Region 3A

[GBA_Athletics]

Temple High School is SACS accredited as of two years ago, which is also the status of Grace, but again this is a basketball board.

 

Everyone seems to be hammering Grace for losing, but both teams (CSAS and Grace) have basically the same rosters as last year, when CSAS beat them in the same round. So as I see it, this is not that unexpected. Sure Grace probably should've beaten Temple in the District Finals, since Temple has four new starters and a new coaching staff, but they didn't so that hurt them in the bracketing for Region.

[ChattanoogaStone]

Really exciting game last night. I was afraid Grace would get blown out early but a couple of big shots by Herman brought them back in it.

 

Grace had several chances to win that game, but for whatever reason didn't/couldn't come up with a couple of key loose balls and rebounds.

 

Arts is a very good team who I think can go deep into the State Tournament.

 

As far as Jon Mattheiss goes...he is a great man with lots of basketball experience and success. (District, Region & Sub-State Championships...2 Silver Balls the first of which came from a bunch of talented sophmores). Grace has had lots of success..but they haven't won the big games in the last couple of years. They will be back. The whole thing is cyclical. Arts hasn't always been this dominant and won't always be.

 

That being said...Good luck to Temple and Arts next Monday. I would love to see both teams represent Region 3 in Murfreesboro.

 

P.S. It was fun watching Carter the last four years. Say what you want...he did a lot for that school.

[oldschool54]

I think that, in the view of the administration, Grace's coach has way too much of what they want in a coach for them to ever consider letting him go. If the #1 priority of the athletic program was to win championships, they would be looking for another coach. But their main goal is to develop Christian athletes and prepare them for a life of service to God. In pursuit of that goal they could not ask for a better coach. Jon is one of the godliest men you'll ever know. He runs his program with class and integrity and brings a lot of respect to his school because of his actions. Besides that, his team has enjoyed pretty good success lately. They're always at or near the top of the region, and Jon puts a team on the floor that the Grace nation always seems to be excited about. Until his team wins it's first championship, Jon is likely to continue to be the object of a lot of criticism, some of it deserved. But as long as his methods stay the same, I think he'll be Grace's coach as long as he wants to be.

 

I think you have summed up the dilemma that Christian private schools face. I do not know Jon personally, but your testimony provides the type of report any Christian man would like to receive. I was looking at the situation strictly from a sports perspective. The problem Christian private schools face is that often times the man who leads the team with character may not be the best coach as far as X's and O's. Maybe Grace could find a basketball oriented assistant who could compliment the program and the existing coach.

[tdaddypat]

Really exciting game last night. I was afraid Grace would get blown out early but a couple of big shots by Herman brought them back in it.

 

Grace had several chances to win that game, but for whatever reason didn't/couldn't come up with a couple of key loose balls and rebounds.

 

Arts is a very good team who I think can go deep into the State Tournament.

 

As far as Jon Mattheiss goes...he is a great man with lots of basketball experience and success. (District, Region & Sub-State Championships...2 Silver Balls the first of which came from a bunch of talented sophmores). Grace has had lots of success..but they haven't won the big games in the last couple of years. They will be back. The whole thing is cyclical. Arts hasn't always been this dominant and won't always be.

 

That being said...Good luck to Temple and Arts next Monday. I would love to see both teams represent Region 3 in Murfreesboro.

 

P.S. It was fun watching Carter the last four years. Say what you want...he did a lot for that school.

 

 

well i agree with you when you say that Temple and CSAS will represent Region 3 well in the state tourney, but the whole Mcmasters point, giving alot to the school? i hope you dont mean that getting sent home two years of his four is giving alot to the program! they are looking to go to the finals every year. grace doesnt know how to use there big men and it didnt help them the past two years

[Momof3ofTN]

well i agree with you when you say that Temple and CSAS will represent Region 3 well in the state tourney, but the whole Mcmasters point, giving alot to the school? i hope you dont mean that getting sent home two years of his four is giving alot to the program! they are looking to go to the finals every year. grace doesnt know how to use there big men and it didnt help them the past two years

 

I'm sorry...I missed the post that listed your contributions to your HS & named the D1 college where you're playing basketball?

[junglelove007]

I'm sorry...I missed the post that listed your contributions to your HS & named the D1 college where you're playing basketball?

