article Inside The 11th Region (2/22/15)

[JokersWild24]

Alright folks, we've been snowed out for most of the week, so there hasn't been tons of change. With that in mind, I thought it'd be a good time to go ahead and give you a few links to get your palette ready for tournament tipoff.

 

The updates include a preview of each district, my regular season All 11th Region squads, and a statistical rundown on the top performers in the 11th. The format for this week will be a little different, but if you click the links below, you'll find that there's even more information than usual. That should be plenty to keep us busy and full of discussion.

 

 

 

UPDATES:

 

Some things have changed, even as we've been snowed in.

 

#1. Weather Policies Come Into Play:

 

How the layoff winds up effecting the play of the Lexington-Fayette Publics remains to be seen. As discussed last week, there is a policy in the Fayette County Public Schools that mandates that teams not practice on days when school is cancelled.

 

Given the number of cancellations last week, that translates into lots of rust for Bryan Station, Dunbar, Henry Clay, Lafayette, and Tates Creek. That is especially problematic for Dunbar and Henry Clay, as they each stare down competitive games in the opening round of district, each against two respective schools in Lexington Catholic and Scott County that did not have any restrictions on practice to the best of my knowledge.

 

If things are sloppy early, you'd think that some of the coaches couldn't help but grumble about a policy that essentially hamstrings the LFC-Publics when chasing the two titans of the region in Lexington Catholic and Scott County.

 

The snow forecast might not seem like a big deal, but in a region with so much parity and so many stellar coaches, you'd think that any advantage that can be gained could wind up being huge for the way things turn out. You could draw the top 5 teams in the region out of a hat and be just as likely to get the correct order as you would be picking them, so maybe the publics slip in the ratings and give way to Lexington Catholic and LCA, or am I looking too deeply into it? Let me know your thoughts below.

 

 

#2. Defending Together As One:

 

Last week's rumors of dissension amongst the ranks of Bryan Station remains one of the biggest things to watch in the 11th. The Defenders are talented, but they cannot win it if they are divided. Hopefully things that had the boards abuzz last week were either blown out of proportion or Team #StationNation has found a way to circle the wagons and come together as one. This is a team with so much talent that I really want to see do well, so here's hoping for the best to them.

 

 

#3. Are There Rain Clouds Over The Reservation?

 

As you can read in the 44th District Preview, Madison Central could be without the services of one of their top weapons.

 

 

 

LET'S HIT THE LINKS:

 

You can check my rankings and team capsules from both last week and the week before, which will include an in-depth breakdown of each team, their strengths, their weaknesses, and the road they'll face to win the 11th. Trust me folks, with no games this week, and my penchant for wordiness, I've already tried to give as comprehensive a run-down on everyone as possible. To do it again is just beating a dead-horse, but if you missed it, or if you just forgot what I thought as soon as you clicked away because you really didn't care, whatever the case may be, you can click the links below and relive it.

 

You can read last week's Inside the 11th by clicking HERE.

 

You can read two weeks ago's Inside the 11th by clicking HERE.

 

 

Before the chase for the regional crown officially begins, we have to get through district play. I've broken down each district tournament game by game, which you can read by clicking the links below.

 

You can read the 41st District Tournament Preview by clicking HERE.

 

You can read the 42nd District Tournament Preview by clicking HERE.

 

You can read the 43rd District Tournament Preview by clicking HERE.

 

You can read the 44th District Tournament Preview by clicking HERE.

 

 

If you want to view and critique my rankings for the "BGP Regular Season All 11th Region Teams", then you can do that. Just a note: reasonable minds can differ, and debate is fun, but let's keep the kids in mind when discussing these ratings as well. You can tell me I'm wrong, but let's try not to be too hard on the kids.

 

You can read my All 11th Region Teams by clicking HERE.

 

 

If you are big on statistics, then I've got a treat for you. I had to have some way to both justify my rankings and to show the love to and give recognition for some of the top players in the 11th. Accordingly, I tabulated the statistics to show the players leading the Region. The categories include averages for scoring, rebounding, field goal %, 3 point field goal %, and free throw %.

 

You can read the 11th Region Statistical Leaders report by clicking HERE.

 

 

Finally, I've set up some pages to follow the progress and recruitment of some of the top players in the 11th, and hope to be adding more as time goes on.

 

You can get links to each player's individual thread by clicking HERE.

 

 

Thanks everyone, and please share all of your thoughts on district and regional play below. This is the greatest time of year to be a basketball fan, so make your voice heard.

