Nice win by Madisonville against Hoptown. Hopkinsville had Nicholas and Johnson tonight...

 

Reports from some at the game say that a couple of Hoptown players walked off the court straight to the locker room with about a minute to play. I’ll try to find out more and will post here if I do.

Man what has happened to Hopkinsville. Do they miss Cager that much?

I think they have given up on the season already...sad.

Coach Haworth is a terrific coach. But like all of us, he's not perfect. But I think we've found this year that he had never really dealt with adversity like this. Most years he ends up with guys showing up the first day of school that he didn't have last year. This year, he's faced the opposite. With Govan and Cager he had discipline issues and with Johnson he had the issue of his transfer and now his injury.

 

I think the mistake he made was putting so much time into trying to get Cager and Govan back and being SO public about it instead of hunkering down and coaching his team. Some will say they don't have talent without Johnson and Cager. That isn't true. (Of Course they would be better with them) They've got a very deep roster. I think if he had focused more on coaching the team he had instead of spending so much time trying to get guys back they would be in a much better spot.

 

Look at it this way. How do the kids who put in the work and followed the rules feel about a situation where a coach is being so public about trying to get guys back who didn't?

 

I'm not casting stones at the kids or even Tim. It's a tough situation. But I think if he had it to do all over again he wouldn't have been so public. I can say this, in our community folks are scratching their heads in how he has handled it. Even the biggest Hoptown fans.

 

Admittedly, I'm a big Christian County fan but I root for all of the District 8 teams once we are out.

Coach Haworth is a terrific coach. But like all of us, he's not perfect. But I think we've found this year that he had never really dealt with adversity like this. Most years he ends up with guys showing up the first day of school that he didn't have last year. This year, he's faced the opposite. With Govan and Cager he had discipline issues and with Johnson he had the issue of his transfer and now his injury.

 

I think the mistake he made was putting so much time into trying to get Cager and Govan back and being SO public about it instead of hunkering down and coaching his team. Some will say they don't have talent without Johnson and Cager. That isn't true. (Of Course they would be better with them) They've got a very deep roster. I think if he had focused more on coaching the team he had instead of spending so much time trying to get guys back they would be in a much better spot.

 

Look at it this way. How do the kids who put in the work and followed the rules feel about a situation where a coach is being so public about trying to get guys back who didn't?

 

I'm not casting stones at the kids or even Tim. It's a tough situation. But I think if he had it to do all over again he wouldn't have been so public. I can say this, in our community folks are scratching their heads in how he has handled it. Even the biggest Hoptown fans.

 

Admittedly, I'm a big Christian County fan but I root for all of the District 8 teams once we are out.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head with the comment about talent. I think they were doing fine and turning a corner with their younger/in-experienced guys and then once the "starters, 1st stringers" have gotten back it has just disrupted chemistry and everything they have worked for in games/practice. The freshman PG Watts has looked great for his age and the hustle/athleticism of Burks has been a major surprise too.

 

I think the biggest blow was the injury to James Nicholas(who is now back by the way). Being long/athletic guarding multiple positions and able to shoot from 3, he is really the x-factor on the team. With everyone out, he was really coming into his own being able to provide a solid 15-20 a night with Johnson/Cager out.

 

I think the big thing now is to get healthy. Cager WILL be back on the court in the next 2 weeks (99.9% certain now) and that will really change their dynamic. Johnson is not a good ball-handler and Cager will get him off the ball. If Tolliver can get back to 100%, he's the best true big man in the region...but I think he was rushed back too soon.

 

Even if they are all back, the team just looks lost. They are missing layups and taking awful 3 pointers. It looks like they just are not prepared and are not practicing. I think having a new lineup every game hurts them too, but they just do not look crisp/prepared like a Hayworth team. Even at full strength, I worry that these issues and injuries will just be too much to overcome.

 

Hoptown this year is reminding me of the 2005-06 UHA team with Josh Mack who were heavy favorites coming off 2 region titles in a row, but they struggled and went out in the first round of district to Keith Tandy's Colonels. Now Region 2 is down for sure this year, but they could be out in the 1st district game very easily. CCHS has a top coach in the state and maybe the best player in the state, UHA has a lot of talents and an elite national prospect, and Madisonville looks like they are improving mightily every time they step on the floor. Hoptown may be deeper with talent/experience..but they have to clean things up quite a bit before region. But, they still have 2 "Hoptown/County games" and another round with UHA...on top of the district tourney...a lot of basketball to be played and Tim has won 5 of 6 region titles so I won't count him out yet.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the comment about talent. I think they were doing fine and turning a corner with their younger/in-experienced guys and then once the "starters, 1st stringers" have gotten back it has just disrupted chemistry and everything they have worked for in games/practice. The freshman PG Watts has looked great for his age and the hustle/athleticism of Burks has been a major surprise too.

 

I think the biggest blow was the injury to James Nicholas(who is now back by the way). Being long/athletic guarding multiple positions and able to shoot from 3, he is really the x-factor on the team. With everyone out, he was really coming into his own being able to provide a solid 15-20 a night with Johnson/Cager out.

 

I think the big thing now is to get healthy. Cager WILL be back on the court in the next 2 weeks (99.9% certain now) and that will really change their dynamic. Johnson is not a good ball-handler and Cager will get him off the ball. If Tolliver can get back to 100%, he's the best true big man in the region...but I think he was rushed back too soon.

 

Even if they are all back, the team just looks lost. They are missing layups and taking awful 3 pointers. It looks like they just are not prepared and are not practicing. I think having a new lineup every game hurts them too, but they just do not look crisp/prepared like a Hayworth team. Even at full strength, I worry that these issues and injuries will just be too much to overcome.

 

Hoptown this year is reminding me of the 2005-06 UHA team with Josh Mack who were heavy favorites coming off 2 region titles in a row, but they struggled and went out in the first round of district to Keith Tandy's Colonels. Now Region 2 is down for sure this year, but they could be out in the 1st district game very easily. CCHS has a top coach in the state and maybe the best player in the state, UHA has a lot of talents and an elite national prospect, and Madisonville looks like they are improving mightily every time they step on the floor. Hoptown may be deeper with talent/experience..but they have to clean things up quite a bit before region. But, they still have 2 "Hoptown/County games" and another round with UHA...on top of the district tourney...a lot of basketball to be played and Tim has won 5 of 6 region titles so I won't count him out yet.

 

Great comments... One point of contention. No way that Tefrell is the best big man in the region. Madisonville has two guys better... He's never done anything in a game to prove a statement like that. Heck, he's never done anything close to that. He reminds me of Azibuike when he was at UK. What did Tubby say about him.

 

On Cager... You've seen my comments before. I've heard the recent rumors of his Mid-January return. Until something comes from somebody other than the Hoptown Staff I won't believe it. If what they said was true he would have been back 45 days ago. No offense, it's just comical at this point...

 

Great discussion.