District 4A 2014-2015

[ZOA9]

Who would have thought the close game was the 2 vs 7 game. But home team hold serves and moves on to the semi's.

 

630 OS vs Oakdale

800 Coalfield vs Jellico

 

Picks?

 

The Jellico-Sunbright was a very competitive game. Give credit to Coach Jeffers and Sunbright players for a great effort in the game. Sunbright almost caught Jellico looking ahead as they did not take the lead until the 3 minute mark of the 4th quarter. Those two 3 pointers that #33 (Cross) hit for Jellico were big, without those I don't think Jellico escapes. The OZ/Oakdale game is the most interesting match-up of the 2 semi-final games. OZ played well at home in the win over Wartburg...... Oakdale has been resting for the week....... the long lay off may or may not come in to play.... we shall see...... I think OZ has a shot to knock off Oakdale if they can stay out of foul trouble especially Murray..... Oakdale may have trouble keeping OZ off the boards for 2nd opportunities as Murray is a relentless rebounder........ Will be interesting to see if Oakdale plays man or zone against OZ....... I think a zone could be somewhat effective, don't think OZ can shoot lights out on a neutral floor and this could keep Smith out of foul trouble early..... Oakdale can not afford Smith in early foul trouble...... It will be interesting to see how each coach adjust offensively to the defense they are seeing.  I'm picking Oakdale in  a very close game with a big key to the game is who gets in foul trouble early Murray or Smith..... The 2nd semi-final with Jellico/Coalfield could go either way (I think if Jellico had won big over Sunbright it would have helped Coalfield's chances as that game may have woke them up)....... Jellico has handled Coalfield twice this year with double digit wins...... I think Bowlin will have to have a big game (25 points plus and needs to shoot the ball way more than he has been) for Jellico to pull this game out........ Coalfield will play zone I'm sure to keep Bowlin from getting inside and make Jellico beat them from the perimeter (which is the smart thing to do) but sometimes their zone is passive and allow easy baskets for the opponent.......#33 for Jellico will guard McKinney and in both games as did a good job on keeping him from going off........ I think Lee will have a big game for Coalfield as he is a match-up problem for Jellico........ If #33 and #23 for Jellico get into double figures I think Jellico will pull this one out if not than Coalfield will have a chance to get the win....... #33 can not get into foul trouble guarding McKinney if that happens than Jellico has a match-up problem I think. I'm picking the higher seeds in both games in close competitive games..... Should be a fun night of basketball saturday night in Wartburg.

[TheMan0405]

I heard murray may have got hurt late in their game last night. If so that's a big blow to OS if he's not 100% vs Oakdale.

[kazam37]

Coalfield just pasted Oneida last night.  They played really well (60% fg), and they just took Oneida out to the woodshed.  I think Jellico could be in trouble if Coalfield stays hot.  I still think Oakdale has the strongest 5 starters.....how that translates in the boys bracket....?  I guess we will find out soon.

 

Kaz

 

p.s.  Time for the white hardball with seams......! 

[ZOA9]

I heard murray may have got hurt late in their game last night. If so that's a big blow to OS if he's not 100% vs Oakdale.

 If that is true, it's a game changer in Oakdale's favor.  I don't see anyway that OZ could pull out the win without Murray being 100%. He is the one player for OZ that brings it every night.  But hey, it's still high school basketball so anything is possible I guess.

[ZOA9]

Coalfield just pasted Oneida last night.  They played really well (60% fg), and they just took Oneida out to the woodshed.  I think Jellico could be in trouble if Coalfield stays hot.  I still think Oakdale has the strongest 5 starters.....how that translates in the boys bracket....?  I guess we will find out soon.

 

Kaz

 

p.s.  Time for the white hardball with seams......! 

Hey if Coalfield shoots 60% from the floor saturday night they will beat Jellico..... but it's highly unlikely they will shoot that well on a neutral floor in a tournament atmosphere. Not sure what type of defense Oneida played against Coalfield but if you play them zone (without trapping) Coalfield will give you trouble........ you gotta make Coalfield play off the bounce without fouling and make them hit tough running shots....... I agree that Oakdale has the best starting 5 of the 4 teams left........interesting to see how Oakdale handles the venue setting saturday night...... Will they embrace it? or will they tighten up?   They have not been in this situation with these players so we shall see........... Yes, it's getting close to Baseball time Kaz......... Will Oneida continue their strong showing in baseball this year........ correct me if I'm wrong but I think they are the defending District Champs.........and gave Grace (a very strong baseball program as they should be with what they have to offer, not to many public schools can offer what Grace does in baseball) a run for their money in the region game.... gotta give credit to their coach for turning that program around when many people thought you could not win at Oneida in baseball...... I'm assuming their middle school program has been a big help to the high school program. Kudos to their players for buying in.

