Here's my shot at it:

 

 

Tier 1 (hardly any separation at the top):

 

1. Lafayette:

Seem to be the deepest team in the tournament, have a star player in Jackson Davis and then surround him with a bunch of kids who bring different things to the table, play within themselves and their roles, and have an established identity with the 2-2-1 three-quarter court pressure they run.

 

2. Scott County:

Seem to be one or two good athletes away from being what they normally are. You watch them and get the feeling that something is missing, but it's something that you can't really quite put your finger on. Normally, that means chemistry, but I don't think it's that at all. I think their talent is just somewhat down this year compared to what it normally is when you look at the kids who are playing at the 5th-9th spots.

 

3. Knott County Central :

Narrow win over Hazard, who Scott County crushed; might get to see KCC play the 11th's best in the finals (or even consolation) soon though.

 

4. Newport Central Catholic:

Hard fought win over Cordia, but the way they've played in the 2nd half of the contests is troublesome. You watch them play and can see how good they could be, and most teams won't have an answer for their size. They'll go as far as their guards can take them against the upper-echelon in the State though.

 

 

 

Tier 2:

 

5. PRP:

Beat NCC badly, so maybe they are in the top tier or NCC is in the 2nd, especially considering the double OT thriller NCC played with Cordia today. Maybrey is a great coach and Hunter & Harris are quite the 1-2 punch.

 

6. Cordia:

Beat Warren Central, so you really have to give them the edge over them in the rankings. Looked good in the 2nd half against NCC and could be so much better, especially if they show the kind of patience on offense they showed in the 2nd half while getting up in teams with intense full court man-to-man pressure on defense.

 

7. Warren Central:

Could be the most underrated team in the event, save Dixie Heights. Plus PurplePride92 is from Bowling Green, so there's that.

 

 

 

Tier 3:

 

8. Lexington Catholic:

Guarantees in life-- you'll pay taxes and Lexington Catholic won't beat themselves.

 

9. Dixie Heights:

Probably the most underrated team on the list if you look at what they were expected to do coming into this one.

 

 

 

Tier 4:

 

10. Henry Clay:

What might have been...

 

11. Harrison County

 

12. Bryan Station:

Which Station team is showing up? The one crushed by Henry Clay or the one who played with PRP?

 

13. Henderson County

 

14. Apollo:

Eli Wright alone makes them dangerous.

 

15. Hazard:

Huge fan of Chris Hudson's game, but I wonder how deep they are.

 

16. Male:

A big team with a lot of talent who just hasn't put it together.

 

 

 

Tier 5:

 

17. Bardstown

 

18. Clinton County

 

19. Augusta:

Can't say enough about what a player Brent Bach is. I came away impressed, even though I expected to be let down given all the hype I'd heard about him. He obviously didn't have his best game tonight, but you could see what he could do when he was on in the early going.

 

20. Manual

 

21. Butler:

Hard to gauge because their starters didn't play much in the Scott County game.

 

 

 

 

Hope this isn't taken as a slam on any of these teams. They are all good, otherwise they wouldn't have been invited. I think it's kind of fun to see some discussion on how we'd rank them now that everyone has played at least once and we can see the rankings play out more to see how the predictions hold up.

 

On the 1st Tier, each team could be anywhere from 1-4 depending on how well they are playing that day. You could play a round robin with those teams 10 different times and might never get the same overall results (considering margin of victory, etc.).

 

4th Tier is pretty large, but there's some things you like about each team, but at the same time, they have some flaws that you can pretty much see from the surface as well.

Edited December 29, 201312 yr by JokersWild24

Knott County Central has been the best looking team of the tournament so far. I know you love Lafayette but their win over Augusta isn't as impressive as KCC's over Henry Clay. KCC has to be #1 so far and I'm thinking anyone who has seen both days of play will agree.

Knott central is my pick to win this tournament (depending on Evan Hall's status)

And how did Cordia end up playing against themselves?

Henry Clay should be in tier 5.

Knott County Central has been the best looking team of the tournament so far. I know you love Lafayette but their win over Augusta isn't as impressive as KCC's over Henry Clay. KCC has to be #1 so far and I'm thinking anyone who has seen both days of play will agree.

 

Fair points for sure. I think Knott County Central could win it easily. If I had to pick a team to do it, it'd be them based on the layout of the brackets. The opposite side with PRP-NCC, Lafayette-Scott County is going to be a war.

Fair points for sure. I think Knott County Central could win it easily. If I had to pick a team to do it, it'd be them based on the layout of the brackets. The opposite side with PRP-NCC, Lafayette-Scott County is going to be a war.

 

Agreed. Some good games on the slate today. I'm hoping to catch them online or hopefully someone will be there updating the action for us.

 

PRP better come to play and Long vs Davis would be fun to watch also.

 

I'm taking PRP and Lafayette to win today.

 

KCC has an easier road to the finals on Monday so that means they'll lose today. :lol:

Agreed. Some good games on the slate today. I'm hoping to catch them online or hopefully someone will be there updating the action for us.

 

PRP better come to play and Long vs Davis would be fun to watch also.

 

I'm taking PRP and Lafayette to win today.

 

KCC has an easier road to the finals on Monday so that means they'll lose today. :lol:

 

If I'm still confused by the KCC/Henry Clay result after today, the weight of which seems to be the biggest factor in our differences right now, I'm going to watch another KCC game and reassess from there.

What killed me is seeing that Trinity beat Henry Clay by 8. KCC slaughtered Henry Clay. Blew me away. I wasn't ready for that at all.

What killed me is seeing that Trinity beat Henry Clay by 8. KCC slaughtered Henry Clay. Blew me away. I wasn't ready for that at all.

 

I think Trinity had a comfortable lead and subbed out some. I don't really know how much their lead was in serious danger.

 

Henry Clay is basically two kids-- Green and Tisdale. A few people yesterday mentioned that Tisdale didn't have a good game. A team whose already shorthanded playing in a tournament like that is going to be hurting badly relying on only one player to get the W on that kind of night.

 

I do seem to be one of the few people who isn't as high in Knott County Central though, which means I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were the best team in it. I just can't seem to get past their Hazard score.

Give me Scott County (Ware and Gilbert have big days), NCC gets revenge on PRP, Manual over Lex Cath, and Knott over Dixie.

 

NCC vs Knott for Championship.

 

NCC wins it.

One game that could steal the show today is Bryan Station vs. Cordia. I can see both wanting to push the tempo and it should take somewhere in the high 60's or so to win.

Pleasantly surprised by Manual's ability to go down to Lexington and win the rematch with Bardstown. Very curious to see if they can stay with Lexington Catholic today.

Agreed. Some good games on the slate today. I'm hoping to catch them online or hopefully someone will be there updating the action for us.

 

PRP better come to play and Long vs Davis would be fun to watch also.

 

I'm taking PRP and Lafayette to win today.

 

KCC has an easier road to the finals on Monday so that means they'll lose today. :lol:

 

 

And down goes PRP, Lafayette will lose next, then KCC loses and LexCath will win the whole tourney. :lol:

And down goes PRP, Lafayette will lose next, then KCC loses and LexCath will win the whole tourney. :lol:

 

Wouldn't be the first time they've upset someone to win their own tournament.

 

Aside from my love affair with Lafayette, I don't know if there are many others who are predicting they'll beat Scott County.