thegame523

Who are the best teams going to be this year regardless of class ?? I am sure East & Bearden will be among them. Who else and why?

Anyone looking for a Thanksgiving tourney and wanting to travel please let me know. We are hosting one at my school (LIncoln HS in Tallahassee) Nov. 24 & 25th. We were a state runner-up last season & already have Tift County, Ga. committed who was the large school state champion last year. Both teams lost a good bit to graduation, but the competition level will still be formidable.

Not that I know or have any knowledge, but the Wiseman one would really surprise me. His home school Ensworth has been continually promoting all of his accomplishments all summer on their IG account. Not many leave Ensworth either. Not saying it isn't happening or hasn't already happened. I don't know but I certainly would be very very surprised.

Anyone have the teams and/or matchups yet? Might not have been set but I know it is upcoming very soon.

Any word yet?

If you are interested in playing in a shootout in the northern part of Florida please let me know. The dates are Dec. 28th & 29th for the post Christmas shootout and Jan. 12th, 13, & 15th for the MLK shootout. On the MLK shootout you can choose to play any combination of the dates posted. You can play 1, 2, or 3 games at the MLK. For the post Christmas you would play both days obviously. You can contact me through email (matt523anderson@gmail.com) or on twitter at CoachA523. Competition and crowds will be very good as will the hospitality room for both. Thanks, Coach Matt Anderson.

I was there for 3 days of the tourney but had to leave the morning to the finals to come back and practice my own team, but East was one of the most well-coached teams down there. They are talented yes, but not overly talented compared to the teams down there. I go down most every year. East & Brentwood Academy along with probably Hudson Catholic out of New Jersey was the best coached teams there. I haven't seen the final game online yet, but normally Montverde gets the benefit of the doubt with the officiating down there. I don't really understand it as they have the most talent and shouldn't get any help but they do. Maybe the officials are intimidated by Kevin Boyle their coach who is very outspoken. Don't get me wrong he is a great coach as well which makes them all the more difficult to beat. I met Penny in the hallway of our motel and introduced myself & we talked a brief few minutes. Very nice person, very down to earth. I was a fan of East after that convo my 2nd morning there.

The last few words of that next to last sentence described basically the whole game when watching it from a coaching standpoint (painful to watch). With less than 2 mins to go East's opponent up 6 takes a 1 pass contested 3 then the next trip they take a driving in vs 3 opponents layup. I was beginning to wonder if Tn had invoked a 12 second shot clock. East wasn't much better on the other end. Just saying Hubie Smith among others would have run some very nice sets to get their best players or shootes shots to get back into the game. Looking forward to seeing BA and East at the City of Palms. Will be fun. They very well may meet in the 2nd round. I see East beating Pace Academy and BA has a chance vs. Pebblebrook although PB will be more talented, but Coach Smith makes a habit of beating more talented teams.

BA & East are both in the City of Palms in Fl. I doubt they meet down there but it is a possibility. Christian Brothers I agree isn't far behind and for the same reasons as BA. One of the best coached teams in the state.

My bad on Phillips as I have seen his teams play online and have been very impressed as well. He does a great job have Whitehaven in the very upper echelon very soon I have no doubt.

I have seen Hennings teams play and was definitely impressed. Have never seen Tippett's even though I know he is one of the most successful coaches in Tn. history and would love to find some of his teams games online. Phillips I know nothing about. Bubba Luckett after watching his team play live and online last year would HAVE to be mentioned here in my humble opinion!

What is his background. I am not from Tenn. Ooltewah played in a tourney I used to run here in Fl after I had left there to go to be a juco asst. I think they may have even won it. About 7-8 years ago.

Certainly have to agree with that one. Saw him coach at Bartlett & have seen him at BA. He has been successful at a super high level everywhere he has been. I saw the tourney final in Fl between BA & Christian Brothers. Amazing game. 2 of the best coached teams I have ever seen play each other.

I remember this classic back when it was called the Steamboat classic. I drove from Florida 3 straight summers to watch it. Back then it was even larger as teams from Kentucky were just as prevalent as teams from Tenn and then there were big time teams from other states. One summer Lexington Catholic played Miami Sr in basically the game to show who was the best there. That was my first look at Coach Hubie Smith as he was at Bartlett and had a great team and I remember how impressed I was with how well-coached they were. Another summer I watched Shane Battier play in it for Detroit Central Catholic.Its a great tourney now but if it ever got back anywhere close to that level I would probably drive from Florida again to watch it. Great stuff for sure!

Very good stuff. I'll be looking some of these guys up to watch online if possible. Some of these I have watched already and even a few I have talked with (picked their brain) and learned from. I appreciate the input and welcome any others. Not many from Memphis area on here obviously. Thanks again!

I posted this many years ago and would like to see what you think now. I am not trying to be anything but positive with this. I actually coach in Fl and use the names mentioned to try to find games online to watch of coaches mentioned so that I can actually use this as a learning tool for myself and then obviously take what I have learned to help my own team. Please let me know who you think are the best and please keep this topic on a positive level. Thanks in advance.

Was a great game between 2 great and well-coached teams. Thanks for the info!

Who actually coaches this team? Is it Hardaway himself. Reason I ask is depending on what website you look at there is a different coach named as the head coach on almost every website. I was watching their semifinal game vs. Blackman and was very impressed not only with their talent level, but how well-coached they were and especially how sound they are defensively, and that was against one of the best coaches I have seen in Coach Wortman. It looks like Hardaway handles most of the timeout stuff but the lighter skinned assistant seems to do most of the rest of it. Either way they do a great job.

Possibly. I just took a new job myself and brought my top assistant with me, but every assistant on the previous staff had the choice to stay or go and they all chose to stay. I realize each situation is different and each coach has his own preferences. I like having at least 1 or more guys who are familiar with the present players, administration, parents, situation etc...

They hired Greg Shirley from Orlando Boone. He has been somewhat successful in Florida. It will be interesting to say the least especially with the mass exodus of the former assistant coaches at Brentwood.

Maybe Sisco ?? The coach ??? Wondering?

I know unapproved website is often wrong or not up to date and I also know Dexter normally wins A LOT more games than a few per year. I am a fan I assure you. Idk anything about Milan as I coach in Florida. Was not saying anything against Dexter in any way I assure you.

I have seen Dexter's teams in the past and have always been very impressed. According to unapproved website this team didn't win a single game. If Dexter can't win a game there then it is obviously a very tough gig. Best of luck to him in his new endeavor and to whoever takes his place. They obviously have a huge job ahead of them.

One of the few good rules we have here in Fl. is that any player that plays AAU and is coached by any coach on the staff will not be eligible if he or she were to transfer to their school. So even if a person were to be an asst. coach for an AAU team and a player were to transfer to his school then that player would be ineligible for 1 year.

The Hilton/Sandestin Beach Blowout tournament in Freeport, Fl. not far from Destin has a late opening in its tournament. The tourney runs Dec. 27-31 and there is no entry fee. There is a 2 game guarantee with a 4 game maximum and if you want at least 3 games that can be arranged. I have played in this tourney several times and it is a great tournament. The contact person for the tourney is David Felix head coach at Freeport HS. His number is 334-372-7041. I am just trying to help them find a team as they had a team cancel on them yesterday. I can try to answer any questions on here if you have any. Yours in hoops. Twitter: CoachA523