Highlands 39 Notre Dame 37 (9th Region Round 1)

[RedHawk]

I also think after FR year, a lot of girls willingly choose 1 sport. It’s their team “sisters, family” at least per my daughter and her friends. There are so many other clubs and activities they want to do, it makes it “easier” to have 1 sport and do that 1 sport really well. 

[UKato91]

15 hours ago, Legacy26 said:

Yes, when you look at NDA basketball the last 10 years, you have “pre-coach Murphy” where they lost in the first round of the districts 4 years in a row and had an average record of 12-14, then you have the Coach Murphy tenure where they have won 5 of 6 district titles and performed in the regional tournament in line with what I referenced earlier. As far as the senior numbers go, last year they had 1, that class was a very heavy soccer and volleyball class. This year they had one, there are a few reasons why, but it is player by player. They have 6 juniors on this team, all should be back. They have been successful with freshman teams, but that can be deceiving, none of the really good players from Ryle and Cooper played a minute of freshman basketball. Over half of the kids playing freshman basketball are middle schoolers. Senior numbers the past two years were definitely impacted by club soccer and volleyball. 

If you want to put Coach Murphy in the same category as the prior coach and compare the two then go ahead.   In my opinion they are not even close.  They are extreme opposites.   To my point, 5 out of 6 classes with one class having more than one senior on the team says something is wrong.   Winning and losing is not the end all be all at NDA and I'm fine with that.  Look at the soccer coach they fired after winning the state championship 2 years prior and was very well liked by the majority of the families on the team.   Something must have been wrong, or he ticked off the wrong family.   The multisport athlete deciding to focus on one sport aspect may hold true to some, but they are in the minority.   To me this is a glaring issue with the program.   When you have 15-18 girls on your freshman team every single year, you should have no problem keeping 3-4 girls for all 4 years.   You keep referencing Ryle and Cooper.  They are excellent programs.   Why?  They have multiple seniors on their team every year while building up their underclassman to take over the following years.   When you have the volume of talent that goes through Notre Dame year after year this should be an easy task.   You may not have the Julia Hunts, Quin Eubanks, Whitney Linds, Maddie Scherr or Lauren Schwartz's in your line up, but you will have significant depth to help overcome the players of their caliber.   Develop your players for 4 years and the titles will eventually come.   Continue down the path they are going and be content with district titles.   

[The Double Deuce]

7 minutes ago, UKato91 said:

Look at the soccer coach they fired after winning the state championship 2 years prior and was very well liked by the majority of the families on the team.   Something must have been wrong, or he ticked off the wrong family.

*biting my tongue*

[vbtalk]

15 hours ago, Legacy26 said:

Yes, I was definitely clunky in my language regarding club volleyball and soccer. I was not intending to imply or state that it was the fault of the clubs in either sport. I was definitely not intending to say that. Just saying that choosing to play highly competitive club sports does create a schedule that can be tough to manage with basketball. That being said, there are absolutely many athletes and high schools that are successful making all of those commitments work. 

Thanks for the clarification! To be clear, I’m completely okay with blaming club soccer for all the world’s problems! Telling kids they aren’t allowed to play on their high school team should be a crime.

For those bashing Coach Murphy: what do you want? The trajectory of the program is way better than it was. As for the seniors this year, one chose soccer, another chose volleyball. The players who will eventually basketball over volleyball or soccer will mostly go to Ryle or Cooper. NDA is elite in volleyball and soccer. Really good in basketball, and way better than they were 7 years ago. Not great in softball. Kids choose NDA for a number of reasons - only all girls school in NKY, legacy, education, etc… if a sport factors into the decision, vball/soccer players will choose NDA, basketball and softball players might not. But Kez has NDA better positioned to get some of those players than they were before him. 

[UKato91]

16 minutes ago, vbtalk said:

Thanks for the clarification! To be clear, I’m completely okay with blaming club soccer for all the world’s problems! Telling kids they aren’t allowed to play on their high school team should be a crime.

For those bashing Coach Murphy: what do you want? The trajectory of the program is way better than it was. As for the seniors this year, one chose soccer, another chose volleyball. The players who will eventually basketball over volleyball or soccer will mostly go to Ryle or Cooper. NDA is elite in volleyball and soccer. Really good in basketball, and way better than they were 7 years ago. Not great in softball. Kids choose NDA for a number of reasons - only all girls school in NKY, legacy, education, etc… if a sport factors into the decision, vball/soccer players will choose NDA, basketball and softball players might not. But Kez has NDA better positioned to get some of those players than they were before him. 

Like I said above If you want to put Coach Murphy in the same category as the prior coach and compare the two then go ahead.   In my opinion they are not even close.  That was a train reck.   You're missing my point.  I'm not worried about getting "those" players.   I'm more worried about keeping the players we already have.   You mention they lost 2 seniors one to soccer and one to volleyball.  That's fine and it happens everywhere but what happened to the other 13-16 players year in and year out.   It should not be an unreasonable expectation to keep at least 3-4 players all 4 years. I'm not worried about titles.  Titles will come if you build your team top to bottom.   

