We (Cumberland Co.) just got put out on Saturday and the dissapointment is tough. With the new school opening and still a lot TBD, we are dealing with dashed hopes for this year and apprehension about next year. I'm still proud of our team, the 30 wins, AP and CoachT rankings, too many exciting games, CoachT addictions, seeing fans at games that haven't been there in years, etc.. I'm just trying to figure out if gradual recession is the best way or going "cold turkey". What's it going to be like when your kid plays that last game as a senior? My heart goes out to ya. This year has been a great ride and I'm sure my employer will appreciate a renewed focus on my job after a couple weeks to recoup. Great topic for us that were sooo close. (lost by one in region championship) Best of luck to all Lady Jet Players and thanks for the entertainment.

I second that post.

I saw this quote today, maybe it will inspire the early exiters.

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." (Michael Jordan)

I see several reasons we lost. We didn't bring our A game, Shelbyville's reputation and coaching experience, the inside game, and distractions at home.

 

While the coaching staff and team should have been able to give total attention to the upcoming game, they were thrown a bombshell by the Cumb. Co. School Board Thursday night. Coach Smith is moving to the new school, Stone Memorial, next year. It is my understanding that most of the team would be either choosing to go there as upcoming Seniors or zoned there as underclassmen. However, the school board decided that there will be no Senior class at the new school, so all current juniors will be staying at CCHS. Thus the returning team members and coaching staff will now be split up for next year. Everyone was scurrying around on Friday trying to get the Board to reverse this decision. Thankfully, they have now called a special board meeting for Monday night to readdress the issue. Not excuses...but distractions that we did not need while facing a team like Shelbyville.

Update:

The Cumberland County School Board met tonight and reversed their decision of last Thursday night. Stone Memorial will have a senior class...Now most of the returning CCHS team members will be going to Stone with Coach Smith. I have heard that Stone will probably be a AA school.

I dont have a preference in coaches, you misunderstood my post entirely. What I am saying is that we seem to be stuck on this substate thing. We made it to the sweet sixteen 3 times in 5 yrs with the other coach and lost there each time with teams that werent expected to have gone that far. And now we made it back with a team ranked number 1 in the state and lose in the substate again. It seems like no matter what the status of our team is, the same thing seems to happen. Everybody knows you cant compare this team to our old teams, this is not pro sports where players can stay on a team for 5 or 10 yrs. Kids graduate and new kids come in and the personnel changes every yr. So you cant compare coaches because of that. I was simply saying that being number 1 and not even making the state is embarassing. America loves the underdog ( just look at the NCAA March Madness broadcasts each yr). Teams that get it together at tournament time and exceed expectations always leave a good taste in the fans mouths, while teams that are supposed to be the best and then dont even qualify for the tournament leave fans with a feeling of what should have been. My hats off to Coach and the team for a great ride. I am just and disappointed that we couldnt finally push through to that next level. The state tournament is one of the most exciting basketball experiences a player, coach, or fan can experience! So dont misinterpret my post, I am not blaming him or the players for not making it. I am just lamenting the fact that I (and most other Jet fans) thought this was finally the year we would get to experience that for ourselves. And as I said in my previous post, with Coach going to Stone and the schools splitting where does that leave long time Jet fans now? It could be al long, long time before we get another opportunity like this one again. By the way, do we know who the next coach will be?

Sorry if I misinterpreted your earlier post.

I do not think a coach has been picked for CCHS yet. It will be interesting to see what the school board does about hard zoning. It is my understanding that a lot of the girls want to follow Coach Smith to Stone and keep the team together.

Any Cumberland county fans that were at the game got any comments as to what happened? I'm VERY surprised Shelbyville won this one.

I see several reasons we lost. We didn't bring our A game, Shelbyville's reputation and coaching experience, the inside game, and distractions at home.

While the coaching staff and team should have been able to give total attention to the upcoming game, they were thrown a bombshell by the Cumb. Co. School Board Thursday night. Coach Smith is moving to the new school, Stone Memorial, next year. It is my understanding that most of the team would be either choosing to go there as upcoming Seniors or zoned there as underclassmen. However, the school board decided that there will be no Senior class at the new school, so all current juniors will be staying at CCHS. Thus the returning team members and coaching staff will now be split up for next year. Everyone was scurrying around on Friday trying to get the Board to reverse this decision. Thankfully, they have now called a special board meeting for Monday night to readdress the issue. Not excuses...but distractions that we did not need while facing a team like Shelbyville.

