clj

After looking at the game a second time it was really simple.70% of Covington"s baskets were in transition but, when DC called off the press they took a two point lead at the end of the third.Covington just simply broke the press well.Second thing I saw was just dry scoring spells once DC went too deep off the bench along with some bench players getting exposed on the defensive end.Third thing I noticed was just the fact that CJ and REX spent a lot of time giving instructions and directing the underclassmen, while in the half court set, thus taking away from their own game in my opinion.Now as far as Covington's play they simply took advantage of DC mistakes,hit free throws and didn't turn the ball over so the best team that night won the game.

Am I missing something?Was there a riot at BTW in past or something, or are we just stereotyping like usual?

Which gym will it be in.I know BTW has played at the Colosseum in the past.

Who won the Covington game?

DC has got to get on the open man after pressing.There has to be communication in transition to cover open players, that has been a problem all year.Haywood also had several second and third shots and a few fourth chance shots that they they scored on from either not boxing out or not pursuing the ball after the box out.Got to get it together and quickly. Good luck DC.

My take on the game is like this.If Dyersburg play with the intensity that they showed last night, they would have a lot better record than what they have. You just can't get up for the DC game and fall back to sleep against everybody else.Play ball every night you step on the court.Now on to DC, I saw McCord play 12 players shuffled in and out in the first quarter alone.Now I could be wrong,but our 2nd and third string players are not playing at the same intensity and skill level as the top seven or eight do.I have seen this in several of the games in the second half of this season, therefore we have had alot of clsoer games as of lately.I now we are attempting to wear teams down so we can pull away in the fourth, but giving teams the confidence that they can beat you is not good.Remember 75% of basketball is confidence.My biggest fear when it comes to this team is that when they try to pull off late in the game a team will get hot,get some close calls, and send us to the house with a loss.Hopefully it won't happen in tournament play and DC gets sent home for the season.

#1 ranked 3A Bearden.This team is the same team that played nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy close.

Briarcrest is a solid half court team but don't think they have the speed as a team as Liberty.It will come down to tempo control. Both are a handful in their comfort zone.I personally think Liberty is the favorite, being at home along with one of the best coaches in the state. Leslie a is big time player and he alone is worth the price of admission though!

FRED HAD KNEE SURGERY AT THE END OF LAST SEASON.

I FEEL LIKE DC NEEDS A LOST TO GET ON TRACK.SEEMS ODD ,BUT A LOT OF TIMES WHEN TEAMS CONTINUOUSLY WIN AFTER PLAYING SO HORRIBLE THEY ARE IN FOR A SHOCK LATER IN THE POST SEASON.IT IS VERY HARD TO GO UNDEFEATED IN A SEASON.DC HAS BEEN ONLY PLAYING FOR TWO QUARTERS A GAME AS OF LATELY. IF OUR DISTRICT WAS STRONGER WE WOULDN'T BE UNDEFEATED RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU HAVE TO GIVE DC CREDIT THEY HAVE BEATEN PRETTY GOOD TEAMS WHILE IN THERE SLUMP, WITH A TEAM FULL OF UNDERCLASSMEN.

Dyersburg will try to slow the game down in the half court set, then try to win it in the end.DC will do what they do best which is put pressure on the guards and create turn overs.This game is a rivalry game, so both teams will be up for it and Dyersburg will play hard from beginning to end.I just don't think Dyersburg has the engine of DC nor the BB IQ to withstand the pressure and last an entire game.DC should win this game by 20 or more, erupting in the second half.

It is time for a particular coach to let it go.For Lake Co. to play six players maybe seven all night is not setting a good pace for down the stretch.The coach didn't even show up at practice yesterday, so I was told.No more excuses, Good Game Vikings

No most don't, but the players mentioned when they came into the league were players that the NBA owners knew they would build their team around. Philly is not building there team around Thad, he is good and may become the focal point in the future, but not right now.What would have happened if he had gotten hurt with only a couple million dollar contract.... that sounds good to us, but I hear of players going through that kind of money and having nothing to fall back on (D Wagner). Look at Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway,Big Greg at Portland, and Micheal Jordan's foot injury. All of these guys came into the league as high stock franchise players, so when injury happened they still had longevity in the league, that's what I'm getting at longevity.Now we can look back and see that Thad has maintained good health so far and thank god for that and I do know a player can stay in college ...get injuried and stock drop or have a down season like C Lofton and then not make the league, but I personally think Thad could have been a top five after one more season then really be set for life. JUST MY THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT. LIKE YOUR POST THOUGH.

It has taken Thad a couple seasons in the NBA to begin to come into his own.He could have worked on those small aspects of his game over the summer and during his sophomore season.Then he would have matured more and entered the draft with a higher stock - demand and making an impact immediately.If you think back he did not dominate night in and night out at Georgia Tech, but he had youth on his side and tremendous upside ,so he was taken in the draft.If he had gotten, injured a NBA team could have took their loses and used him as trade bait or something, but if he was a high stock player like one more year would have made him and the unfortunate happened ,then the NBA would have had to wait on his recovery and use him.

