Best Coaches in Knoxville Area?

[IrishBBall]

One coach to watch from the East Tennessee area is Raul Placeres from Gatlinburg Pittman.

 

I agree 100%. Great young coach that has an excellent knowledge of the game and a passion for teaching it. Once the younger players get involved in the program and system he runs, they will be very tough.

[basketball2223]

I'm biased because I sat on the bench with him for two years, but Ogan is very much a student of the game. Unlike many coaches who are set in their ways, Ogan is willing to take some lumps in the regular season by trying different things/combinations/strategies. He also listens to his assistants and maintains an opne mind. By tournament time, he has his teams ready to go and he knows how to win with them. A few years ago, Powell finished fifth in the district and made it to substate. He's very good and he inspires a lot of loyalty from his former players. I'm proud of his accomplishments at Powell and I expect big things from the Panthers this year.

 

 

I disagree 1000 percent! Ogan has had his years when he has had more talent then anybody in Knoxville such as last year that Powell team was loaded with talent probably the best offensive team ive watched play in a while... and from what i seen they started out 16-1 then ogan changed the whole game plan took some players out of the picture it seemed like (such as the ballinger kid and gordon) and went to his old fashioned "one man show deal" powell went from 4 players mid way through the year averaging over 15 points a game to there best player seymore i thinks average going up about 7 points and gordons average dropped tremendously and ballingers went from around 20 to 14. Yes i agree he makes changes, but there most of the time for the worst like last year he self destructed that team trying to make seymore the one man deal... they didnt need that last year because they had the scorers and talent. two years ago they were really talented and he didnt have to do much coaching.

 

But overall 2 region championships in 35 years is not good.

 

how many district championships he won in that long 3 or 4?

[IrishBBall]

I disagree 1000 percent! Ogan has had his years when he has had more talent then anybody in Knoxville such as last year that Powell team was loaded with talent probably the best offensive team ive watched play in a while... and from what i seen they started out 16-1 then ogan changed the whole game plan took some players out of the picture it seemed like (such as the ballinger kid and gordon) and went to his old fashioned "one man show deal" powell went from 4 players mid way through the year averaging over 15 points a game to there best player seymore i thinks average going up about 7 points and gordons average dropped tremendously and ballingers went from around 20 to 14. Yes i agree he makes changes, but there most of the time for the worst like last year he self destructed that team trying to make seymore the one man deal... they didnt need that last year because they had the scorers and talent. two years ago they were really talented and he didnt have to do much coaching.

 

But overall 2 region championships in 35 years is not good.

 

how many district championships he won in that long 3 or 4?

 

Not sure where you're coming from with last year's team being loaded with talent. I would say the 3-4 years before that he was loaded with talent. Those teams kind of went as Lee Smith, Connor and Hargis went, with a good supporting cast in Seymore, Howell, etc.

[basketball2223]

Not sure where you're coming from with last year's team being loaded with talent. I would say the 3-4 years before that he was loaded with talent. Those teams kind of went as Lee Smith, Connor and Hargis went, with a good supporting cast in Seymore, Howell, etc.

 

 

ok big dog obviously u didnt watch much powell basketball last year... they did something no other powell team has done by being 16-1 midway through season that hasnt happened... o and they beat the number 2 team in the state at oak ridge which havent happened in 30 years... and o to add on that they were ranked in the top 10 in the state for half the year (which none of the powell teams in the last 5 years done that actually past 20 years)... and lastly they had 4 guys averaging over 15 points a game until ogan went to seymore ball this team had more offense than any of the previous teams... yes i agree 100% 2 and 3 years ago were also stacked but lets think back 2 years ago hargis, connor, seymore, howell, and daniel hansen. now the first 3 r really good players, howell good 3 point shooter, daniel just good for defense. last years team Andrew Hansen, Seymore, Ballinger, Gordon, Payne, and Heidel coming in off the bench. All 4 out of the 6 of them players could score 25 any givin night if theyre on. Hansen, seymore, ballinger,and gordon did average over 15 for half the season and the fastest team uve ever seen. So lets look back they still have seymore, lost connor (seymore filled his shoes), Gordon (filled more than enough shoes for hansen averaged 10 more points than hansen pulled 5 more boards than hansen and was a lock down stick) Ballinger (could do a lot more than just shoot the ball like howell he was actually better he shot over 40 percent behind the arc and howell shot in the 30s and he was good off the drive as well and he averaged 5 more points than howell), Hansen (filled Hargis shoes pretty well if you compare theyre stats but hargis was a little better he played with heart), (payne most dicipline player ive ever watched great basketball iq and could stroke the ball)... all starters could stroke the ball and heidel was a great player to come in off the bench he was physical and played great defense.

