smittygk00

The one thing to remember is you don't really have to contain Jenkins to beat SC. It's the other ones you have to make sure you stop. WH had a great defensive game plan but didn't even come close to stopping him (41 points), and yet WH still won the game. He will score a bunch no matter what defense you play, so you would be better off scheming for the other guys. Limit his touches as much as you can, but don't let the other ones beat you as well.

Well as of right now, you are wrong. I have heard nothing to that effect as of now, and I think I would know... not to give it all away or anything, but I am on that coaching staff. Think I might have been told....

The other players for SC are good, quite good actually, but for whatever reason don't seem to function well without Jenkins getting the ball and making the decisions. Their post is a very capable player, but is also very streaky. If he gets a little confidence early, he can be deadly. Otherwise he's just another guy missing shots. Jenkins is the real deal, though, averaging 35 points per game in the district tournament despite nonstop double teams in both games. He shoots 50% from everywhere on his off nights and is tenacious on the offensive glass. He makes them a tough game on any night, and it sounds like there will be a fun semifinal match up (should they both win over the weekend). And, yes, WH is that good. They have great guard play and return a huge chunk of the team that made it to state last year. The way they gameplan for teams might be their strength, because they had SC's number in the championship. Very solid team that doesn't beat themselves.

Upperman will win hands down, and I wouldn't be surprised if half of Greenbrier's possessions ended before crossing halfcourt. Upperman Livingston should win over WH, but they will have to find a way to match up with the five guard lineup that is usually on the floor. And they will have to control Roberson. Livingston Don't agree with you on the the SC-CC game. SC will win this game by 10 or more because their role players have stepped up tremendously and they just shoot the ball too well at home. Too many SC weapons for CC to stop. Station Camp And while I think York will win over DCA, I doubt it will be a "York names the score" situation. DCA has great point guard play, which keeps them out of a lot of turnovers. If they shoot well, this game will be much closer than you think. York

I would say mostly because they returned most, if not all, the big pieces from last year's team that went to state. SC slips in and ties the them for the regular season district crown, so I could see why the coaches in the district voted for the SC coach. I will say, though, that in the championship game, the WH coach did a superior job of game planning and was definitely the better coach on that night, hands down.

I have seen this done before and have actually seen it work before. I'm from the Portland side of things and saw a team do this to Jason Rogan about 10 years back. He finished with 2 points and Portland escaped with a win in overtime over a well below average team. The part that made this strategy ineffective was the fact that Jenkins still found a way to score 29 points! It was just a poorly implemented plan that was not executed well. If you are going to double team him, he cannot score!!! As for the other players, they are a solid group, but just seem hesitant to pull the trigger. They are not a deadly outside shooting bunch, but they are not a bad shooting team either. Goodpasture, I think, knew they did not have the offensive weapons to keep up with SC, and looked like they just tried to be as creative as they could and hope for the best... with no such luck.

The refs were suspect in all games tonight, and a lot of high and mighty officials above talking to coaches. Too many God complexes in striped shirts. But I will say that no game tonight was swung by the officiating, but they were disappointing. Congrats to all teams that moved on!!!

The only reason I don't like that logic is because I think it unfairly punishes players for being on a good team. I do agree Roberson deserves MVP, but not because Unger's team is good and Roberson's is "not so good." She is just a better all-around player and is the toughest stop night in and night out. Let's see if anyone figures her out in the tourney, should be a good one!!!

