TonyG

I think lomax is the best player on that East team. he may not get the 4 or 5 stars like lawson and moss will get when its all said and done but he's the glue of that team and has been since the lester middle days. This top 5 thing is tough

who compare's a PF to a SG coach? I'm not gonna back down just bc you throw out your experience, congratulations thats a blessing that you've been able to battle such talented guys. But Key wouldn't make it in memphis unless he had likewise talent around him. His athleticism may work for Class A elsewhere but when you come to District 8 and play the best of the press with freakish athleticism and tremendous length you won't drop 46 in a winning effort ask Malik Monk. Kudos to the kid shooting 21/22 from the line it's a lost art in the game with everyone jacking shots now. He's a great talent of the state he may be a much better college than highschool player but he's not top 5 in the state maybe if the teams actually came to play the squads who get the gold balls i would think differently. District 8 is a different type of ball on all class levels ask the most recent casualties Halls and UC. Hopefully they will get a shot at mitchell. Lets see if he give's Olison 40 pts.

He's not a true point. Maybe in 2-3 years but today right now in highschool nope! not taking that bait at all. Correctoin he's the #15 shooting guard in the nation, the only kid in TN 2018 that has cracked the espn 60(#40) is the "true" 6'4 pg at hamilton heights(most of those kids are transplants so i don't really call them TN kids). And with his(PS) shooting ability i beg to differ that coaches may want him to be the primary ball handler bc ability can be wasted that way(has anyone not checked on malik newman lately? he's sure better than 11-2-2 per game even tho his team sucks). Stewart may be a baller in many aspects but mitchell is also alot smaller than they have been the past so the press has been better but it doesn't extract from the team's intensity. He may not have any help but it happens all the time in highschool. Hey even Malik Monk came to the shelby metro and couldn't overpower the East press, he showed NBA flashes for sure but you're definitely not going to beat them by yourself. And they are a young team with no transplants with the key players being 14-16 with 2+ years left, and i think they would eat hamilton heights lunch! but thats another argument for another forum. CONGRATS to the mitchell tigers hopefully they get a BTW matchup for revenge again and the gold ball bragging rights.

Dillon Mitchell was not even a top 5 kid in memphis. How can the only 5 star player in the state not be in anyone's top 5. I agree with Fisher as #1 bc he's a veteran and has top tier on ball D in the state. But Darius Garland should be on everyone's top 5; If you haven't heard of him or looked him up you're a homer and not really a fan of ball outside of your area. The kid is legit and him barely missing the last cut of the USA U-17 team wasn't a fluke nor politics, he isn't ranked #12 in the nation for nothing. He's a true PG just like fisher but he will be more polished than fisher his senior year. But i also love fisher, he's a battled tested baller who could easily have got a gold ball if he had 1 or 2 low major college players around him. There is not too many coaches that would choose not to build their program around Fisher or Garland. Idk if Bone makes my top 5, he doesn't excel to the same extent with likewise talent of his calibur on the opposing side. I hate to say it but there's arguably a pretty big chance that Tyler Harris is top 5 no matter classification, even though I hate that AAU run and gun jack it up style play but the kid doesn't miss and is extremely athletic/explosive and will play both sides of the ball. If he played in Key's or Stewarts Region/Division the kid would average 40 (being the only ultra talented kid on his team). 247 has him as a 4 star pg at 5'9 140, what he doesn't have in size he has in range for sure. lol

No problem man, I'm not a faithful Mitchell follower but I've seen Tevin play several times. He has one of the smoothest strokes in the area and could flirt with 30 pts nightly if he wasn't in a system that strives on defense and smart shots and instead was in a similar system comparable to other programs that jack up shots and push the ball. Nothing against Stewart at all. I just think his athleticism would get challenged on a nightly basis in the shelby metro area, bc in the area your stars wont help you as the penny classic shows year in and out.

