Big 9 Conference

[Cap1]

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but you are right about one thing and wrong about two. The "Wrap up" you are speaking of and the picture does not tell the story like you assume it to be. Cradic was chasing his player out of defensive position and Cradic's foot hit the back of East foot and started to fall. Cradic grabbed the player around the waist as the picture shows, but the picture failed to show Cradic keeping his arms around him so he didn't fall hard to the ground and even helped him up. Now......You are right about a hard foul of which I do not know what was going through his head in that he gave an elbow to the chest while checking a screen. This was when Coach Whitt took him out of the game...from which is the second part you are wrong about. I would not say anything about the season until now. Skunk is absolutely right in that some are dangerous and it will always come across as dirty/dangerous. All these kids are probably the best kids we have had since I have been there. BUT!!!!! They are not fundamentally ready for Varsity ball. Skunk and some others may know what I am talking about. Most of our players did not have the fundamentals needed to compete this year. IT takes practice, practice, and more practice to compete like that. Some of our players did not want to put in the time needed to get better (it takes work outside of practice), and when you don't have a fundamentally sound team, your players are not in position to play good, agressive defense without causing potential harm to themselves and other players. Skunk reffered to Jared as a physical but not dirty player, and that is because he was fundamentally sound. He had total control over his body and position. That is why we get blown out by running teams and other like TN High East, until the last games against them, we can stay with them. No team that plays dirty will give up 3 point plays the old fashion way (foul and bucket). We gave up a record number this year. At DB, we never wanted to give up a foul and bucket. We forced you to make two free throws or you were coming to the bench. And we were not considered dirty, as most teams' philosophy was like that. BUT again......when you are consistenly out of position to play defense, you are putting more than yourself at danger. Our defensive stats show that we played poor defense all year long.

Anyway....our season is over and I will be cheering for DB, The Hill, TN High, and East to represent our Big 9 well. I hope to see all four teams in the region's final four....GOD BLESS!!!!!

 

OMG!!!! Why does it seem like you are always making excuses!! And I have to respectfully disagree with your statement ???They are not fundamentally ready for Varsity ball. Skunk and some others may know what I am talking about. Most of our players did not have the fundamentals needed to compete this year???. That argument could be used to describe at least 80% of the kids playing varsity ball in the Big 9 (or anywhere for that matter)??¦and I think that 80% is real generous. But the fact stands that if given the right motivation, direction, and encouragement, MOST of these kids will give you all they have??¦and a coach can??™t ask for much more than that at this level! Most of these kids know that after their senior year they will never see the competitive hard wood again. I know some that play just because their friend play, some that play for the popularity of being apart of the team, and some that play just for the fun and challenge of the competition. You know as well as I do that in most cases even the great ones don??™t spend as much time in the gym as they should. Just face it??¦Volunteer had all the tools to compete in this conference including 2 possible 3 of the top 10 players in the conference this year in Cradic, Bennett, and Trent. They just had some kind of breakdown about midway through the season and didn??™t recover. I personally am not in the position to point fingers or place blame because I don??™t know what is going on behind the gym doors over there at Volunteer, but I will say that we (THS) played two TOTALLY different Falcon teams this year. One that seemed HIGHLY motivated on the first time around, and one that couldn??™t wait to get off the court in the second. /huh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":huh:" border="0" alt="huh.gif" />

[Cap1]

Congrats to the freakin Indians (again) for their win over the Vikings on Saturday. Goooooosh??¦.how do you stop a team with so many weapons. You focus on their inside game and pack the zone down on the big guys??¦Sylvester, Williams, and Halvorsen will make you pay. If you stretch the zone out to cover the ???three ball?????¦Hardy, Edwards, Riggs, or Flack (or any combination of) will eat you alive. If you get bold enough to ???man-up?????¦the chances of an ankle injury are great with Williams and Sylvester. And If you have support come to help cover those two off the dribble you risk being in William??™s next poster shot, or you open yourself up for a drop step dunk by Hardy, Flack, or Edwards on the dish. And if somehow you are able to stop all of this??¦Morgan will draw up some ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way) play at halftime that can only be stopped by poor execution. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

 