Congratulations to the Lady Jets!!! You have given us a great and entertaining year. As to NUTS post, sounds like a late carryover of resentment from prior years. Get over it! You can't even compare the teams of several years ago with this year's season. We as fans are proud of the winning season you have had. Even though we didn't make it to the state, you have definitely taken Lady Jet basketball to a higher level of play.

Great Job Jets!!! I am really going to miss watching Danny Cumby play ball. He puts everything he has into every play. In all of my years watching basketball, I have never seen a guy play from the heart as much as he does. Does anyone know if he is playing college ball?

This game has been moved up from 6:00 CST to 5:30 CST. I imagine it is because of the possible ice storm tonight.

In AB's defense, she is supposed to be an excellent math teacher. I hope she keeps that position.

I too have heard nothing but praise for her as a math teacher. Velma Buck used to be the basketball coach, I go that far back, and look what a wonderful math teacher she is. I would dare to say that few coaches have ever had the positive impact on kids future that Velma Buck has had as a math teacher. Oh well, you can REALLY tell it is late..pardon the regression. Good night.

It appears JetFan #1 & #2 are becoming more civil with each other.

Knowing Coach B., she has always had more class than some of the comments on this board, she probably has nothing against LVM. If she keeps the job, in an effort to have fresh ideas and new blood in the program, i wonder if she would ask her to assist in the program?

There are areas of weakness that LVM might help improve. For instance, she was always a good ball handler. Someone showed me an old clipping when she was named OVC Player of the Week. That particular time she had 41 points in two games, 10 assists, but most impressively, 1 turnover in 72 minutes of playing time.

She might be able to teach our girls how to break a press and how to reduce turnovers.

Only a thought. If AB does stay, will she have a game plan to improve the program?

And to answer your question, I too am a long-time jet supporter. I have nothing against AB. But I also have respect for Mr. Hodge.

 

 

Coaches are authority figures. It is not their job to sell themselves to parents or players. Parents should respect coaches from the start and set the example for their kids. My previous post is a perfect example of how parents can undercut a coach....and I witnessed that one with my own two eyes! My parents taught me that whether I agreed with my coach or not, he was the boss! They never called a coach or jumped one and told them off or even complained if I got playing time or not. Now I see parents my age doing all those things. And our kids see that!!

 

 

 

 

 

Well said, you are totally correct. But once again, I know AB and I know she is upfront with kids about respecting her. But let me tell you a little secret. Respecting authority figures like a coach is a reflection of the parents training (or lack of it)! A teenager will not respect a coach or any authority figure unless their parents have trained them to. Its too late by the time you get in high school for a coach or teacher to install something that the parents didn't do when the child was young!

 

 

 

AMEN again! But once again, a coach can't follow the kids home and force them to want to be better!

 

 

 

If I were the new incoming administrator I would want Hodge to keep his filthy hands off my coaches until I decided who I wanted to keep or fire. Once again, he doesn't have a horse in this race any longer unless he is doing a good ole boy hatchet job!! Douglas MacArthur said "old soldiers never die, they just fade away". Why can't Hodge just fade away? The answer is, he has a favor to do first and he has done it!

So, I take it from your posts that parents should teach their kids to respect authority. The coach is always right and shouldn't be second guessed.

Might the administration deserve that same respect...or did your parents teach you to respect your coach but not your principal? Double standards here...

You appear to be very close to the whole situation. You were challenging a previous poster about their relationship to LVM...what is yours to AB...husband, assistant coach, ????

hey traveler, see my last post on the proper spelling of the word grammar! 

 

I am curious, why are you so protective of Ms. McCoy?  You seem to have appointed yourself her personal protector!  Is there some connection there?  Are you biased?

 

  If you were honest and just said you hate the current coach, the rest of us would have more respect for you.  And traveler, if you are a Cookeville fan, why don't you go start a Cookeville post and leave us CCHS fans alone.  You don't have a horse in this race!

If you are questioning someone being biased, look in the mirror. Obviously, you are very, very close to the situation. You have been mean-spirited towards LVM and toward all other posters. Your spelling corrections are rude and arrogant. Instead of noting everyone's grammar and punctuation errors, check your manners.

