Mistate Ballerz vs TN Travelers 17u

[Tall Vol]

"This would be very good for our fine state."

 

How would that benefit Tennessee?

 

The Travelers aren't scared to play the Ballerz - or anyone. Nobody believes that. They played the Atlanta Celtics with Dwight Howard, Josh Smith and Randolph Morris.

 

Now they are scheduling so they don't have to play the Ballerz w/o Gordon?

C'mon...

[gomab2]

No excuses then. Travelers made the terms of the game: the exact time they wanted to play (knowing Gordon was out), their gym, their refs, etc... Heck, I can say all I want as well, that our starting PG was not there, that one of our best players was in so much foul trouble on terrible calls that he didn't even score. That my quiet assistant coach got a Tech for the first time in 5 years with the Ballerz for talking to me... But I haven't been bringing excuses up...

 

And you know what: no speculation, no opinions, no ifs, ands, or buts...

 

Midstate Ballerz Elite 64, Tennessee Travelers 46

[hoopsguru79]

Its obvious that the schedule was made like that on purpose. Now there will always be an asterik behind the victory. I didnt want to go there, but it seems that some teams with sneaker deals elude up and coming teams that dont have them. If you have high caliber teams like The Memphis Bulldogs, who just beat the # 3 team in the country in the Dallas Mustangs, will be there. Mur Stars, SE Pump and Run, TN Dreams, etc. all in one tournament then why not come play?

 

It brings a certain rivarly for the fans. It seems the only way you can play the Travelers these days if you are a TN team, is in their tournament. Its easy to say Jamont didnt play, so lace em up bring Jamont and come to the Ballerz Challenge of Champions.

Edited April 21, 2004 by hoopsguru79

[mister02]

Does anybody know the name of the ref that called the technical during the Ballerz/Travelers game? I would like to send him an invitation to the "Nobody comes to see you referee camp". That guy couldn't hide the fact who he was for.

[hoopsguru79]

Great Post!!!

[Tall Vol]

"Its obvious that the schedule was made like that on purpose."

 

Obvious to you, but you have nothing to base that on except your opinion. Hey, did it ever cross your mind that a matchup with Gordon against fellow UT recruit Jarvis Hill would be more intriguing game? What about a Tyler Smith vs Jamont Gordon matchup? I guess they were dodging Tennessee Elite as well.

 

Out of the Travelers four games, three teams were not sponsored and two of those three opponents were Tennessee teams. They also got beat by the unsponsored Tennessee Breakers in last years tourney. So much for your theory that the Travelers elude Tennessee teams that don't have shoe deals. Scheduling around the Ballerz was not even considered. I think you place too much importance on your team and assume concern that does not exist.

 

and Gomab - your missing PG was not a Mr. Basketball winner and your player unjustly in foul trouble was not a Mr. Basketball runner-up. Also, why are you blaming refs when you won? That's bush.

 

Try this - take the Ballerz 2 best players off the team and add Adams and Gordon back to the Travelers. Would that be a meaningful win for the Travelers?

[Guest Oakland]

no excuses, the travelers lost to the ballerz period. so what if they were missing jamont, whos to say that jamont was gonna have a great game? for all we know he could have gone 0-12 from the field and maybe a few pts from the charity stripe. when its all said and done, its a win for the ballerz any way you slice, sounds like your a sore loser to be truthful about it

[gomab2]

Thanks Oakland2001...

 

Quit crying TallVol... Doaks is better than Adams anyways... You guys haven't gotten much out of Gordon so far either (Hill ate Gordon alive, while Richard Delk held Hill to two second half points)... We played the Travelers when they wanted to, where they wanted to, and with who they wanted to officiate: ALL on their terms, so...

 

No excuses, no ifs, ands, or buts...

 

The Ballerz beat the Travelers convincingly by 18!!!

[shooter5]

Gomab why don't you quit bashing the refs....you did go 4-0.......your team played very well this weekend........And on another note i don't see how anyone can rank Jamont Gordon ahead of the Reginald Delk or Tyler Smith.......Those are the two best players in the state.......