But I think I have the answer if we should play you guys in Regionals. We are going to have to start the list for the Arbys officials early, and offer free upgrades and beverages for the flight to the Bahamas this year. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

[maroonandgrey]

Congrats to the freakin Indians (again) for their win over the Vikings on Saturday. Goooooosh??¦.how do you stop a team with so many weapons. You focus on their inside game and pack the zone down on the big guys??¦Sylvester, Williams, and Halvorsen will make you pay. If you stretch the zone out to cover the ???three ball?????¦Hardy, Edwards, Riggs, or Flack (or any combination of) will eat you alive. If you get bold enough to ???man-up?????¦the chances of an ankle injury are great with Williams and Sylvester. And If you have support come to help cover those two off the dribble you risk being in William??™s next poster shot, or you open yourself up for a drop step dunk by Hardy, Flack, or Edwards on the dish. And if somehow you are able to stop all of this??¦Morgan will draw up some ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way) play at halftime that can only be stopped by poor execution. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

 

But I think I have the answer if we should play you guys in Regionals. We are going to have to start the list for the Arbys officials early, and offer free upgrades and beverages for the flight to the Bahamas this year. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

 

/roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

[Stokomo]

CAP1.....I respect your analysis of our team, but we actually only had two players ready for varsity. Cameron Trent, although a GREAT kid, was not physically ready for Varsity contact. He and his parents will tell you that. He needs to gain about 20-30 pounds to effectively dominate the paint with his size. He's only a sophomore. That is why teams worked a triangle-n-two against us the second half of the season or concentrated on just Bennett and Cradic. We even tried to get other players involved and changed up the offense, but the other players did not step up to the challenge....btw.....that is the one factor you used that exemplified our season. No one stepped up. What is promising is that there ARE players that CAN use this off season and get better to be able to compete next year. It starts NOW for us. Immediately after the game, there was an AAU coach talking to a couple of our players about playing this spring. I am a BIG fan of AAU for our kids to get better, given the right AAU program. I am not going back and forth on this issue, but will say that I have the actual stats to back up my claim to inexperience. I look for Cameron Trent to be a big force next year. He knows what he needs to do. I also expect Cody Moore (sophomore) to be a big part of our team along with Bennett at guards. I will have more time this off season to work with the guards. IF you remember last year, we started four guards (Cradic, Bennett, Mauk, and Browder), and anyone of them could get hot. You could not gimmick defense us. This year we did not have anyone but Cradic and Bennett to give us an offensive punch. I totally agree with you that it seemed like the players just gave up down the stretch. When you expect a certain level of play and don't reach it, it becomes tough to keep the motivation, which are coaches' responsibilty. As a coach, I take full responsibilty for our downfall. I, personally, was not able to be at practices, and we lost a good coach and friend in Brandon Reid, now with Greeneville. Hopefully, I will be able to be around more to help, especially the guards. GOD BLESS and good luck tomorrow!!!!!!

[Stokomo]

Another point to inexperience........look at the Boone/Science Hill game last Thursday. Boone actually stayed with the Hill until the 2nd half. Science Hill can rotate players in and out. Boone did not have the necessary role players to stay with Science Hill. On the other hand, DB's players are fundamentally sound from top to bottom and have beaten the Hill two times, looking for a thrid tomorrow. DB does not have the most athletic team they have ever had, but they have the fundamental tools to make a dangerous run for the state this year. TN High teams are very fundamentally sound and have success year in and year out. Again....I hope to see a Big Nine final four next weekend in Greeneville.

[brock20]

But I think I have the answer if we should play you guys in Regionals. We are going to have to start the list for the Arbys officials early, and offer free upgrades and beverages for the flight to the Bahamas this year. /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />

 

 

I knew that after 4 years on here I would rub off on you eventually.

[TennesseeV0ls]

I agree with you, I think Freedom Hall would be a great place to have the tournament. Its the largest venue in the area, only abot 10 to 15 min. away from most teams in the district, Its right in the center of town next to SH so it wouldn't be very hard to find. Also I go to etsu and I know alot of my friends there would go to the games if they knew where they were at, and I think that alot of people in general would go if it was at one of these larger areans in a more central location. For the revenues, i think that it wouldnt be a bad idea if all the schools got an equal share. Just my opinion.

