I was there and Ryle did nothing to run the score up. He played the entire second quarter with JV kids. Most of the second half was JV kids. Ryle didn't press or cherry pick.

 

This is going to be the first of many games like this. They will have a hard time scoring 20 points on any of the schools in the region.

 

A high school team can't just dribble out the clock in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. You can't ask your kids to stop playing.

 

Ryle could have won by 100 plus points if they wanted to.

 

Cooper fans are going to have to understand that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. Coach Sullivan is going to have his hands full keeping the kids positive and keep them playing hard. As a Cooper fan you are going to have to except the fact they will probably not win a game this entire season.

I just lost respect for coach Mullins and the Ryle program. Why would you do this to a team that is very young and doesn't have any varsity experience? I know Coach Sulli will keep this in the back of his head for the future and get them back! In my opinion this is a bigger embarrasment for Ryle than Cooper.

 

If Cooper did not want the score to get that bad they could have slowed the game down. Four corners? Dribble the clock out?? Don't take any shots??

Wow... Although this is Cooper's first year as a school, I still expected them to be more competitive on the court.

I just lost respect for coach Mullins and the Ryle program. Why would you do this to a team that is very young and doesn't have any varsity experience? I know Coach Sulli will keep this in the back of his head for the future and get them back! In my opinion this is a bigger embarrasment for Ryle than Cooper.

 

Regardless, the biggest embarrasment should be for the person responsible for the Cooper schedule. That person gave them no chance. Blueflyer you should be on their case more than anything.

Ouch

Regardless, the biggest embarrasment should be for the person responsible for the Cooper schedule. That person gave them no chance. Blueflyer you should be on their case more than anything.

 

Once the decison was reached that they would be playing a varsity schedule there are district and conference games that you have to play. Those games take up a big chunk of your schedule.

Ryle had one starter play approx. 15 minutes. Coach Mullins used his bench a lot in this game and there is no way you tell kids that hardly ever get in a varsity game to go out there and not play. This scored could have been a lot worst.

I understand BlueFlyer's points, but - and keep in mind I wasn't at the game - I don't think Ryle did anything wrong. Just from what I know of the game, the Raiders poured the subs in early and often...

 

I've coached teams that went winless - and the following year went undefeated. During the year we went winless, we knew we were in for trouble - we were younger than all the teams we played, and our center was shorter than some of their guards! The closest we came to victory was - if I remember correctly - a 12 point loss! Most were 20-30 point losses... The kids learned however...and the next year, bigger, stronger, and wiser, we went undefeated. It's part of growing up.

 

(granted, I was coaching in a competitive youth sports league, not HS, but the kids were young teen-agers, so the age group is about right)

 

Some random thoughts:

 

• If I'm the Cooper coach, having every team that's beating me bad go into the equivalent of a "stall" does my program no good. How can I teach, if the opposition isn't running their plays??
  
• If I'm the Ryle coach, and I finally get a chance to put in the third-stringers, how does it help my program to have them do something other than my normal half-court sets? I may need these guys to start later, perhaps due to an injury - they need to be ready to contribute!
  
• Despite the above two thoughts, you can still slow the carnage. Drop the pressure full-court and stop trapping in the half-court. Play zone. Walk the ball up-court and run half-court offensive sets. Practice running a little clock...work for the best possible inside shot instead of popping that wide-open three. But you know what? Sometimes a team is so much better, it only means the scoring will slow down...
  

 

When I was a kid, you played ball. Sometimes you won big, sometimes you lost big. The next day, you laced them up again and tried to do better.

 

There's a difference between a rout and a display of poor sportsmanship. I don't believe there's a magic number where you go from one to the other. It depends upon how the game was played.

 

Throwing for the end zone from your own 30 yard line on the final play of a football game you already lead 50-something to nothing is poor sportsmanship and deplorable. (saw that in a 4A football game about 5 years ago)

 

Winning by 58 when your starters are in street clothes by halftime is a display of dominance that's an unfortunate result of one team being completely uncompetitive against this level of competition. If Ryle called off the dogs in the second half, I don't think they did anything wrong.

 

I count 1 senior, 6 juniors, 8 sophomores, and 3 freshman on the varsity roster Cooper posted on the KHSAA website.... most are listed as guards with no centers listed at all. I'm guessing that means they don't have a lot of height...

 

Cooper's schedule seems a bit ambitious, to say the least, for a first-year school, but the attitude of the kids/parents/coaches will determine whether that beats down the team or builds it for the future...

 

Good luck, Cooper! Things will get better! Losses like this become goals for the future...and motivation to improve!

Great post and I agree with every word.:thumb:

So, its the classic dilemma. You have varsity boys who may not get a lot of PT who now get to play. They've busted their humps every day and have done everything asked of them. You're now going to tell them to not to shoot or not to play defense? Not me. I won't have them pressing. I won't even have them waiting at half court. However, past that I'll have them playing tough D like I teach them in practice. I'll have them running our sets. If Cooper can't stop them, that's a Cooper problem not my problem. I might rule out 3 pt attempts but I'm not telling a kid to not get his name in the boxscore.

 

Coach Sullivan understands that.

 

Exellent post! :thumb:

Can someone who was there give us details? From the looks of it, it really looks like the Ryle coach tried to run the score up. Details would be appreciated to put that to rest.

 

I spoke to Coach Mullins last night. Although he didn't say if he pulled the starters, but I have a hard time believing that he would have left them in the whole game, or even the first half.

Once the decison was reached that they would be playing a varsity schedule there are district and conference games that you have to play. Those games take up a big chunk of your schedule.

 

:thumb:

I agree with the big chunc of the schedule that has to be played but the remainder should be teams they can copmete with. I saw several games on their schedule that were unnecessary. Cincy Oak Hills, Cincy Withrow, NCC, Highlands, St. Henry, Brossart are come that come to mind. None of these are on the conferance schedule or district requirement.

WOW!

Ouch, gonna be a long season for Cooper.