Soooo they are the big unknown for a lot of us on BGP.

 

What can you Hoptown fans tell us about Hopkinsville? What is their roster like? How deep are they? I heard some 8th Graders dress varsity. Is that true and who are they? Who from this year's team was also on last year's team and how much did they play last season?

 

Why will Hopkinsville win the Sweet 16 this year?

 

 

Enquiring minds want to know......

 

 

 

Okay...maybe it's just me...but still. Hook me up with some info. Please and thank you.

i have only missed a few games this year. hoptown is long and deep. their is one 8th grader dress varsity! hoptown will go 10 deep on the bench without missing a beat on the floor. starters are 6'6 6'6 6'4 5'11 5'11. have 6'5 6'6 6'2 5'11 5'11 coming off the bench. If you want a team that runs a dribble drive type offense in high school this is the school for you. the press is relentless because of length. I have never seen players that never get winded like this team. If a team tries to zone them to make them shoot that wont work either because of hoptowns 3 point shooting ability. This team of players are ready for whatever adversity comes their way. i have never seen a group of players from the west with such fight and drive to win just like being down 16 to warren central this year in the second half and coming back to win by double digits, they just never let up. This team is run off emotion and bully baksetball!

 

Now the bad, the free throw line is where a hoptown fan does not want them to be. alot of good free throw shooters on team it has just been a russian roulette kind of thing all year long for them. they tend to get out of control at times but haworth has a good hold on the boys and lead by Poindexter and Edwards ball IQ they reel them back in to play like they know and were tought to.

Soooo they are the big unknown for a lot of us on BGP.

 

 

 

 

Enquiring minds want to know......

 

 

 

Okay...maybe it's just me...but still. Hook me up with some info. Please and thank you.

 

 

 

 

Hoptown only lost 2 guys last year. the three starters are back along with state champ Quan Poindexter from christian county. this is pretty much same team from last years final four run but more experienced and with the talent and size of quan poindexter to help lead the team to where he once has been!

From what I have seen so far this year from then.

 

Big contributing returners from last year are Matlock, Edwards, Henry, and Cager. Edwards may have the biggest vertical in Ky at 42", kid had incredible talent and can be one of those players who can take over a game if he chooses to. He may be the most underrated player in the sweet 16. I am very surprised he hasn't signed an offer to a D1 school. Matlock and Poindexter are very lengthy and strong on the inside. Matlock can be a dominating force on the boards. I think he is close to if he isn't averaging a double/double for the season. Henry and Cager can hit from the outside and both are quick and they dunk a lot (not that it has anything to do with how good they are...just play big). Cager is an excellent ballhandler and pace setter although he comes off the bench, he plays a lot of minutes. As stated before the bench is very deep and very talented. 6 legit contributing seniors on this team, many are driven because of last year's meltdown again Madison Central (they had a 12 point lead late in the 3rd quarter of the Final Four if you don't remember).

 

Speed and Length will be the first thing you notice. Park Tudor's coach made mention that this was the fastest team he has seen in a long time. I have seen Ballard play and I would compare their speed to Ballard, but add length to it. Haworth is all about deflections in their press and from what I heard from him they are averaging over 50 deflections a game. They cause turnovers...lots of them. However, if you have 2 guards that can handle pressure, you can get by the press, but it is relentless and all game long. They use their bench. At least 10 players get quality time in the game so they literally tire teams out. They have only been outscored 1 time in the 4th quarter all season...they lost that game (Ft. Myers).

 

Free throws are a problem and so is staying under control. They almost get too fast for themselves. They will turn the ball over too, while Cager and Edwards are an excellent ball handlers, they still try to force plays instead of reading the d and playing what they are given.

 

Hope this helps. This team is stronger than last year's team and haven't missed a beat after losing Majors.

 

I have said this before I think they have a very good chance to win it all, I think they have the confidence to win it all....but that Trinity game is sitting there. I actually think I would have rather played Ballard than Trinity. Not sure how the Tigers will do when the other team controls the pace for the entire game.

From what I have seen so far this year from then.

 

Big contributing returners from last year are Matlock, Edwards, Henry, and Cager. Edwards may have the biggest vertical in Ky at 42", kid had incredible talent and can be one of those players who can take over a game if he chooses to. He may be the most underrated player in the sweet 16. I am very surprised he hasn't signed an offer to a D1 school. Matlock and Poindexter are very lengthy and strong on the inside. Matlock can be a dominating force on the boards. I think he is close to if he isn't averaging a double/double for the season. Henry and Cager can hit from the outside and both are quick and they dunk a lot (not that it has anything to do with how good they are...just play big). Cager is an excellent ballhandler and pace setter although he comes off the bench, he plays a lot of minutes. As stated before the bench is very deep and very talented. 6 legit contributing seniors on this team, many are driven because of last year's meltdown again Madison Central (they had a 12 point lead late in the 3rd quarter of the Final Four if you don't remember).

