Dogs vs Landers RD. 4

[HamptonBulldogs1]

Who's gonna win? Hampton looked pretty good against Jellico last night (no surprise). Hughes had an awesome game with 16 points, He's going to be a star by the time he leaves Hampton. Good luck Dogs /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[TylerDurden]

Hampton will win this game! The Landers forget about the whipping they took just a few weeks ago at Hampton. The Ward kid was sick and could not play in the district game. He had 9 pts and 10 rebs when Hampton whipped them at Hampton. Hughes also played good last night at Jellico with 16 pts. If those 2 are given the minutes they should get, the game won't be very close.

[foreveranole]

Hampton will win this game! The Landers forget about the whipping they took just a few weeks ago at Hampton. The Ward kid was sick and could not play in the district game. He had 9 pts and 10 rebs when Hampton whipped them at Hampton. Hughes also played good last night at Jellico with 16 pts. If those 2 are given the minutes they should get, the game won't be very close.

 

Ya think? How many kids were out when the Dawgs played at Cloudland? Must have been a couple or three starters !

[TylerDurden]

I don't think any were out at Cloudland except for Irick being still hurt. Hampton has not played that bad since that terrible week when they had to play at Johnson Co, at Cloudland, at University high and at Unicoi Co. They were still trying to play too many people and figure out who their best 7 or 8 players are. They still have not figured it out completely but are getting much closer. Cloudland played very well against University high in the 2nd half of the district but played aweful in the 1st half. Hampton played very well against Jellico last night and could have won by at least 40. If Hampton plays that way, this game will not be very close. If Hampton plays like they did early in the year and don't play their best players it will be a close game.

[Lord Vader]

I have thought that Hampton should and would win every time that they have played Cloudland in the playoffs the past three years. So far, I am 0-5 in my predictions. And there is no evidence to suggest that Cloudland won't beat the Dawgs once again Tuesday night. One of the reasons that Hampton won rather easily in the game at Hampton is because Ned didn't run the same defense that game. He ran a man defense on Hampton the whole night. He didn't want us to get another look at his 2-3 zone defense before we met in the playoffs which was a great coaching move by him. The two times that they beat Hampton, they ran the 2-3 zone the entire night. So far, the 2-3 has destroyed the Dawgs offense and Ned knows it. Hopefully, Hampton will have figured out a way to limit the 2-3's effectiveness. But I also think that the Hampton freshmen should see significant playing time in this game. Things just run so much smoother for the Dawgs when they are in the game. In my opinion, outside of Justin Bentley, they are the two best players on the Dawgs squad. I have also heard many people in the stands (from Hampton and enemies of Hampton) say the same thing...

[TylerDurden]

I agree Vader, the zone has give Hampton problems and it shouldn't. If Hampton shoots like they did last night it shoudn't be that big of a problem. Its that slow down game that gives everyone problems I think. Its kind of like playing HV. They don't really want to play basketball and want to frustrate you with the slow down. When you start trapping and gambling to try and speed things up and you don't get the steal, they then have the advantage they were waiting for. Cloudland and HV are 2 examples of why high school needs a shot clock. Proving you can play keep away does not prove you can play basketball. I also agree with the part about the 2 freshmen being the best players besides Bentley. If the coaches will give them the minutes they will see the results.

[dogtruth]

Hampton will win this game! The Landers forget about the whipping they took just a few weeks ago at Hampton. The Ward kid was sick and could not play in the district game. He had 9 pts and 10 rebs when Hampton whipped them at Hampton. Hughes also played good last night at Jellico with 16 pts. If those 2 are given the minutes they should get, the game won't be very close.

 

This overconfidence is what has hurt Hampton the past 5 games against Cloudland in the tournaments. Hampton needs to stop talking a good game and decide to play one. There is an old saying that talk is cheap and it definately applies here. I honestly believe that Cloudland has gotten Hampton's attention (especially the seniors). It will be most dissappointing if Cloudland doesn't get Hampton's best effort tuesday night. As of right now though, Cloudland is the team to beat. Hampton is the underdog. Let's go dogs and do something about it.

[Dawgfan88]

I agree the two freshmen on Hampton's team are stars in the making. Hughes in particular has unbelievable potential. I wondered why Ward didn't play much in the district match-up with Cloudland, I think he would have made a big impact in a very tight game. For the past several years, Hampton has had, by FAR, the most talent in the whole district. Cloudland, however, has been the best overall TEAM. One would think that with all the outside shooters that Hampton has on the roster, that a 2-3 zone wouldn't be a hindrance. However, each player doesn't seem to want to take the shot, so the ball gets passed around repeatedly, doing the defense's job for them. All the while, the inside is cut off by the inner three of the defense, and Bentley gets frustrated. All this is fine and dandy, but if the outside shot starts falling, then Hampton has them where they want them. I expect this to be an all-out battle tuesday night, and I would be shocked if it's otherwise.

