Dunbar was missing 3 players when they played Dixie Heights. I agree it's hard to rank a team with a losing record. Im a Dunbar guy and like I have said numerous times the last thing on the Bulldogs minds is being ranked. The only argument I see for them being ranked is that since the middle of January when they were at full strength Dunbar has beaten Manual, Doss, Boyle County, and Lexington Catholic who are all ranked ahead of them. While also playing Bryan Station twice, Wayne County, and Mason County close all on neutral sites. At the end of the day though it's an opinion poll that changes weekly. Always good to generate a discussion though.

 

For what it's worth I think Dixie Heights is a really good team and very underrated.

Holmes was the last team out.

 

Since January 9th with Dunbar at full strength they have defeated:

 

LexCath

Boyle County

Henry Clay

Lafayette

Manual

Doss

 

They have lost to:

 

LCA

LexCath

Wayne County

Bryan Station

 

 

All great wins. No bad losses. The key words are Dunbar at full strength and until the LCA game that they dropped on January 9th they were not at full strength for a myriad of reasons. One could argue that since January 10th Dunbar has the best quality wins amongst all teams in the state. Who else has defeated 5 ranked teams in that span and while Henry Clay isn't ranked they aren't a gimme game by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Dunbar had their three leading scorers (Hollingsworth, Williams, Corlo) when Dixie beat them by 15. Who were they missing?

 

Holmes was missing Mullins (11 ppg) against Dixie and still beat them.

Southwestern was dropped from the rankings when they lost. They got back in this week after defeating Knott County Central.

 

IMO, KCC was overrated all along. The Covcath win was good, but Covcath was nowhere close to being what they are right now. They would be the 3rd best team in the 9th behind Covcath and Newcath right now.

How is Dunbar, a team who lost to Dixie Heights by 15, top 20 over Holmes?

 

I get it, they have a few good wins but come on. They're 12-14!!

 

Holmes lost three games in December but since have gone 16-2 and are sitting at 20-5.

 

(Waiting for the..."Holmes can prove they belong this week against Newcath")

 

And if they get housed by Newcath, then what?

I agree with Dunbar moving back into the rankings. Solid team (when healthy) that has a legitimate shot at winning the 11th Region.

Dunbar was missing 3 players when they played Dixie Heights. I agree it's hard to rank a team with a losing record. Im a Dunbar guy and like I have said numerous times the last thing on the Bulldogs minds is being ranked. The only argument I see for them being ranked is that since the middle of January when they were at full strength Dunbar has beaten Manual, Doss, Boyle County, and Lexington Catholic who are all ranked ahead of them. While also playing Bryan Station twice, Wayne County, and Mason County close all on neutral sites. At the end of the day though it's an opinion poll that changes weekly. Always good to generate a discussion though.

 

For what it's worth I think Dixie Heights is a really good team and very underrated.

 

We agree there.

 

Dunbar has a nice resume. I guess I'm just having a hard time getting over the fact that they have 14 losses. FWIW, I think them v Holmes would be a really good game.

Owensboro is getting ready for some big tests:

 

Next 4 games:

 

@ Bowling Green

@ Trinity

Hopkinsville

@ Henderson County

And if they get housed by Newcath, then what?

 

Won't change my opinion that I still think Holmes is a top 20 team.

 

Newcath is a bad match up for them because of the duo of Weyer/McDonald inside.

 

I've said all year if it comes to a one and done situation in the region tourney, I much rather them have to beat Covcath than Newcath just because Holmes matches up better with them. Holmes was down 2 with 2 mins left v Covcath so the 12 point margin is a bit deceiving. A turnover, then and one by Covcath with 1:05 left pushed the lead to 5 and Holmes was forced to start fouling.

IMO, KCC was overrated all along. The Covcath win was good, but Covcath was nowhere close to being what they are right now. They would be the 3rd best team in the 9th behind Covcath and Newcath right now.

