PTGUARD12 WHERE ARE YOU?

[rllord]

Ptguard 12,

 

First of all, I'm glad you are OK. I believe you are misreading the tea leaves on the interest in your rankings but how you feel is how you feel. If you want to spur more replys, start doing a bad top 10 and you will hear about it really quick. I think most folks think you hit it really close and there isn't much to talk about. I think you need to look at all the hits on your thread to get a guage on interest. It gets hit a lot without any reply being added. But do what you feel like doing. You should not feel obligated and don't do it if you don't really want to do it. Personally, I miss them. I may well take you up on your offer on some upcoming games. My wife and I go to most Perry County games. We moved into this area and have no family in the area. We too are just fans and like to see 1A players. We enjoy it every season.

 

Bob

[robpride]

PTGUARD12.........I see your still calling them right on the money. Anyone staying involved in girls aau has to be crazy. Its a requirement! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

[thenomad]

I know you usually lean toward the better teams, but I was wondering if you could talk about the Maury Co. teams. Why are they having so much trouble winning. We are talking about a large area with only one or two winning schools. What is your take on it and how can it be fixed. This area is a hot bed for girls' basketball between Marshall Co. and Lawrence Co. What needs to be changed?

[ptguard12]

Welcome back PTGUARD12! Now that most of the season is history, what are the strongest A, AA, & AAA teams you've seen this year in East TN?

 

 

A - Oliver Springs, North Greene, Cloudland

AA - McMinn Central, South Greene

AAA - Oak Ridge, Morristown West (love Taylor Hall's game)

[ptguard12]

It was always fun reading your break downs, and they are missed very much. Maybe if you could just give us one near the end of regular season it would generate more discussion than you think.

 

You are missed /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />

 

 

How about a Pre-District Tournament Top 20 around the 2nd week of February?

[cat1973]

How about a Pre-District Tournament Top 20 around the 2nd week of February?

 

That would be nice. Your unbiased opinion has been sorely missed.

[ptguard12]

Ptguard 12,

 

First of all, I'm glad you are OK. I believe you are misreading the tea leaves on the interest in your rankings but how you feel is how you feel. If you want to spur more replys, start doing a bad top 10 and you will hear about it really quick. I think most folks think you hit it really close and there isn't much to talk about. I think you need to look at all the hits on your thread to get a guage on interest. It gets hit a lot without any reply being added. But do what you feel like doing. You should not feel obligated and don't do it if you don't really want to do it. Personally, I miss them. I may well take you up on your offer on some upcoming games. My wife and I go to most Perry County games. We moved into this area and have no family in the area. We too are just fans and like to see 1A players. We enjoy it every season.

 

Bob

 

 

Thanks Bob, you let me know the game and I'll give you what I think. Perry County is a good area to live in if you want good basketball. I have been to one Perry County game earlier this year (vs. Lewis County). They have a good girls team with some really good guards on it in Warren and Simmons. Warren is lightning quick and has a good spot up 3-point shot. She also has improved from her first two years in that now she seems to be more comfortable taking the ball to the basket, which is good to see. She is quick on the defensive end and you can tell that the rest of the team really respects her leadership ability.

 

I really like the Simmons's game as she seems to have a lot of toughness about her. She seems to have an innate ability to score from anywhere on the floor. She can shoot lights out from 3-point range, but can also shoot the mid-range jumper or drive all the way to the basket. I am pretty sure I even saw her post up once against Lewis County?!? But what I really like about her is that she sees the floor and passing lanes so well--if her teammates are open, she's going to find them, which is rare from a player at the high school level who can score as well as she does. She could end up being something very special before its all said and done depending on how hard she works.

 

With Warren and Simmons in the backcourt and the other wing that I have seen popping up in their boxscores (Starkey), they seem to have as good of a group of guards as any Class A team in Middle Tennessee. That entire group looks like they have at least one state tournament appearance in them at some point. Looking at their roster, they have no seniors, so if it doesn't happen this year, they definitely have a good shot next year and a good shot the year after that. From the game I saw, they all seem to get along and play so well together and as long as they continue to do so, they should go a long way.

