Area Tournament Who's the favorite

[Dapaver]

Flame

 

well thorn I guess whitthorn won"t be in the finals. Lavergne drilled them by 16 points. Central beat Rocksprings this is the only game left in the tournament that is in question. blackman will drill siegal to advance to the finals. I do believe still that Central will win against Lavergne but I do believe it will be close.

[Flame123]

Dapaver,

Well I was wrong about lavergne getting beat. Lavergne looked tough tonight. However, many people including myself were shocked to see that two of their best players are no longer with them.

 

However, if you are picking those Central Tigers to beat lavergne or beat Blackman Middle then again they better play better than what they did tonight.

[TnBball]

How did Columbia Whitthorne play?

[sportsplayer]

Whitthorne didn't look too great last night. Seemed to be poorly coached and undisciplined. Players didn't seem to be in very good condition for this point in the season. Had trouble running up and down the court. Couldn't hit their free throws at all. I've heard they play a very soft schedule and beat most teams by around 15 or more. The only good teams they played this season were David Lipscomb and MBA. DL blew them away from the score that I saw. I say Blackman will win the whole thing big time.

[jazzypha24mom]

How did Columbia Whitthorne play?

 

I agree with Sportsplayer, Withorne, didn't look as good as I was expecting. I think they became more frustrated than anything because they couldn't make a free throw or a shot to save their lives. LaVergne didn't handle their full court press very well and Withorne was actually coming up with some good steals. As I stated if some of those shots or free throws would have gone in, could have been a different outcome.

[jazzypha24mom]

Whitthorne didn't look too great last night. Seemed to be poorly coached and undisciplined. Players didn't seem to be in very good condition for this point in the season. Had trouble running up and down the court. Couldn't hit their free throws at all. I've heard they play a very soft schedule and beat most teams by around 15 or more. The only good teams they played this season were David Lipscomb and MBA. DL blew them away from the score that I saw. I say Blackman will win the whole thing big time.

 

 

I think most middle school teams, girls and boys are poorly coached and the players are undisciplined. There are the exceptions but overall, middle school programs are really surviving on that particular year talent. For example, look at the programs at Rock Spring, Smyrna, and Siegel this year, last year these program were the powerhouses. Next year, it probably will be different, it depends on which program, that will lose the most talent.

 

Blackman will probably win the whole thing, but they have to stay focus because once you play teams several times and beat them by huge margins, you can have the tendency to play lax.

[icecold06]

I think most middle school teams, girls and boys are poorly coached and the players are undisciplined. There are the exceptions but overall, middle school programs are really surviving on that particular year talent. For example, look at the programs at Rock Spring, Smyrna, and Siegel this year, last year these program were the powerhouses. Next year, it probably will be different, it depends on which program, that will lose the most talent.

 

Blackman will probably win the whole thing, but they have to stay focus because once you play teams several times and beat them by huge margins, you can have the tendency to play lax.

That is somewhat true but not quite,

Smyrna was not well coached last year they didnt have a winning record.

If you look at Blackman last year they didnt have much talent but they beat every team in the league at least once except for Central(they were loaded)

Siegel is well coached this year. they are not a powerhouse as a matter of fact they only have one good player yet that coach is finding ways to win.

Well coached teams in my opinion that stand out

Siegel( surviving with one player

Blackman(loaded and and disciplined)

Rock Springs(if he had talent his team would be dangerous, Central couldn't put them away last night)

on a side note Witthorne looked good last night... for the first 3 minutes of the game. Then they looked like they quit once Lavergne came back

[jazzypha24mom]

To state that most teams are poorly coached is a little far fetched.

 

This is not AAU where you get to pick you talent from across the city and even the state. These coaches have to coach what they are given within their zones. Rutherford County School Sysytem is one of the biggest in the state. Most middle schools in this county rely on year to year talent because everybody is so spread out. Central is the only school that will have talent every year and it is not because they have developed some dynasty there. They have all the inner city kids and always will.

 

As more middle schools are being built the more scattered the atheletes will become over teh Murfreesboro except for Central. That has nothing to do with coaching.

 

Tell me this, how do you come to a decision that a team is poorly coached?

 

I think a team that is not doing the basic fundamental things, i.e not blocking out, not rebounding, not making free throws, not moving your feet on defense, standing around on offense, not following your shot, not getting back on defense, not being able to break a press, and the list goes on, is what I consider, being poorly coached. The boys teams do a little better than the girl teams but overall, on any given night, you can witness the above things not being done.

 

I think I said it does depend on the talent you have but if a coach has a team of fundamentally sound player, they can be winners and you won't have one team dominating a conference of 8 teams or more. It's up to the coaches to develop players and to make sure if a player is talented enough to go to the next level, he or she should be able to do the basic fundamentals things. I do realize coaching is a hard job and it's not for everyone but there are absolutely some coaches out there that do not have a clue and SHOULD not be coaching. Now granted, players have to do their parts and work to improve their skills as well, but as long as they are associated with a school program and cannot do the simple things, the player won't get the blame, the coach will.

