limestonecove

Wonder where all the cyclone fans have gone? One thing I think Sparky might agree with me on is that what happened this year is the same as last: they peaked a little too early. And they did not play enough close games during the season. Only close games came at the end against Sullivan East, Grainger and Pittman. Would have been a good year for them to have played South Greene, and Mo West. Anyway it was a great four year run for those seniors, as disappointing as the ending was. With 6.5 seconds, coming out of a timeout, they should have gotten a better look than a 35-40 footer. It took way too long to get the ball past halfcourt against very soft pressure. I think Dugger got a little tight at the end. Not his best coaching performance. The players reflected his tightness in their play and lack of aggressiveness. Congrats to Westview. They have been knocking on Betsy's door for several years; this time they kicked it down.

I do not fault the players or fans. It is the coaches responsibility. This was not their first rodeo. It was not a last second victory and Dugger should have reminded his team during the last TO to show GP the respect they had earned. And Bama he IS a cheater. Was back then; still today. Lady Cyclones won't just be replacing five senior starters new year. Likely a whole new staff as well.

What you need to understand about Sparky is he is never ever wrong and he wrote the book on objectivity, Just ask him. His rationale about being a rational person is pure gold. I am not a Dugger hater. I give him his props for being a very good coach. I just dont like his ethics about some things; and thats not a recent event.

Elizabethton wins another gold ball. This team shoots unlike any other girls HS team Ive ever seen. The development of the 6-3 post has made them a complete team, again. I dont see any team within 10 of them unless they have a really off night.

What everyone needs to understand is that Sparky (KK) played for Coach Dugger and both his kids have played for coach Dugger. His blind loyalty to Coach Dugger means he cannot be objective about Coach Dugger. He would never admit Dugger was a cheater. Ever. Even though his (Dugger's) history clearly shows he is. The irony is that this time, Dugger likely did not know the girl was coming to practice as he certainly knows the rules and would not have blatantly violated this rule at such a critical point in his likely last season as head coach of Eliz.

Likely Elizabethton after this season.

Dugger (like alot of old school coaches) bends and breaks the rules: off season workouts, open gyms which are really practices, recruiting............he did it decades ago with the boys and he still does it. This time the violation was so obvious and undeniable that the school admin could not turn a blind eye as the AD had done many times before on the open gym/off season questionable practices. The irony is that his current team is all home-grown so to speak as I believe all the senior starters came up from their middle school. They have worked really hard to get where they are and of course Dugger should get alot of credit. He is a very good coach. But its well known in coaching circles that he doesnt always play by the rules Anyway the end result of this will be that Dugger will retire/move on after this team finishes its amazing run with a likely state title. I look for him to follow the twins to ETSU in some capacity. I

Talented but young. Should win the conference, and at least get to a regional semifinal game. Post game is the weakness. Twins give them a chance to win every game they play. Early season matchup with Science Hill will be a good measuring stick.

Sparky, if you took time to read the thread, posters were asking if Eliz was missing anyone in one of their preseason scrimmages. I simply responded that two of the seniors decided not to play for Dugger this year and they would be missed. And you of course chose to defend Dugger. I note you didn't call out the cyclone poster who posted much more inflammatory info. Truth hurts K. As for the game, I think Science Hill will win. EHS has no one who can guard Lyons in the post.

Of course I expected you to take up for your man Dugger, especially since you have a kid on the team. You can spin it anyway you want Sparky, but the truth about why they aren't playing has a lot to do with who their coach was.

Two of Etowns seniors are not on the team this year, Isaacs and Hodge. My guess is they tired of King Dugger's way of doing things. Both play other sports and we know that Dugger doesn't like to share athletes. Both had started at various points in the careers.

I bet you two are passing the laptop back and forth between ya! Metro Jethros.

Yes I know Rikki played with some of my kin at Milligan. She and her dad are both class acts; they know how to win. You do not brag, boast or Crow. Some of your contemporary bretheran on here havent learned that yet.

Mom, two day old poster,.............. Funny that Eliz's win this week has brought all the Mammas out of the woodwork so they could Crow about their precious undefeated darlings..........

Glory hounds, these basketball Mamas who post on here. Coachh and Sparky tell them how to act. Eliz has some good fans, but these latest Crows are giving them a bad name. Show some class Mammas. Your little girls will have adversity in life. Nobody goes through life undefeated............ By the Way "cycloneprider", I thought you were through with CoachT (per your post from yesterday)? And BigBama42 just joined CoachT yesterday and her 8 posts have already revealed what she is all about. Biggest of the Big Crows This board is but a shadow of what it once was.