All of the talk about the "good ole boy" system works both ways. I can name a lot of coaches and teachers at the HS who knew somebody or had connections to get their initial job. (AB, JA, JH, NC, MD, DV, HB, JI, NH, need I go on)? That is one of the benefits of being from a small town. I think it is wonderful when our graduates come back here to raise their families. I wish my children could have found jobs here.

You are not helping AB by attacking LVM. Give it a rest like you promised us in an earlier post.

I think that for Cumberland Co to get rid of their coach is a huge mistake.  You can say what you want to about her record, but look at the teams that she schedules.  That alone helps to improve her players.  And you can say what you want about all of that talent, but when big post players miss 5-10 wide open layups a game, that has nothing to do with the coaching.  Maybe all those talented players arent't so talented at all.  I am sure that there are many schools out there who would have loved to be playing in the substate 3 out of the last 5 years and would just love for this particular coach to be at their school.  It is just a shame that it is under these circumstances.

Hey, I've got a great idea. Why not take your multi-talented coach back to Rockwood and rescue your floundering program. Send us ANY coach that truly knows and understands the game that can take our sub-par athletes and teach them basketball skills. Maybe a new coach might even get them in good enough condition that they can play more than five minutes without sucking air and patting themselves on the head to be taken out for a breather.

True, the Administration has made several mistakes in this program over the years. First, PH should have never given into the pressure and fired Coach Herring to start with: Secondly, he should never have been soft enough to give the job to AB, and thirdly, he should have let her go two years ago.

Attacking the team and throwing blame on the girls is not professional and is childish. Kids miss layups, but it doesn't cost a coach his/her job.

I noticed on another thread on this board..who is the best coach in the state?...Lamar Rogers and Lynn Burkey's names appeared over and over again. Ask either one of those coaches what they think about Leslie VanWinkle McCoy's basketball knowledge and whether they would recommend her for a coaching job. Bet I would know the answer.

1234,

 

Do you think hiring the AD's inexperienced daughter will deliver the program to the promised land.  The rational behind firing the old coach was because she could not get it done, why on earth would you hire someone who has absolutely zero coaching experience?  I'm just curious...

It seems to me that basketball knowledge and playing experience is more important than prior coaching experience. What about Rachel Powell at Cleveland and Dana McWilliams at Upperman? If I remember correctly, VW played as a four year starter at CCHS, AAU ball for several years under Coach Burkey from Oak Ridge and now Greenville, four years as a starter for Coach Worrell at TECH where she was often times named Ohio Valley Conference player of the week. Her knowledge of the game is extensive. Furthermore, she should not be attacked on this board. She hasn't stolen anyone's job.

There sure seems to be a lot of speculation anyway. I did some checking also. The AD has no supervisory responsibility over the coaches. It is a part time position with the primary responsibilities being TSSAA compliance, purchase order approvals, and facility preparations. The AD can not fire or hire coaches. All personnel report directly to the principal. So your good ole boy scenerio is an excuse. Don't blame any potential replacement for a lackluster job.

 

Any team that advances to the substate round 3 of the last 5 years and the coach is dismissed, there is a huge problem with the administration not taking the side of a coach.

 

Cumberland County has played a big time schedule and it paid off come tourney time with the Lady Jets advancing to substate.  The coach is a leader and seem to have no off court distractions other than some parents who want more playing time for their kids.  Also, you have posters who make allegations of big time players transfering to other schools that simply isnt the case.

 

Talk about player development all you want to, but CC has advanced to the substate 3  of the last 5 years in a disctrict with Bradley Central, McMinn County, and  Cleveland.  That speaks volumes. This is a sad situation and looks like the good ole boy systems is in place in Crossville.

 

Just an outsiders observation.

That's the point. It is no big feat to get to the sub-state in our region. All you have to do is be in 4th place in the district to get to the regions. (As we were). The Chattanooga district is so weak some elementary teams could probably beat the winners of that district. How about having a program that is competitive when we get to sub-state.

I have followed Lady Jet basketball for at least 15 years...from Coach Sherrill, Randy Herring and Amy B. I think Coach B. is a really nice person, but the current players are not developing into the same caliber of ball players that the former coaches were producing. Don't get me wrong, the talent is there, maybe more so, but the girls don't appear to be improving from freshman year to their senior year. The discipline is lacking, the physical stamina is inferior, and the mental toughness is absent. When you continually play freshmen players above players that you have had in the program for several years, something is wrong.

Occasionally you may have a star come up through the program and start as a freshman, but not on a regular basis. There have been players that played more as freshmen than as upper classmen.