Barber went to a juco! We're focusing on high school play. If mI decide I dont wanna play ball after high school should it diminish what I did? Just showing that All-state voting is a joke.

Yeah I told him if folks are hyping VanHoose the way they are you'll be a lottery pick!!! Run for the money!

No one is hyping Vanhoose ... we're simply laying out his numbers, which are a heck of a lot more impressive than anything Bender did.

From Gregg Doyel a few months ago:

 

"That's how bad Derrick Caracter has been. But that's also how good Derrick Caracter is, and how good he can be. A player like this, you don't kick off the team. Not a player like this. Brandon Bender is the kind of player Rick Pitino kicks off the team, as he did in 2002, because Brandon Bender couldn't play possum if you ran him over with an Escalade."

Gregg Doyel has a right to his opinion too! Doyel is a person just like me and you. Caracter is off the team right? So a head case is a head case. Rodrick Rhodes was a high school phenom but he got the boot too, so that hasn't proved anything.

And somebody give me some high school numbers please. Remember we're talking about high school. Everybodies running from the issue. Also a rundown of sr. and jr. year schedules of Paintsville and Ballard will tell somethings too. Without looking I know who played better comp night in and night out!

Oh yeah, VanHooose doesn't make a Pitino team to be kicked off!

And somebody give me some high school numbers please. Remember we're talking about high school. Everybodies running from the issue. Also a rundown of sr. and jr. year schedules of Paintsville and Ballard will tell somethings too. Without looking I know who played better comp night in and night out!

Here are some numbers for you:

 

Vanhoose played 12 games in the Sweet 16 in his career, a feat in itself. In those games, he averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, when he led Paintsville to the state title, he averaged 22 points and 17 boards.

 

Bender played in one state tournament, as a sophomore on Ballard's 1999 championship team. He averaged 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in four games. He did post better numbers (37 points and 22 boards) in the Saturday games.

 

When playing on the biggest stage of high school basketball in this state, Vanhoose was a dominant force. Bender was a nice player, but he didn't control the game like Vanhoose did.

Give it up, devils advocate ... you're losing this one, big-time.

Please you havent proving anything. Paintsville doesnt make it outta the 7th region those years man! Look at the roster for Male during those years. Are you serious? That Season (BENDERS sr. year) was one of the greatest for talent in the states history! The Sweet Sixteen is an awesome tourney but if you play against a bunch of six-four kids you'll get those numbers. VanHoose would've dominated this years Sweet Sixteen. But when he was on the court with players his size what did he do. IN killed him!

Plus Bender shared the ball with Wilkinson(UofL), Chiles(UK), and Knight(Ill St.) among others. And Bender was the best player on the team. Crushed Scott Co. who was probably nationally ranked too!

Please you havent proving anything. Paintsville doesnt make it outta the 7th region those years man!

Really? Paintsville won the state title, lost in the semifinals and then lost in the state final in Vanhoose's last three years. I dare say that they could have won the 7th Region in 1996 and 1998.

The Sweet Sixteen is an awesome tourney but if you play against a bunch of six-four kids you'll get those numbers. VanHoose would've dominated this years Sweet Sixteen. But when he was on the court with players his size what did he do. IN killed him!

Bender and Vanhoose played against the same kind of competition in the state tournament, and Vanhoose was clearly the more dominant player.

 

Vanhoose had 36 points and 22 rebounds in the 1998 title game against Scott County. A year later, Bender had 19 and 12 against Scott in the final.

Plus Bender shared the ball with Wilkinson(UofL), Chiles(UK), and Knight(Ill St.) among others. And Bender was the best player on the team. Crushed Scott Co. who was probably nationally ranked too!

Yeah, in a game in which Scott shot 25 percent from the field and was 2-24 from behind the 3-point line. And that from a team that was lucky to survive the semifinal, thanks to a couple of really charitable calls.

Again my point is hype in all-state voting and Mr. Basketball voting. If VanHoose had won state as a soph, like he and Bender did, but never made it back to state (like Bender did) he still wins Mr. Basketball cause of the hype he had IMO. The powers that be wanted him to win it. Theres never been a player in Benders postion that shined as a underclassman that didn't win Mr. basketball with his level of credentials. Which proves that the voting is a joke! If its truly about on the court performance and talent.

Hey, thats the way the ball bounces. A lot of it probably had to do with Ballard. They had played that year in a Florida tourney i think. Lofton wouldnt have let Ballard do Mason like that. Rick Jones was overrated!

Again my point is hype in all-state voting and Mr. Basketball voting. If VanHoose had won state as a soph, like he and Bender did, but never made it back to state (like Bender did) he still wins Mr. Basketball cause of the hype he had IMO. The powers that be wanted him to win it. Theres never been a player in Benders postion that shined as a underclassman that didn't win Mr. basketball with his level of credentials. Which proves that the voting is a joke! If its truly about on the court performance and talent.

Vanhoose won the award on his own merits, plain and simple. His big-time performances won the award, not hype.

 

If anyone was a product of hype, it was Bender. Don't believe me? Check out some more "on the court performance" stuff:

 

Vanhoose averaged 16 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game over his career at Marshall, a Division I school.

 

Bender averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds in one season at Robert Morris ... not the Division I Robert Morris in Pennsylvania, but the NAIA Robert Morris in Illinois.

 

Tell me, devils advocate, at which level did Bender ever outperform Vanhoose?