 

o and the biggest thing with ogan from what i hear from previous players and i hear from a litte birdy he wont help u get to play college ball because he says if your good enough the colleges will find you. thats wrong

 

if u tell me seymore should be playing at king college and hundley from farragut last year can play at tennessee tech ur stupid! cuz seymore was a 6'4 guard who had a pure stroke great offense and pretty decsent defense averaged 22 points and 11 boards i think? and he goes to king thats a joke! he averaged more boards than hundley did points

 

and chris connor u telling me he cant even get a scholarship to a d1 college and he was KIL player of the year once or twice wow!

[pugs]

Getting the most out of talent...

 

Mark Eldrdge - Maryville

Shane Wells - Lenoir City

Derek Wallace - Anderson County

Ed McCollum - Greenback

David Baumann - William Blount

Gary Barnes - South Doyle

Paul Vandemark - former Berean coach

 

best game coach: Eldridge

best defense coach: Wright

best players coach: Baumann

best preparation: Norris & his staff

willingness to try new things: Wallace

willingness to put in the extra effort: Wells

most untapped potential: Barnes - great coach, just give him time...

coolest: Eldridge

most intense: Baumann

best dressed: Wells

Hottest wife... lol tough call... /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

 

Man, you know your coaches. Jody Wright, Mike Ogan in some things, and I always liked the bluntness of Coach Darden. You seem to like Wallace. He is fun to watch but I put him at the bottom of the guys you listed--but he should be listed. I guess if I had to pick a new coach for a new school I would choose eldridge or wright.

[basketball2223]

Man, you know your coaches. Jody Wright, Mike Ogan in some things, and I always liked the bluntness of Coach Darden. You seem to like Wallace. He is fun to watch but I put him at the bottom of the guys you listed--but he should be listed. I guess if I had to pick a new coach for a new school I would choose eldridge or wright.

 

 

yea i like jody wright hes a really good coach... hes a really good defensive coach and the offense comes for fulton... In my opinion hes one of the top 2 or 3 best coaches around the knoxville area.

[dontknowmuch]

yea i like jody wright hes a really good coach... hes a really good defensive coach and the offense comes for fulton... In my opinion hes one of the top 2 or 3 best coaches around the knoxville area.

 

This year should tell a lot about Eldrige. His team got spanked at Farragut last night and only scored 30 points. The last two years, Maryville has been blessed with lots of talent and experience. It looks like this year, there are quite a few inexperienced players getting a lot of PT. This year may be a real challenge in the district. Are there football players that will help?

[basketball2223]

This year should tell a lot about Eldrige. His team got spanked at Farragut last night and only scored 30 points. The last two years, Maryville has been blessed with lots of talent and experience. It looks like this year, there are quite a few inexperienced players getting a lot of PT. This year may be a real challenge in the district. Are there football players that will help?

 

 

Not sure if there is any football players coming in, but i agree with u i believe this year will be a big test after losing so much last year... I think theyll be a much better team come tournament time cuz eldrige will get the inexperienced team ready by then (not sayin theyll do something big in tournament time but theyll be a lot better team by then if eldrige is the good coach like the hype is about him)

[IrishBBall]

o and the biggest thing with ogan from what i hear from previous players and i hear from a litte birdy he wont help u get to play college ball because he says if your good enough the colleges will find you. thats wrong

 

if u tell me seymore should be playing at king college and hundley from farragut last year can play at tennessee tech ur stupid! cuz seymore was a 6'4 guard who had a pure stroke great offense and pretty decsent defense averaged 22 points and 11 boards i think? and he goes to king thats a joke! he averaged more boards than hundley did points

 

and chris connor u telling me he cant even get a scholarship to a d1 college and he was KIL player of the year once or twice wow!

 

I agree with much of what you're saying. If you'll look at my previous posts, I never said I thought Ogan was a great coach. My point was that last year's team (even though you try and back it up with stats) wasn't as talented as some of his previous teams. You are more impressed with that team than I was and I coached against most of those kids that have played there in the past 5-6 years including this past years team. Those teams consistently lost to less talented Catholic teams in the regular season and fall league. I don't think there is a comparison between the team Lee's senior year and this past years team with the exception of chemistry. I will agree that this past years team played more as a team but didn't have the same physical skills as the earlier teams.

 

You are a little confused on some of your points regarding Hunley and Seymore. Riley is a walk-on at Tenn Tech not on scholarship. Jason is on a basketball scholarship. If Seymore had played AAU with a good team such as the TN Travelers or Mid-State Ballerz, he would have gotten a lot more exposure and better offers. By saying that, I validate your comment about Ogan not helping his players get better offers. Knoxville isn't exactly a hotbed for college recruiting. Chris Connor was good at the high school level but is a 'tweener in college. He struggled to guard players on the perimeter when facing talented opponents and was a questionable ball handler. At the college level, he was too small to play as a 4 or 5. He struggles defensively at the college level. He played for me in the Rocky Top League and didn't have the quickness or footspeed to guard D1 perimeter players and was too small to guard a 3, 4 or 5 at the D1 level.