Classic.:lol2:

 

 

Because this was your post in the 1-27-15 poll:

 

I'd go

 

Ballard

KCC

Taylor Co

Covcath

Henderson Co

 

Compare scores all you want but TC would be a very tough match up for Covcath

Owensboro is getting ready for some big tests:

 

Next 4 games:

 

@ Bowling Green

@ Trinity

Hopkinsville

@ Henderson County

 

That's a helluva stretch.

Dunbar had their three leading scorers (Hollingsworth, Williams, Corlo) when Dixie beat them by 15. Who were they missing?

 

Holmes was missing Mullins (11 ppg) against Dixie and still beat them.

 

Dontell Brown and Jeremy Ward two of their bigs which would've helped a ton against a team like Dixie. Those are the only 2 that play significant minutes now that didn't play against Dixie.

Holmes is deserving of being in the top 20 but Dunbar is simply too hard to not acknowledge at this point.

How is Dunbar, a team who lost to Dixie Heights by 15, top 20 over Holmes?

 

I get it, they have a few good wins but come on. They're 12-14!!

 

Holmes lost three games in December but since have gone 16-2 and are sitting at 20-5.

 

(Waiting for the..."Holmes can prove they belong this week against Newcath")

 

 

Dunbar hasn't been at full strength at any point up until mid-January. For some of the kids they've missed during that period, it would have been the equivalent of taking a kid like Chames as a junior off of Holmes team. Haven't seen each enough to say that Dunbar's is more talented than Chames, as he is only a sophomore, but he's probably as important to the team and is one of the few kids they have with size and athleticism.

 

Since they've been at full strength and had a few games together, (i.e., the past three weeks, beginning on Jan 15), they are 7-3. The three losses are to #17 Wayne Co (@Southwestern) by 1, #13 Bryan Station at home by 9, and #8 Lexington Catholic at home by 8.

 

Their seven wins during that time were over a very good Henry Clay team that has been playing well lately (see their OT loss to Ballard or Trinity game) by 7, #15 Boyle County on the road by 8, #8 Lexington Catholic on the road by 3, at Lafayette, who is also a very good team by 4, over #12 Manual by 11, over Tates Creek by 10, and over #11 Doss by 1.

 

In the last 10 games, that's 4 wins and 3 losses against the top 20, and the only one of those not in the top 15 was #17 Wayne Co. In addition to that, they've beaten three other Lexington-Fayette publics.

 

Four top 15 wins is a season for a lot of teams, and they've pulled that grinder in three weeks. It legitimately may be the toughest schedule of anyone in the State during the same stretch.

 

If we're comparing results, then they also beat a Henry Clay team that beat Holmes at Holmes earlier in the season.

 

Not trying to disparage Holmes, because I think they are a great team and that it'd be a great game if they faced Dunbar, just saying that I'll take up for the 11th and try to show why it's reasonable that Dunbar got in at #20.

 

Holmes' record against the top dogs isn't good. Looking at what they've done so far, there are lots of L's to teams that would boost their resume, namely: Henry Clay, Bullitt East, Ballard, Mason County (in an ugly one), and Covington Catholic. Overall Holmes is 0-3 vs. top 20 teams on the season, while Dunbar is 4-3 over the past 3 weeks.

 

Holmes doesn't really have one of those signature wins that they'd have gotten had they beaten most of the teams listed above. Right now, I see their quality wins as: 1.) over a Dixie Heights team that was beaten by Lafayette, or 2.) over Cooper by 11, or 3.) over an underrated Madison Central team (but one that was playing without one of it's best players in Sam Jones) at home. Maybe I'm missing one, but if you look at Holmes' body of work (which probably isn't indicative of their talent or potential come tournament time), then I think it's fair to say that they could be ranked above them, especially with some fairly recent games like a 12 point road win over 5-18 Ryle or a 6 point win over 11-14 Newport are sandwiched in there.

Can't do it.

I would have Boyle and Lincoln over Mason and maybe Boyle over Station

 

Mason has lost 2 games by combined 6 points to ranked teams and you're going to move them down. Wow.