Congrat's Bird's fans. You just got your wish of being ranked #1 and they've earned it. Hopefully your team can handle the burden that comes with it. No more flying under the radar. If you notice, most of the top teams that have "been there done that" just continue to play. They refuse to buy into the hype and don't care about rankings. Any loss or anything short of a regional championship is considered a failure when you are ranked #1 and the favorite. It's so much easier to play the underdog role.

 

I'm no expert, but I think I would rather play ND, NCC, Ryle, Holmes, BC, or Conner as the underdog when the season is on the line. BC, NCC, & ND have coaches that have won "many" titles and with a few weeks to prepare they will be tough to beat. Also, everyone knows how tough it is to beat a good team (Conner) 3 times in row. It will be a tough road. Good luck!

Its not hard to beat a good team if they cant match up with you. Conner cant match up with Highlands. Conners weakness is Highlands strength and Highlands strength is Conners weakness. Didnt know that ND has won many titles? Other than last year when? Also, NCC has had more talent in the past, its easy to win with talent. BC will be hard i will give you that.

Nothing better then knocking a number one off that pedestal. Highlands has earned that spot now lets see if they can hang onto it. They have certainly been very impressive the last few weeks.

Its not hard to beat a good team if they cant match up with you. Conner cant match up with Highlands. Conners weakness is Highlands strength and Highlands strength is Conners weakness. Didnt know that ND has won many titles? Other than last year when? Also, NCC has had more talent in the past, its easy to win with talent. BC will be hard i will give you that.

 

You're totally right about Conner. They simply don't match up with Highlands. I do think that Notre Dame, Boone, and NC are capable of beating Highlands. NC has simply not played up to their potential this year for whatever reason. If they put together a great game they might have a shot against the Birds. Highlands is very balanced and can beat you from the outside and the post. The, "its hard to beat a team three times," mentioned in an earlier post is a sports cliché and is really applicable only to very competitive teams.

Its not hard to beat a good team if they cant match up with you. Conner cant match up with Highlands. Conners weakness is Highlands strength and Highlands strength is Conners weakness. Didnt know that ND has won many titles? Other than last year when? Also, NCC has had more talent in the past, its easy to win with talent. BC will be hard i will give you that.

 

It’s just not that cut and dry AllKnower.

 

Highlands is very talented. Towles and Allen are two of the very best in the region. The Adlers are strong contributors and Horner is shooting lights out right now.

 

If Highlands gets a lead, then they play their “keep away” offense. Also, the lead allows them to just play zone defense. Every team is going to play zone against Conner, until they can prove they can beat it. However, if Conner can stay out of foul trouble and hit open shots, then the outcome may be different next time.

 

IMO, the 9th Region tournament is wide open for the team that is “hot” at the right time. It could be HHS, Boone, Holmes, ND, NCC, Conner, etc. No team is the clear favorite and no team in the 9th is out of contention this year.

We will see thats why they play the games.

I don't know about not matching up. I do agree that Highland's strength (a good half court game) is Conner's weakness. But they'll need to control the tempo. They did in their two matchups this year.

 

I think you can throw a blanket over BC, Highlands, Conner, and ND in the 9th. Any of those on a given night can beat the other. There are some others that you might be leary of if they had a great night and one of those four were off. NCC just because of the coach; Ryle is a good young team that could get on a roll and not know any better; If you can't play 5 on 2 Holmes can certainly surprise, Teams like Holy Cross or Brossart that are fundamentally sound can surprise a team. But it would certainly be a big upset to me if anyone else beats those top 4.

The Bird's have earned the #1 ranking. A couple of watch-out's 1) hope they are not peaking too early and 2) overall, their remaining schedule is not very strong and does not compare to teams that historically have success in the tournament. Is that good or bad? Only time will tell.

 

The Bird's are living off of the zone. Teams are getting baited into launching 3's. It makes for a very boring basketball game, but it obviously works so stick with it. IMO, there are teams in the 9th they cannot match-up with in an athletic/up-tempo game, but until a team knocks down perimeter shots early and forces them to come out and play...they will control the tempo and have success.

Its not hard to beat a good team if they cant match up with you. Conner cant match up with Highlands. Conners weakness is Highlands strength and Highlands strength is Conners weakness. Didnt know that ND has won many titles? Other than last year when? Also, NCC has had more talent in the past, its easy to win with talent. BC will be hard i will give you that.

If it is so easy to win with talent then I guess what HHS is doing this year is no big deal, since most of their posters on here have been touting their talent for 2 years now. You can't have it both ways. As has been ststed earlier the toughest thing to do IS win when you have the best tlent, because anything less is a failure.

The Bird's have earned the #1 ranking. A couple of watch-out's 1) hope they are not peaking too early and 2) overall, their remaining schedule is not very strong and does not compare to teams that historically have success in the tournament. Is that good or bad? Only time will tell.

The Bird's are living off of the zone. Teams are getting baited into launching 3's. It makes for a very boring basketball game, but it obviously works so stick with it. IMO, there are teams in the 9th they cannot match-up with in an athletic/up-tempo game, but until a team knocks down perimeter shots early and forces them to come out and play...they will control the tempo and have success.

 

They have nine games left, with Holmes, NCC, and North Hardin(top 10 in state) remaining on their schedule. Harrison County at Harrison County is never easy. I think that's a perfect schedule for the remainder of the year. Enough challenging games to go with games they should win easily.

Congrat's Bird's fans. You just got your wish of being ranked #1 and they've earned it. Hopefully your team can handle the burden that comes with it. No more flying under the radar. If you notice, most of the top teams that have "been there done that" just continue to play. They refuse to buy into the hype and don't care about rankings. Any loss or anything short of a regional championship is considered a failure when you are ranked #1 and the favorite. It's so much easier to play the underdog role.

 

I'm no expert, but I think I would rather play ND, NCC, Ryle, Holmes, BC, or Conner as the underdog when the season is on the line. BC, NCC, & ND have coaches that have won "many" titles and with a few weeks to prepare they will be tough to beat. Also, everyone knows how tough it is to beat a good team (Conner) 3 times in row. It will be a tough road. Good luck!

 

No disrespect to NDA, but unless thier coach won "many" titles ( and I took that as a regional title) at a different program, she hasn't won that many.

Jamie Walz is running a very strong basketball program at Highlands as we speak. She has worked very hard along with her excellent assistants in assembling a very talented group of athletes from the Varsity thru Frosh. This number one ranking does not surprise me one bit and I can assure you Jamie will keep her girls on the ground. Highlands is young and will be loaded for many years to come and should get use to being the team to beat. GO BIRDS!!!!

No disrespect to NDA, but unless thier coach won "many" titles ( and I took that as a regional title) at a different program, she hasn't won that many.

 

For the record, I'm 90% sure that she has one regional title.

Its not hard to beat a good team if they cant match up with you. Conner cant match up with Highlands. Conners weakness is Highlands strength and Highlands strength is Conners weakness. Didnt know that ND has won many titles? Other than last year when? Also, NCC has had more talent in the past, its easy to win with talent. BC will be hard i will give you that.

 

I disagree with you about matchups. I think Highlands depth is the key to these wins. Highlands is very talented (they have 5 girls that play on the same AAU team all summer). Plus they have other talented players. Conner has been going 6 deep (sometimes 7) and I believe a team with Highlands depth has been a big factor.

For the record, I'm 90% sure that she has one regional title.

 

That would be correct.