CNFn

I am sure Wiggins is as smart as the is a great athlete. But how do you know his GPA? As far as attacking Guthrie, Basile and White sounds like jealousy to me. Considering your knowledge of his GPA it makes some sense. There is room enough for complements for more than just Wiggins in East Tennessee. He is not the only great athlete in the area and we may see how great he is if they ever make it out of the region. Hopefully they will so we can all see how good he really is. Hopefully he will make it big time at the next level and we will all be rooting for him. Sorry you could not see beyond your jealousy. I doubt seriously if you have actually seen more than one game of any team outside your region. As far as Guthrie goes he will probably walk on at Walters State , but I seriously think he is good enough to walk on or be recruited by ETSU or other D1 schools. Hopefully at least Tusculum or Carson Newman will give him a look. He doesn't have the same band wagon of promoters as Wiggins does but then again who is comparing? Not me. I agree with Wiggins greatness and would never compare him with anyone. It is equally not good to question his or anyone's academic abilities. Hope some day to watch Antoine play on TV where we can all say "I knew that kid when".......... Let us hope he is not the only one.

Tony is a great shooter but needs to work on his defense. More of a number two guard in college. Basile has the complete game and may be one of the best defenders in the area. Maybe we will see a matchup between Wiggins and Tony or Basile in the future.

Wiggins is good but not sure I would take him over Tony White Jr. (Bearden) or Kent Basile (Maryville)

Wiggins is good but not sure I would take him over Tony White Jr. (Bearden) or Kent Basile (Maryville)

West if the refs stay out of this one.

I agree Keep your best players on the court at all times whether there are 2 or 5

I know why, he had the depth few teams have. rare to have that many good players unless you are a recuiting school or so large you have too many kids with talent.

Another KEY. Coaches rarely use all their time outs in high school basketball. Use them properly and space them out and you will sub alot less. Watch the college and pro coaches and they regularly use them to change the flow of the game and to give their 5 starters time to rest. How and When to use TIMEOUTS is another art of the game! If you don't use all of them , chances are your time management is OFF.

Thank you and well said yourself. It was just an observation and not an attempt to tell coaches how to coach. I have just observed too many games where the coach has lost track of time and allowed the opposing team to build an insurmountable lead while their best players are on the bench. Lack of time management and poor substitution are the best ways to ruin a good team. Some coaches have it and most don't. I still say play your best 5 and let them stay as long as you can, otherwise you are losing something. Subs tend to turn the ball over more , play poor defense and make ill advised shots since they tend to rush it. Just an observation, but it seems to hold true. The art of game management is rarely taught and poorly understood. Most games are lost in the "thick of it" , when a coach lets the game get away from him unknowingly. Less and better substitution is the KEY.

The best coaches in high school tend to play their best 5-7 players for most of the game, barring their getting into foul trouble. Some coaches have the unfortunate attititude that they need to play all the players suited up (sometimes 10-15), which seriously disturbs the "rhythm of the game". Also they never seem to get the right players playing together and gelling. No wonder since they hardly play together. Sadly some coaches use substitution as a way to "punish" their players for missing a shot, fouling etc. This is probably the best way to destroy your team confidence The JV and Freshman games, plus AAU are where you get your younger guys experience, not Varsity games. Some coaches figure it out and others don't. With 8 minute quarters you can hardly afford not to have your best 5 out there "all the time". Watch and see how the best teams generally sub the least (boys and girls). Put your best 5 guys or girls out there and let em play. Most teams are fortunate to have 5 good players. If you have em maximize their playing time or face the consequences. When any of your best 5 players are on the bench you are probably losing something! Simple math. Play politics or do the math.

Generally the younger guys are the best refs, although not guarenteed. Just that some of the old ones are part of a local good old boys club. The IMAC should be ashamed of their refs. Mecaner is right and there needs to be some way for East to get these guys off their schedule. It has been happening for many years and looks to continue on until there is a shake up. Besides some of those guys are too fat to be running up and down the court. Sometimes I think they may call more fouls just to take a breather

Maybe a little bit of both. But a high school team should not have to "play" the refs. The real truth is East coaches would need to ban half the IMAC refs, including the one mentioned to get a fair chance to play. I for one don't mind you naming a ref especially when they are as bad as the guy you mentioned. He should be exposed along with the rest of the fixers. I think what he meant by fixing , was these guys have a thing for controlling the outcome of games. Besides someone told me the IMAC was named after their refs, as in "I Make Assanine Calls"

Yeh the refs are probably jealous of you or they may just want to clip your wings. Either way it stinks because it takes the best players out of the game who are most aggressive. Good defense is not rewarded in high school becasue most of these refs never played. They think everything is a foul especially when they see you are aggressive.

