Metroman

[cobrafan90]

Also see the 11aaa and 12aaa thread.

 

give me your 12aaa and 11aaa thoughts.

 

I see 12-aaa being more competitive than it has been in a long time. I look forward to Glencliff vs. WHites Creek all yr. They will be some battles. they should finish 1-2. mcgavock , HL, and antioch will probably push for third and possibly be in the mix for first too.

 

How does 12aaa stackup to 11aaa this yr.

 

Is J. Mooney better than C. mills. Mooney gets the press, but i like Mills(when she makes her mind up and plays). R. Taylor for Maplewood is back how will she do after a knee injury kept her out all last yr?

[r_oneal27]

Also see the 11aaa and 12aaa thread.

 

give me your 12aaa and 11aaa thoughts.

 

I see 12-aaa being more competitive than it has been in a long time. I look forward to Glencliff vs. WHites Creek all yr. They will be some battles. they should finish 1-2. mcgavock , HL, and antioch will probably push for third and possibly be in the mix for first too.

 

How does 12aaa stackup to 11aaa this yr.

 

Is J. Mooney better than C. mills. Mooney gets the press, but i like Mills(when she makes her mind up and plays). R. Taylor for Maplewood is back how will she do after a knee injury kept her out all last yr?

In 11aaa hillsboro will dominate and win the district again this time more easily with mooney being the top of the class in 11aaa as for 12aaa you maybe right to a certain point, it will be a dog or cat fight all year long. I think any team from whitescreek to glencliff to antiock to maplewood could win on any given night. This is the most strongest district and competitive one thats been like this in a long time and i wonder who will come out when the dust clears. Whitescreek looks strong with mix of young and senior players but what about their bench? glencliff looks strong with young players and mills but will youth carry them how far? mcgavock looks to be in the best position with dd and the crew but who knows about the pressure of having the best talent and not winning easily?I give antiock the nod over hunterslane because of one player and that shykeya johns they have no answer for her,and then their's maplewood if taylor is 90 percent they will upset a lot of team this year being overlooked but maybe that's their strength this year being overlooked then stratford will be better but at the bottom and as for mooney vs mills you have to wonder have they ever played each other? my nod goes to mooney and trust me i have seen and been with them both and they both are great offensives players but mooneys defense is far better and thats the nod.I would say head to head over the years the line up goes like this 1. Taylor 2.mooney 3.johns 4.mills 5.madu 6.mayberry 7.ferby 8.brown then their are up and comming players like fuque of wc and manymore and this has been on player matchups through the last 3 years.

[Metroman]

Cobrafan90, I am going to paste some thoughts at from a previous thread and then repost to make some other points.

 

 

This will be the first year since I can remember that 12-AAA will be better than 11-AAA.

 

In 11-AAA, Hillsboro will still be the class of the league, but won't be nearly as dominant. I expect them to win the district, but lose a game or two along the way. The loss of Bognar will hurt. Brentwood will be much better. They could challenge for the championship. Franklin would appear to be the third best team, but the coaching change could reek some havoc. The next tier will include Centennial, Overton, Ravenwood, and Hickman County in no particular order. Overton could be better but is young. Ravenwood looked great at the end of the season last year, but lost a coach and most of their experienced players. Both Hickman County and Centennial should be more experienced and better, but not to the level that will get them into the top three. Hillwood will be last.

 

In 12-AAA, the torch will be passed from Antioch to either McGavock or Whites Creek. For the last three years, Antioch has been the team to beat. With the graduation of Blakely, the Lady Bears aren't going to be nearly as good. McGavock is loaded. Ndidi may be the best junior prospect in the state and there are two other posts to compliment her. Whites Creek is really solid and could challenge McGavock. Glencliff has some great players and might compete in 11-AAA, but isn't good enough to win the district. Hunters Lane is much improved, but doesn't have the outside attack to compete every night. Antioch is good but will struggle against teams with a post presence. Maplewood has Taylor, but not much beyond her and Stratford should round out the Region.

 

In summary

 

11-AAA

1. Hillsboro

2. Brentwood

3. Franklin

4. Overton 4B. Centennial 10-8 4C Hickman County

 

12-AAA

1. McGavock

2. Whites Creek

3. Glencliff

4. Hunters Lane

 

Region

1-McGavock

2-Hillsboro

 

A bold prediction-McGavock becomes the first Metro team since Hunters Lane in 01 to go to state.

[Metroman]

Now for some additional points.

 

Whites Creek and McGavock are the class of 12-AAA. But each of them will lose a couple of games to either Glencliff, Hunters Lane, or Antioch. If Whites Creek isn't scoring from the outside, HL will give them fits. If Antioch or Glencliff get hot, they can beat anyone. But as far as game in and game out WC and McGavock are the best.

