MidstateHoops

Barnes is from NC and he has always recruited the Carolinas well, even at Texas.

I believe he had 3 freshman from NC commit after he took the job. The two TN-native freshman Bone & Bowden were committed prior to Barnes accepting the job. 

Not sure why there were not more colleges visible considering Memphis East is loaded, Southwind had a few, Oakland I think has a few younger guys with looks, OR's athleticism and so on. 

They sound fun and entertaining to watch. 

From what I have gotten to watch of Oakland this year, they have a lot of length.

PG is a sophomore and their best scorer - probably 6'2 with good length. few offers including MTSU

SG - is roughly 6'1 and is a good catch and shoot guy, least athletic guy on the court at times but does a lot of intangibles on both sides of the court.

SF & PF are 6'3/6'4 and have a very long windspans - they both play great D and rebound very well. 

C - 6'5 with a stocky build. I'd guess that he plays football (DE or TE) - he can score from just about anywhere including the catch and shoot 3. Does a good job a getting to the rim off of the dribble.

off the bench they had a pair (or 3) of kids 6'3ish that can really guard and rebound well. One is a better basketball player while the other is a better athlete (believe he's going to UT-Martin for football). They also have a younger guard who played very well in the regular season but he hasn't shot the ball great in the post-season. 

The Brentwood/OR and Oakland/Southwind are the most interesting games to me because they are completely different types of teams. 

Obviously Southwind and OR are the better teams on paper, sometimes these type of odd match ups have a weird way of playing out.

Personally, [and i've been around the Mid-state (this league specifically) for a very long time] - I've always said that Massey was a bottom half coach in this league. Now don't get me wrong, yes he has done well in the post season the past few years, BUT with the talent he has had the past 6 (give or take a year or two) they have had the best team on paper. 

Yes on paper doesn't mean everything but I think he under performs with what he generally has. He has a group of incoming freshman that will be pretty darn good in a year or two.

Allen, Luna, McDowell would be my 1-3; I think Brown @ Beech and Carney @ WC did a heck of a job in their first year with the young kids and below-average talent they were having to coach.

Kerry West @ Hendersonville is awful.

I don't know enough about the guy at Portland - didn't even watch them this year

Mark Freeman

Haha enough said

This was tried with the Spring Fling a few years ago. It didn't go well.

 

When the rotation hit Memphis the people that would come would only come to the games Memphis teams play in. Now if it was an all Memphis final, especially in AAA, there would be a lot of people.

 

When the rotation hit Knoxville the only people from Memphis that would come would be the teams.

 

The middle of the state is best.

And logistically speaking it is the most practical.. I would definitely agree

Not so much which team its which C.J. shows up if the one from the other nights shows they are almost unbeatable

How does Southwind play against zones like 3-2 & 1-3-1? 

I can completely understand your pick with Mitchell. However I think you'll truly be surprised to see what this Harriman team brings to Murfreesboro!! We've got some absolute playmakers and can play with anybody that's put in front of us! We're looking forward to the challenge of facing "The Dynasty" the Mitchell Tigers!! Thursday can't get here quick enough!!

Good luck! 

Only thing I know about Harriman is they have a solid coach and had a great burger joint about 3-4 years ago 

So Massey is likely headed out? I've heard rumors but I didn't think it was likely

Like I said I was going purely off of watching them early in a Thanksgiving Tourney in which they split with two AAA teams who are in the State Tournament - Indy and Oakland

You are right on.The big kid is soft and likes to play with his feet in the air trying to block EVERY shot and every game I saw was a non factor.You can't score or play D sitting next to the coach.NOW...The other kids are ballers and I mean ballers.The Soph is as good as any Sr I saw play this year and 41 could play and start for any team and and be the go to guy.The point guard is like Jekyl and Hyde.He can handle the ball like mad and shoot the 3 as good as anyone BUT some of his Ill advised passes bumfuzzles me.Now I still stand by what I have said GCA when they play to their strength is as good as any 3a team and will be hard for anyone to out them.IMO.

Yes 41 and I believe it was 35 could play. The PG is a great ball handler, but I would guess he is young, maybe a sophomore or freshy just hit maturity with decision-making and shot taking.

They played maybe 6-7 guys, so they are not very deep. 

And like I said the big kid is a non factor - doesn't even look to score when he catches the ball in the post.

I had the chance to watch GCA around Thanksgiving and I said then that they would be in Murfreesboro. The 6'5 and 6'7 kids are by far their best guys but they didn't seem very urgent to get the ball to then. The 6'9 kid is very soft - he was at Bearden and his reason for transferring to TSSAA was "bullying" but after watching him play (I mean this in the nicest way possible and I'm not degrading the kid) I could certainly see why he might've been bullied. 

The PG is very flashy but can shoot the 3 if open and finishes well at the rim. Took multiple ill-advised shots such as 17 footer floaters rather than a pull up.. 

Like I said, that was around so they had plenty of time to patch those things up. 

I know Coach Abernathy who is at Humboldt - he did a great job at TSU in his day so I know this will likely be a shootout

What teams are losing who? I'm curious as to who will be contenders next year and who will be 're-building'

Don't know crap about Sheffield this year, haven't heard anything from them since before 2010 when they had Chris Crawford. Haywood could make a run and end up in the final, they have the players to slow down Hodges to get there. 

Very possible - I went off the assumption of Haywood not being in the conversation of state the last few years .. Only watched Maplewood twice this year and they are similar to Independence - each have a stud with sub-par surrounding casts

No one from memphis will bring in favorable fans. If i were running things i would have three satellite locations and switch up up every year between a West, Middle and East location. It's not as if the place packs out anyway but thats just my opinion. I know there are alot of money things involved in picking the location. 

If they went that route - I would love it for the kids to play:

@ Memphis (West)

@ Vandy, MT, or Municipal Auditorium (Midstate)

@ UT (East)

AAA

- I think Bearden will beat Indy unless Grayson has a big game which is very possible.

- Southwind takes Oakland by 15 unless they cannot hit shots against the zone AND Oakland scores like they have as of recent. 

- East beats E. Hamilton by 20+

- OR ends up having too much fire power for Brentwood 

AA

- Whites Creek beats Sheffield with the press 

- Catholic beats MC late by 10 - MC will look to make this an ugly game

- Maplewood's Hodges has big game against Sullivan East

- Haywood beats Brainerd - I don't know much about either

A

- GCA and Humboldt should be a very good game - Flip a coin

I'm not familiar with the other A teams, other than Mitchell beating Harriman