WHAT CAN EAST TN. DO TO "CATCH UP" TO THE WEST?

[jmpshtr101]

Just a thought. Is it coaching? Not since the days of Science Hill has the east had a team that could dominate. Wiggins from Greenville looked like the only legit MAJOR D1 player from the east. Is it just demographics? In other states it isn't so one sided. or is it that the east is just the football side of the state?

[therickbol]

Its demographics. Pure and simple. Bottom line. Not coaching, there are plenty of very good coaches in middle and east tennessee. The athletes in the west far out-number the athletes to pull from in middle and east tennessee.

[littlerock]

A couple of reasons:

 

1. Demographics - there is a greater population base in the Middle and West. That means more athletes to draw from.

 

2. Other sports - many kids in East Tennessee, often some of the best athletes, play other sports as well. The majority, not all, of kids in West Tennessee focus on basketball. That makes a HUGE difference. Baseball is probably more popular in East Tennessee than in Middle or West, and football is just as popular if not more so. Many of the best athletes in the East do not dedicate themselves to one sport as many in the West do.

 

3. Coaching - there are good coaches in every area of the state, so I don't think any area is superior in that regard. Additionally, the Tennessee Travelers are based in the East and are one of the best summer programs in the nation, certainly in the state.

 

4. Bottom line - not as many athletes, more emphasis on baseball and football in the East.

[BluNWhiteH8Tribe]

East TN has many great coaches, its demographics, plain and simple...The Middle & West have more to choose from...their spot is basketball while the east's sport is football...

[Lions4ever]

East TN has many great coaches, its demographics, plain and simple...The Middle & West have more to choose from...their spot is basketball while the east's sport is football...

I still don't get where you all come up with "there's more to choose from" in the west. Look at Bolivar...as small of a town as any in the east AND there are 2 small high schools in a small county. Middleton is also in that county and they're an even smaller but very successful basketball school. Take Union City a school that has gone from a large AA school to an A school in a very short time that has a much larger local high school (Obion Co AAA) and also a smaller (South Fulton A) school to contend with, and Union City is as much a successful football school as it is a basketball school. Ok, so if you want to say that Jackson (Liberty , North Side) has more to choose from, then what is Chattanooga's or Knoxville's excuse then? They both have much larger populations than Jackson and Jackson has 8 high schools (which is alot considering the population), so that "waters down" the talent pool even more.

 

I guess you can think what you want if it makes you feel better about the West's domination but these are some facts you are going to have to face. 1. The west has as many great basketball schools that are as rural, if not more so, than any school that is not great at basketball in the east. 2. Check at the end of the school year and see how many athletes in the west are all-state players in 2 or 3 sports....we can't afford to have our athletes focus on one sport (because we just don't have the number of athletes to pick from) if we have any chance of being competitive .

 

Why is the west dominant in basketball right now?? These kids grow up playing competitive basketball from the time they are old enough to hold a ball. Although the west may always have a slight edge, these things are all cyclical and someone else will show more dominance before long...but for now its the west's turn.

Edited March 24, 2006 by Lions4ever

[Grace Golden Eagles]

Pride goeth before a fall...

 

I think the best thing the East and Middle can do is to sit back and watch the West implode. Too much more talk like this and I expect it.

[Purple & Gold Standard]

Some of the far east school might want to try to get into some of the tournaments or invitationals the west has before Christmas or before New Year's....The middle teams need to schedule more west teams....Bottom line is,they need to upgrade their schedules so they won't be so surprised by the talent differential when they get to state....You look at Cosby and McMinn...They were ranked #1 in A and AA and lost by 20 and 24 points to Humboldt and Liberty...Then Union City beats a 32-5 Grace team by 16 points in the 1A championship..I doubt Grace saw the type of athletes they saw back to back when they faced Humboldt and Union City.....Shelbyville was impressive in the tourney with their win over Raleigh-Egypt and close loss to Hamilton...But I saw someone post that talent runs in cycles and they are right....Before last year,the East was pretty much dominating in 1A...It's just the west's turn right now....

Edited March 25, 2006 by backinthaoc

[therickbol]

I still don't get where you all come up with "there's more to choose from" in the west. Look at Bolivar...as small of a town as any in the east AND there are 2 small high schools in a small county. Middleton is also in that county and they're an even smaller but very successful basketball school. Take Union City a school that has gone from a large AA school to an A school in a very short time that has a much larger local high school (Obion Co AAA) and also a smaller (South Fulton A) school to contend with, and Union City is as much a successful football school as it is a basketball school. Ok, so if you want to say that Jackson (Liberty , North Side) has more to choose from, then what is Chattanooga's or Knoxville's excuse then? They both have much larger populations than Jackson and Jackson has 8 high schools (which is alot considering the population), so that "waters down" the talent pool even more.

 

I guess you can think what you want if it makes you feel better about the West's domination but these are some facts you are going to have to face. 1. The west has as many great basketball schools that are as rural, if not more so, than any school that is not great at basketball in the east. 2. Check at the end of the school year and see how many athletes in the west are all-state players in 2 or 3 sports....we can't afford to have our athletes focus on one sport (because we just don't have the number of athletes to pick from) if we have any chance of being competitive .

 

Why is the west dominant in basketball right now?? These kids grow up playing competitive basketball from the time they are old enough to hold a ball. Although the west may always have a slight edge, these things are all cyclical and someone else will show more dominance before long...but for now its the west's turn.

 

Whoa now...calm down man. I don't think you understood. They are not crying" about your schools being bigger and thats why you have more to choose from. They are saying you have more "athletes" to choose from and ones that focus on basketball all year round.

[Lions4ever]

Whoa now...calm down man. I don't think you understood. They are not crying" about your schools being bigger and thats why you have more to choose from. They are saying you have more "athletes" to choose from and ones that focus on basketball all year round.

No I think I understood pretty well....re-read some of the posts....it says "west and middle TN have greater population bases to draw athletes from" so I adressed that falsehood because other than Memphis the west probably has less to draw from. It was also stated that more athletes focus on just basketball....I also adressed that falsehood. Once again, look at the end of year and see how many 2 or 3 sport all-staters are from the west...you might be surprised. So if the west has "more athletes" then why has the east dominated in football lately compared to the west? You contradict yourselves with that statement. Its what I said before, this stuff runs in cycles. Its just not the west's turn in football and its just not the east's turn in basketball.

[Guest Cutters Crazies]

I think the top middle tn teams proved they can hang this year at state esp in AAA

[Switchhitter]

The competetive side of basketball pushes good programs to be great. Memphis athletes play all year round. For the rural west tn schools to compete, each town does whatever it takes to beat these Memphis players and teams. If rural west tn can compete with Memphis, then they can definitely compete with the rest of the state. This is the bottom line, Memphis pushes the west to be as good as it can be in the game of roundball.

[polk_wildcat]

East TN has many great coaches, its demographics, plain and simple...The Middle & West have more to choose from...their spot is basketball while the east's sport is football...