 

that's not a really good point. the kid's 7 feet tall. he'd have to be incredibly bad to not play somewhere. but if you look around college basketball you will find that all the good big men are aggressive and take it to the hole which is not what he does not do very often (basically only on fast breaks) and he gets WAY too emotional. he didn't really do that bad until he air balled those two shots and then he let it get to his head. he's a senior and his team needed him to step up and he didn't. if he doesn't get control over that then i don't think he'll do much in college.

[taydizzle]

I find it funny that everyone is quick to blame the grace loss on the coach. Jon is a great coach and had his team prepared very well. Grace played very well but just ran into a very good csas team. Its easy to point fingers from the bleachers and becomes a lose lose situation for the coach, meaning its either the coach's fault for the loss or the teams talent for the win. Grace is not going to get a new coach nor should they enough said. Moving on to the game thursday, i predict csas by 8. It could be more it could be less, i just feel that csas is peaking again at the right time.

[Green_Acres]

I find it funny that everyone is quick to blame the grace loss on the coach. Jon is a great coach and had his team prepared very well. Grace played very well but just ran into a very good csas team. Its easy to point fingers from the bleachers and becomes a lose lose situation for the coach, meaning its either the coach's fault for the loss or the teams talent for the win. Grace is not going to get a new coach nor should they enough said. Moving on to the game thursday, i predict csas by 8. It could be more it could be less, i just feel that csas is peaking again at the right time.

 

 

 

"...peaking again at the right time." What does that mean exactly? CSAS started off last year a little soft and continued to improve over the course of the season "peaking at the right time" to make it to the state championship game. Arts is an excellent team there is not doubt but they do not seem to be "peaking" at all to me. I do not intend that as a slam in any way, just that I do not see that much improvement with them. They started the season off with a bang and, except for the period of time when Hampton was injured, they seemed to have stayed with a fairly consistent good rhythm all season long.

[dragoonhater4eva]

well i agree with you when you say that Temple and CSAS will represent Region 3 well in the state tourney, but the whole Mcmasters point, giving alot to the school? i hope you dont mean that getting sent home two years of his four is giving alot to the program! they are looking to go to the finals every year. grace doesnt know how to use there big men and it didnt help them the past two years

 

 

i agree! with two starting players over 6'8 one would think being one of the top two teams in the region is a givin. mcmaster could score 40 points every game but decides to shoot fade aways against ppl a foot and a half shorter than him. he wont make it long at the college level where guys are just as big. be a man and assert yourself like you smaller counterpart shagnasty.

 

last night game was won by WARREN FOSTER!! he came in and socked graces big men in the mouth from the start. WHERE HAS HE BEEN ALL YEAR???? oh yeah the bench. i think he earned his stars last night.

[aqua777]

I think that caliber of kids playing on the team says a ton about Grace's team and their coach. It is easy to critcize but how do you do it with a straight face when you are talking about one of the top teams in the state? Grace, CSAS, and Temple are all teams that are worthy of going to the state and doing some damage. Grace did not get blown away last night. It was anyone's game and could have too easily gone to Grace.

 

Congratulations to Grace and their coaches for an excellent season and I am sorry it had to end for you guys last night! I hated to see anyone at the semi-final level lose out of our region.

 

I agree. There is too much coach bashing on here. If CSAS had lost we would be talking abouthow bad Dragoo did with this team which returned almost everyone. Bottom line is someone had to come up short. By the way where is Dragoonhater?

[dadoffour]

i agree! with two starting players over 6'8 one would think being one of the top two teams in the region is a givin. mcmaster could score 40 points every game but decides to shoot fade aways against ppl a foot and a half shorter than him. he wont make it long at the college level where guys are just as big. be a man and assert yourself like you smaller counterpart shagnasty.

 

That's the funniest miss-spelling of his name yet! You win d-hater!

[dadoffour]

O.K. Here's my pick for the big game. Although I'd love to think my beloved Crusaders will win, I can't get the first meeting of the 2 teams out of my head. At Temple, CSAS took the ball from them at will, and converted the steals into countless lay-ups. Townsend kept burying wide-open 3's. And my Crusaders showed a frustration I hadn't seen since the before the 1st Skogen stepped on the court. Temple has improved since then, more-so I feel than CSAS has, but I still think the Patriots are the better team this year. That's why I'll say CSAS by 14.