 

Perry County's girls team coupled with their ever-improving boys team should mean that you will get to see some very good basketball over the next few years. Keep me updated on how their teams do throughout the rest of the season (email - ptguard123@yahoo.com). I probably won't see them again until early February (maybe the game at Summertown) or until the District 12A Tournament, which I always attend.

[ptguard12]

I know you usually lean toward the better teams, but I was wondering if you could talk about the Maury Co. teams. Why are they having so much trouble winning. We are talking about a large area with only one or two winning schools. What is your take on it and how can it be fixed. This area is a hot bed for girls' basketball between Marshall Co. and Lawrence Co. What needs to be changed?

 

 

In order for a high school to have a strong girls program, there are a few things that must be in place:

 

1. Proper fundamentals and a desire to win must be taught from an early age. This can best be accomplished through summer travel ball. Looking at Maury County schools, the one thing that you will notice is that there are no AAU/travel teams in that area. Girls are not exposed to basketball year round. Now, compare that will Marshall and Lawrence County. Marshall County's high schools all have some kind of program in place where their young ladies play over the course of the summer. Forrest has done it for years now and they are currently on a streak that has found them in Murfreesboro for three straight years, and looking at a fourth straight year. Without the Flash AAU teams that began with Bussell and company, those state tournament appearances probably would not have happened. Cornersville has had some summer teams in the past and this current high school group consists of alot of girls that went and played travel ball in different places over the past few summers (Team Pride, Moore County, TN Express ect.). The same can be said for Marshall County High School. Lawrence County has always been fueled by the Tennessee Express program and their biggest feeder school E.O. Coffman, which I will talk about in point #2. If summer travel ball is not an option, then this can also be attained through a fundamentally based Jr. Pro Program that provides a competitive atmosphere among the players (not the parents) with coaches who are capable of teaching the game correctly.

 

2. Middle school feeder teams have to have a coach that is dedicated to developing each and every player, while not playing a cup-cake schedule. From what I understand, Maury County teams (I am speaking only in terms of Class A schools such as Santa Fe, Culleoka, Mt. Pleasant, Hampshire ect.), only play each other for the most part during their middle school season. When bad teams play other bad teams, no one benefits. There is a reason why Santa Fe has won so many "county championships," and it is because there is no competition. They need to branch out and play some other teams, but because they are so bad, it may be scary for a new coach to try and do that. Also, it seems to me that they just don't play that many middle school games over there, which too is not very good. Now, in terms of Whitthorne and E.A. Cox. They do play tough teams because they are larger schools and have more players to choose from. They are always competitive, however, and I am not sure if this is the case with E.A. Cox or not, but at Whitthorne sometimes the players that come through there are not very disciplined. The lack of discipline leads to problems when they get to Central because Moore is a coach who is all about discipline and strong work ethic (she was raised under a coach that required it), which tends to rub players and parents who are not use to that the wrong way. High School coaches and Middle School coaches really have to be on the same page in terms of expectations of players, discipline, team goals, ect., so that players know what to expect once they go from the middle school to the high school.

 

3. Supportive parents and supportive school administration is a MUST. Administration has to support their coach. If they put enough faith into them to allow them to coach these young ladies, then they have to have enough faith in them to back them up when the parents aren't happy. Once administration starts to side with parents, it is all downhill from there. Great programs have great parental support. They believe in their girls and coaches, regardless of whether they are having a winning season or just an average one. They help raise money, carpool girls to summer camps, and support the coaches decisions regarding discipline and playing time. Just based on what I have read on here, Culleoka for example, does not seem to have this. I don't know forsure because I am not from there, but like I said, I able to infer from posts on CoachT that this is a serious problem at Culleoka regarding their girls.

 

If these three things happen, then a high school program is going to be successful. Of course there are other intangibles, such as good coaches (Mt. Pleasant needs a coach that is not only good with fundamentals and X's and O's, but one that is exceptional with discipline and structure), talent (athleticism cannot be helped, but every player can be taught to be solid fundamentally), good team chemistry (the girls must get along and support one another both on and off the floor), and adequate recesources and funding (team weight rooms, money for summer camps, ect.). There is alot that goes into making a successful program. Maury County teams just have not been able to put everything together that is necessary to building an overly successful program year-in and year-out.