[zAZa90]

I think most of the Hampton posters are being reasonable and rational when they say they know this game will be a battle. You have exceptions like this Tyler person who can't seem to learn action speaks louder than words. Hampton has some amazing talent and Cloudland also has talent on their team. Stockton can be a force inside and when we get hot outside, look out. It seems that if a team respects their opponent and realizes what is at stake, then the outcomes would be whole lot different. Cloudland plays like they have a chip on their shoulder when they play the Dogs, because the Dogs bring too much arrogance on the court. This results in Cloudland playing inspired ball and I know you have seen what the Landers can do against other quality opponents. They've played with the area's best all year. For people to say that this game won't be close is just mentally incompetent. You will see Cloudland's best Tuesday night and mentally, they have the Dogs number.

[KING'S NEMESIS]

With the talent this team has, Hampton, it is a shame that they haven't made a trip or two down the road, further than Chuckey-Doak. Coaching issues in the past, sure they have played a part. Coaching issues in the now, yeah they play a part as well. Hampton is not a 2-3 zone defense team. They play alot better when we man up and run the floor on offense. If they try to play Cloudland like they have lately, it wont be too close. Hgihlanders will roll. If Hampton will come out man-to-man, running, look out. Its a shame, I hate for the seniors. Yes, the two freshman are good, but I think too many are looking to the next 2-3 years, maybe even the coaches. This senior group was suppose to be the best up there for sometime, all the coaching issues have killed them though. The coaches now should be doing all they can to get them further than they have been. Go Dogs!!!! and if not...........Go Ned!!!!

[Lord Vader]

Hampton is not a 2-3 zone defense team. They play alot better when we man up and run the floor on offense. If they try to play Cloudland like they have lately, it wont be too close. Hgihlanders will roll. If Hampton will come out man-to-man, running, look out.

 

I sort of agree with you and I sort of disagree with you. For some reason people think that Cloudland cannot push the ball and run with Hampton. Well, they just beat the 2 best run-n-gun teams in the area (Unicoi, University High) and beat both of them by running. University High played man up on Cloudland the whole night and got beat by 11. And, it is only my opinion and I may be wrong, but I think UH plays a much better man-to-man defense than we do. In the consolation game against Unaka, the Dawgs came out and ran a 1-3-1 without trapping and forced a ton of turnovers. Then in the second half, Hampton went to a man defense. The Rangers then scored on 4 straight possessions which forced White to go back to a 1-3-1. If Unaka did that to Hampton's man defense, I would hate to see what Ned would do to it. In the district meeting with Cloudland, Hampton came out in the 1-3-1 with no trapping and jumped out to an 8 point lead. Then they went a 2-3 and Jordan Hughes made two 3-pointers and that changed the game. I do not think it was the defense at all that lost Hampton the district game though. It was stupid turnovers and not being able to move the ball effectively against Cloudland's 2-3. I will gaurantee that if Hampton holds Cloudland to 41 points tomorrow like they did in the district, the Dawgs will prevail. Having said all that I agree with you that Hampton's best chance to win might be to speed the game up but just speeding the game up is no gaurantee to win. It just irritates me that some people (not you nemesis) think that if Hampton comes out and plays a man defense and speeds the game up they will automatically win. So, if they lose, they will blame the loss on White for not running a man. People like that are not facing the facts about the Landers. Cloudland has proven that they can run with anybody. If Hampton does come out in a man there is absolutely no gaurantee that they will beat Cloudland. I wonder what people would say about White if he did run a man-to-man and Hampton still got beat?

[creekercalhoun]

With Cloudland it's not so much as the pace of the game it's when coach smith decides to play that pace he may come out for 4 or 5 possesions strait and flat out run the ball down opponents throat and then the next 5 posessions slow it down and make about 8 or 9 passes before ever speeding it back up again. I think that is what seperates Cloudland from alot of teams is you hardly ever see them take a bad shot very rarely are they impatient on the offensive end of the floor they know their roles to a tee and are very dangerous at their style of play. But I think tommorrow nights game will be no less then a 4 or 5 point game both teams will be ready to play with a substate birth being on the line.