DCnewbie

In general this looks to be a tough year. Jennings at QB will no doubt get better as the year progresses but it is tough for any freshman to avoid mental mistakes and at the QB position they are magnified. Our D-line looks pretty solid and prior to an injury last night I would have said our LB's are looking good too. Weak side contain has been a bit of an issue thus far but that will get sorted out. In general our big issues are O-line, WR and secondary. Inexperience and youth can be cruel teachers. Considering others in the district have lost a lot as well my guess is that we will go 6-4 with the win total possibly being one higher or lower depending on how the ball bounces. Watching the first couple of scrimmages tells me that we need to play Gill both ways and pound the rock with Boss to help our freshman QB out and give the Defense a rest. Devonte should end up playing multiple offensive positions (tailback, h-back, and slot) in an effort to get him more touches in open field. What is exciting is that we should improve with each game as long as the kids can stay motivated. The learning curve will be high. If we can sneak by our early schedule without too many losses, the playoffs are a real possibility and by that time our freshman won't make as many freshman mistakes. Physically, I would have to say we are a year away from being in a position to challenge for the district. That is not to say crazy things can't happen in our favor but we are undersized outside of Gill and our speed is limited as well. Coach Trapp seems to have things moving well in the right direction. Tiger pride is getting easier to hold day by day.

Wish it weren't true but heard the same thing. Bad timing.

That is clearly the right attitude. At this point, I think DC has issues to overcome. Howell broke his wrist on the 25th. It will not be a month until next week. He should not be playing and until he is back to "normal" then we have issues creating space on the floor against a disciplined defense. That said, I would not read too much into the District championship score. Any objective party would admit that Ramsey is a nightmare and clearly the best player in the district but he cannot win games by himself as proved by the game at DC. I would say a healthy Howell would be the next best player in the district. Based upon the first two games, I think with a healthy Howell DC is slightly (and I mean slightly - say 2-3 points) better than LA but without his aggression and ability to space the floor LA should be favored by somewhere around 8 - 10 points. With basketball, anything can happen. One hot hand can make a big difference. Round 4 hopefully will come soon.

That is not arrogance, but practical. DC looked awful against Upperman but still could have won prior to Howell breaking his wrist with the game still within 3 at that moment. I know that a player or two were sick but it looked like the boys were asleep until the middle of the third quarter. They then played aggressively for 4 minutes, Howell broke his hand and the comeback fizzled. With our full squad healthy, I believe we would have won the district and possibly if not probably the region. Anything is possible in sport but our chances did just suffer greatly and Coach Martin now has a monumental task to overcome the loss of our best ball handler and play maker. I hate it for all of the seniors. Again, anything is possible but it just became much more difficult.

I don't take anything you are saying regarding Atnip as personal and can see how you would come to that conclusion based on two games. That said, Atnip does have the skill set of a post player (including the moves you mentioned) BUT due to limited jumping ability can have difficulty scoring the ball when a post defender is playing behind him. What he does very well to counter that is getting the ball swung to the opposite side and pinning the defender on his hip where once received he does not have to shoot over anyone. That is clearly a valuable skill with his body. Secondarily, he runs the pick and roll well with Howell. Beyond those options, the majority of his points do come from offensive rebonds and stick backs. He could score from the high post if played there as he has a pretty effective mid range shot but rarely finds himself in that position because Sonny is more effective with his quickness at that spot on the floor.

My point on speed is that he is not capable of playing post in college. He will have to shift to a 3 or maybe even a 2 at his size. Once in either of those positions he is too slow to defend beyond small D1. A great high school player and I have seen a couple like him become small role players at schools like Davidson, Richmond etc but he just does not have the athleticism which you highlight in his jumping ability to play a Big at the next level. Since he will become a small he now has to be faster or play at a lower level against slower competition.

Ramsey extended his forearm leveling Fullilove in the transition after the missed layup by Atnip. It was the hardest foul (not called) of the game. If Ramsey had slid a half step over and not extended his forearm it would have been legal. Regardless, Martin's emotions got the best of him there. What was Ramsey's shooting percentage for the game? I honestly only remember about 4 misses. He uses his body so well, is patient, versatile. What schools are offering him?