 

 

 

 

Why are they having these tournies at the small gyms in the conference? I know all the schools don't want the big boys hogging all the $$$ and want a cut but can't that be done by rotating a larger % of the total district cut around the conference and just have the games at more centrally located gyms that can accomodate the fans/parking? I don't think there has been much of a problem with this tournament becuase the attendance hasn't been that great. I guess they would rather get 100% of a small pie and stick it to the big guys instead of a larger portion of a much bigger pie. The way I understand the rotation it will many years between being played at the sensible venues...Viking Hall, Freedom Hall, and the Buck Van Huss Dome. South was rediculously hot and overcrowded in '06 and had people actually drove down to Volunteer this year it would have suffered the same problems...but many chose to stay home. Like I said, a solution could be to have the tourney at the larger arenas and rotate a larger chunk of the gate around the league. Say it is at Freedom Hall next year but it's Central's turn to get a bigger cut of the revenue. More people will show and they get there cut to boot. More people around the area that aren't affiliated with any of the schools are more likely to show up and buy a ticket, nachos, drink, etc to see games at Freedom Hall than drive down to Crockett (no offense). They will just stay home which is what they are doing this year. we'll see come Saturday, but I think it's ridiculous to have the tournament at a gym that can't hold 4 teams fans...when they come. Just my opinion.

[BIG9BBALL]

Any thoughts on tonights games?

[TribeAllDaWay]

I agree with you, I think Freedom Hall would be a great place to have the tournament. Its the largest venue in the area, only abot 10 to 15 min. away from most teams in the district, Its right in the center of town next to SH so it wouldn't be very hard to find. Also I go to etsu and I know alot of my friends there would go to the games if they knew where they were at, and I think that alot of people in general would go if it was at one of these larger areans in a more central location. For the revenues, i think that it wouldnt be a bad idea if all the schools got an equal share. Just my opinion.

 

 

There are those that would and do argue the revenue sharing aspect because it is without a doubt that DB and Science Hill draw more fans to these tournaments on average than do the rest of the conference. If you were to share the revenues from tournaments, the fans from DB, SH, and TN High would basically be contributing to the athletic departments of schools such as Crocket, Boone, South, and Volunteer who generally do not bring many fans and may or may not make it past the 1st round.

[TribeAllDaWay]

Any thoughts on tonights games?

 

 

I believe that East beats TN High for 3rd place in the region.

 

I would like to believe that DB beats Science Hill for the 3rd time this year, but I am not confident that will happen. It is difficult to beat a team twice in one year, let alone 3 times. Furthermore, it is that much more difficult to beat a GOOD team 3 times in one year. I will not make a prediction on this game other than to say it is "too close to call."

 

I will say this, though -- The outcome of the DB/Hill game shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I don't think that any team from region 2 will beat either of these teams so a 1 vs 2 seed will not make that big of a difference next week in Greeneville.

[WaCoJaCo]

I believe that East beats TN High for 3rd place in the region.

 

I would like to believe that DB beats Science Hill for the 3rd time this year, but I am not confident that will happen. It is difficult to beat a team twice in one year, let alone 3 times. Furthermore, it is that much more difficult to beat a GOOD team 3 times in one year. I will not make a prediction on this game other than to say it is "too close to call."

 

I will say this, though -- The outcome of the DB/Hill game shouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I don't think that any team from region 2 will beat either of these teams so a 1 vs 2 seed will not make that big of a difference next week in Greeneville.

 

 

Greenville has a pretty desent team and on a "given" night could beat DB or SH. Science Hill is a little more predictable as to how they will play, DB has had some games where they could beat anybody in the state and they've had games where they could lose to anybody.

[unc1]

Greenville has a pretty desent team and on a "given" night could beat DB or SH. Science Hill is a little more predictable as to how they will play, DB has had some games where they could beat anybody in the state and they've had games where they could lose to anybody.

[/quotewhat about east and th going up agaist the other district. i don't see any of the big 9 gettting beat. i know east gave sh a hard game the last 2 times and th gave db a good game. like you said i think any of the 4 teams from the big 9 can beat the other. i just hope the refs let the teams decide the outcome!! which has been different from everybody that has been beat this year!!!!]