[smalltown]

You guys are missing the point. The Travelers have never backed down from anybody. They could have changed the schedule knowing Gordon and Adams were out - they didn't. Nobody is making excuses, but facts are facts. Would the Ballerz do the same thing if the Delks were going to miss? As for the technical, I didn't see it, but from what little I saw of the game it was called pretty evenly. I also believe the technical was called early on, and those usually have little or no impact. The Ballerz certainly played better that game and they have a quality team, but one win does not elevate them to a superior level over the Travelers. They were better on this particular night. The Ballerz 17-u team has certainly established itself as a fine squad. But facts are facts: the Travelers played the game without two top players; and I read on VolQuest the other day that Joey Cameron may start playing with them. Say what you want - the Travelers with Gordon, Adams, and Cameron are quite a different team than the one that played Midstate, although they will likely be without Adams for the summer because of his foot. I don't want to take away anything from the Ballerz - they play very hard, move the ball well, and help very well on defense. They did a much better job in this game of knocking down open shots and free throws. But I don't think it's quite accurate to accuse the Travelers of backing down or making excuses when that didn't happen. You are right, they could have changed the game but didn't - they probably would have done that if they were backing down, but they played it anyway. I can also recall many posts on here in years past where Gomab reported that the Ballerz played various tournaments without some top players and didn't do as well as they would have with those players. He wasn't making excuses or whining - just reporting the facts. In the spring and summer, all teams will suffer from missing players. I think all that people are saying is that the Travelers, on this particular night, were missing more key players than the Ballerz - therefore the 18-point win in not an accurate indicator of where the teams stand. If the Travelers had Gordon and Cameron and the Ballerz had to play without the Delks, say they were at their prom, that game would likewise not be an accurate indicator.

 

It would be great to see the teams play with both at full strength, but to accuse the Travelers of backing down from this is ridiculous. You don't get to where they are by backing down. Last year they played a very good Breakers team despite sending half their team to another floor to fill in for a team that didn't show up at the last minute. They could have backed down from that one also but didn't. I don't know why they aren't going to the Ballerz tournament, but I doubt it's because they don't want to play the Ballerz again. I'm sure they would like to do that. I do know they have some Nike obligations in May - St. Louis and New Orleans, and that's probably why they can't work it in. I would think three weekends in May would be tough to do with most school systems having final exams during that time, and both New Orleans and St. Louis are seriously long drives, which means those kids will probably miss some school.

 

By the way, why weren't the Ballerz at the Travelers' tournament last year? Were they backing down, as some people suggest the Travelers are doing now? Probably not - but nobody accused the Ballerz of backing down last year for not coming when the Travelers had a clearly superior 17-u team. I'm sure the Ballerz had other committments, and like any other program, can only go to so many places, especially when you have more than one age group to worry about. But lets not accuse the Travelers of backing down when in fact they have had enough guts to play other good Tennessee teams without their top players.

[Tnbreakers]

No offense to any you guys, but at this level it's the level of competition you play and not the wins and losses that count the most. There a lot of good tournaments out there to participate in and I am sure it is impossible to get into all of them. If it is all about seeing who the best team is in Tennessee, we are all missing the boat. The proof in the pudding is who has become the better player and team at the end of the Summer!

[gomab2]

By the way, the Ballerz 17's were better than the Travelers 17's last summer: just look at the on-court performances at events throughout the summer. The teams never got to play. This year, we decided we would only come to the Travelers tourney if they would return the favor and come to ours, but once that wasn't going to happen, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to play the Travelers knowing that we were better last year, and arguably the year before with our Elite team (Crittendon, Fisk, Williams, Mason, Howard, Sampson, etc) as well... So we went to their place, played them when they scheduled the game (after they knew Jamont would not be there, so there was no "rescheduling", they simply scheduled the Zags w/ Jamont and us w/o Jamont), and beat the world-renown Travelers...

 

And yes, TnBreakers, the object of the summer is the kids first and foremost... There is no doubting that whatsoever... But this game was to a lot of people a sign of the changing landscape in Summer ball in TN... Memphis is #1 in TN, and will continue to be for a long time, but this past weekend proved the Travelers are no longer the dominate team throughout the state. I knew this last year, but we were never able to prove it head to head on the court...

 

And as far as Cameron goes... who cares? Cameron plays with the Atlanta Celtics, and if he wants to split time between two or three teams, then what type of alegience is that? We had the opportunity to pick up two high majors, Mason and Cromwell, for some tourneys this summer, but what does that gain? A few wins with 'borrowed' players. That completely misses the point of Summer hoops. Mason and Cromwell are with a top-flight organization, and there is no need to bring them in for the sake of victories when it would bench some kids that have always been there for me. So what's going to happen with Cameron? Is he going to take Palmer or Dotson's spot, two long-time Travelers, while he also plays in Atlanta? If that's how the Travelers want to do things, then that's all on them...

 

All I know is:

 

Midstate Ballerz 64, Tennessee Travelers 46