haha funny thing is i posted in that forum earlier responded to his statement and scrambled upon yours minutes later. He's probably a homer who hasn't seen much ball outside of the rural area schools in which a good high school player(future college kid) is seen as the next all american snub in their opinion. I agree with pujo, sleeprs happen but it's very rare. here's what i said: "Key being a top 5 player in the state is laughable. And i dont understand why its continually being pointed out that "top aau" programs are after him. Imo aau doesnt matter if youre not selfish enough with the ball to takeover and stand out, and as a 2017 player its kinda too late for him to benefit very well from an aau organization in the state unless he went to Team Penny, Team Thad or WACG and made a deep run into the peach jam(for the nike affiliated teams) or a event like that for example and was able to extremely stand out. And even with those teams they have kids who have been playing together for over 5 years and have been successful on all the AAU circuits. All 3 of those organizations bring players from out of the state (Dennis Smith, PJ Washington, Marvin Bagley, and Kevaughn allen to name a few all top 50 players nationally) in to play in the big circuits so even the local talent is sometimes overshadowed by the top blue chippers. The AAU circuit is extremely political there are rarely overnight stars who join the teams and completely show out enough; and if youre not with a organization that is sponsored by the big boys (Nike, Addidas, UA) it can be pointless and its sometimes hard to be seen. Key is special, he has the size for the next level and a tremendous skill set but Its hard to believe that he's a top 5 player in the state if you have not seen all of the top kids play. Our state is very competitive in basketball even on a national level and we are lucky to see some of the future stars that we do. But top 5 is far fetched seeing that we cant find any video evidence of him and he doesn't have a single star on any recruiting board (even tho ratings are dumb and not an exact science)."

Goodluck with this post lol. Alot of the homers will throw out some unknown names and try to specify it off stats or the player's role on their team instead of pointing out the player's overall ability against comparable competition and elite talent lol. Good luck sir. this will be interesting.

Olison plays both sides of the ball! Mitchell is Defense first!

Key being a top 5 player in the state is laughable. And i dont understand why its continually being pointed out that "top aau" programs are after him. Imo aau doesnt matter if youre not selfish enough with the ball to takeover and stand out, and as a 2017 player its kinda too late for him to benefit very well from an aau organization in the state unless he went to Team Penny, Team Thad or WACG and made a deep run into the peach jam(for the nike affiliated teams) or a event like that for example and was able to extremely stand out. And even with those teams they have kids who have been playing together for over 5 years and have been successful on all the AAU circuits. All 3 of those organizations bring players from out of the state (Dennis Smith, PJ Washington, Marvin Bagley, and Kevaughn allen to name a few all top 50 players nationally) in to play in the big circuits so even the local talent is sometimes overshadowed by the top blue chippers. The AAU circuit is extremely political there are rarely overnight stars who join the teams and completely show out enough; and if youre not with a organization that is sponsored by the big boys (Nike, Addidas, UA) it can be pointless and its sometimes hard to be seen. Key is special, he has the size for the next level and a tremendous skill set but Its hard to believe that he's a top 5 player in the state if you have not seen all of the top kids play. Our state is very competitive in basketball even on a national level and we are lucky to see some of the future stars that we do. But top 5 is far fetched seeing that we cant find any video evidence of him and he doesn't have a single star on any recruiting board (even tho ratings are dumb and not an exact science).

Its pretty quiet in here seeing that the action starts within a few hours for A and tomorrow morning for AA

lol not picking just showing up for another good game.

Pretty sure that Chase will win Mr. Basketball also.

Gtown wins 71-70!

A-Key's stats do not lie! AA- haven't seen either play. AAA- seen all 3 play several times. Lomax effects the game the most on the best team in the state and is the floor general but he's young so idk if voters will give it to him bc there's so much talent around him. Hoover is a sharp shooting senior who will probably get the vote in the end. (No i am not a Arlington fan) Higgins is good I wouldnt say he's the best in the state bc there are a few underrated guards of similar size that could go toe to toe with him and are more polished imo. His football heroics heightens people's opinion of him in basketball. East doesn't get the respect from the rest of the state so I think it's either Higgins or Hoover. Btw some of the DII kids would also be finalists in some of the D1 divisions and the offers that they have are proof. (Hayden, Garland, Bone, Douglas) DII-A Kenny Cooper-FRA Chase Hayden-St George's Clayton Hughes-USJ DII-AA Jordan Bone-Ensworth William Douglas-CBHS Darius Garland-Brentwood

Announced a little over an hour ago the long awaited match-up is finally happening. The nationally ranked Memphis East Mustangs will battle the senior driven Germantown Red Devils. The was much spectacle about whether East would play Cordova or Germantown and which would yield the best match-p, but now its set in stone. Should be a good one, who are you guys taking?

