Ben Frederick dismissed?

[TJ]

CoachT is right. Me and Ben have spoken about this before. It seems like he just doesn't have the love for the game that many think he should have so they pushed him too far when he wasn't really into it. He has approached me about Lambuth. Now if he does it, that's another thing. But let me stress something b/c I think Ben is getting a bad rap on this message board, and in the papers. BEN IS A GREAT KID. He truely is and I say this with supreme confidence. He just wasn't mature enough yet to handle success from the game without letting it go to his head.

[Guest observer1216]

Does anyone think it "unusual" for a coach to talk to a newspaper specifically about why a high school kid was kicked off his team? Isn't the normal protocol just to say, "violation of team rules" or something similar? To me it sounds like Coach Smith has called Frederick out thru the article. I know Coach Smith is one of the top coaches not only in Tennessee, but also the southeast. I think that's why I find it a slight bit unusual. Agree or disagree?

[TnBball]

Maybe this doesnt happen much at Bartlett as far as the star player getting thrown off the team..

 

Coach Smith seems to be like every coach thats has alot of success on the High level.

[mhalionboy03]

Posted by TnBball:

Maybe this doesnt happen much at Bartlett as far as the star player getting thrown off the team..

 

Coach Smith seems to be like every coach thats has alot of success on the High level.

 

I'm not completely sure how to take that, but I hope it wasn't a slam against Coach Smith. You can talk to any coach that is at all respected around the state and they will tell you that Coach Smith ranks right up there as one of the top coaches and a real class individual. Any one who would question his motives or his coaching integrity is absolutely out of their minds. Coach Smith genuinely cares about the well-being of his players. This dismissal also proves that he cares more about the reputation of his team than their on-court success. This is something that is desperately needed in the world of basketball today. Thanks, Coach Smith for showing the public what it means to wear a Bartlett Panthers jersey, and good luck on the upcoming season.

[TnBball]

No, I'm not questioning his motives..its actually to hard to explain what I meant but it was directed to a comment before my last post..If you look in the best coaches or read my other post, I've always had great things to say about Coach Smith. He is a class individual that I got a chance to meet this summer.

 

Read the post before mine and try to put two and two together!! Thanks TNBBALL

[dynasty03]

I read the article about Frederick and I also read what Coach Smith said. And I completly see what the previous post was saying about "calling him out" it seemed to me like they may have caught coach at a bad time and he said something that maybe needs to be taken back. I have never heard direct statements towards a player at the highschool level in any public press article. I think the biggest thing, and I'm completely ignorant to both of the people and the situation, my assumption is that people wanted Ben Frederick to be and do something that he wasn't or didn't want to be. Being good doesn't make the game fun. I just hope that people don't give him a bad name without knowing the situation and without realizing there are two sides to all stories and it isn't our place to judge Frederick for decisions he has made regardless of how we feel.

[Edited by dynasty03 on 10-12-02 6:28P]

[Opperman]

Posted by observer1216:

Does anyone think it "unusual" for a coach to talk to a newspaper specifically about why a high school kid was kicked off his team? Isn't the normal protocol just to say, "violation of team rules" or something similar? To me it sounds like Coach Smith has called Frederick out thru the article. I know Coach Smith is one of the top coaches not only in Tennessee, but also the southeast. I think that's why I find it a slight bit unusual. Agree or disagree?

 

I'm quite certain the paper heard about it through the rumor mill and got a hold of Hubie to do the article. Hubie wouldn't be calling from Destin to bust on one of his players.

[Opperman]

Posted by dynasty03:

I read the article about Frederick and I also read what Coach Smith said. And I completly see what the previous post was saying about "calling him out" it seemed to me like they may have caught coach at a bad time and he said something that maybe needs to be taken back. I have never heard direct statements towards a player at the highschool level in any public press article. I think the biggest thing, and I'm completely ignorant to both of the people and the situation, my assumption is that people wanted Ben Frederick to be and do something that he wasn't or didn't want to be. Being good doesn't make the game fun. I just hope that people don't give him a bad name without knowing the situation and without realizing there are two sides to all stories and it isn't our place to judge Frederick for decisions he has made regardless of how we feel.

[Edited by dynasty03 on 10-12-02 6:28P]

 

Good post. I agree with what you're saying, though I will point out that for his first couple of years at Bartlett, Ben really did seem to love the game. It seemed to me like he changed over last season, and even moreso over the summer. I like Ben, he's a nice guy, and I hope that whatever he ends up deciding to do, it works out well for him.

 

That said, I agree with Hubie's decision here. Ben's attitude this summer from when I saw Bartlett was poor. He quit working on both ends of the court because his teammates didn't pass the ball to him early in the game. There were other things too, but that's just not what you need from a senior. From any player, really, but especially from a senior. Yes, Ben stood up to Hubie. Yes, that's something that needs to be resolved one way or the other. But the biggest problem wasn't really that Ben stood up to Hubie, it's that Ben stood up to Hubie the wrong way. If they'd done that in private and not in front of other players, then it would have been different.

 

Hubie is not without fault...he's a great coach and an even better person, but I think it would be hard to play for him, because he's VERY demanding, and some people are better off with more laid-back coaches. Ben is probably one of those people. Also, as dynasty said, I don't think Ben has the love for the game that a lot of us have, and that frustrates the heck out of me because I just think of what I could have done if I was 6-10. But it's Ben's life, and if he doesn't want to play basketball then he really shouldn't. I'm really good at math, but I don't want to pursue a career in mathematics.

 

I think Ben lost his love for basketball because he was doing some things because he had to, not because he wanted to. I think we can all relate to that.

 

All in all, I just wish Ben and Hubie could have parted ways differently more amicably.

[cobrafan90]

i personally met ben at the belmont camp. i officiated two or three games that he played in. and his attitude was great. he didn't complain about the constant hacking and undercutting that he was receiving from shorter players. he also was mannerable(he would respond with yes sir or no sir, etc) so i am sticking up for the big fella. i saw NO attitude problem.

 

i asked ben what college he was considering at that time it was an ivy league school can't remember which one. what that told me was that ben was more concerned with academics to even consider a school like that. he obviosly could sign a bball scholarship somewhere else with less academic requirements. ben played hard the games i saw. the only thing i can concur is that as stated earlier is that ben's priorities are elsewhere. he shouldn't be criticized for not cherishing basketball as coach smith does.(after all coach smith gets paid to coach bball and teach classes) there is no rule that says play ball cause your 6'10". good luck to Ben Fredrick.

[Pantherbert]

First let me say that I LOVE Ben. I've a lot of fun getting to know him and his mom over these past 3 years.I also wish Ben the very best in whatever he chooses to do in the future.With that said, let me just echo what Opperman said.

Coach Smith is a incredibly demanding coach and some people just can't handle it. Ben just developed an attitude and that was that.I don't think anybody on this board is trying to make Ben out to be a horrible person because he isn't. He just "had enough" but handled it in a way that didn't benefit anyone.

 

I hope I've come across the way I intended. I wanted to defend Ben is a person while recognizing that he did something wrong and that Coach Smith(while very tough) was in the right for his actions.Have a good evening everybody