[lumberjack]

This year should tell a lot about Eldrige. His team got spanked at Farragut last night and only scored 30 points. The last two years, Maryville has been blessed with lots of talent and experience. It looks like this year, there are quite a few inexperienced players getting a lot of PT. This year may be a real challenge in the district. Are there football players that will help?

 

 

Maryville played poorly last night and Farragut played very well. It happens. Maryville is also without starter Cameron Langley who is out with mono. He's put up double numbers in every scrimmage and game that he has played in this year. Ryan Click and Jay Reynolds did not have a good night and that is unusual. If you've seen Maryville at all through the spring, summer and fall they've looked solid. They have a really classy coach and I wish the best for them.

[pugs]

yea i like jody wright hes a really good coach... hes a really good defensive coach and the offense comes for fulton... In my opinion hes one of the top 2 or 3 best coaches around the knoxville area.

 

When I responded to threeball, I liked all of the ones he/she liked plus ol Darden and Ogan (something about his court presence ha ha). Today in 2008 Wright and Eldredge would be my first two picks. Next year who knows maybe Barnes and Wells if they are still around. You can't go wrong with any of those four. You cant leave our Mr. Ricky N either when the game is on the line. I guess what I like about Knoxville area basketball and those coaches---you know we dont have a lot of D-1 talent here but they do a pretty good job with fundamentals, strategy and gamemanship. What is that old saying,,, "Refuse to Lose".......

[basketball2223]

o and the biggest thing with ogan from what i hear from previous players and i hear from a litte birdy he wont help u get to play college ball because he says if your good enough the colleges will find you. thats wrong

 

if u tell me seymore should be playing at king college and hundley from farragut last year can play at tennessee tech ur stupid! cuz seymore was a 6'4 guard who had a pure stroke great offense and pretty decsent defense averaged 22 points and 11 boards i think? and he goes to king thats a joke! he averaged more boards than hundley did points

 

and chris connor u telling me he cant even get a scholarship to a d1 college and he was KIL player of the year once or twice wow!

 

I agree with much of what you're saying. If you'll look at my previous posts, I never said I thought Ogan was a great coach. My point was that last year's team (even though you try and back it up with stats) wasn't as talented as some of his previous teams. You are more impressed with that team than I was and I coached against most of those kids that have played there in the past 5-6 years including this past years team. Those teams consistently lost to less talented Catholic teams in the regular season and fall league. I don't think there is a comparison between the team Lee's senior year and this past years team with the exception of chemistry. I will agree that this past years team played more as a team but didn't have the same physical skills as the earlier teams.

 

You are a little confused on some of your points regarding Hunley and Seymore. Riley is a walk-on at Tenn Tech not on scholarship. Jason is on a basketball scholarship. If Seymore had played AAU with a good team such as the TN Travelers or Mid-State Ballerz, he would have gotten a lot more exposure and better offers. By saying that, I validate your comment about Ogan not helping his players get better offers. Knoxville isn't exactly a hotbed for college recruiting. Chris Connor was good at the high school level but is a 'tweener in college. He struggled to guard players on the perimeter when facing talented opponents and was a questionable ball handler. At the college level, he was too small to play as a 4 or 5. He struggles defensively at the college level. He played for me in the Rocky Top League and didn't have the quickness or footspeed to guard D1 perimeter players and was too small to guard a 3, 4 or 5 at the D1 level.

 

 

 

Yeah i agree with a lot ur saying and sorry i meant Riley, and i guess what i was trying to say Jason Seymore is a good friend of mine and i know hes doing really well at King coming off all those injuries but in my opinion he was the best all around player in the east tennessee area last year and should have went D1 for sure, but another thing ogan didnt do is he doesnt take the basketball team to one camp during the summer like you see farragut, bearden, Carter, AE, and Fulton ect... doing and i totally agree with u on the AAU thing he needed to play with someone better and im not disagreeing with lee hargis conner seymore howell they were a very good team! that team and last years team played two different styles of ball, they were both good teams... Last year Powell should have done a lot more damage in touney play is what im trying to say i guess, but towards the end of the year ogan made too many changes he was trying fo fix something that wasnt broken and didnt need fixing i guess you could say. I just wish Ogan would get his players out there in the open help them get to college not discourage it... (saying to colleges when they call him that certain ppl have reached theyre full potential not gonna mention names) but thats not right.

 

and about chris conner he was a very offensive minded player and yes indeed he had slow feet, but you can work on foot speed and quickness in college thats what they r their for he had a pure stroke and got off the ground pretty well too... not saying he should have went big by no means but i think he could have went small D1 if his name would have gotten out there.