 

Speed and Length will be the first thing you notice. Park Tudor's coach made mention that this was the fastest team he has seen in a long time. I have seen Ballard play and I would compare their speed to Ballard, but add length to it. Haworth is all about deflections in their press and from what I heard from him they are averaging over 50 deflections a game. They cause turnovers...lots of them. However, if you have 2 guards that can handle pressure, you can get by the press, but it is relentless and all game long. They use their bench. At least 10 players get quality time in the game so they literally tire teams out. They have only been outscored 1 time in the 4th quarter all season...they lost that game (Ft. Myers).

 

Free throws are a problem and so is staying under control. They almost get too fast for themselves. They will turn the ball over too, while Cager and Edwards are an excellent ball handlers, they still try to force plays instead of reading the d and playing what they are given.

 

Hope this helps. This team is stronger than last year's team and haven't missed a beat after losing Majors.

 

I have said this before I think they have a very good chance to win it all, I think they have the confidence to win it all....but that Trinity game is sitting there. I actually think I would have rather played Ballard than Trinity. Not sure how the Tigers will do when the other team controls the pace for the entire game.

 

 

I agree 100% on everything you have said

Thanks for the info. I became a big fan of Jordan Majors at Rupp last year and I admittedly hadn't heard much about him until the Sweet 16 last season and came away highly impressed with him. He was easily one of the top players I watched last year. It's good to have some WKY folks on BGP now to keep us all informed of your teams and players out west. I look forward to watching Hoptown.

Thank you all for letting us in on the fun.

I know I can't wait to see Hoptown. I've heard you guys and others describe how they play and I'm excited!

Thank you all for letting us in on the fun.

Anyone watch highlights of Taylor county game I posted up a few weeks ago?

Anyone watch highlights of Taylor county game I posted up a few weeks ago?

 

Yep. Love how they get up & down the floor. Fun to watch.

 

And here's the video bluegrassbasketball is referencing:

 

http://kysports.tv/video/2014/02/taylor-county-vs-hopkinsville-hs-boys-basketball-2013-14-video/

A. Hoptown is about 9 deep. Outside of Edwards and Matlock, the other 7 are almost interchangable.

B. THey have 4 5'11 guards who are all lightening quick. Some say Q. Cager is their best guard and he comes off the bench.

C. Their front line goes 6'4, 6'5, 6'5. All are pogo-stick type guys. Matlock is a bruiser. Plays bigger than he is. Same with Poindexter.

D. They are probably the fastes and quickest team in the state 1-9. VERY quick. Rely on that quickness and speed a lot.

E. Tre' Edwards has disapointed in some respects this year. he isn't the star a lot of folks thought he would be. BUt he doesn't really have to be.

F. The biggest question for hoptown is this. There seems to be a blueprint on how to beat them. 1. Don't let them clobber you on the offensive rebounds. 2. Don't turn it over. 3. if you have enough big men, send them to the line instead of letting them finish around the rim and 4. works with 2, don't let them get out in transition.

 

Hoptown is the most athletic team in the sweet 16. The issue for them is scoring when they don't force turnovers and dominate the boards.

Thanks for the info. I became a big fan of Jordan Majors at Rupp last year and I admittedly hadn't heard much about him until the Sweet 16 last season and came away highly impressed with him. He was easily one of the top players I watched last year. It's good to have some WKY folks on BGP now to keep us all informed of your teams and players out west. I look forward to watching Hoptown.

 

Majors went to Florida Tech on scholarship and then tore his ACL in the first week of practice.

There's a back story as to why he didn't get to UK as a walk on. Folks around hoptown are not happy at all with Haworth... Folks are Looking VERY closely at matlock and Edwards for better or worse and will judge Haworth a LOT on whether or not those guys get decent offers. Again, may or may not be fair to haworth, but there is a lot of chatter about this right now in "b-ball circles" around hoptown.

Majors went to Florida Tech on scholarship and then tore his ACL in the first week of practice.

There's a back story as to why he didn't get to UK as a walk on. Folks around hoptown are not happy at all with Haworth... Folks are Looking VERY closely at matlock and Edwards for better or worse and will judge Haworth a LOT on whether or not those guys get decent offers. Again, may or may not be fair to haworth, but there is a lot of chatter about this right now in "b-ball circles" around hoptown.

 

 

That's unfortunate. In this day and age I think high school head coaches should not shoulder the blame for a kid's offers or college placement. There is so much self promotion and with the explosion of AAU it's almost hard to not get noticed anymore. More often than not it seems that college coaches and recruiters are closer to AAU coaches and programs than high school coaches.