Sparky I dont think Buki is a Blue Devil fan. Our fans know that Regional and Sectional refs come from outside Regions (3 or 4), and are "supposed" to be the better refs from their area. As you know, I dont care for your coach, but I will be pulling for your team tonight. If Eliz does not come in too overconfident, they should take care of business against Alcoa. Alcoa is capable of keeping it close though.

Ask Leon about what Dugger did to try and get the Dugger girl to come to Eliz several years ago----yes THAT Dugger that is a senior at Hampton this year. Dugger did his best to try and get her to come to Eliz.

Haha. McCurry's dad still works in Erwin; he never left his job. They rented a place in Eliz. Kara Bowling (who plays for ETSU now) went all through county schools till the 11th grade; she was a Happy Valley Warrior her whole career until Dugger got her playing on his AAU team the spring/summer before her junior year and she switched teams as a junior. The point guard played for Cloudland through Junior High and came to Eliz the year Dugger started coaching the girls. Get your facts right before you make such bold statements. Coachh17 knows these facts are true, but likely will stay out of this as he was a Eliz coach for many years.

Uh, Wilson coached the boys for two years after he left the girls team in 2006----He was Eliz head boys coach from 2006-2008.

McCurry was from Unicoi County. The state tourney team from a couple years ago had the little point guard from the Roan Mtn area. That same team got Bowling from Happy Valley. There's three in the last three years. Im sure there's more. I hear he is trying to convince the Bowers girl to leave Hamtpon and come back to Eliz next year.

I really didnt want to get into this, but well, I couldnt resist. Dugger was a very successful coach for Eliz boys for a number of years, but he couldnt follow rules, and was forced out as coach. He stayed out of coaching for about ten years and returned to coach the freshman boys for a couple years when his kid played, then back out of coaching again until Eliz was pretty much forced to turn to him in the fall of 2007 when the prior coach (Weams?) left them just before school started. The Supt didnt want Dugger but after being turned down by several (including one from my school), he took Dugger as a last resort. Make no mistake, Dugger is an outstanding coach, but he still skirts the rules every chance he gets. I have it from a reliable source that he practices his teams when its only supposed to be open gym. And of course he will "encourage" a good player from the county to "come on down"!! This is to take nothing away from this years team; they have done a great job of recovering from the loss of their point guard. The players deserve all the credit, so lets give it to them, and not their coach. Dugger gets too much credit IMO.

Very disappointing end to Unicoi's season, but at least they didnt roll over for Grainger. As stated before, they peaked too early. I think Elizabethton will beat South Greene but it will be much closer than the last two game. Grainger will beat HV but it won't be easy. HV is the one team that has gotten consistently better all year long and clearly is peaking now. Elizabethton has regrouped nicely after the injuries, thanks to the emergence of the two freshmen. At some point one or both of those two freshmen are going to have an off night, and thats when Eliz may be in trouble. I think Cloudland and Cosby is a tossup, as is North Greene and Hampton. By the way, is the Dugger girl done for Hampton? Science Hill is the one NE TN team that I think is a lock to get to State.

In my experience the coaches have input on which of their players make all tourney teams.

Unicoi appears to have peaked too early (its win over Eliz); since then they have struggled to beat Johnson County twice, HV, and lost to Hampton and Cloudland, then get blown out by HV last night. If they can regroup and beat East, they likely get South Greene at their place, which will be a tall order. Lose to East tomorrow and a trip to the woodshed at Grainger Co. looms. All this assuming Grainger beats So. Greene, which on paper they should, but So Greene has a way of peaking this time of year...... On paper HV shouldnt give Eliz much trouble, but Coach Abel has them believing, so anything is possible. Im shocked Hampton had such an off night. Any update on DD's injury?

As I believe I said in an earlier thread, this year has the most parity top to bottom in the 7 that Ive seen in many years. Elizabethton, despite their injuries, is the favorite to win the District since they have the home court advantage. I think their draw is easier too as Johnson Co and HV are both playing better right now than East. Grainger Co may be the only team in District 2 that is a threat to Eliz or Unicoi not making the Regional finals. That District is way down this year as So Greene and Greenville and Doak are not nearly as good as years past. So Coachh is right, winning the district is huge for Unicoi and Eliz. Grainger will be a tough out no matter who plays them whereever.