A question for anyone from North Middle TN?

[osubrutus]

I have noticed that the AA and A teams from that area are almost always good. Livingston, York, Celina, Clarkrange, Jackson Co, Franklin Road, Donelson, Moore, Giles, etc...

 

Why is that? :confused: :confused: Is the coaching that much better? Do they play better competition? Good AAU programs? Stay in the gym because there is nothing else to do? More dedicated kids?

 

Watching Livingston and Clarkrange play last night...Wow just a different brand of ball. Especially Livingston.

 

Just curious.

[sam4vol]

Hey OSUBrutus, These are my thoughts. Is the coaching better? Our area does have some of the most successful coaches in the state. Is it the competition? I this is quite a bit of it. Night in and night out you face the toughest teams in the state, you had better be well prepared or could be a long season. Stay in the Gym? In these small towns, no there is not alot to do, so basketball is a big part of the culture. More dedicated players? Hard to answer that one. What I do know is this every Tuesday and Friday night during the season the towns are empty because everyone is at the games. There is tremendous fan support for girls basketball in this area and the girls sense that and want to do well for the fans as well as their teams. Example: After Celina lost in the state finals one of the players actually apologized to me, and said that she was sorry to disappoint all the fans who follow them everywhere.

 

This area does play a different brand of ball. It is very evident when you go to the state tourney. You can basically tell which teams are from East, Middle and West by their style of ball. Is our brand of ball better? This area does have several state championships on the A and AA level, but I do not say it is better it is just different and for some reason it has been successful. Sorry to ramble, but I have asked the same question myself.

[osubrutus]

Thanks for the analysis!! Being from the East, it is very informative. I was just very impressed with even the pre-game warm-ups! Lots of intensity! I would like to see more of the teams up this way doing the same things.

 

I hate to keep repeating myself, but the focus was something you don't see much of up this way. Again, Thanks.

[jimbo44]

I would say yes to all of the things you mentioned. Various things at various locations. The thing you left out is parental, family, and community support. In Jackson Co, Jim B. works with 5th graders and up, adding a little each year to the things in his system. At Cookeville, all the middleschool coaches teach the same playbooks that the HS coaches use. At Upperman and Clarkrange, same song. The real key is parents who wear out several vehicles, driving kids to and from practices, AAU games, and tournaments. The fan support varies year to year. If the winning deminishes in some communities, the fans are after the coaches hide. They can't accept the fact that tallent comes up in waves. There are also several excellent AAU programs in our area.

[blynwile]

Let's not forget that most of these A and AA schools step up and take a swing at the Region 4-AAA big dogs when their not fighting with each other. Go to any 7-AA vs. 7-AAA game and I'll say you'll get your money's worth.

[jimbo44]

Amen to that. Just look at the OTs.