Pretty sure the gold ball will be hoisted by a Memphis team when it's all said and done, so the hate doesn't matter. Most likely East will do it but I would love to see Gtown get it done with those 13 seniors. Its boom or bust for those guys unlike the young East squad

If turnovers are involved, BA will always find a way to win

Some of you guys are sick if you rank anyone in the state over East. Those kids are long and highly talented. Germantown is the only team I could see beating them, due to their trio of guards who can score and defend well, but they would have to have a perfect game to do so just about. Whitehaven could possibly do it only bc of Phillips. Hoover cant do it by himself, so Arlington is a no-no. And as far as Oak Ridge goes, if they cannot beat Cordova Saturday they wont come close to East at all..

Wow had no clue. Hopefully they are as talented as you say they are. Looking forward to seeing the Tigers play in the Big games to come.

I was able to checkout the championship game in FL and CBHS controlled the entire game. I've seen BA play over a handful of times within the last year and they excel off of turnovers and great ball movement. Their players are extremely talented ,especially the trio (Garland, Oatsvall, Johnson) but the only way to beat them in my opinion is being around the 10 turnover mark and slow the game down keeping the trio under 40 pts. If im not mistaken they've only lost 3 games in the past 2 seasons and all 3 where low scoring affairs. You WILL NOT beat them at their game lol. CBHS controlled the game from start to finish although it almost turned into another melt down like last year as they saw a ~15 point lead dwindle down to 4 in the final minute. They have somewhat of a nice trio also with any one of them being able to get around 15-20 any night which happened in the tournament. BA isn't as big as they were over the summer, possibly has something to do with the big kid down low signing to play football for Ole Miss next year maybe he's an early enrollment or something. I also finally saw what all of the major ranking sites see in Garland, he's the real deal, he has a game much beyond his age and size. He gets rebounds, posts up smaller guards, finds open teammates without a problem and he's just the total package. It will be scary whenever he starts playing above the rim, I think he will finish a top 25 talent in the 2018 class for sure (yes i know he's already up there). My predictions on teams with a legitimate chance of finishing in the final 4 are BA, Ensworth, CBHS, Briarcrest, and McCallie. Who makes it to the championship game? Idk it depends largely on the seeding bc a few of these teams could meet in the quarterfinal games. And as far as the BA vs ENS argument goes. Ensworth depends largely on Bone's production unless something has changed about there roster tremendously this year i don't see a one person's production beating BA. BA dominated a FL team that had a top 50 florida st commit (Trent Forrest) who dropped over 30 pts and a many dimes but still didnt get close.

