Well, for argument's sake, Mount was a 6'3 guard who didn't get all that many points in the paint. He averaged 35 ppg his Senior year, so there weren't too many nights he wasn't defended all over half-court. And there weren't too many nights he "got 22 instead of 37."

 

(Sorry; I'm sure no one has guessed I'm a Purdue fan who grew up during that era. )

Well, for argument's sake, Mount was a 6'3 guard who didn't get all that many points in the paint. He averaged 35 ppg his Senior year, so there weren't too many nights he wasn't defended all over half-court. And there weren't too many nights he "got 22 instead of 37."

 

(Sorry; I'm sure no one has guessed I'm a Purdue fan who grew up during that era. )

 

No doubt he is probably the type of player the 3 would have helped the most...most of his shots coming from longer range. I still say those guys are defended differently if a 22 footer got you 3 point instead of 2 back in the day.

Certainly not trying to be ugly, but I'm sure several Big 10 coaches would have loved to pick your brain about how to do it.

Which brings a slight shift in the thread: I remember the first time I heard of (and then saw) a full court zone press. And forty years of doing research of high school basketball that spans almost a century now, reading about the differences in style of play. Things are so much faster...and so much more aggressive now...offensively and defensively. It was a much different game once upon a time.

 

 

I was thinking this very thing the other day. I graduated high school in 84. I don't remember basketball then when I played it resembling what it is today, not even close. I played on a very competitive team while in the Army...same thing. Played a lot at Murray State after the Army and all but for a back injury in late 1989 when I first got there that really side tracked me, was going to attempt to walk on the bball team, but again the game then wasn't what it is today.

Am I missing something? I thought I would see Brandon Hatton (Dixie) on this list? I thought I read last year that he was pretty well over 3k.

Right you are. From the Courier-Journal back in April:

 

"A varsity player since seventh grade and one of the state's premier shooters, Brandon Hatton averaged 21.9 points this season and right around that for the past four years. The Mr. Basketball finalist's 3,045 career points are No. 26 in state history, and he missed only one game (with a sprained ankle last season) in Dixie's 184 varsity contests since his seventh-grade year. Hatton made the All-State second team in 2011, '12 and '13."

Sounds good...but in reality no one was hitting anything with any consistency from 28 foot...then, or now. Those are the old "fish" stories...gets longer with time. Sure, some of these guys hit a really long one every now and then, just like I saw CJ Penny hit one from about 40 feet to win the 8th region at the buzzer in 2009. But it wasn't happening every night, 4 or 5 times a night back then like the old stories make it sound.

Tell that fish story to Ervine Stepp, Jimmy Stepp, Glenn Napier, and Richie Farmer and Alan Houston who lit it up consistently every single night from 28 ft

Tell that fish story to Ervine Stepp, Jimmy Stepp, Glenn Napier, and Richie Farmer and Alan Houston who lit it up consistently every single night from 28 ft

 

An NBA 3 pointer is about 23 1/2 feet out. I played against Richie, but never saw the other guys you mentioned play in high school, but there's NO WAY these guys "lit it up consistently" from 5 feet behind where an NBA line would be. A couple shots may go down in a game from that general distance, but that's not lighting it up.

Tell that fish story to Ervine Stepp, Jimmy Stepp, Glenn Napier, and Richie Farmer and Alan Houston who lit it up consistently every single night from 28 ft

 

Fantasy, pure and simple. Makes for a good story though.

And for those of you that think the 3 point shot would have made that big a difference for players of the past...then why didn't Brandon Hatton have something like 4,500 points? I mean, he just finished playing, was a 3 point shooter...SURELY he should have scored a ton more points than most anyone else on that list since he had the 3 point shot, right?

Nah; that's not a valid comparison.

Who is the all time leading scorer in Jefferson County? Manuel Forrest?

Looks like it. In fact, he's the only JeffCo player in the Top 25 or so (3,000 point scorers.)

 

As a Senior, he put Moore's Mustangs on his back and carried them to the Final Four in 1981...where they lost by one point to eventual champion Simon Kenton.

Edited December 6, 201411 yr by broadcaster240
adding info

Wow, that list is just stupid... 4300 points. Its frightening to realize most of them played with no 3 point line.

Camron Justice now at 3116.