THAT WAS A GOOD POINT, BUT LOOK WE CAN FIND THAT IN LAST YEARS PERFORMANCE OF BUCKNER AS WELL. MANASSAS UP BY DOUBLE FIGURES LATE IN THE GAME AGAINST A UNDERSIZED UC THEN ...... WHAT HAPPENS. UC LEAD BY MJ BROWN, BEGINS TO MAKE A RALLY.REGINALD PROBABLY DIDN'T TOUCH THE BALL IN THE OFFENSIVE SET THREE GOOD TIMES IN THE FOURTH.EVERY TIME MJ BROWN WOULD SHOOT AND CONNECT. ONE OF THE GUARD FROM MANASSAS WOULD JUST GO BACK DOWN AND FIRE IT UP.BROWN GOT TO THE LANE SEVERAL TIMES IN THE SECOND HALF BY DRIBBLE PENETRATION AND DISHING OR SCORING HIMSELF. NOW I COULD EASILY SAY THAT IF BUCKNER IS A POTENTIAL ALL AMERICAN HE SHOULD HAVE TOOK OVER THE GAME BUT IT JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN LIKE THAT. MANASSAS WAS A TEAM, MITCHELL WAS A TEAM AND TEAMS MESS UP AND COACHES HAVE TO TAKE SOME OF THAT RESPONSIBILITY...SORRY.MAN I THINK YOUNG WAS BETTER PLAYER FOR HIS POSITION ON THE COLLEGE LEVEL, BUT THOUGHT HE SHOULD HAVE STAYED ANOTHER YEAR ALSO.

DC BY 20

The Flex offense that USJ runs mostly is as old as the kids playing. We ran that same flex offense twenty years ago.Now, it can work if the kids were to screen players and not spots on the court .... This offense is difficult to stop even when the defense can see it coming , but you have to be able to pass well, at the right time, and most of the time have pretty good low post player.The Flex offense is really just continous pick and rolls.If USJ shoots well from the outside the flex offense will be easier to execute.

They probably will, but that's not my point .This thread is about individual players and how they compare to one another, not team-play. We know that National Powerhouses are loaded teamwise and have some super ballplayers...no doubt.

AND YES , I FORGOT TO MENTION BRAIRCREST PLAYS LINCOLN, NY.DID YOU SEE THEM LAST NIGHT VS DUNCANVILLE,TX ON ESPN?....MAN NATIONAL COMP. IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL!!!

BUCKNER COMPARED TO JENKINS IS LIKE COMPARING APPLES TO ORANGES.I DON'T CARE HOW YOU LOOK AT IT 57 POINTS IS SOME REALLY GREAT SHOOTING.BUCKNER WOULD PUT UP HIGH NUMBERS ALSO IF HE WAS ON TEAM LIKE STATION CAMP, BUT WE WILL NEVER TRULEY KNOW.I THINK LESIE VS JENKINS IS A BETTER COMPARISON.THEN IF YOU LOOK AT COMPETITION LEVELS IT IS STILL HARD TO COMPARE THOSE TWO. BRIARCREST PLAYS SOME TOUGH NATIONAL TEAMS LIKE FLOSSMORE AND SIMEON OUT OF CHICAGO. COACHES FROM THESE THREE SCHOOLS (BRIARCREST, STATION CAMP, AND MANASSAS) HAVE DIFFERENT PHILOSPHIES, SO ALL WE CAN GIVE ARE OPINIONS OF WHAT AND WHO WE'VE SEEN PLAY AND LIKE.THESE SCHOOLS ARE IN THREE DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATIONS, SO WHO REALLY CAN MAKE A FAIR UNBIAS OPINION.PERSONALLY I THINK ALL THREE PLAYERS ARE SPECIAL YOUNG MEN.

BOTH ARE AS MATURE AS ANYONE ELSE ON THE TEAM WITH THE EXCEPTIONS OF REX AND CJ.

What I saw in this game was that it seems DC prematurely substituted last night.Score was 22-9 when starting 5 came out in the first half. Then Ripley made a run and it was 25 -21 in no time.Now, I know that I'm no coach and McCORD is good at what he does, but momentum can give confidence and sway an entire game. I believe continuous rotation is good in some instances, but a solid 7 is going to get you over the hump in the tight games.Now DC is young and maybe coach is still searching for those special ones that separate themselves from the others, I don't know but, what I do know is that DC made that game closer than it should have been because Ripey is too good of a team to give a second chance.

YOU SEE THAT'S WHAT I'M REFERING TO WHEN I SAID NOT TO LOOK AT, AND PUT SO MUCH WEIGHT IN JAMBOREES. REX PLAYED SATURDAY FOR DC.... IS #24 THIS YEAR JUSTIN BLAKE'S OLD #, BUT MC'CORD DIDN'T SHOW EVERYTHING, BECAUSE IT WAS JUST A PRACTICE GAME OR SHOULD I SAY HALF.

LET'S NOT JUMP THE GUN TO QUICKLY WHEN RATING A TEAM, BY USING A JAMBOREE OR ANY SCRIMMAGE. REMEMBER LAST SEASON DC PLAYED MILLINGTON AND DIDN'T LOOK GOOD AT ALL.DC ALSO LOST A COUPLE SCRIMMAGES THAT SURPRISED A LOT OF PEOPLE. BUT WHEN SEASON STARTED THEY BEGAN TO ROLL AND ROLLED RIGHT INTO THE STATE TOURNAMENT.I WON'T DOWN PLAY GC WHEN THEY LOSE PRESEASON SCRIMMAGES, SO BE CAREFUL , BECAUSE GC WILL HAVE TO PLAY DC.AND THE DC FANS ARE JUST SITTING BACK AND WAITING TO ATTACK.