Lord Vader

lol yep. i really think both teams will be heading down to the Boro. the Landers will have absolutely no problem with Harriman. it will get ugly quick. we went down and watched the Region 2 semis on Wednesday and Oliver Springs and Harriman don't have anything for our 2 clubs imo. heck, Hampton beat Harriman by 30 back in January.

it was not a simple 2-3. it was a very complicated 2-3. quite fancy actually. the rotations on it are very difficult to learn especially considering the Dawgs only practiced 1 hour with it the day before they played the Landers. i came in expecting Cloudland to shred it, but they did the exact opposite. Ned really had no idea what to do the first half. on one possession, i remember him calling out at least 4 plays and none of them worked. he didn't know what to run. Logan Morgan from the 3-point line single handily kept Cloudland in it. the Landers press and their 3-point shooting is what won the game in the 2nd half.

what comes around, goes around.

whats your email?

They are not ballhogs at all. They try to get the ball in the paint. The passes are usually either dropped, taken away from the post players, or they go up weak with it and can't score. Hampton has had no post presence whatsoever. I did think Andrews played a solid game from the offensive end last night though. Anyone complaining about Hampton shooting 3's clearly didn't watch the game last night. From 3, Hughes was 3 for 4, Ward was 2 for 2, Hassett was 1 for 1, and Trusler was 0 for 1. Anybody complaining about a team going 6 for 8 from the 3-point line needs to re-evaluate their thoughts. I did think the matchup zone put in by Hampton had Cloudland on their heels. Ned had absolutely no clue what to do the 1st half. It tore the Landers up. But, the press was once again Hampton's downfall. Hughes left with 4 fouls with 6:17 left on the clock in the 4th. The Dawgs were up 1. Cloudland then went on a 10-2 run in the next 1:17 and went up by 7 by the time Hughes was forced to come back in at the 5:00 mark. It is kind of ridiculous that Cloudland keeps beating Hampton with the talent the Dawgs have. But, I fully expect the Dawgs to be heading to the Boro in a couple of weeks, and this is ultimately the goal anyways.

The just like football chant always cuts deep.

I am beginning to think the Landers will win. Jones being out hurts Hampton quite a bit. The Dawgs just aren't playing well either. All the pressure is on Hampton. Meanwhile, Cloudland is hitting their stride and playing the best ball they have all year.

is there any indication that tonight's games may be cancelled?

yea I know what a trap game is haha.

The 1-3-1 that the Hampton fans have complained about for the past 3 years saved them tonight. Dawgs ran a 2-3 for the first 3 quarters and Cosby killed them in the paint. When they switched to 5, it was a turnover machine. Luckily, they pulled it out. Not a good game at all by Hampton. It might have been the worst 3 quarters I have seen them play all year. Hassett struggled, but played an awesome 4th quarter when Hampton needed it most. Trusler played a very solid game. Ward turned it on in the 4th. Hughes continued his dominating play with 25 points. I'm glad Hampton has got this game past them. This was a trap game if I ever seen one. I'm looking forward to the championship Thursday and round 4 with Cloudland. As loud as the crowd was tonight, I can only imagine what it will be like when Hampton and Roan Mountain fill the stands in 2 days.

Ned's dominance of Hampton continues. He knows exactly how to gameplan to beat Hampton and continues to show it. He ran Chambers around the 3-point line which pulled Hill out of the paint thus allowing Morgan to shoot layup's all night. As I feared, he killed Hampton with the press especially in crunch time. Hampton's use of no press offense was their downfall. Simply having Hughes and Ward walk the ball up does not work against Cloudland. If not for Hughes, I'm not sure Hampton could have gotten the ball across halfcourt a single time. He played a great game. Hassett and Trusler have barely seen the floor all year and were not prepared to do what they were asked to do last night in the biggest game of the year. Impossible task. I thought Hassett played a solid game. He made some mistakes on defense but did not kill the Dawgs. He also made some big steals and plays as hard as he can. Jones not playing did hurt the Dawgs, especially on the press, but when you have a 7 point lead with 2 minutes left, there is no excuse. If Jones plays, does Hampton win? I'm not sure, but I'm leaning towards no. I did think Hughes, Lyons, and Andrews had very good games. The effort was very good from all of Hampton's players. The Dawgs have to find a real press offense, quit turning the ball over on 3-out at the end of every quarter, and work hard on their man defense before the Regional Championship, assuming both teams make it that far.

