Willie Kemp vs Mack Gardner

[blaintrain06]

Mack is a great point guard and i will not deny that ever but when put up against a beast like willlie kemp you just can't call that a comparison... Willie is a beast he can out play anyone in the state ... also i must add that yes ken bingham is a great player and may even have the talent for me to go ahead and say yeah he can outplay Mack gardner we will find out too friday night in the ROUNDHOUSE.....

[Bizzieb_34]

Mack is a great point guard and i will not deny that ever but when put up against a beast like willlie kemp you just can't call that a comparison... Willie is a beast he can out play anyone in the state ... also i must add that yes ken bingham is a great player and may even have the talent for me to go ahead and say yeah he can outplay Mack gardner we will find out too friday night in the ROUNDHOUSE.....

Lexington be aware Bingham is the little brother of two of the best players that ever come through McNairy in a long time. And if I'm not talking about nothing to you ask MIKE WALKER. And if you follow B-BALL I'm sure you people know who that is

[dawgman5555]

Coming into this game everyone in the state knew who the better PG would be. Willie is the best point guard the state has seen awhile. That is not taking anything away from Gardner, he just isnt on Kemps level. But FEW are. I believe both will be successful on the next level. Kemp probably right away and Mack possibly in a couple of years. I was really hoping to see Mack at Union where he has a better chance to contribute on a good team right away.

 

 

Have you seen Union play? Sorry, but as of right now, Gardner is not on their level. Gardner is a great PG. I have seen him play numerous times. But 'Coop (Marcus Cooper) at Union, can run the show as good as anyone and has been for a few years. They really did not need to recruit Mack. Union also got some great Juco and D-1 transfers in. Union's for real. They are about as athletic as you can get right now. Not bashing Mack here in any way, he's a superb player, but not at all what Union needed to spend their time on right now.

[PrepFanatic]

 

 

Have you seen Union play? Sorry, but as of right now, Gardner is not on their level. Gardner is a great PG. I have seen him play numerous times. But 'Coop (Marcus Cooper) at Union, can run the show as good as anyone and has been for a few years. They really did not need to recruit Mack. Union also got some great Juco and D-1 transfers in. Union's for real. They are about as athletic as you can get right now. Not bashing Mack here in any way, he's a superb player, but not at all what Union needed to spend their time on right now.

 

UT-Martin is where Mack is going,.

[hackashaq]

I find all this to be sad for Mack. I think he is a great person and student, but he is not the STAR (if we have any stars – again Bomar is looking good but I don’t see him as a star yet either) player of this team. If you read the article in the newspaper, basically the reporter is quoting all the praise that Gardner is giving to Mack. The article goes as far as to say that Mack is comparable to Kemp. This smoke and screen, snake oil stuff is catching up to coach Gardner and Mack is paying for it. That is not fair to either him or the team. If we lose, we lose as a TEAM. If we win, we win as a TEAM. Yes Mack is a better than average player, but he is not the reason we are winning. Has anyone forgot that we have probably 3 of the best post players we have ever had in a very long time?? Somehow that is getting lost in all of the hoopla that is going on. When we focus on team and defense, then we might sneak in there and beat Bolivar the second time around (who would have ever thought that USC would lose to Texas?? If Gardner keeps the focus on Mack, he can only expect to get all the criticism when we lose.

 

Montague - good point about Gardner pointing the defensive criticsm at Bomar – cheap shot and not fair, The team as WHOLE needs to pick it up on defense.

[gowiththeflow_6]

Two completely different type of players. quit comparing the two.

[firefulmer]

I find all this to be sad for Mack. I think he is a great person and student, but he is not the STAR (if we have any stars – again Bomar is looking good but I don’t see him as a star yet either) player of this team. If you read the article in the newspaper, basically the reporter is quoting all the praise that Gardner is giving to Mack. The article goes as far as to say that Mack is comparable to Kemp. This smoke and screen, snake oil stuff is catching up to coach Gardner and Mack is paying for it. That is not fair to either him or the team. If we lose, we lose as a TEAM. If we win, we win as a TEAM. Yes Mack is a better than average player, but he is not the reason we are winning. Has anyone forgot that we have probably 3 of the best post players we have ever had in a very long time?? Somehow that is getting lost in all of the hoopla that is going on. When we focus on team and defense, then we might sneak in there and beat Bolivar the second time around (who would have ever thought that USC would lose to Texas?? If Gardner keeps the focus on Mack, he can only expect to get all the criticism when we lose.

 

 

 

I'll admit straight up that I've not seen Mack play. So I'll accept criticism for that. But to say he is on the same level with Willie would be difficult for anyone to imagine. I'm NOT saying he is not a very good player at all!!! But I agree with you that all of this comparison seems unfair to him.

 

Now about Lexington beating Bolivar next time...yes, anything IS possible. But I've got to believe that as the season goes on the Bolivar guys will get stronger. Will they win every single game...who knows? But they'll be standing when it counts.

 

As someone else put it...this is only FireFulmer's OPINION...or let's call it an educated guess.

 

I'm still behind whoever represents our district when the time comes.

[youngbballfan]

Like I stated before im not a bolivar fan or lexington fan, im a fan of basketball. Mack Gardner and Willie Kemp are coaches dreams. Mack is a floor general, gets people involved, and makes his teamates better. He pushes the ball every trip, and looks for the open man. It is highly unfair to him because if lexington loses then he will be the blame, and if they win then the team will get the praise. Ive seen him play about 5 times from his freshman year, and he will be fine on the next level. He has the qualities of a POINT GUARD. Ken Bingham could not play point guard at the DI level. He is a talented player, but does not handle the ball, or make the right decisions to get it done on that level. Again I will say he is ultra talented, but is not a point. Willie is Willie. He is a scoring point guard, a basketball player. He makes winning plays, whether it be scoring 10 in a row to get his team back in the game or dishing out assists to Chism down low. He is a once in a lifetime talent. These two are the best at their position in the state bar none. There are alot of people that dribble the ball up the floor start the offense and pass the ball to the wing. But Gardner and Kemp both are floor generals, can break any high school press and make the right decision. Thats where I base my comparison, on the two. Bolivar proved they are the better team thats not the issue. To compare the two from a talent standpoint is very unfair, but I am comparing basketball IQ, and both kids are off the charts from that aspect, and thats why they both are playing DI basketball!

[hackashaq]

Mack does cause excitement at times and I once thought he was D1 material, but I can tell you that there is a difference between a pg that is just there and one that really makes a difference for their team. Again, our weak schedule makes judgment of Mack a little difficult. Really almost anybody could have played point on our team agsinst probably 80 to 95 percent of the teams we have played over his four year period. The reason I question his ability is that in the 5 to 10% games (like the Humboldt, Chester County and Milan tournament games that we got beat in). I don't blame him for the loss, but a legitimate D1 pg prospect would have got us over the hump when we were playing these what I call B level teams (because the Bolivars and Liberties are A level, Southside was A but now is about a C to D what a change!). We just haven't been able to do it. And those pg guards that truly lead will find ways to get you by teams like them. I am not judging yet, because he can redeem himself - again it is the beginning of the district season and he could change. The other concern was watching the two guards (Madden and Crisp) basically shut him down from scoring. A D1 level guard should have been able to abuse at least Crisp (sophomore) and really he should be able to score agains Madden - I don't believe neither of these two are being recruited at the college level (maybe Bethel or JCC). I think that McNairy is a B level competition and it will be interesting to see if he can do some damage to their defense. After the season then I think you can make better judgements about D1 level qualifications.