Thoughts on the classic: East shouldn't lose a game, too talented/long and the boys mesh very well to be composed mainly of 9th and 10th graders. Btw Chandler Lawson is extremely skilled he definitely won his matchup versus a 6'10 junior. Westlake definitely passed the 'eye test' and athleticism was out the roof, the Lewis brothers and highly touted Chuma Okeke stood out the most. Jaylen Fisher single handedly kept Bolton in a game against a team loaded with 6 D1 recruits (Westlake), UNLV has a special player on the way. Cordova is good, not as special as they are raved about imo they are not the 2nd best team in the city .Tyler Harris arguably has the greenest light in the city (behind Nathan Hoover) but he is special also, definitely will be attended the 1/12 matchup against Bolton to see how he responds against a very feisty defender (Fisher). Germantown can challenge and beat any one in the state, they are a senior laden team with much experience and a back court with three 5'10-6' guards that can score with the best of them and simply jump out of the gym. They should not have lost to Jonesboro, imo one of the Guards forced it a little too much down the stretch. The red devils will be in Murfreesboro. As far as Jonesboro goes (besides them hitting a half court heave to send it to OT), i only have 7 words. MJ Walker is a man among boys! (I wonder will he choose bball or football) Houston is a very young talented team, not quite east-like but they will be special in another year or two. Christian Brothers won against one of the more talented teams compared to their remaining schedule until February (Brentwood/Ensworth). 6'4 junior William Douglas is silky smooth, has athleticism combined with a mid-range game (which isn't common in todays game) I could see him as a PG on the next level after a little more work on his ball handling. Overall the two nights were great, final game didn't end til around 11:40 so it was a very tiring event but all games were exciting for the most part. Definitely will be attending next years classic also! (all of these examinations are simply my own opinions I am not an expert.)

Got a chance to check out Mitchell vs. Christian Brothers last night for a final scrimmage before the season starts. Mitchell plays very tenacious and relentless defense no one on the team has a problem getting on the floor for a ball and there are no egos you can clearly tell that these kids have been in a winning environment before (2 year reigning champs). They really, really, really excel at trapping and playing the passing lanes. Turner was a great hire, someone with a winning mentality and reputable career/knowledge was needed to replace Phillips and being Alum always helps! X-factor in my opinion is guard Tevin Ollison he's the 6th man for some strange reason maybe for a premium scorer off the bench but he has the look of the biggest contributor for the team. He has the microwave ability and will be a matchup problem for smaller guards due to his 6'3 frame. The tigers also got the best of a Memphis East team that has several D1 potential players with undoubtedly the most length in the state. Mitchell has a great season ahead of them and a 3rd straight gold ball is very possible. As far as CBHS goes, most people are familiar with how they went under the radar last year while going undefeated all the way to the state championship to lose in the final minutes (lead by 10 at the start of the 4th and by 8 with 3+ minutes left) to a talented Brentwood Academy team (which has an potential All-American PG in Darius Garland and sure teammates who are good enough for D1 basketball but shine a little more on the football field such as Camron Johnson and Jeremiah Oatsvall). Most city prep basketball followers are familiar with Bubba Luckett's system of execution and sharp shooting with limited athleticism but the 14-15 teams was different and actually talented.This year the Brothers have over a handful of seniors but this team will go as far as the juniors Jacob Lyons and William Douglas will take them. Lyons returns after an injury held him from action on last year’s team, this 6’5 big with great leaping ability will be of great help to their team as the opponents get tougher throughout the year. Douglas a 6’4 versatile slasher with an improved shot will be a name to remember. Although 2 of last years starters graduated, this team will not have a talent drop off and may actually be better prepared if a BA rematch presented itself in the postseason. The scrimmage was unofficial so the scores were reset after each period. But I recorded the scores and I understand that if they score had stayed on the on the board and accumulated the results could’ve been different due to having a visual aid of the actual game score. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th CBHS 16 6 11 11 44 Mitchell 14 15 5 8 42 44-42 is a low scoring fest Mitchell will definitely not have many low scoring games unless the tempo is slowed down like this one was. Ollison Lead Mitchell with 11 points and Douglas led CBHS with 13. Both teams have great potential. Looking forward to checking out other teams in the area can’t wait for tomorrow’s tipoff!!!

I also think that a handful of the Private teams are undervalued compared to Public schools. What they lack in size and athleticism they account for in pure shooting and execution definitely.

I agree, Ensworth is solid and Bone can keep his team into a game by himself but BA has too many weapons. Johnson Garland and Oatsvall could be the single star of their own team outside private leagues and 2/3 are technically football players. The season will be a good one, excited that its finally here!

BA, they didnt lose a soul from last year's Super young team. Final four will probably be the same four from last year excluding Briarcrest; they lost a few too many players, mainly highlighting the lost of Micah Thomas to Huntington Prep. I'm predicting another BA CBHS rematch.