I have seen both of these girls again since my previous post, and despite the fact that I still believe Unger is the most dangerous offensive threat in the district, I get the feeling that Roberson will walk away with the MVP this year. Reasoning: *Neither are great defenders, but, to their credit, both spend a lot of time guarding out of position. Both are guards who spend a majority of their time guarding posts, Roberson because she is the only real size WH has, and Unger because of that switching defense of SC. I give the edge to Roberson here because she is the better rebounder, though it should be noted that without her, WH might not ever get a rebound, something they definitely need to improve for tourney time. *Offensively, both just have different styles. Roberson can drive, but any help defense gives her the option to pass to a team full of snipers (Jamison, cough, Briley, cough cough, Armstrong, cough) whereas Unger is that sniper for SC, not needing any room to bury any shot. Roberson benefits a lot more offensively because of lineups (they basically start five guards and she is the biggest one... usually draws a slower defender) and mismatches, put a guard on her and she goes to the post, put a big on her and they spread the floor and let her drive. Unger is good for 20 a night without mismatches, but her team's success does not require her to touch the ball every possession like Roberson. So I give the offensive nod to Unger. *On the side of intangibles, I give the nod to Roberson because she does do more for her team, and has been the leader of the hottest team in the district outside of SC. I think the coaches in the district understand the danger of both players, but Roberson is the one teams still can't figure out, and until a team in this district finds a way to stop her, WH will be dangerous in the postseason.

If it makes you feel better, philtenn, I understand exactly what you are saying. I think the toughest thing for a star player to learn is when and when not to be "selfish." It's like the star player needs to have that "it" factor, just an overall feel for the game. She has to know when she is hot, when she is a bit off, when someone else is heating up, and when there is no one on the floor that can stop her. If I have a player that is unconscious shooting the ball, then you had better believe that, as a coach, I am going to continue finding ways to get her the ball. It is also our job as coaches to make sure the best player has the ball in her hands in crunch time, and let her make the decisions. Ultimately, she has to learn when she is forcing shots and when she is not being aggressive enough with the ball. And as for a star player as a team player, I have found that you can usually spot the team-oriented players and the selfish players by the way they play defense. Star "team" players lead by example and play defense like their life depended on it. Star "selfish" players are usually lazy defenders who just want to play offense and forget that more plays are made without the ball than with it. So that would be my advice for grooming a star, teach them how to make those great plays without the ball, and then hopefully they learn that they can make twice as many plays without the ball than with it. And you are right, coachgat. 8 feet, 60%, she better pull.

No doubt that Roberson is a great player, but what you will find this topic is going to turn into is a debate on if "MVP" should go the best player or to the player of greatest value to her team. I have always believed that the award should go to the best player, because it is unfair to punish someone for playing on a good team to reward another that plays on a bad one (that is an example, not a reference to either team). Roberson and Unger of SC are hands down the two best players in this district, and I think that would be tough to dispute. IN MY OPINION as it stands now, I think I would give the nod to Unger, simply because she is the only player in the district that you have to know where she is at all times. There is no player more dangerous in this district (is it true that she had over 20 points in the first quarter of a game the other day?). But you are right, Roberson is one heck of a player and with her size creates matchup problems for opponents. And while I give Unger the edge right now, these two are definitely the frontrunners for MVP.

SC returns a lot of the punch that led them to a district title last year. Unger can go lights out at any point in the ball game, and their switching man defense renders a lot of game plans ineffective, putting pressure on opposing coaches to be creative. Still lack formidable size, but their undersized posts love to bang around and cause problems. DCA is always solid, and proved that again last year, being the last D8 team standing despite being overrun with youth. With that youth having seasoned a year, they should be very dangerous and push SC for the crown. Goodpasture has Cartwright coming back, the most athletic player in the district. When she is on, this team clicks and can pull away in a hurry. If their young posts develop, they will be able to take some of the load off of her hands, and even keep this team competitivewhen she has an off night Portland lost a dependable post and a dependable ball handler, but returns everything else. Williams is probably the top point guard in the district, but she will need help in the backcourt and consistency in the post to help relieve the pressure. the positive is this year's depth, as 10 deep is not out of the question - seniors to freshmen. White House lost the twin towers and will have to learn to work without that comforting post mismatch. Roberson (pretty sure she is back) can play anywhere on the court, and WH will surely look to take advantage of that. Should also have decent depth, with the addition of a transfer and a freshman with unlimited range. Greenbrier is always the wild card in this district, usually the team thrown at the bottom in preseason and then marveled at after every "upset." New coaching never makes things easy, but it does make them a tough scout. They are the constant unknown, which tends to make them even more dangerous. This year will be the year of the guards, as all teams seemed to experience significant loss in the post (or had little to begin with). The team that gets the biggest boost from the paint could push to the front of this district. SC is defending the title, and returning most of the talent from that team, so they get the nod as the frontrunner. Can't wait for season to start!!!