 

Madu is the best player in the district. No question. I know that will tick people off, but you can't teach size. It's like people who say that Shaq isn't the most dominating player in the NBA. Ask any coach who would they build a team around, and they would pick Shaq because of his size. Madu is a bigtime SEC recruit who is impossible for an individual to guard.

 

Don't get me wrong, Taylor and Mills are great players, but they aren't 6'2". (As for Taylor's knee, I haven't heard anything nor seen her, but Maplewood will struggle without Pendergrast in the paint.)

 

As for the comparison between Mills and Mooney, I really like Mills. She can score and see the floor well. However, she is not Mooney. Jessica does so many other things well. She's the best defensive player in the district. She can guard the best post or the quickest point. She can throw any pass with either hand from anywhere on the court. She doesn't make any mental mistakes. Mills does do some silly things sometimes. Mills may score more, but Mooney is the better player.

 

As for some of the other players in the region, Johns is totally one-dimensional. Don't get me wrong, its the best dimension to have. But being able to shoot isn't the total package. I have a feeling Antioch is going to learn how much they miss Blakely pretty early. She took a lot of pressure off Johns. Now, Shakeya is going to see the best defender with a lot of help.

 

The guard from WC, Fuqua I think, is a nice player. She is not as good as Mills, but could be when all is said and done. She also has a better supporting cast.

 

There are a couple of other good players out there that should be mentioned, but there isn't enough time.

[r_oneal27]

Now for some additional points.

 

Whites Creek and McGavock are the class of 12-AAA. But each of them will lose a couple of games to either Glencliff, Hunters Lane, or Antioch. If Whites Creek isn't scoring from the outside, HL will give them fits. If Antioch or Glencliff get hot, they can beat anyone. But as far as game in and game out WC and McGavock are the best.

 

Madu is the best player in the district. No question. I know that will tick people off, but you can't teach size. It's like people who say that Shaq isn't the most dominating player in the NBA. Ask any coach who would they build a team around, and they would pick Shaq because of his size. Madu is a bigtime SEC recruit who is impossible for an individual to guard.

 

Don't get me wrong, Taylor and Mills are great players, but they aren't 6'2". (As for Taylor's knee, I haven't heard anything nor seen her, but Maplewood will struggle without Pendergrast in the paint.)

 

As for the comparison between Mills and Mooney, I really like Mills. She can score and see the floor well. However, she is not Mooney. Jessica does so many other things well. She's the best defensive player in the district. She can guard the best post or the quickest point. She can throw any pass with either hand from anywhere on the court. She doesn't make any mental mistakes. Mills does do some silly things sometimes. Mills may score more, but Mooney is the better player.

 

As for some of the other players in the region, Johns is totally one-dimensional. Don't get me wrong, its the best dimension to have. But being able to shoot isn't the total package. I have a feeling Antioch is going to learn how much they miss Blakely pretty early. She took a lot of pressure off Johns. Now, Shakeya is going to see the best defender with a lot of help.

 

The guard from WC, Fuqua I think, is a nice player. She is not as good as Mills, but could be when all is said and done. She also has a better supporting cast.

 

There are a couple of other good players out there that should be mentioned, but there isn't enough time.

well here we go, let me put it to you and anyone else out there, all the things you said are pretty much true but as far as madu being the best in the district no way she may be the best prospect because she is 6'2 but there were alot of girls last year who were tall and alysha clark was in a class of her own so lets not go there and also as far as madu being unstoppable well let me tell you what i saw in person which was the taylor girl guarding her and fouled madu out with i think 12 points and taylor scoring 31 and maplewood winning with pendergrast in foul trouble most of the game so unstoppable i dont think so but she is a very good prospect and as far as the johns girl i think you had it wrong she took pressure off of blakley and in the region finals when blakley was hurt she took over the game offensively and defensively but only time will tell. Edited November 17, 2005 by r_oneal27

[Metroman]

Here's why Madu is the best player in the district. Every team must have a gameplan for her. That opens up everyone else on the team. Taylor, Johns, and Mills are all really good players, but every team has a defender who they think can slow them down.

 

Let me give you an example. Hillsboro is the class of 11-AAA. They won't change anything they do when they play Antioch, Maplewood, or Glencliff. They'll just put Mooney on those girls. Same with Brentwood. Brentwood will have one lockdown defender who will defend those three players. Now, I am not saying that they will totally shut them down, but they will make it hard. And more importantly, teams won't have to change how they play.

 

With Madu, Hillsboro and Brentwood will have to change how they play in order to stop her. They'll have to over help which will open up McGavocks other threats. McGavock is beatable, but once they get out of 12-AAA, teams won't know how to stop them.

[bigchief]

Metroman, that is the difference between how a coach sees things and how a spectator sees them. Madu is a monster inside. An outstanding guard is much easier to stop. Hedge them with the next closest defender wherever they are and you can still defend the post. If you have to double down on a post, it creates A LOT of problems on the recovery. Good to see you last week. Good luck this year.

