Melrose goes down again?

[TraderB]

Heard Coach JJ grilled Parks REAL GOOD last night. I think the problem is more of a mental one as they seem to lack confidence and direction with Coach JJ.

 

I think that your assessment is right on target, Jody Joe.

 

Given the immense talent, depth and experience on Melrose's teams, no other explanation makes much sense!

[TraderB]

Don't know yet, Just saw on Chris Jones and Tevin Wilkerson's facebook that they lost. Let me some info.

 

Not how the preseason pickers thought it would be for my boys at Melrose.

Anymore update JodyJoe. What up with parks?

 

I was one of those pre-season pickers, extremely high on Melrose.

 

They are definitely NOT living up to my expectations.

 

Heck, I felt very strongly that the Golden Wildcats would flirt with an undefeated season! Now (given their shaky confidence and poorly performance), they are instead flirting with an early Regional exit....if they even make it out of the District (I'll be shocked if they do not, however)!

[knoxbball]

Season is not over. The best part of the season is here. They better get in straight quick. As for parks getting drilled Im told he was degraded. JJ telling him and asking the asst coaches is he scared. Kid already down and he be beat him down some more. JJ is his own worst enemy. He micro manage every possession. Man sit down and let them kids do their thing for a while. They been together 3 years if u cant trust them now its over. So lets not throw in the towel so fast. One thing I will end with. It all falls on JJ's back. If u take the credit for winning then u got to shoulder the losses.

[JodyJoe]

I agree that most of this falls on Coach JJ. The White Station loss was mostly the player's though. Most coaches would just know they have a gift and let the players do what they know how to do best and call a timeout everynow and again or run a play. Theres no excuse for this team not to win, but I've heard Coach JJ isn't the easiest guy to learn from.

[nebuntyn]

I agree that most of this falls on Coach JJ. The White Station loss was mostly the player's though. Most coaches would just know they have a gift and let the players do what they know how to do best and call a timeout everynow and again or run a play. Theres no excuse for this team not to win, but I've heard Coach JJ isn't the easiest guy to learn from.

 

I think that's the problem... I don't agree that they shouldn't lose. They have the best team on paper, sometimes you can have to many superstars.... Look at history from High School to the pro ranks..... A great team has one or two superstars, with several good role players.

[natenica]

Now coming from someone who has been in the program since day one I think I have prob have the best perspective. I said this on another blog and I will say it here. This prob is the game is not fun to the players anymore. Its all work. Pratice too much even on sundays, There getting burned out. When the game is no longer a game for kids u got a problem. Yea it was the players fault in the WS game. We have to shoulder some blame also. We glorify these kids, prop them up and be the first one to tear them down. Right now the players need a pick me up. Their confidence is completely shot. Knox u right the season is not over. If JJ dont find away to make the game fun to them really quick it will be. Nate is so ready to be gone. Im kinda burned out myself but we keeping the faith.

[TraderB]

Now coming from someone who has been in the program since day one I think I have prob have the best perspective. I said this on another blog and I will say it here. This prob is the game is not fun to the players anymore. Its all work. Pratice too much even on sundays, There getting burned out. When the game is no longer a game for kids u got a problem. Yea it was the players fault in the WS game. We have to shoulder some blame also. We glorify these kids, prop them up and be the first one to tear them down. Right now the players need a pick me up. Their confidence is completely shot. Knox u right the season is not over. If JJ dont find away to make the game fun to them really quick it will be. Nate is so ready to be gone. Im kinda burned out myself but we keeping the faith.

 

All mental and off-court issues aside, I'm STILL picking Melrose to regroup then go into Spartan Palace and defeat White Station-- tomorrow night!

 

Melrose by 7 points over White Station.

 

I've seen both of these teams in action enough times to absolutely convince me..... Call me crazy, but I STILL think that Melrose has a much better team than White Station. They will prove that tomorrow night.