The game was largely controlled by CCS, as was expected. Portland's midfield allowed them to survive as long as they did by creating a lot of CCS turnovers and thwarting what could have been dangerous attacks. The first half ended scoreless, as CCS had the majority of scoring chances, though I think Portland had the best chance on a cross that bounced high in the box that needed just a bit more oomph to get over the charging CCS keeper. The Chragers came out strong in the second half and played desparately to get the first goal, which is why I feel it took them so long to get it. When they finally settled down and started stringing some combinations together, they became much more dangerous. They got their first goal midway through the second half on a nice overlapping run through the top of the box. CCS continued to apply pressure, but Portland finally broke for their best scoring opportunity. This, however, was thwarted by the only mistake I think the ref made the whole game. The Portland striker overran the ball and ended up trapping it with his rear, which set the ball up nicely for him to pull a shot that went upper 90 side net, much like the goal he scored at Station Camp. However, the ref called a handball, negating the goal. The reason I thought this was an unfortunate call (though I have heard CCS players and fans say that it was not a handball in their opinion) is because the ref was not looking at the play. He was following two players who were in a little scuffle and making sure there was no extracurricular activity. I guess he saw the ball change direction quickly out of the corner of his eye and assumed what had happened, though the linesman never raised his flag either. I want to make it clear that I do not think that this affected the outcome of the game, simply because CCS had been applying constant pressure and would have probably gotten on the board again. I was just disappointed that Portland had that opportunity taken away, not by a bad call, simply more of a mistake call. CCS continued to attack, though they played more long ball as the game closed out and their last goal came off of a rebound in stoppage time. CCS was the better team and deserves the outcome. Portland did not have as many finishing opportunities as CCS, but they did have enough good opportunities to at least control their destiny in this game. Unfortunately, they didn't have it turn out in their favor. As a Portland fan, I am at least proud to say that this legitimizes all the praise this year's team has gotten and that they were very capable of competing with the best teams in the state. Good luck to CCS in state and congratulations Portland on an outstanding season.

Portland has not played the same level of competition on consistent basis the way CCS has, but they have faced some stiff competition and faired well in a majority of those matches. Last year, CCS completely owned the midfield and put constant pressure on Portland's defenders. The difference this year is that Portland's midfield is remarkably better than last year's team and will prevent a lot of the pressure. The game will be more competitive this year simply because I think the midfields will be much more even, allowing for more end to end action and more scoring opportunities this time around for Portland. I am not saying Portland will win; I simply think that Portland is better equipped to compete this year and at least have a shot.

It will not be a cakewalk, I can assure you. I won't go out and say either Region 4 team will win, but I think this is the year if one of them is going to do it. Portland has an extremely talented midfield and a junior striker who gets better every game and scored a spectacular goal in the region finals. Portland's defense will have to play their best game of the year for them to have a real chance, but that's what you ask of teams at tournament time - to play their best soccer. Station Camp, on the other hand, plays a style that limits opponents' offensive opportunities. They sacrifice a lot of offensive chances of their own doing this, but they are a very good finishing team that does not usually need as many chances as most. They have good size and are solid front to back. I predict that this year's sectional games will be much closer than last year's. I won't go out for the upset yet, but I will say it is as good a possibility as it has been in some time.

This was a great game, and I must say that Portland's goal in overtime was easily one of the prettiest shots I have seen at the high school level. 30 yards, left of the box, upper 90 far post. Neither team played paticularly well. Portland was bailed out by an absolutley beautiful shot, while SC was bailed about by a fortunate rebound a couple minutes later. I think, after this battle, that both these teams completely respect each other and that they earned through what was a great season series. This game shouldn't have been decided by PK's simply because there was good end to end action for most of the match. Congrats to SC and good luck to both in sectionals.

I won't dispute the result because anything could happen between these two, but I don't think LA will be able to shut out Portland because Portland has too many offensive weapons that will have too many opportunities on the smaller field. I personally see Portland coming out on top in this one 2-1. More explanation later.

