What's happening with Union County?

[MMcCroskey]

Anyone with first-hand knowledge care to comment on the start for Union County? I know they lost Tyler Smith to transfer, but they still had several top ranked players according to unapproved website, but they seem to be struggling. I'm specifically wondering about the development of Buckner, Tharp and Cox.

[MMcCroskey]

Replying to my own message to bump this one back up top lol.

 

Seriously, noone has some insight why Union County appears to be struggling?

[charger81]

Replying to my own message to bump this one back up top lol.

 

Seriously, noone has some insight why Union County appears to be struggling?

My question is did Smith and Muncey mean that much to the program? Isn't that about the only players they lost from last yr?

[LoveGuru]

Smith is a kid that seems to be irreplaceable. He really set his team mates up well especially Tyler V. Losing coach Jesse was by far the biggest factor of Union Co's team, and the made an extremely questionable hire with their new coach. I know Jesse left, but the word was that people around there were unhappy that he didn't do more with his team last year.

[HOOPSGURU]

Union County seems to be playing much better now. Vittetoe has lit it up with back to back 30 point games against Fulton and Gibbs. The Gibbs win was very big. Not saying that Coach Jessie was treated the way he should have been, but I think Coach Brown is a very good coach and should be given a chance.

[cneagles13]

Union County seems to be playing much better now. Vittetoe has lit it up with back to back 30 point games against Fulton and Gibbs. The Gibbs win was very big. Not saying that Coach Jessie was treated the way he should have been, but I think Coach Brown is a very good coach and should be given a chance.

 

The thing is it looks like UC needs Vittitoe to put up 30 points a night to compete. He's a terrific high school ball player, but I don't think he will be able to put up those kind of numbers every night and that's what they need to win.

 

On a different note, does Gibbs play enough defense to continue the early season roll they've been on? They recently gave up over 80 points to a Pigeon Forge team whose offense would make Kevin O'Neil proud.

 

I'll go out on a limb and predict that the two state tourney reps for Regions 1 and 2 come out of this district.

[MMcCroskey]

I know what Vittetoe is capable of, but I'm still wondering what is going on with the progression of Buckner and Cox.

 

They are certainly key I would think to UC being in the mix. Any insights there?

[rSquared]

Chase Buckner had one of the better games in his young career last night in a lopsided win over Claiborne Co., who had beaten the Patriots by 2 points a few weeks ago in Tazewell. Not sure how many points Buckner finished with (probably upper teens to twenties), but he was the highlight of the offense last night---including a breakaway dunk toward the end of the fourth quarter that brought the fans to their feet.

Cox continues to play better each game as well. This team is definitely improving, as this past week's close game with Fulton and a pair of wins over Gibbs and Claiborne attest to. It's without a doubt one of the toughest districts to play in, but Union Co. has made some significant strides recently and looks poised to become a key factor!

[mrdrano]

Seen this team play last Sat. night against a pretty good Claiborne team, the Patriots looked pretty good in their win against the Bulldogs, the Vittetoe kid is a very good shooter, i was told he is averaging about 23 per game, the Cox kid looked good inside and i was told averaging a double double for the season so far, Buckner had what i was told his best game of the season against Claiborne with 20 pts and a monster slam off of a Vittetoe assist, there is another kid there Baker who can light it up from outside also, this team could be dangerous down the road, cannot be overlooked any night.

[HOOPSGURU]

Claiborne is a lot different than Carter, AE, Fulton, GP, and even Gibbs. If UC was still in the JV league that they were in last year than they would have a great chance to go far, but this season it will be very difficult for Union County to even make the region. Good Luck Patriots!

[mrdrano]

Well Hoopsguru, you are somewhat right, but the Patriots lost to Fulton by 7 and beat Gibbs, so they are now 1 and 1 in the district, with a young team with the exception of Vittetoe, they look pretty good so far in your VARSITY district, time will tell.

[macejo20]

Smith is a kid that seems to be irreplaceable. He really set his team mates up well especially Tyler V. Losing coach Jesse was by far the biggest factor of Union Co's team, and the made an extremely questionable hire with their new coach. I know Jesse left, but the word was that people around there were unhappy that he didn't do more with his team last year.

 

No one is irreplaceable - this is a life lesson you'll learn someday LoveGuru. Just my opinion, but I think the biggest factor to the slow start was the team's struggle shooting the basketball and adjusting to new roles as compared to last season.

 

Just a side note - Union has won 6 out of 7 since junior guard Brad Baker's return from injury early on (the only loss being to Fulton).

 

Questionable hire? Yeah, I guess hiring a coach with 10 years of COLLEGE coaching experience and years of basketball experience in the hoops crazy state of Indiana is more questionable than hiring a former girls AAU and elementary school coach.

 

FWIW, I think everyone was very pleased with the success of the team last year at Union County. The team had a great season.