 

One other question, why is it assumed that if your program consists of mainly African American players you will always win?? A fundamentally coached white team can and will beat a team of African American players. LMS played Walter J Baird this year, and was beat both times and I don't believe this team had but one African American starter.

 

Speaking of AAU, doesn't Blackman middle school boys play together as an AAU squad during the summer???

[warrior123]

Lets remember that this is not AAU either. These coaches do not get to pick their talent. They have zones and have to coach the kids they are given. Most teams will rely on year to year talent becuase Murfreesbor School System is so big and these kids are spread out. Central is the only exception here because they are the only inner city school right now.

 

I do agree that there are some coaches out there that have no buisness coaching but for the most part Rutherford County Middle Schools have great coaches.

 

Also you must realize that great coaching goes far beyond winning and loosing when you are dealing with Middle School kids. Most people that make those type of comments are so far removed from reality when it comes to the game of basketball or they coach AAU where they can pick the cream of the crop. These coaches have to deal with thier zones, grades, behavior and other challenges that face them in a school system.

 

Rock Springs has great coaches. There boys caoch as been at the high school level and understnads the game. Blackman Boys team has a great coach. They also have one of the best assembled coaching staff around. Ron Couey is a legend around here. Lavergne coach is learning but has done a great job so far. Look at what type of character these young men have, the things they teach their kids, how disciplined they are on the floor, and how hard they coach. Again, it is more than about wins.

 

Lets give credit where credit is deserved. If people can't see that these are great coaches along with some of the others in this league then they have no buisness discussing this issue on this forum.

[warrior123]

You can witness all those mistakes at any level. I guess you are saying that since Central boys are out of shape, play no defense most of the time, do not move on offense, do not box out that Ron Couey must be a poor coach. I guess because Rock Springs played with Central down to the wire last night and Central was gasping for air in the fourth quarter, not boxing out, couldn't handle rock Springs press at times, and Gooch missing layups that Ron Couey must be a poor coach. That is exactly what you are saying!

Edited February 9, 2006 by warrior123

[jazzypha24mom]

Lets remember that this is not AAU either. These coaches do not get to pick their talent. They have zones and have to coach the kids they are given. Most teams will rely on year to year talent becuase Murfreesbor School System is so big and these kids are spread out. Central is the only exception here because they are the only inner city school right now.

 

I do agree that there are some coaches out there that have no buisness coaching but for the most part Rutherford County Middle Schools have great coaches.

 

Also you must realize that great coaching goes far beyond winning and loosing when you are dealing with Middle School kids. Most people that make those type of comments are so far removed from reality when it comes to the game of basketball or they coach AAU where they can pick the cream of the crop. These coaches have to deal with thier zones, grades, behavior and other challenges that face them in a school system.

 

Rock Springs has great coaches. There boys caoch as been at the high school level and understnads the game. Blackman Boys team has a great coach. They also have one of the best assembled coaching staff around. Ron Couey is a legend around here. Lavergne coach is learning but has done a great job so far. Look at what type of character these young men have, the things they teach their kids, how disciplined they are on the floor, and how hard they coach. Again, it is more than about wins.

 

Lets give credit where credit is deserved. If people can't see that these are great coaches along with some of the others in this league then they have no buisness discussing this issue on this forum.

 

 

Calm down, it's not that crucial...........The next time, I will give a disclaimer before I post. No intention to offend anyone, but this is what I'm seeing and these are my opinions.

 

There are some good coaches and I agree with that, don't know any of the gentlemen you named and I'm sure they do and have done the best they can with the talent they have had this year.

 

Coaching takes a special person and if a coach is not making players better, then once again that person DOES NOT need to be coaching regardless if he/she is a middle school, high school or an AAU coach.

[jazzypha24mom]

You can witness all those mistakes at any level. I guess you are saying that since Central boys are out of shape, play no defense most of the time, do not move on offense, do not box out that Ron Couey must be a poor coach. I guess because Rock Springs played with Central down to the wire last night and Central was gasping for air in the fourth quarter, not boxing out, couldn't handle rock Springs press at times, and Gooch missing layups that Ron Couey must be a poor coach. That is exactly what you are saying!

 

 

True, warrior 123, mistakes are made at all levels but if these mistakes are consistently made, then what?? Would you want to coach a team that you are depending totally on talent to win. Basketball is as much a game of smarts as it is talent. Maybe Couey is not as a good a coach as you are giving him the credit to be. Maybe all these years, he has depended on talent and not taken the time to make sure his player are fundamentally sound to play at the next level.

 

Huh, something to think about..........