I think SC gets by DeKalb in a game where the score will be no indication of the game. I think 3-0 in a game that will be a lot closer. Portland-Livingston is a toss up, but I think Portland will have a slight edge in the fact that Livingston has not seen them play or gone up against them this year. Portland's strengths are very unique to this region, while Livingston plays a style similar to those of a lot of teams Portland has played. Advantage Portland. However, the game is at Livingston on their tiny field, which drastically reduces the space that Portland like to use to their advantage. Advantage Livingston. In the end I think District 8 prevails, with Portland escaping 2-1. But who knows. This game is one that could easily go either way and will come down to the team that is better prepared.

Station Camp's game plan was absolutely brilliant. I almost feel like they read my post about the two teams before the game and took it to heart. Portland possessed the ball for probably 60% of the game. The first half saw Portland work the ball very well and they got three good scoring opportunities that ended i nweak shots or wide shots. SC had one good look at the goal in the first half on a abll that kind of bounced around in the box and ended when an SC shot at goal ricocheted off a Portland defender's face. The first half ended scoreless. The second half started very similar to the first, with Portland applying good offensive pressure and SC weathering the storm. I think the turning point of the game was when the SC keeper made a phenomenal save on a breakaway by Groft (I think that evens the score between those two). That save was like a shot of adrenaline for SC and they picked up their pace. Their first goal was not pretty. SC mis-struck two balls and yet it landed right in the center of the box, and #11 buried it. The second goal kind of came out of nowhere, as the kid collected the ball just outside the 18 and curled one inside the far post. But like I said to start, the SC game plan was brilliant. They knew that Portland's midfield was too strong to contend with, and so they let Portland win just about everything in the middle. Portland had no trouble moving the ball around or even winning anything in the middle third. SC always had at least 6 players between the ball and the goal and really crowded the Portland offense. They waited for Portland to make a mistake and then popped the ball over both team's midfields to their strikers. They were not trying to score any pretty goals tonight. They seemed to just want something ugly to go in and it did. It was a very good game, and both teams had opprtunities to pull out the victory. In the end, SC simply executed their gameplan better than Portland. They let Portland control the game and simply waited for their opportunities and they made them count. Congrat to SC and good luck to both in regions. The fun is only beginning...

But in regard to the final, let's get some thoughts going on this. What do people think? Portland possesses the ball extremely well and works the ball outside-in very well. They have an offensive attack that has improved drastically throughout the season and can get very creative around the goal. Defensively, what they lack in speed they make up for in patience, and it is hard to peg defense as a weakness when they have 15 shutouts on the year. An important factor in this game is that Portland is not one for trash talk and does not get rattled easily. If they keep their composure throughout the match and talk with their play, then they will be in much better shape. As for weaknesses, because they focus so much on possession, they often miss opportunities for quick strikes and can become very predictable. Their possession style also affords teams the opportunity to create turnovers leading to quick counter attacks. Their strength is inevitably their weakness. Station Camp seems to focus on getting the ball up top quickly and seeing what happens. It is not longball because they do not boom and chase; they simply pop it up top to waiting strikers. This makes their quick attacks very effective and they do have people with enough skill up top to put it in the net. They have decent team speed all over the field. They also are lucky enough to enter the game with revenge on their minds. They do not possess the ball extremely well, which is one reason I think they get it up so quickly - if they turn it over, the other team still has to work it all the way back up the field and any mistake puts SC closer to the goal. SC will also have to keep cooler heads in the title game, as I am sure the ref will have heard about the semifinal match. SC does not want to get caught up getting silly cards in such an important game. I am going to stick with PK's as my prediction, but no idea for a winner, though Portland's history in PK's is not one to brag about.