 

[vbtalk]

29 minutes ago, UKato91 said:

Like I said above If you want to put Coach Murphy in the same category as the prior coach and compare the two then go ahead.   In my opinion they are not even close.  That was a train reck.   You're missing my point.  I'm not worried about getting "those" players.   I'm more worried about keeping the players we already have.   You mention they lost 2 seniors one to soccer and one to volleyball.  That's fine and it happens everywhere but what happened to the other 13-16 players year in and year out.   It should not be an unreasonable expectation to keep at least 3-4 players all 4 years. I'm not worried about titles.  Titles will come if you build your team top to bottom.   

 

You can’t just completely dismiss the status of the program when he took over because it doesn’t fit your narrative. The program is improving. He’s not going to keep kids just to be seniors if there are better, younger players in the program. THAT is exactly how you build a program. 

[vbtalk]

1 hour ago, The Double Deuce said:

*biting my tongue*

Let it out! It’s unhealthy to keep it bottled up!!! 😂

[Jack of all Trades]

On 3/3/2024 at 3:43 PM, FrankNicodemus said:

Delete

[Jack of all Trades]

This talk about NDA basketball is the same thing that I asked about Highlands earlier this year.  Funny thing is that Frank provided the same answer as is being claimed here.  Girls play multiple sports early and then turn focus on one.  Club soccer is without question the worst at feeding kid’s parents ego that the only way to a scholarship is through a focus on soccer when it really is all about the $$$$.

[The Double Deuce]

54 minutes ago, vbtalk said:

Let it out! It’s unhealthy to keep it bottled up!!! 😂

Never mess with a piano, an organ, or a synthesizer!  😎   #IYKYK

[The Double Deuce]

I do wonder how Kes' quotes in the article on LinkNKY have played out with the girls and their parents in the program.  Parents don't get the "big picture".

Not even saying he is wrong, but I am certain things like that should be in individual conversations and not said in frustration after a season-ending loss.

[UKato91]

1 hour ago, vbtalk said:

You can’t just completely dismiss the status of the program when he took over because it doesn’t fit your narrative. The program is improving. He’s not going to keep kids just to be seniors if there are better, younger players in the program. THAT is exactly how you build a program. 

What is my narrative? I'm not sure what you think that is.   AGAIN, the prior coach was a train wreck.  They do not belong in the same category when comparing the two.   If that's the bar you want to hold Kez to that's an insult to Kez.   Now to address your other statement.   How many kids has Kez cut over the last 6 years?  I'm pretty sure the answer is 0.  It's not a matter of younger kids being better than the older ones and Kez being a great judge in talent.   It's not always that they are leaving for soccer or volleyball as seems to be the standard answer here.   It's not unreasonable to expect to have 3-4 girls stay all 4 years for each class at a school the size and caliber as NDA.  The other sports seem to be able to do that.  Why not basketball?  And for the record I have no kids at NDA.  

[The Double Deuce]

2 minutes ago, UKato91 said:

What is my narrative? I'm not sure what you think that is.   AGAIN, the prior coach was a train wreck.  They do not belong in the same category when comparing the two.   If that's the bar you want to hold Kez to that's an insult to Kez.   Now to address your other statement.   How many kids has Kez cut over the last 6 years?  I'm pretty sure the answer is 0.  It's not a matter of younger kids being better than the older ones and Kez being a great judge in talent.   It's not always that they are leaving for soccer or volleyball as seems to be the standard answer here.   It's not unreasonable to expect to have 3-4 girls stay all 4 years for each class at a school the size and caliber as NDA.  The other sports seem to be able to do that.  Why not basketball?  

Why did the Kirtley girl quit mid-year this year after being a big contributor last year?  Why did Rosemary Miller leave for Ryle?  I don't think soccer and volleyball are the culprits in those two cases.  Maybe there are great reasons that have nothing to do with Coach Murphy and his style and the way he communicates with the girls....or maybe there aren't.  I'm not close enough to know the "why's", but I see the same things you do as an outsider.  Then I see Kes' comments at the players and parents, and you can certainly start to see that there is smoke billowing around.

[vbtalk]

8 minutes ago, UKato91 said:

What is my narrative? I'm not sure what you think that is.   AGAIN, the prior coach was a train wreck.  They do not belong in the same category when comparing the two.   If that's the bar you want to hold Kez to that's an insult to Kez.   Now to address your other statement.   How many kids has Kez cut over the last 6 years?  I'm pretty sure the answer is 0.  It's not a matter of younger kids being better than the older ones and Kez being a great judge in talent.   It's not always that they are leaving for soccer or volleyball as seems to be the standard answer here.   It's not unreasonable to expect to have 3-4 girls stay all 4 years for each class at a school the size and caliber as NDA.  The other sports seem to be able to do that.  Why not basketball?  And for the record I have no kids at NDA.  

Your narrative is glaringly obvious. You’re trying to make Kez out to be either a bad coach or bad person. You’re very obviously implying two things: NDA bball has kids quitting at an alarming rate and that Kez is the reason. It’s well known that the principal there is easily persuaded by the families who make noise and write checks. If Kez was an issue, he wouldn’t be there anymore. 

 

[The Double Deuce]

1 minute ago, vbtalk said:

It’s well known that the principal there is easily persuaded by the families who make noise and write checks.

That is for sure.  They bow to the whim of some families on a very consistent basis.  If Coach Kayed learned one thing, don't keep a senior just to be nice but then think you'll get away with not playing her.