Being from DC, I can without a doubt say that Ramsey was the best player on the floor last night and appears to be the only player with a legitimate shot at playing small to mid-size Division 1. If he were a step faster, he would have the ability to play at a mid to high level D1 school but regardless the kids is a fantastic player. As much as Fullilove and Atnip provide for DC, our most valuable player is Howell. His ball handling takes all the pressure off of Molander and allows Atnip to often re-establish himself in better post positions as his defender must hedge toward Steven when he has the ball. It appeared to me last night the LA coach was outclassed by Martin. It is easy to say LA was better than us this year in football and so far it appears that we have the leg up in basketball. That likely has more to do with our coach as the talent appears pretty even. I agree with Lyonheart in his assessment that Ramsey should be MVP. Without him LA would be a below average team. DC has already proven, that without our best playmaker we are still competitive.

Basketball is MUCH different than football due to the number of players on the court. Breaking thru only requires one guy to get hot for a couple games and you can find yourself at state. Winning a gold ball is a completely different proposition. This team will play hard. It would be nice if it were a bit more balanced and less dependent upon the 3. That actually reminds me of our football team's reliance on the pass. IF we can become a bit more balanced, then I would say we have as legitimate a shot as anyone in the region to make it to state. Without balance, it will require someone getting hot at the right time for two to three games. We don't have a dominant playmaker who can take over a game so getting the hot man the ball can be more difficult for DC than someone with a college prospect point guard. I think our team can be good and potentially really good defensively. It should be a fun year.

Score?

I like him for strong safety. Heck, with that type of athleticism if he focused on it the sky is the limit. I think we should all petition now to have him play strictly strong safety beginning next year. No more RB or returns. It made me nervous every time we kicked off to him. Some of our fans were shouting kick it out of bounds just to keep him out of open field.

Manning from Smith County was stronger, faster,and jumped higher and farther than any of them. The only thing he did not have an advantage on were the cone drills. Outlifted Linder from LA. To think he still has another year of eligibility. That boy is already a man. What schools are looking at him? Brock showed the most agility in those cone drills but his passes were wobbly. Guess that is why his first option is to run. He still got them to the receiver on time they were just not very pretty. Molander has alot of power and heart in that frame. Hope all these young men get to play at the next level.

But DC still wins a close one. My upset pick is York over Westmoreland.

Hope DC is ready to play. There have been alot of distractions in the past week and it is easy to look forward to Livingston and get caught in a trap game. Sequoyah fans seem to be humble and focused. Fight hard Tigers.

I think dumdum is correct about the risk of DC looking forward. DC has a good team that at times can be very good but there are a lot of elements not to like as a DC fan heading into this game. It is a trap game

Smith put it on White House without their best back. White House was the same team that squeaked one out against Livingston. Dekalb had one bad game. Don't discount Smith. They have been improving. Represent the district Smith. Good luck Owls. I think they will pull it out in the Hole and win by 6.

Without Phillips, I say DC by 4; with a limited Phillips I say DC by 11; with a healthy Phillips then DC by 24. I know Puckett is a great athlete and has a strong arm but he has not had to read defenses and make throws. I would not trust putting the ball in his hands that way with the exception of some WR screens and maybe a fly route or two throwing to the outside shoulder where it is either caught or goes out of bounds. Both young men are great athletes but typically the wildcat is a change of pace not the base offense. Very little time to change the basic nature of our offense and be effective.

Heard Phillips got good news from the doctor. You say he will "play if he needs to". Are the coaches considering starting the game with him on the sideline? I don't know enough about Sequoyah but it is hard to maintain confidence with our offensive leader watching in the playoffs. Anything can happen in the playoffs. Also, any update on team morale after giving the news of Coach Bernie's resignation a day to sink in? Hopefully, they will play well in honoring him. It must have been hard for him to step down considering his love of the game and these young men.

Any bleachers being added this week? It doesn't sound like Sequoyah will bring a ton of folks but space has been tight all year.