Why is the West so dominant?

[culleokarep]

your statements contradict each other..."i know they won all three titles" is one view..."but it wasnt domination"...is another. If you win all three...that sounds like dominance.

 

not really...ppl on here act like west tenn. had 8 teams in each classification at the state tourney and they battled for the west tenn. state title...the AAA game could've gone either way...now in AA i thought west tenn. did have the advantadge....but in A it was the same way...it was not west tenn. dominance...union city had a gimme first round game...all im saying is show some humility...west tenn. is not dominating the state...and i know for a fact in single A...that the best teams out of the east and middle didnt get a chance to show what they had in the state tourney...

[blueatch2]

not really...ppl on here act like west tenn. had 8 teams in each classification at the state tourney and they battled for the west tenn. state title...the AAA game could've gone either way...now in AA i thought west tenn. did have the advantadge....but in A it was the same way...it was not west tenn. dominance...union city had a gimme first round game...all im saying is show some humility...west tenn. is not dominating the state...and i know for a fact in single A...that the best teams out of the east and middle didnt get a chance to show what they had in the state tourney...

 

I was at the tournament all week and Union City dominated all week and they really kicked the crap out of Grace. You say middle and east didn't have their best there? West Tennessee had a couple of teams sitting at home that could have easily beaten any middle or east team. Lake Co. and Middleton come to mind!

[gomab2]

Culleoka,

I must disagree. First off, winning all three State titles this year and last seems like dominance to me (A-AAA). Secondly, you say that "the best teams out of the east and middle didnt get a chance to show what they had in the state tourney" is completely false. They had the chance, and lost before even getting to state. Grace was the best in East Tn all year in Class A, and Cosby was ranked #1 all year. Wayne Co knocked out Culleoka, and represented Middle Tn. In fact, Lake Co, Middleton, and Middle College would have all been right there with Union City as a possible state champion. Honestly, out of the top Six Class A teams in the state, 5 of the top 6 were from the West (along with Grace).

 

In AA, the Top four were clearly from the West (Liberty, Mitchell, Bolivar, Haywood), and you can make a legitimate argument for more, including BTW, Carver, and others...

 

AAA, Middle Tn really represented well, with an oustanding run by Shelbyville, along with Whites Creek, Hunters Lane, and Siegel. Great year for Middle Tn in AAA. But still, Hamilton went 39-0 with a state title, Raleigh Egypt was a top 3 team in the state, and Ridgeway was very good...

 

West Tn was in fact dominant again this year with 3 State Champions...

[bhscoach]

I think the west dominates so much because of the competition they play all year long. Playing tougher competition gets you ready for your run at the end of the year. I don't know what competition is like it the east but in AAA ever since White County won back to back it's been all West. I think what also helps the West is the tournaments that they play in during the Holidays. Getting out of your state and playing teams from all around helps as well. Doing this helps you by playing different styles of basketball that maybe your not use to seeing in the West which helps you at state playing against middle and east teams. I don't think the west has better coaches than anybody else because from what ya'll say there are great coaches that our in the east and middle tn as well. I just think what helps the west like i said earlier is the competition that they have to play night in and out. If you look at it the good teams have stuggled a bunch of the not so good teams that they have played.

[firefulmer]

Wanna Know? Come to Guy B.Amis, Muse, T.R. White or Denmark on Sundays and find out.

You pretty much got that right! It's at least a factor in it.

[redbirdfan]

More competition in West TN.. Plain and simple . Holiday tournaments, they go out of state sometimes to play the best teams in the tri-state area. Union City for example played Bolivar, Liberty, Haywood County during the season(actually defeated Haywood once with Mr.Basketball Weddle scoring 41 points) They also played in the toughest 1A district in the state in District 14A with the likes of Humboldt(state semifinalist) Lake Co., Halls, Trenton Peabody ..

After seeing the final 8 teams in the BORO, you could put a Lake Co., Halls, Middleton for sure in other parts of the state and they could easily have wound up in the BORO as well..

Off season work programs, camps and other things factor in as to why West TN is always bringing home the hardware in March

[uctfan]

More competition in West TN.. Plain and simple . Holiday tournaments, they go out of state sometimes to play the best teams in the tri-state area. Union City for example played Bolivar, Liberty, Haywood County during the season(actually defeated Haywood once with Mr.Basketball Weddle scoring 41 points) They also played in the toughest 1A district in the state in District 14A with the likes of Humboldt(state semifinalist) Lake Co., Halls, Trenton Peabody ..

After seeing the final 8 teams in the BORO, you could put a Lake Co., Halls, Middleton for sure in other parts of the state and they could easily have wound up in the BORO as well..

Off season work programs, camps and other things factor in as to why West TN is always bringing home the hardware in March

 

I totally agree. Union City for one goes each year and plays in the Poplar Bluff Tournament and competes VERY well. They are usually the smallest team there by height of players. Just for example, look at Tyler Hansbrough at North Carolina Mens Basketball Team. He played for Poplar Bluff High School last year and they won two or three state titles with him. Union City playes against competition like this in Holiday Tournaments and during summer camps. They eat and breath Basketball 24/7, 365 days a year. Along with Lake Co., Middleton and many other western tennessee high school basketball teams.