I never blasted WH on any level, and if you go back and read some of my other posts in other threads, you will see that I state clearly that being the better team does not mean victory, especially in the WH-Portland rivalry. I never said Portland outhustled WH, because I have also always said that one of the reasons WH is good even when they lack the skill is because they work harder than anyone else and always have. Portland is the better team this year, hands down. They are the most skilled team in the district, and through your response, I think you agree. I have also said that SC not having as much skill as Portland means nothing in terms of the score and they could very well pull off the win. Be careful when you accuse someone of having an overly biased opinion, especially when I have said nothing about how I expect Portland to win. It will be a good game, as Portland possesses the ball better than any team in the district and probably has one of the strongest midfields in A/AA, but SC has a lot of offensive weapons that I think will be most dangerous in the counter attack, which means SC doesn't need to do the things Portland does to win the game. I don't think SC will be shut out again, but I also don't see that happening to Portland either. PK's maybe? In conclusion, WH has always had my respect, I do not think Portland has divine right to the district or region crown, the best two teams are still playing, and No1ScoresOnMe has mad posting skills and I never meant to offend.

I love it when you make silly comments. It's like an open invitation. Portland can beat Station Camp and have, though tomorrow night's game leaves nothing for confident predictions. Portland, this year, completely outclasses WH on the field. The tie between the two came because WH figured out how to not lose to Portland - pack back and forfeit any real chance of winning, while praying that Portland has a bad game. Fortunately, all those things took effect and they escaped with a tie. WH has been good in the past, but this year they simply do not match up with Portland on any level at any position. That is not a slap against WH, just a simple fact for this year's teams. The SC player and the WH player were going after the same ball which was too high for both. The difference was that the SC player was coming from much farther away and had a lot more momentum. I know it looked bad, but it was not a dirty play by any means. SC played the game without class for a large majority of the game, but that play was not a part of it. The refs did let this game get out of hand, and the fact that they let it get out of hand was compounded by the fact that SC has always been bad winners and WH has always been bad losers. Don't get me wrong, both of these teams annoy me equally, so I do not have a side or think either was right. Both sides were wrong in a lot of aspects of this game. In the end, however, the better team did win. WH is a well-coached program with a lot of tradition and will be back in the near future competing for the ditrict title, but trying to get through SC and then Portland would have been a tall task and I wouldn't have seen it happening under any circumstance.

Actually, Portland scored their third goal less than five minutes after MH got on the board. The last two came late, but all that did was allow the score to reflect the game. Portland dominated this entire match, with the exception of the early part of the second half where Portland figured they already had the game won and MH made them pay. Portland showed why they are by far the most skilled team in the district (which in no way means they will win Thursday). They play a pretty style of soccer with a lot of possession and very little panic, and I think that makes them the most fun team to watch in the district. SC does things, though, that will give them opportunities to win this ballgame and Thursday cannot get here soon enough. And as for the SC-WH game, thank God for the second half. The first half was some of the ugliest soccer you could ask for out of a semifinal matchup. You could count the completed passes in the first half without taking off your shoes. SC seemed to settle down a bit after half and strung some passes together, which led to some good scoring chances. The refs were terrible, I will agree. But I would have to say that the WH fans were the most unclassy of this parade. You light up the ref who makes a no call in an unfortunate situation that resulted in a WH player being hurt (by the way, both players had their eyes in the air following the ball and it was not intentional in any way. perhaps it should have been a foul, but it was one of the least dirty plays of the game). You do this after applauding one of your players for going in studs up on a player (which he got carded for) and say "Way to play physical!" And I will not bash the kid from WH who lost his temper at the end of the game and got the silly card for trying to instigate the keeper, but his antics after the game were silly and disappointing for a kid who had a very good career. I know he was frustrated and I know WH fans were frustrated, but, people, you can't always watch with your heart; at some point you have to invite your brain to the party. Congrats to WH on a good season, and good luck to both teams in the final.

Portland 7 Friendship 0 Portland looked good, much improved over the last time they trounced FCS. They looked hungry, and I think it really showed in the improvements they made over the last week. Panthers get Merrol Hyde next.

I wouldn't say Portland is underrated; the program is underrated, but not the team. They seem to be getting a good amount of respect this year and people are taking notice. I would say they are rated right about where they should be, somewhere around the top 10 teams in the state. The win over the Station Camp was a big boost and the tie with White House was just another chapter in a great rivalry where the better team rarely gets the result. Add to that some other solid wins and good showings and I think they are right where they should be.