[Metroman]

Metroman, that is the difference between how a coach sees things and how a spectator sees them. Madu is a monster inside. An outstanding guard is much easier to stop. Hedge them with the next closest defender wherever they are and you can still defend the post. If you have to double down on a post, it creates A LOT of problems on the recovery. Good to see you last week. Good luck this year.

 

I know your right. There are a couple of things I read on message boards like this that have always bothered me. First, when someones says that the only reason a player is good is because they are tall. It makes me wonder. Of course that's what makes them different. If your post is 5'8" and mine is 6'2", the taller girl will be more effective in the paint.

 

The other one that bothers me is when someone says, "That player isn't any good. They can only shoot". Now I love tough kids who play great defense, but if they can't score, you can't win. The best type of one-dimensional player is the player who can shoot.

[givbakr2]

McGavock will be much harder to plan for with the addition of three new players each of whom can really play.One 5'11" post (Codye) who is very strong and can shoot the three:A lefty 2 guard( Ashley Porter) who plays like a 5'4" Rhonneisha Taylor and Trenisha Benton a can do it all G/F.Ndidi won't have to be awesome every night,McGavock has the best starting five in the region and could go undefeated in district play.Mills vs Mooney comes down to Mooney having better game knowledge and being a better all around player.If she was playing for a school like Glencliff or Maplewood she would shoot more and score more and this conversation about who is better wouldn't be taking place.Mills is a very good offensive player and a good rebounder.She has major D-1 ability but needs to play hard all the time and show her total game on a more consistent basis.

[r_oneal27]

the answer has been stated about mooney vs mills but as for mcgavock i sure hope so because its about time that a metro team gets some real pub.I am sick and tried of how metro (bleep) nashville teams boys and girls get no real credit. Unless you go to shebyville(recruitment wooes) or mtjuliet or any other midstate team in the outer county you are just done. the inner city kids do not have all the resorces that many midstate kids and teams have but are just as good and competetive but never get the pub unless they average 50pts or maybe some great advantage. the school systems are already wack and they have to deal with all the other things also but why do you think memphis teams always get it done because they found the right way to even things out. Nashville team will never be able to win state under the way things are now. just look how long its been. look at the news paper yesterday that was a travesty but its been that way for years.i wish that madu,taylor,mills,mayberry,brown,and others were raised in memphis because if they were they would already have signed with someone because memphis takes care of their own and nashville takes care of (guess what i cannot even say because its even prevelant on this web site but thats life you can only let the players from the mid state play graduate and pray that maybe the next year their will be a change and that will only happen in nashville when jesus christ comes so if you dont like it then you need to move to another city because this one is beginning to smell.

[givbakr2]

I think the girls situation is worse than the boys because they are more competitive due to the fact they have more outlets to play and get better. The girls in Metro for the most part start playing ball at a older age and have to play catch up thru their high school years .They don't have places they can go and play pickup games against other girls on a regular basis. Most Metro girls only play ball during the school season.There is a lack of developing girls at the younger ages.There are a few leagues around town that have all girl leagues for the younger ages,but most parents don't know about them or would rather their daughters become cheerleaders until the child grows to six feet tall then they try and shove the ball down their throat.Memphis does a good job at the rec and AAU basketball.A lot of our beloved high school coaches should carry some of the blame. In the county schools the coaches work together with the rec leagues and the middle schools and the AAU programs to develope a farm system so they know they have a steady stream of players. We have no such communication here.Instead we have coaches saying they don't like AAU in spite of the fact most of their better players benefit from playing in the off season.

[Metroman]

A couple of things. First, Metro has a disadvantage because, as fas as I know, there is no youth league for girls. You have to go outside the county in order to find a league. The kind of kids that go outside teh county are teh kind of kids who typically go to private schools.

 

Second, Metro coaches are not allowed to run summer youth camps at there school and charge money. For example, if Coach McGill wanted to run a camp at Hillsboro for all the kids in his area, he wouldn't be allowed to charge any money to run the camp or he wouldn't be able to use the facility. Now if he goes to another site and runs a camp, he runs the risk of violating a recruiting rule.

 

That is a serious issue. Most of the players that play as freshman have never been taught any fundamentals. They don't know how team defense works and have many bad habits. That takes a couple of years to teach.

 

As for Metro coaches working together, there is a lot of distrust out there. Several years ago, two Metro schools got together and played AAU in the spring. All of the rising 8th graders and current team members were on the teams they set up. It worked out fine until one coach began to recruit players to their school. Granted, that was a long time ago, but if your going to work together, there has to be a lot of trust.

 

Last, a college coach wants told me, if your good enough, they'll find you. And that has been the truth. There haven't been many girls in Metro who deserved scholarships that didn't get them. And one thing we often forget is the academic part of it. There are a few great players that we have discussed in the past who struggled academically.