Livingston vs. White Co.

[The General]

Livingston travels to Sparta on Saturday. Any thoughts?

 

I say LA by 8

[muffin]

L.A. by 10.

[ktown22]

LA by 12

[Hustler2]

Livingston won by 1 tonight.Warriors played hard.

[ktown22]

Is playing hard ever going to win them a game? I know the boys are playing hard, but that is not a reason to loose every game. Maybe its not them, it could be coaching preparation. The players could be doing enough to win games,its just the coaches doesn't put them in position to win.

[fastereddie]

ktown- I agree. The boys are playing hard every game that is true, but they should be playing hard. That should be expected. It would be nice to have something else to say after the game besides that. I think the guys were more than capable of beating livingston both times they have played them this year. They are hurting themselves by not winning these games like livingston, upperman, and york. I think they were as talented as crossville and cookeville too, but they haven't won any of these games. They should be beating these teams and building confidence for the district. They should have won a lot more games at this point than they have. 1-6 they have enough talent to be winning a lot more than they are, some adjustments need to be made somewhere.

[pinkpanther]

ktown...Sooner or later, the players on a team have got to be held accountable for something. Sparta had the Livingston game won. I was there. They were up by 4 with just over a minute left to play. They made 2 mental errors that cost them the game. There was a very questionable no-call by the refs in there, but those happen in every game. The boys blew it themselves tonight. I hate to say it, but it's true. A coach can't control anything once the players hit the floor. It's up to the players then. Livingston had a better team than Sparta. I think Slatten and Dotson had them well-prepared. The blame for this loss goes to the boys on the team. They played a great game, except for the last minute. They had the win, but let it slip away.

[Guest bbfblover]

By all means the boys should be held accountable for their mental mistakes, but what about that stupid time out just when one of the Warriors was going up for a lay up. Talking about not having any faith in the boys, if Coach Slatten could just one time give them a play and have faith that they would follow through the game might have been different. Afterwards, I hear he told them that they were the worst team he had ever coached and that he wished he had never come to Sparta. I am sure that goes for a lot of the boys playing under him now and their parents. The mental mistakes made in the last 1 minute I feel was from the negative comments that he continues to make about their playing ability and skills. The boys just get down on themselves after a time. In talking to several of the boys last night, each one felt that losing the game was on their shoulders, because each one was told how poorly they played and how each individual one had cost them the game!!!!!! Give me a break!!!!! Foul shots were missed, easy layups were not hit, long range 3 shots were made far too many times, but no one young man on that team cost them the game. Oh and just one more thing, if I were the Livingston coach and number 52 ever tried to dunk the ball in a tight game again he would running from now on. LA could have been up may at least 4 more points, if the young man would have quit showing off and just played sound ball.

[pinkpanther]

I was sitting behind Sparta's bench on Saturday night. They got the ball back, down by 1, with 38 seconds left. Slatten called a time out and gave them a play. They then dribbled around, as usual, until 12 seconds were left. Slatten called another time out and called another play. That time I think they threw up a bad shot, Livingston got the rebound, and that was the game. Livingston missed a shot which gave England a desperation heave at the basket, but it was too late. Please don't say that Slatten won't let the team run plays. It looks to me like they can't run the ones that he gives them. A coach can't do everything. Players have to step up at some point. Sparta really only has one player right now capable of stepping up. I don't think Slatten should say negative things like this is the worst team he has ever coached, if it's true that he really said that. Even if he thinks that, he should keep it to himself. It's not good for the team to hear things like that. Bad teams usually cost coaches their jobs. If Slatten leaves or loses his job, it won't be because he is a bad coach. It will be because he wasn't given the time, talent, or community support to get Sparta basketball back to where it once was. Maybe it will never get back to that point. You have to admit, there were a lot of tall, talented players who went through here during the state championship era. I'm going to irritate a lot of people with this post. I try to stay positive, but sometimes the truth hurts.

[Edited by pinkpanther on 12-15-02 6:12P]

[JET2]

Livingston by 14 .... Sparta has gotten worse since the game in Crossville

[ktown22]

Pinkpanther- You sure know about the game in the smallest details. I don't think you are a fan. Did you sit behind or on the same bench of the warriors.

[pinkpanther]

I know what you're getting at ktown. I was sitting behind the bench. I just pay close attention to details. If I'm going to get on here and shoot my mouth off, I want to know what I'm talking about. You probably noticed that I didn't comment on the Cookeville game. I wasn't there, so I really couldn't say anything about it.