Chattanooga Talent? Top Teams?

[MartianMan]

Mcminn Central and Meigs are traditionally really strong teams but dont know if they fall into the Chatt. area.

[Glory]

Mcminn Central and Meigs are traditionally really strong teams but dont know if they fall into the Chatt. area.

Meigs won't be as strong this year as they were last year. McMinn Central is always good but this year we will have our best team in the last 3 years if we can stay free of injuries. Chattanooga teams are not strong. 5AAA other than Bradley the last 2 years has not been strong and this might be their worst year if Bradley is down.

[TribeFan]

I understand McMinn County should be a contender this year with a very young but talented team. They possibly could start 2-3 freshmen....inexperienced yes but loaded with talent. They are athletic and play aggressive. You will see a lot of diving on the floor and crashing into the bleachers with this group.

[tarp]

Think Choo-Choo select volleyball is a huge factor.  Baylor won state volleyball today and Signal finished 2nd in A-AA.  Ooltewah had a great shot at making AAA finals, just didn't close the deal.  All 3 schools have 6' or above female athletes that play volleyball almost year round instead of AAU basketball.  Many other local schools have great female athletes focusing on volleyball rather than basketball.  

 

In this age of large school athletes "single shoting" one sport with travel teams other than basketball, their competition in other areas are single shoting AAU basketball.   Chatt's best hope for state girls' basketball championship would be Baylor, but not sure how many of their player's are boarding students recruited from elsewhere.  

 

There are exceptions and some good female basketball athletes in Chatt, but don't think any team here goes 10 players deep without a pretty big drop off in talent.  

[Glory]

I understand McMinn County should be a contender this year with a very young but talented team. They possibly could start 2-3 freshmen....inexperienced yes but loaded with talent. They are athletic and play aggressive. You will see a lot of diving on the floor and crashing into the bleachers with this group.

Maybe you missed the subject of this discussion. It is about talent and top teams of the Chattanooga area. The mention of McMinn County is funny.

[thorough97]

Glory, McMinn County is in a district that includes Hamilton County schools (at least in AAA), why would they not be included?

LadyMustangCoach, baconbreath would be the perfect person to talk to about this, he has seen a lot of girls basketball in his time. But you are on the right track about Hamilton County Middle schools, they only have a 6 week season and that is it. Players don't improve with just games and having a handful of practices in a season just don't cut it. The only decent girls basketball in Hamilton County is Division II (GPS and Baylor), Division i has been bad for about 20 years.

[CPHoops]

Who will the top teams be out of the Chattanooga area this year?  Bradley graduated some serious talent.  Rhea County should be pretty strong this year, or next.  Bledsoe graduated some talent.  Baylor should be very strong, but did not show well with a super Sophomore Class last year, maybe this is their year.  Notre Dame and Signal should post some wins this year and compete for their District with Bledsoe. 

 

What say you?

[CPHoops]

Then back to the topic heading.... Is that due to "Talent" or Coaching? Tradition? Feeder programs?

As others have already posted, Hamilton county could really care less about middle school sports, especially basketball. Typically, MS teams in our area have 4 practices before we start games ad the season runs from Oct to early December. There is talent but the girls are just not developed. Now some MS coaches do a lot with the girls in the summer months but even then there are real restrictions placed on how much the girls can practice. Another real weakness in our area is the quality of AAU programs. The 'top' program for girls in Chattanooga is more interested in getting its girls scholarships to one of the private schools than in really teaching the game. Add to all of this the popularity of softball and volleyball and it's no surprise why our girls struggle compared to Bradley co. and middle TN.

[Indian]

Does that top program start with an X?

[CPHoops]

Yes it does...of course that is just my opinion

[Indian]

Seems accurate.

[MartianMan]

Does that top program start with an X?

Maybe IN Chattanooga that program might be but there are some BETTER programs in the surrounding areas that teach the game.