Edited February 19, 2015 by JokersWild24

[JokersWild24]

Final note here: I probably won't be on a ton over the next week, so if there's something I don't respond to, it's because I'm not online and not because I'm being a jerk. However, I am a jerk at times, so it kind of works out.

[JokersWild24]

I've been fortunate enough to have some time that I didn't count on having earlier in the week, so I wanted to bump this back up and make some notes on a few things, and will leave my final rankings now that we've seen who been able to get in some games during the snow days in the post that follows this.

 

#1. I've added some "Quick and Dirty" analysis to the 43rd District Tournament and few quick hitters on each team now that I've had some more time to sit and think on things, talk to people who've given me updates, things like that. After I typed it up, "quick and dirty" was probably a poor choice of words because I'm my usual lengthy, rambling self.

 

#2. Great discussion on things like the BGP All Regular Season team, and if you checked the thread early on and didn't catch that, then it's something that's possibly worth revisiting.

 

• I do think that I was a little low on Davis in terms of both where he possibly should have been (especially depending on what type of criteria you want to place more emphasis on) and the fact that my rankings didn't really reflect that he was easily one of the toughest omissions from any of the top 3 teams and a kid who I kind of went back on forth on. Just reading it in pixels, you see him with a group of other names that I think he's the top player in and is better than what you'd get if you took the average of that list.
  

• I have added some highlight clips to those, namely of CJ Walker, the Bryan Station PG and future UK football WR/KR. He was probably the name on the first team that people knew the least about, and isn't really a huge basketball name in part because his place at the next level is football.
  

• Walker isn't the only one with highlights though, as I added one of DeAndre Dishman's punch over a Tates Creek defender from a few steps inside the free throw line. For those of you who aren't as "cool and/or hip" as I (hahah)... I'm not talking about a literal punch with a closed fist, I'm talking about the "put you on a YouTube clip", dunked on you, 'punch'.
  

[JokersWild24]

Final 11th Region Rankings:

 

1. Bryan Station

2. Lexington Catholic

3. Lafayette

4. Lexington Christian Academy

5. Dunbar

 

6. Henry Clay

 

7. Scott County

8. Madison Central

 

9. Tates Creek

10. Woodford County

11. Sayre

12. Frankfort

13. Franklin County

 

14. Madison Southern

15. Model

16. Western Hills

17. Berea

 

 

Notes:

 

 

#1 Bryan Station seems to have "circled the wagons". Things have been quiet and I think that if there were any hard feelings, there were no bridges burnt and fences have been mended. Like Lafayette, they'll have a date with Sayre to knock off some rust.

 

With Carson and his ability to both make shots and get to the free throw line, zoning the Defenders became a little tougher. They have some kids who are capable of shooting at nice clips, though they are streaky as well.

 

If Station is together as one, they have the most talent in the region, the talent is balanced in terms of how it blends at each position and what's brought to the table. That's why they'd be my pick to win it all, but it all hinges on them playing as a team. It has previously been mentioned here that the Defenders "want" Lexington Catholic this season. I can see that being an epic showdown that they'd be ready for and that I'd like their chances in... that is, unless there's a repeat of a one-sided 2008 fiasco.

 

 

 

Lexington Catholic is #2, but could have just as easily been #1. I just can't pull the trigger though. For me, there's just been something about this team all year. Something's missing. It's hard to say what, but something is missing.

 

They aren't as talented on the whole as usual, they don't rebound exceptionally well, and they only have three legitimate offensive options. Still, they are well coached, disciplined, and execute. They've been there before and know how to win.

 

I think Catholic wins a 7 game playoff series with any of the other teams listed, or would at least be the team I'd pick to perform best against each member of the field in that setting. However, the KHSAA isn't the NBA, and one bad night sends you home. I just think they probably get knocked off this year by running into a city team that is just a buzzsaw. Whether that's Dunbar, Bryan Station, Lafayette, or Henry Clay could be anyone's guess. They are so consistent that you know they can beat anyone. I just have a feeling that their "best" isn't on the same level as the "best" that a team like the top city schools have. Catholic is a team that isn't very athletic but stays hot. Dunbar, Lafayette, Bryan Station, or Henry Clay are teams that are very athletic and that an un-athletic team can only throw their hands up in disgust, sit back and watch when they get happen to get "hot".

 

Enough of those games, and Catholic, who we've largely rewarded for most of the year because they don't really get blown out and is someone who you can predict what you'll get from them each night, is just going to run into a team that I'm not sure they have the talent to match once it turns into a prizefight where teams just start trading punches and you have to go down and match each time.