As bad as it is I don't find horrible calls "both ways" as much of a problems as when they call them inconsistently on both sides of the court. It is soooo obvious sometimes. The other thing I have observed is when the ref's , sometimes one or a few , pick out an obvious good player and call cheap or touch fouls to either get him or her in foul trouble or better yet out of the game. That is as good a way to seal the outcome of a game as any. Some players face this on a regular basis and it is sooo unfair. Their coaches object but rarely is there anything you can do about it. These refs obviously are either jealous of the player or want to favor a friend. Either way it is sick. Most people are not even aware of what has gone down, much like this "deadeye" guy who posted earlier. I doubt if it is the $35 per game that motivates them so much as the "power" to "control and manipulate others".

This is not to say that the majority of ref's in high school are not very good. This year I have observed some real bad ref's who appear to be trying to influence the outcome of a game. They need to let the kids play and let the outcome be determined out on the court and not by their bias. There needs to be a film review of all calls to keep these guys accountable to someone or something. Something is obviously wrong with the "system" as it presently exists, because it allows way too many "bad examples" of ref'ing.

Cosby is always stronger than Cocke County

Tony White for sure. He beat Bradley Central single handed and they supposedly are one of the best teams in the East. Have not seen Kemp . Word is White may follow his dad to UT and join Steve Pearl as two locals. Would be a good move for Coach Pearl to recruit more local kids, something Buzz never learned.

Dont get to excited. 1) You played them on a small court (elementary size) 2) That prevents East from doing what they do best run and gun 3) Wait and see what happens when you play them on a real court East 4) Not even sure you played? "we beat them" How many points did you have? 5) Finally congratulations to West for winning the first "half" of the war Guthrie and Ewing are strong

Sorry I don't buy the height thing. Look at Leak for Florida. Don't think he had much trouble and I doubt he is 6 ft. How about Spurrier , Flutie or Fran Tarkenton? There are too many other examples of guys who were not 6' 2" or better that were great quarterbacks in college and the pros. The too small thing is way over rated. I would much rather a quick, strong armed quarterback like Leak or Palazzola then a classic drop back and 6' 4" guy like Casey Clausen. I personally think both Baugh and Palazzola were D-1 prospects if they had someone promoting them outside of the area. Speaking of height being over rated , think about Nash for the Pheonix Suns? I know it is basketball but what sport more than any other over rates height as a predictor of success? If his lineman are "too tall" then tell him to roll out and scramble like Tarkenton or better yet drop back a few more yards like Leak. We know he has the speed and athletic ability to do both. Better yet, let him use it as motivation to prove them all wrong. Don't you hate it when someone tells you , you can't do something because you are too.......? BS You gotta believe it though FIRST.

I think East football may fool alot of people, but not those on the inside. This year they are ready to make a big move forward. I would not be surprised if they place an athlete each year at a D-1 school in the next two years. By the way will Rines and Altizer work together on the baseball team next year? That would be a good combination!

I agree I think Palazzola will make it big. He has a rare combination of a great arm and great speed. I wish he would have gone to a SEC school so could follow him

I agree with you on the competition. East basketball can not be taken seriously until they start playing DB SH Knoxville OakRidge etc. The schedule is padded with 8 automatic wins you mentioned. Actually 10 when you add Rutledge to the mix each year. West on the other hand plays tough competition year in and year out and become better at the end of the season . They usually peak by the time of the district tournament. Before I would take East baseball and basketball teams seriously, they will have to stiffen the competition and play more tournaments. The win loss record and 40 wins in two seasons does not impress anyone when you consider the lack of competition. You can subtract 20 when you look at the lack of comp. It may look good on a coaches resume but that is about the extent of it. Look for some tougher competition and post the stats or look for another job. Duffy and Griffin were two characters who never shyed away from competition. That was there strong suit. And JT encouraged it. Many did not like Duff but he was a competitor and always looked to go higher. The baseball team needs to play lot more games and tournaments. As this year should prove they will need to put their best athletes in the infield and if they make repeated errors then replace them with the guys on the "pine". With a good defense and infield this year we would have made it at least to sub state. We need to learn from our mistakes not repeat em.

No wonder then that Morristown East athletic programs are so weak. All I can say is he better make sure they do it for football or there are going to be some angry fans and parents. The principal seems to care little about the athletic programs. I say bring back Jerry T and get an AD that cares. or better yet convert the ones we got.

Happy to see that at least East football placed stats on PrepXtra last year.Hope they keep it up this year and also please place roster and stats on Coacht.It was nice to see our kids get some recognition and see how they stacked up with other players in the area. We have some good prospects coming up and good to see they will receive the recognition they deserve. But we should not expect it in the Tribune. Hope our AD makes it required for all east sports.