 

In order to compete on todays high school levels, you have to hit the court soon as the last season is over to keep up and if you do not then you will be left at home watching what the other teams can do.

 

I can only speak for what is seen here in West Tennessee High School sports, if you do not have weight programs for the off season, training programs then you will pay the price for making it very far. I know during the week at the State tournament according to our local paper that the team ( Union city ) spent most of the time practicing instead of out sight seeing or watching other games. This was the player decisions not as much the coaches.

[icecold06]

I still think it is deeperthan what you all are saying even though you are making great points, but remember Chattanooga used to be a hotbed for basketball talent. What happened there are still high schools in Chattanooga so someone should be good. Somebody mentioned demographics and I think that has a lot to do with it. When I go back home to Chattanooga and drive by the playgrounds that I played on growing up I dont see kids out there anymore and I dont understand why that is. I bet you there is probably always some kids on the playgrounds and rec centers in Memphis. i live in Murfreesboro now and there arent any rec centers really where kids can go and play, except for patterson but everyone doesnt live in that area. it makes a big difference when you can walk a block down the street to go play as oppossed to waiting for someone to get off of work and drive you to the center or playground.

[Guest dare_2_dream]

I still think it is deeperthan what you all are saying even though you are making great points, but remember Chattanooga used to be a hotbed for basketball talent. What happened there are still high schools in Chattanooga so someone should be good. Somebody mentioned demographics and I think that has a lot to do with it. When I go back home to Chattanooga and drive by the playgrounds that I played on growing up I dont see kids out there anymore and I dont understand why that is. I bet you there is probably always some kids on the playgrounds and rec centers in Memphis. i live in Murfreesboro now and there arent any rec centers really where kids can go and play, except for patterson but everyone doesnt live in that area. it makes a big difference when you can walk a block down the street to go play as oppossed to waiting for someone to get off of work and drive you to the center or playground.

 

theres sports com, the mac, mtsu's rec center, as well as patterson park in murfreesboro

[Lions4ever]

not really...ppl on here act like west tenn. had 8 teams in each classification at the state tourney and they battled for the west tenn. state title...the AAA game could've gone either way...now in AA i thought west tenn. did have the advantadge....but in A it was the same way...it was not west tenn. dominance...union city had a gimme first round game...all im saying is show some humility...west tenn. is not dominating the state...and i know for a fact in single A...that the best teams out of the east and middle didnt get a chance to show what they had in the state tourney...

Are you kidding me???? The reason that your so called "best teams from the east" didn't get to play in the Boro is obviously because they LOST somewhere along the way!....sorry but you can't lose and win a state title, that's just the way it is. And if you're trying to say they got cheated by the refs....spare me. It seemed to me if any bias was shown it was shown against the west instead of for them. So why did Union City get a "gimme" in the first round? Because the number of quality teams in the east just DOES NOT compare to the numbers in the west. In AA the only way a team from the west left the tourney(starting all the way back to sectionals) was because they were beat by another team from the west! Not once did a middle or east team beat a west team in this year's tourney in AA. As far as 3A goes the west just doesn't have that many teams to send to the tourney but once again the only west Tn team to lose against an east or middle team was R-E when they were beat by Shelbyville in the Semi's by three points. How you can say that west TN is not dominate in basketball especially considering the last 2 years???...time for you to face the facts my friend.

[PrepFanatic]

Are you kidding me???? The reason that your so called "best teams from the east" didn't get to play in the Boro is obviously because they LOST somewhere along the way!....sorry but you can't lose and win a state title, that's just the way it is. And if you're trying to say they got cheated by the refs....spare me. It seemed to me if any bias was shown it was shown against the west instead of for them. So why did Union City get a "gimme" in the first round? Because the number of quality teams in the east just DOES NOT compare to the numbers in the west. In AA the only way a team from the west left the tourney(starting all the way back to sectionals) was because they were beat by another team from the west! Not once did a middle or east team beat a west team in this year's tourney in AA. As far as 3A goes the west just doesn't have that many teams to send to the tourney but once again the only west Tn team to lose against an east or middle team was R-E when they were beat by Shelbyville in the Semi's by three points. How you can say that west TN is not dominate in basketball especially considering the last 2 years???...time for you to face the facts my friend.

 

I was just about to say that. He said West Tennessee did not dominate.....then said Union City had a gimme in the first round.......If we dont dominate then why dont the other parts of the state have gimme games agianst West Tennesse teams? Imagine if Bolivar, Mitchell, Haywood and Liberty didnt have to play each other in the first round. It would have been some huge blow outs.

[redbirdfan]

All are good points in the previous posts, but it is a fact just based on what we saw

in the 3 games during the state tourney that UC played the toughest part of the season vs. district and regional foes After easy 1st round wins in the district and region, UC had to play a Humboldt in the semifinal and then a Lake Co. in the region semifinal which were all tough, close, competitive games Not to mention the tough task of going on the road to Middleton and having to defeat the defending state champs on their home floor That was without a doubt the last toughest game UC played this year. Nothing against the teams in the state tourney, it's just UC had an easier time last week in the BORO than going through the district and region because the competition was better