4AAA 2017-18

[Norman Dale]

East is on a completely different level than other AAA teams. With the addition of Wiseman and the continued development of Lomax, Lawson, Dandridge, etc.,  they are far superior even to the East team of last year that won it.

I think Bearden is every bit as good as Oak Ridge was last year and Oak Ridge took East to the wire. But this isn't last year so I can't see Bearden winning the AAA title, mainly because East is so much better this year.

Edited March 2, 2018 by Norman Dale

[knoxguy]

Just throwing this out there East beat Columbus by 4 in November and Columbus beat Bearden on a clutch 22 footer with a hand in shooter face at the buzzer to win by 3. Basketball is about match ups and tournaments are about guard play and defense. Hope the match up comes late in the state tournament but could be a good game.

[Norman Dale]

2 hours ago, knoxguy said:

Just throwing this out there East beat Columbus by 4 in November and Columbus beat Bearden on a clutch 22 footer with a hand in shooter face at the buzzer to win by 3. Basketball is about match ups and tournaments are about guard play and defense. Hope the match up comes late in the state tournament but could be a good game.

Didn’t realize they had a common opponent- thanks for the info.

[WilleTheWildcat]

5 hours ago, Norman Dale said:

East is on a completely different level than other AAA teams. With the addition of Wiseman and the continued development of Lomax, Lawson, Dandridge, etc.,  they are far superior even to the East team of last year that won it.

I think Bearden is every bit as good as Oak Ridge was last year and Oak Ridge took East to the wire. But this isn't last year so I can't see Bearden winning the AAA title, mainly because East is so much better this year.

First, I think you know more about high school basketball than I do. I am more of a homer fan. However based on what I saw last Tuesday night. Oak Ridge's team from last season would control the game with the  Bearden team I saw. It would not have  been close. Add a healthy EJ Bush to the Wildcats and the Band of Brothers would win by even more. Just my opinion. Oh, I didn't even mention Tee which is a first for me. Nope, I mentioned Tee like always 

[SweetScience]

3 hours ago, WilleTheWildcat said:

First, I think you know more about high school basketball than I do. I am more of a homer fan. However based on what I saw last Tuesday night. Oak Ridge's team from last season would control the game with the  Bearden team I saw. It would not have  been close. Add a healthy EJ Bush to the Wildcats and the Band of Brothers would win by even more. Just my opinion. Oh, I didn't even mention Tee which is a first for me. Nope, I mentioned Tee like always 

Bearden is really good, but our guys stayed within 5-10 points of them all game, except there near the very end where they made a lot of FTs. We were even up by 7 at one point in the 2nd quarter. If they have any hope of beating East Stephny better have a much better game than he did against us. We pretty much kept him in check all night. That team goes with Groves, though. To me, he's their best player.

[Norman Dale]

4 hours ago, WilleTheWildcat said:

First, I think you know more about high school basketball than I do. I am more of a homer fan. However based on what I saw last Tuesday night. Oak Ridge's team from last season would control the game with the  Bearden team I saw. It would not have  been close. Add a healthy EJ Bush to the Wildcats and the Band of Brothers would win by even more. Just my opinion. Oh, I didn't even mention Tee which is a first for me. Nope, I mentioned Tee like always 

Willie, I don’t know if I know more about hoops than you- you are a great fan for sure. OR was definitely very good last year. I didn’t say Bearden this year was better - just that they were as good.  Splitting hairs to give either team an edge since both teams were so dominant- they both went undefeated in district regular season , district tournament, and region tournament. Can’t do any better than that.

 

[hsbbfan]

If Pember is 100%, Bearden is different team. the kid does a lot on both ends. Hope he's healthy and the draw doesn't have Bearden/East on Wednesday. Maybe TSSAA will put their best refs (based on calls instead of mechanics) on this one if it comes to pass.

[QSouth89]

On 3/4/2018 at 11:18 AM, hsbbfan said:

If Pember is 100%, Bearden is different team. the kid does a lot on both ends. Hope he's healthy and the draw doesn't have Bearden/East on Wednesday. Maybe TSSAA will put their best refs (based on calls instead of mechanics) on this one if it comes to pass.

Memphis East has 5 kids 6’7 or taller on their roster Wiseman is 6’11 and Lawson 6’9 both top 10 players in their class. That’s a lot to ask of Pember when healthy to guard either one of those players. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember Memphis East playing zone last year vs. Oak Ridge? 

Edited March 5, 2018 by QSouth89

[SweetScience]

20 hours ago, QSouth89 said:

Memphis East has 5 kids 6’7 or taller on their roster Wiseman is 6’11 and Lawson 6’9 both top 10 players in their class. That’s a lot to ask of Pember when healthy to guard either one of those players. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember Memphis East play zone last year vs. Oak Ridge? 

I can't remember to be honest, but they may have. 

[IrishBBall]

23 hours ago, QSouth89 said:

Memphis East has 5 kids 6’7 or taller on their roster Wiseman is 6’11 and Lawson 6’9 both top 10 players in their class. That’s a lot to ask of Pember when healthy to guard either one of those players. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember Memphis East playing zone last year vs. Oak Ridge? 

Pember struggled to handle 6'7" Brock Jancek in their four matchups with Catholic. East will be tough to match up with all their height and length. Be interesting to see how East handles Glover and Stephany.

[REBELRON]

Bearden has a great team.  By far the best team Maryville has played.  Any other years I would give Bearden a shot of winning it all. Penny Hardaway has East playing at a different level than any High School team I ever seen in Tennessee.

[Chinadog]

5 hours ago, IrishBBall said:

Pember struggled to handle 6'7" Brock Jancek in their four matchups with Catholic. East will be tough to match up with all their height and length. Be interesting to see how East handles Glover and Stephany.

Honestly, I was never overly impressed with Brock. I've seen him get blocked a lot over the years, through AAU and Rocky Top. He does score well when playing smaller teams, but shut him down and they struggle. Against bigger guys, he'll score, but not nearly as effective. I watched Pember shutdown Akeem last summer in AAU while dropping 20+ points on him. Remember, he's still a wing. 6'9" now and still growing. I'd like to see him put on like 40 pounds. 

We'll see when and if Bearden plays PennyBall. The drawing is tomorrow, hopefully they meet in the championship game and not before. 

Way to go Powell! That's a story in itself! 

Good luck to the teams representing East Tennessee this year!