[tiffanymarie211]

ptguard 12, do you ever watch sweetwater? we are really struggling.... what can be done to fix us?

[hotshot]

In order for a high school to have a strong girls program, there are a few things that must be in place:

 

1. Proper fundamentals and a desire to win must be taught from an early age. This can best be accomplished through summer travel ball. Looking at Maury County schools, the one thing that you will notice is that there are no AAU/travel teams in that area. Girls are not exposed to basketball year round. Now, compare that will Marshall and Lawrence County. Marshall County's high schools all have some kind of program in place where their young ladies play over the course of the summer. Forrest has done it for years now and they are currently on a streak that has found them in Murfreesboro for three straight years, and looking at a fourth straight year. Without the Flash AAU teams that began with Bussell and company, those state tournament appearances probably would not have happened. Cornersville has had some summer teams in the past and this current high school group consists of alot of girls that went and played travel ball in different places over the past few summers (Team Pride, Moore County, TN Express ect.). The same can be said for Marshall County High School. Lawrence County has always been fueled by the Tennessee Express program and their biggest feeder school E.O. Coffman, which I will talk about in point #2. If summer travel ball is not an option, then this can also be attained through a fundamentally based Jr. Pro Program that provides a competitive atmosphere among the players (not the parents) with coaches who are capable of teaching the game correctly.

 

2. Middle school feeder teams have to have a coach that is dedicated to developing each and every player, while not playing a cup-cake schedule. From what I understand, Maury County teams (I am speaking only in terms of Class A schools such as Santa Fe, Culleoka, Mt. Pleasant, Hampshire ect.), only play each other for the most part during their middle school season. When bad teams play other bad teams, no one benefits. There is a reason why Santa Fe has won so many "county championships," and it is because there is no competition. They need to branch out and play some other teams, but because they are so bad, it may be scary for a new coach to try and do that. Also, it seems to me that they just don't play that many middle school games over there, which too is not very good. Now, in terms of Whitthorne and E.A. Cox. They do play tough teams because they are larger schools and have more players to choose from. They are always competitive, however, and I am not sure if this is the case with E.A. Cox or not, but at Whitthorne sometimes the players that come through there are not very disciplined. The lack of discipline leads to problems when they get to Central because Moore is a coach who is all about discipline and strong work ethic (she was raised under a coach that required it), which tends to rub players and parents who are not use to that the wrong way. High School coaches and Middle School coaches really have to be on the same page in terms of expectations of players, discipline, team goals, ect., so that players know what to expect once they go from the middle school to the high school.

 

3. Supportive parents and supportive school administration is a MUST. Administration has to support their coach. If they put enough faith into them to allow them to coach these young ladies, then they have to have enough faith in them to back them up when the parents aren't happy. Once administration starts to side with parents, it is all downhill from there. Great programs have great parental support. They believe in their girls and coaches, regardless of whether they are having a winning season or just an average one. They help raise money, carpool girls to summer camps, and support the coaches decisions regarding discipline and playing time. Just based on what I have read on here, Culleoka for example, does not seem to have this. I don't know forsure because I am not from there, but like I said, I able to infer from posts on CoachT that this is a serious problem at Culleoka regarding their girls.

 

If these three things happen, then a high school program is going to be successful. Of course there are other intangibles, such as good coaches (Mt. Pleasant needs a coach that is not only good with fundamentals and X's and O's, but one that is exceptional with discipline and structure), talent (athleticism cannot be helped, but every player can be taught to be solid fundamentally), good team chemistry (the girls must get along and support one another both on and off the floor), and adequate recesources and funding (team weight rooms, money for summer camps, ect.). There is alot that goes into making a successful program. Maury County teams just have not been able to put everything together that is necessary to building an overly successful program year-in and year-out.

 

Great to see you back Ptgaurd12. I think its pretty obvious that youve been missed. I just wanted to know what you think of Lawrence County this year.

[auntkim]

How about a Pre-District Tournament Top 20 around the 2nd week of February?

 

 

Thanks......That would be awesome /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[7Awatcher]

How about a Pre-District Tournament Top 20 around the 2nd week of February?

 

 

We will look forward to that, sounds great.