Edited February 13, 2015 by ZOA9

[kazam37]

It ain't close for the basketball players......it is time.  We had such a dis-spirited effort last night it actually got painful to watch.  Of course, when you don't play well against a good team your usually going to be on the short end of the stick.  I'm sure we got a lot of experts out there that think they have a fix for boys basketball but it ain't as if there is one little hole to patch.....it is bigger than that.  When your club only wins 2 games on the year......it is a little deeper than one would expect.  I'm not interested in giving my opinion on what happened this season because my two cents ain't worth a hill of beans.  Investment.......would help, though.  Kaz's picks:

 

Coalfield over Jellico by 7

Oakdale over OS by 4

 

Kazzy

 

p.s.  Investment.......(your either all in or all out!)  Simple

[TheMan0405]

Two really good games tonight. All Morgan County championship on Tuesday. Should be a great atmosphere and I still think coalfield pulls it out. Coalfield might've played the best team ball that they have this year.

[ZOA9]

Two really good games tonight. All Morgan County championship on Tuesday. Should be a great atmosphere and I still think coalfield pulls it out. Coalfield might've played the best team ball that they have this year.

Two very competitive games in the semis.  I thought Oakdale quit being aggressive in the 2nd half against OZ offensively and it nearly cost them..... OZ missed two point blank shots under a minute that could have tied the game....... Smith hit some big free throws for Oakdale down the stretch to help the cause...... Good for Oakdale to be in a position to play for the title.  The Coalfield/Jellico game was the better game of the two as both played at a high level offensively. Jellico shot the ball well from the 3 ball land and Coalfield really shot the ball well from both inside and outside....... Lee for Coalfield was a mis-match for Jellico and really had no answer for him...... he played well and Coalfield passed the ball well for the most part. Bowlin for Jellico still proved he is the best player in the District with his performance...... I thought the triangle in two and box and one that Coalfield played was effective with the fact it forced some of Jellico's players other than Bowlin and #23 to shoot the ball especially late in the game where every possession was valuable.  If there's a better guard in East Tennessee other than Bowlin in Class A I haven't seen him...... his ability to score, dish, & rebound is really impressive for his size. As a neutral fan that watched the game, I would say that he gets fouled 8 to 10 times a game that is not called.... the charge call that was called on him in the 2nd quarter that gave him his 3rd foul was very questionable and he had to sit the remainder of the half........ McKinney played well for Coalfield as he will only get better with time and he will be a very special player for Coalfield in future years as he will get bigger and stronger. The championship game will have a great environment and will be a very close competitive game IMO...... It look like it will be hard to get the games in with the forecast of Snow on the way....... hope they get to settle it on the court and not go to seeding to determine placement for the region but the forecast does not look favorable...... we shall see.

[TheMan0405]

Two very competitive games in the semis. I thought Oakdale quit being aggressive in the 2nd half against OZ offensively and it nearly cost them..... OZ missed two point blank shots under a minute that could have tied the game....... Smith hit some big free throws for Oakdale down the stretch to help the cause...... Good for Oakdale to be in a position to play for the title. The Coalfield/Jellico game was the better game of the two as both played at a high level offensively. Jellico shot the ball well from the 3 ball land and Coalfield really shot the ball well from both inside and outside....... Lee for Coalfield was a mis-match for Jellico and really had no answer for him...... he played well and Coalfield passed the ball well for the most part. Bowlin for Jellico still proved he is the best player in the District with his performance...... I thought the triangle in two and box and one that Coalfield played was effective with the fact it forced some of Jellico's players other than Bowlin and #23 to shoot the ball especially late in the game where every possession was valuable. If there's a better guard in East Tennessee other than Bowlin in Class A I haven't seen him...... his ability to score, dish, & rebound is really impressive for his size. As a neutral fan that watched the game, I would say that he gets fouled 8 to 10 times a game that is not called.... the charge call that was called on him in the 2nd quarter that gave him his 3rd foul was very questionable and he had to sit the remainder of the half........ McKinney played well for Coalfield as he will only get better with time and he will be a very special player for Coalfield in future years as he will get bigger and stronger. The championship game will have a great environment and will be a very close competitive game IMO...... It look like it will be hard to get the games in with the forecast of Snow on the way....... hope they get to settle it on the court and not go to seeding to determine placement for the region but the forecast does not look favorable...... we shall see.

Spot on analysis. Besides the fouls it was probably the best game Parker has had this year.

[ZOA9]

Revised District Tournament Schedule

 

Thursday- Girls Consolation & Girls Championship

Friday- Boys Consolation & Boys Championship

 

Could be tough to play these if we get more snow that is predicted for Wednesday and the record low temperatures........ I would say Jellico & Oneida will have a tough time traveling..... they got hit the hardest with the snow and ice........... Hope they get to settle it on the court and not by seeding for region placement......... We shall see.

[ZOA9]

Do not see any way games will be played Thursday or Friday night for the tournament.  Record low temperatures will keep the snow and ice around through Friday.  Looks like best case will be Saturday as the temperature is supposed to be in the low 40s with rain which should melt away the snow and ice.  They could play the girls games during the day say 1 & 230 and play the boys games that evening say 6 & 730.   We shall see...... I really hope they get a chance to play the games and not go to seeding but Saturday will be the last day to play anything in the District. Region starts on Monday.

[Hopi]

If they can play Saturday they could play the consolation games early say 4 & 5:30 the Championship for Girls and Boys after that. But right now who know what is going to happen at this point