 

 

 

Lafayette drops back to #3. The momentum of that streak is kind of wearing off with no games being played and they're sitting at home getting rusty. Between them and Dunbar, I don't know which one was hurt the worst. They have a game with Tates Creek to knock some rust off though. Anyone of the top 5 could be #1 in this region, and it'd be cheap to do a three way tie or something, and someone had to be at #1.

 

 

 

Lexington Christian Academy is #4. They've benefitted from being able to practice during the break, and have gotten their wake up call from losing to GRC. I like this team and think that they've got the talent and coaching to win it, but I worry about how they handle someone in the way I have my reservations about Catholic.

 

For LCA, I think they are talented enough to trade scores, but I don't know how they do when playing what will most likely be 2 or 3 games against the city schools to win the region (it'd be 2 if Lexington Catholic advances, 3 if they don't... Lafayette in the opener, the 43rd team that draws on their side and the likely 42nd/43rd team in the final).

 

What I worry about with LCA is how they handle intense pressure, especially in a game where there aren't lots of whistles. If they play a game where there's a lot of hand-checking, bodying, etc., that's allowed out on the floor, then I think that Rose and Trimble are fine, as is King if he's playing well. I worry about Rode's inexperience and don't really know how he'd handle it in terms of decision making if you are going to say you can ride with him handling the pressure without much help and be completely confident with it. I really have my doubts about the rest of their ball handlers.

 

Starting to ask Trimble, a capable ball handler, to help out and you are taking your tallest player away from the rim. LCA is big from top to bottom, but he and King are really their only kids I'd consider "posts", and Trimble is by necessity. Ask Rose to handle and he can do it, but it'd take a Herculean effort to have the energy to be one of the primary ball handlers and to get the points he'll have to have to carry them.

 

With the guards who'll struggle against such quick, athletic pressure, I wonder how they'll defend the same on the other end. You can play zone, pack it in, especially with your size, and dare teams to beat you by shooting you out of it, but if they are hitting shots, you have to start extending it. Start extending it and then how those kids rotate and stop dribble penetration against the kind of quickness that they're zoning in the first place because they don't feel they match up well in man, and then it starts to get dicey.

 

Still, those are a lot of "ifs", and I think LCA's biggest concern of the two is just taking care of the ball. Do that and you can go down and let your size work, and you aren't giving up lay-ups that allows opponents to get in their pressure. They can't press if they aren't making shots against your packed in zone. It's a cyclic thing, and you have to take care of the ball and value each possession because run-outs become runs.

 

 

 

Dunbar comes in at #5. As mentioned in the "quick and dirty" district preview, they are probably team who has been most effected by the cancellations and because of the weather policies. Lexington Catholic got in a game against GRC last night, the Dawgs haven't even been able to practice. Practice would be huge for a team who hasn't played together for a large part of the season and who was still peaking, so you hate to see how it turned out.

 

I like Williams and Hollingsworth, and think they are the best one-two punch in the region by far. Brown is an underrated kid inside. If the Dawgs' guard play, whether it be Penny, Lewis, Kelly, whoever, is able to keep doing their thing as they have been lately, then there's no reason that Dunbar couldn't cut down the nets at EKU.

 

Because of what his return has meant to the team, I would be worried if Brown got into foul trouble, as it could really change the look that Dunbar has because they aren't especially tall or deep. Those things, as well as the team's overall youth and inexperience in these types of settings are the only things that really concern me about them.

 

 

 

#6 Henry Clay is a little below the top 5, but are still a team I think is capable of winning it. Isaiah Tisdale is clutch and just seems to have a killer instinct that isn't something that you can teach. When the Devils have went toe-to-toe with some of the best in the State, namely at Ballard and versus Trinity, they went punch for punch with them before coming up short. That tells me that they can play with anyone.

 

I just question whether the Devils have the type of size to match up well against some teams that they could possibly face at region. There's a good chance that Lafayette/LCA play with a berth for region on the line. The Devils can beat Scott County and get there, but there are definitely paths which would be easier on them, namely, one that avoids the size of LCA or Lafayette.

 

Throw more or less favorable match-ups out the window if the smallish Devils are hot from the field though. Tisdale is going to get his and there's not really much you can do about it. When one or two other teammates, particularly Wilson or Campbell, start dialing from deep, and/or Barnes or Houston start hitting shots that means opposing bigs have to step out. When you have to step out on others, driving lanes suddenly open, and then a guy like Tisdale is even more impossible to guard.

Edited February 21, 2015 by JokersWild24