2 keys will be how well Hill plays and if Jones is able to play. Hill controlled the paint at Cloudland and was a big reason the Dawgs won. If Jones cannot go, Hassett has got to stay under control and calm during Cloudland's press. Hill and Hassett both looked very impressive against North Greene, but North Greene isn't Cloudland. This won't be the last time Hampton and Cloudland meet this year. I fully expect these 2 to meet again in the Regional Championship. And I may be looking too far ahead, but with how weak Region 2 is, I think the Dawgs and Landers have to both be favored to win their sub-state games and head to the state tourney at this point.

i was told the "student" was of adult age and had already graduated from Johnson Co. Can anyone confirm or deny?

I agree with everything you just said King. I really do. I just think Hampton is better this year whenb Hill plays and Hampton was better last year. It will be decided in a few days regardless. At least the conference/district/regional champions in football and basketball continue to be clad in blue.

check your facts brah. i did not put "if" or "but" in my last post one single time. i have stated nothing but facts. Hampton curbstomped Cloudland twice last year. UH dominated Hampton in the paint. Hampton is better than Cloudland if the Dawgs are at full strength and Hill plays (proven as a fact in Roan Mtn a few weeks ago). not that difficult to comprehend imo.

head to head matchups is a pretty convincing argument too. Cloudland is not the reason Hampton didn't go to state. Hampton could not stop UHs size without Hill. It's all about matchups, same as the NCAA tourney.

Yea, hopefully the Hampton-Cloudland tourney game will go like it did last year when they Dawgs ran the Landers out of the gym. Too bad Hampton couldn't match up with UH in the post without Hill last year. Hampton went 2-1 against Cloudland last year. The loss came on Cloudland's home floor in OT. The 2 Hampton wins were by 17 at home and by 14 at a neutral site at tourney time. I dunno how anyone can argue that Cloudland was better than Hampton last year.

Hampton is still the best team when at full strength. Not having Hill killed Hampton against Cloudland. There was a few possessions where Cloudland kept getting rebounds until they scored. That would not happen with Hill being there. Him being out completely changed the game.

Dawgs led the whole way and the flopping of Morgan on every shot he took almost won it.

Lady Dawgs won big today in Cherryville, 65-13...

They had flashes of looking like the real Dawgs last night. They haven't got there completely. This was never really a game. It never felt like the Dawgs had a chance to lose and was not as close as the score may indicate. Jones played a very good game. I liked the press and the 1-3-1 without the trapping. It worked well...

I have been to a few Hampton games and have not heard 1 single person say there is a ballhog. If not for the player you are referring to, Hampton would be getting ran out of the gym. Whenever I hear people talk about him, they talk about him being one of the best they've seen in a long time. Ask THE KING. He came up to me in the tourney at Chuckey Doak last year and said those exact words...

Losing to '04 Pickett Co. and Science Hill is alot different than losing to '10 South Greene and Elizabethton. Somebody's gotta figure this thing out...

I don't really know what to say about this situation. It's sad to watch this team crumble like they are doing. Right now, this team is all hype... On a few positive notes, Hill has came a long way since last year. He is a completely different player. I was really impressed with him and have been all year. Hornsby played very good. If they all played as hard as Lyons, I don't think they'd lose a game. And Ward is a player. One of the best I've ever seen around here. He carried them through this game as much as he could...

I thought Hampton played with alot more effort tonight. The Lady Dawgs will be fine. They just played the best 2 teams on their schedule and will only get better from here on out. I don't really see any selfish or lazy players either. Just give it some time...