Sparks and Hubbard are forwards. Three of the players are 6'3".

 

Kentucky has been and always will be a fertile ground for 6-0 to 6-3 power forwards. This is one of the areas that hurt our scholarship numbers. 6-2 forwards are not in great demand.

 

All the players listed are deserving of their recognition.

Yeah I have no idea how that would go. But if the team had a really good coach it could be very good, but theres a lot of coaches who could really screw that team up.

 

Any examples of those coaches that would screw it up?

Any examples of those coaches that would screw it up?

 

No, I don't want to do that. Ive seen a lot of coaches in the state that is beyond me why they have a job, but at the same time, there is no need to really publicly say a coach shouldnt have his job on here.

 

Here are some good ones though:

 

Billy Hicks

Billy Mike Runyon

Tim Riley

Rodney Woods

Al Holland

Kevin Listerman

Scott Humphrey

No, I don't want to do that. Ive seen a lot of coaches in the state that is beyond me why they have a job, but at the same time, there is no need to really publicly say a coach shouldnt have his job on here.

 

Here are some good ones though:

 

Billy Hicks

Billy Mike Runyon

Tim Riley

Rodney Woods

Al Holland

Kevin Listerman

Scott Humphrey

 

Some more good names:

 

Champ Ligon

Dale Mabrey

Chris Renner

Jimmy Just

Gregg Longacre

Mike Fields has seen a lot of basketball. I would trust his judgement.

:thumb: Mike Fields is the best high school sports writer in the state of Kentucky, and I would have to think in his many years of following high school basketball he would know what he was talking about.

Now this one is a serious question, who was the point guard on the Warren Central team that won it all with Dewalt, Maresca, etc.

Brock Whitney.

McFarland

 

The point guard was Ryan Anderson. And wasn't his little brother their sixth man as a frosh?

Brought this one out of the depths didnt you?

 

There is a thread about Dewalt over in the football forum if you want to check that out if you know what has happened to him.

 

I figured Maresca would get some clock at WKU as well, but I havent seen him in any of the games.

I don't agree that you have to have a post player to be great. The Clay county teams with Farmer did not have much in the post. they were adequate. I have seen some regional champions without a post threat at all advance to the state tournament.

 

I think the majority of the Bobby Keith Clay County teams who were dominating the 13th Region in the 70's and 80's had great success without the skilled 6'6" or 6'7" kids we see a lot today because they were generally playing teams in and around the 13th region who also did not have many quality post kids with skills and size. The post players they used such as Boxhead and players like him were usually very strong; could score around the basket; great at setting picks; great rebounders due to excellant checkout technique coupled with an incredibly tough physical and mental attitude. His teams were always perimeter oriented and the post players even though not the long 6'7" kids we see today were the most skilled at their positions at what they were asked to do.

Brought this one out of the depths didnt you?

 

There is a thread about Dewalt over in the football forum if you want to check that out if you know what has happened to him.

 

I figured Maresca would get some clock at WKU as well, but I havent seen him in any of the games.

 

:lol:

 

I saw that thread first and was searching on here to see what happened to him, and stumbled upon this.

 

You know I can't pass up an opportunity to set ya straight bell. :banana:

I'll take him on with my five senior forwards. We won't match their intensity...we will just win.

 

Darius Miller

Taylor Stewart

Scotty Hopson

Aaron Morris

Nathan Novosel

 

I got to agree with you on this one. I will take this group of forwards and play Mikes' guards. I think this group of forwards size, athleticism and skill set would trump the skills and speed of Mikes' guards.

I think you would be hard pressed to win at any level consistently with all guards just as you would if you had all big guys. Each group generally creates obvious advantages and disadvantages. I do believe however if I had to go out and put together a high school team to be competitive it sure would be a lot easier finding my quality guards for my program than finding my quality big guys. There are simply fewer big guys who can play. I believe the biggest gap that still exist between the Mid-major colleges and the D1 school is at the 4 and 5 positions. I will often see the mid-major team with point guard, shooting guard and small forward that I think would do well with a lot of D1 schools. No knock on the mid-majors but I rarely watch a game were I sit there and think to myself ya know that power forward and that post guy could fit in and play just as well as the 4 and 5 guys in the SEC, Big East or Big 10.

It's a big man's game. If you have a dominant big man you will win more often than if you have dominant guards. Reason: higher percentage shots, fewer shot attempts for the other team, and fewer high percentage shots for the other team. Unfair? Absolutely. Fact? Absolutely.

 

I'd sometimes agree, however I think back to a team in the 9'th in 02-03 season. St. Henry that beat out 3 other teams, each with a D1 Big man, St Henry won the 9'th over Ryle who had Doellman which went to Xavier, SK which had Brock who went to EKU, and Highlands which had Neltner, he went to LSU, then Vanderbelt(spelling).

 

They beat the rest of the 9'th with primarily guard play and an undersized big man. They were later beat by Mason county, which had a rather small team which may've been exploited by a big man inside, but that never happened. Mason went on to win the state championship that year.

 

While big man can greatly help, there have been plenty of stories which teams have succeeded with simply GREAT guard play, and ok role players.

"Give me a team of five guards — Shelvin Mack of Bryan Station, Landon Slone of Paintsville, Michael Sparks of Tates Creek, Lee Hubbard of Barren County (shown at left) and Arrez Henderson of Holmes — and I’d like my chances of winning the state title. The team might be under-sized, but it couldn’t be matched in passion, smarts and toughness."

 

-Mike Fields Lexington Herald Leader

 

 

Just figured I'd post this and see what kind of response it gets.

 

I too would take my chances with that 5.

I think the majority of the Bobby Keith Clay County teams who were dominating the 13th Region in the 70's and 80's had great success without the skilled 6'6" or 6'7" kids we see a lot today because they were generally playing teams in and around the 13th region who also did not have many quality post kids with skills and size. The post players they used such as Boxhead and players like him were usually very strong; could score around the basket; great at setting picks; great rebounders due to excellant checkout technique coupled with an incredibly tough physical and mental attitude. His teams were always perimeter oriented and the post players even though not the long 6'7" kids we see today were the most skilled at their positions at what they were asked to do.

 

All the kids Clay County put on the floor during that run could play the game.

True, the guards made them very, very good but the men they had inside could of played for almost any high school team in any part of the state. I think Keith also might of had a couple through the years that were close to 6-7 or 6-8. The first one that comes to mind was the one they got from Red Bird around the early 80's. Keith was one of the best but he also had some very good players year in and year out. Good players make good coaches more often than not. Just a thought.

That's true about Clay Co. having a guy in the mid-80s who was 6'7". His name was Woody Asher. He was there when they lost to Hopkinsville in '85. They also had Sean Pennington that year who was a forward about 6'4" along with Richie who was a freshman. After that I don't remember anyone being over 6'5" at least through '95 exceptTerry Gray who played from '87-90. One of the most skilled teams who probably should've won another championship for Clay Co. was in '92. They had a 3 guard trio of Shannon Hoskins, Robert Marcum and Mark Smith. If their 6'1" center James Downey hadn't torn his ACL that year they very well could have won it all. In '87, the championship year you had 3 guys who were realistically 5'11" and that was both Farmers and Russ Chadwell. Then you had K. Jackson 6'0", Charlie Robinson 6'2" and Boxhead Rawlings 6'1". Clay had maybe one or two in the mid to late 70s who might've been 6'4". Robert Moore was one in the 70s who was about 6'4".