 

This Melrose team reminds me somewhat of that '07-'08 Ridgeway team--the one that first lost to Kirby, then to Central (City Championship game)......then to Kirby again. Well, my observation was that Ridgeway STILL had the best team in the City, despite all those losses. RW never lost another game!

 

Ridgeway went on to win the State Championship that year, defeating White Station for the 4th consecutive time that year!

 

No--I'm NOT saying that Melrose is gonna win the State Championship (though it certainly would not surprise me) or run the table; I'm just saying....in my observation, Melrose is a simply a better team than White Station--despite losing to them earlier. That's just what I've observed.

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Tomorrow night is a MUST-WIN for Melrose, from a purely psychological standpoint! If they lose that game then, IMHO, Melrose's season will likely be lost forever. My gut tells me that they won't recover from yet another confidence-shattering loss, especially given all the lofty expectations that (and the players KNOW) were placed upon their team!

[FirestoneTigers]

I agree that most of this falls on Coach JJ. The White Station loss was mostly the player's though. Most coaches would just know they have a gift and let the players do what they know how to do best and call a timeout everynow and again or run a play. Theres no excuse for this team not to win, but I've heard Coach JJ isn't the easiest guy to learn from.

 

I think that's the problem... I don't agree that they shouldn't lose. They have the best team on paper, sometimes you can have to many superstars.... Look at history from High School to the pro ranks..... A great team has one or two superstars, with several good role players.

 

That's usually the case in the pros. But in high school and college, the great teams are usually the ones that are the most stacked with stars(Kansas, Memphis, UNC, Florida, Ohio State, Ridgeway, White Station).

[TraderB]

 

That's usually the case in the pros. But in high school and college, the great teams are usually the ones that are the most stacked with stars(Kansas, Memphis, UNC, Florida, Ohio State, Ridgeway, White Station).

 

You know, it's funny-- I never thought I'd find myself saying this in a million years:

 

Hamilton's Head Coach's (perceived) ineptness turned out to be a thing of Genius, a few years ago!

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Ya'll probably remember that Hamilton team that completely ran the table, about 4 or 5 years ago, en route to a State Championship.... Well, from what I observed -- their head Coach couldn't coach his way of a paper bag (I'm not trying to bash the guy, btw)! He'd just sit there on the bench (no matter what was going on) looking totally lost, occasionally getting up to kinda' wave his arms or something. He rarely called time-out, even when opponents were making serious "runs"..... The guy acted like an incompetent baby-sitter or something, not even close to a top-notch Head Coach!

 

In retrospect (unlike Melrose's Coach JJ), Hamilton's Coach was probably a dad-gum Genius-- by default! His weakness actually turned out to be a major strength. He simply did not (seemingly) know enough to "over Coach." Thus, he ALWAYS stayed the heck out of the way and allowed his LOADED, high-octane team (with three or four, STUD D1-signees) to naturally and totally dominate the opponent, for a full 32 minutes!

 

By the way, Hamilton has been horrible ever since that undefeated State Title. I assume they still have the same Head Coach.

[Elvis3]

So much talent.I think most of the problems begins off the court. The hardest part of coaching is when the players are not in the gym.

[natenica]

TraderB I love that post. I had no problem with Keylon's coaching style. When u have a team as loaded as melrose and Hamilton was, u become a Manager more than a coach. You coach in pratice and get all the situations put in play and let the players run the show on game time. Keylon was good at that. It was good also that the team was senior stacked. I cant tell u all over the city I see the same stuff. Coaches yelling at the players durning a play their concentration get lost and ball get stolen. Its mad. People talk about Lawson but he will be in the record book forever. I wish more coaches would take that Phil Jackson aproach. As for melrose off the court Isssues. Point blank their are none. These are some real good kids. they stay out of trouble and do whats asked of them. They are never off the court. They pratice before games and everyday they dont have one. Thank God for the snow days. TraderB Lawson is not oaching at hamilton anymore. Hamilton downfall is not his fault. Talent went elsewhere, because of the school becoming more troubled with crime parents put their kids elsewhere. We had to make that decison when they closed SouthSide down.