I love to follow high school sports and always enjoy picking up a local paper from a community that I do not live in. There is a wealth of information and they often cover the kids who are not the stars. These kids, the grinders, are usually the differance between winning and losing. Boxhead Rawlings at Clay County and Aaron Manns at Corbin are probably the best examples of these type of kids. South Laurel does not win a state championship without Warren Gross' defence. The Lexington Herald Leader does not tell us about these kids. They only tell us how many points Richie had. There was no mention of the Hendrickson kids injury last year or Josh Smith rolling his ankle in the Courier Journal. The local papers know how important kids like that are.

Nomorenoles... you hit the nail on the head!

With Hooker out this season, I drop Clay to 3rd-6th with Corbin and South battling it out for the Region Crown. Corbin and South are probably more equal this year than at any time before. The home team will have the slight advantage each time they play each other. I give Corbin a slight edge in bench depth/ experience.[/quote

 

I heard this is the most depth South's had in a few years. The only spot to fill is at the 4 spots. South, is stacked at guard with the addition of Carr and the KC kid. It will be interesting to see how Wright, handles his young freshman guard and the Smith kid with this much depth.

South only played 9 kids last year and only 7 got meaningful minutes. Smith and Dean both played huge roles. South has a lot of kids but I do not expect Coach Wright to p;lay a lot of kids. Carr and the KC kid will get most of the availabe minutes. Smith and Brashear will fill the 8th and 9th man roles. Anybody who thinks SL will run it with St. John there is confused. They will slow the game down so that St. John can maximize his proportion of their shots. Who do you want taking the majority of your shots, the best player in the region or an untested guard. Watkins and Gilbert should get the majority of the remainder of the shots. South's advantage is King Kong in the middle and this team will rotate on him. Has Karr went back to Indiana?

South only played 9 kids last year and only 7 got meaningful minutes. Smith and Dean both played huge roles. South has a lot of kids but I do not expect Coach Wright to p;lay a lot of kids. Carr and the KC kid will get most of the availabe minutes. Smith and Brashear will fill the 8th and 9th man roles. Anybody who thinks SL will run it with St. John there is confused. They will slow the game down so that St. John can maximize his proportion of their shots. Who do you want taking the majority of your shots, the best player in the region or an untested guard. Watkins and Gilbert should get the majority of the remainder of the shots. South's advantage is King Kong in the middle and this team will rotate on him. Has Karr went back to Indiana?

 

The other teams in the 13th region would love for South Laurel to run and gun this year, I'm with you, it's not likely to happen. Who is the KC kid?

In my opinion, which does not mean a great deal to many, Mitch Howard was the numero uno, top dog, A number one of all time, journalist to work in the Corbin area. His stories were genuine, well written, and always interesting to read. He found things off the court, which added to his stories. He did not play both ends against the middle, no hidden agendas, no play on words. If team A played bad he said so, If team B played well he said so. I think he was the best we have had in Corbin since Jim Lee Crawford.

 

Bubba,

I agree. Mitch Howard will always be the best. He's a top-notch fella and a top-notch writer. I always enjoyed working with Mitch and I'm glad he's back writing sports.

The other teams in the 13th region would love for South Laurel to run and gun this year, I'm with you, it's not likely to happen. Who is the KC kid?

 

They might not run and gun all of the time, but it's going to happen.

South only played 9 kids last year and only 7 got meaningful minutes. Smith and Dean both played huge roles. South has a lot of kids but I do not expect Coach Wright to p;lay a lot of kids. Carr and the KC kid will get most of the availabe minutes. Smith and Brashear will fill the 8th and 9th man roles. Anybody who thinks SL will run it with St. John there is confused. They will slow the game down so that St. John can maximize his proportion of their shots. Who do you want taking the majority of your shots, the best player in the region or an untested guard. Watkins and Gilbert should get the majority of the remainder of the shots. South's advantage is King Kong in the middle and this team will rotate on him. Has Karr went back to Indiana?

 

 

Nope Karr stayed from what I was told yesterday evening.

I love to follow high school sports and always enjoy picking up a local paper from a community that I do not live in. There is a wealth of information and they often cover the kids who are not the stars. These kids, the grinders, are usually the differance between winning and losing. Boxhead Rawlings at Clay County and Aaron Manns at Corbin are probably the best examples of these type of kids. South Laurel does not win a state championship without Warren Gross' defence. The Lexington Herald Leader does not tell us about these kids. They only tell us how many points Richie had. There was no mention of the Hendrickson kids injury last year or Josh Smith rolling his ankle in the Courier Journal. The local papers know how important kids like that are.

 

I totally agree with you. I'll say this until the day that I die .... it it wasn't for the defensive play of Warren Gross, South DOES NOT win the state tournament. Jujuan Spillman would have had a field day if Gross wasn't around in the state semi-finals.

 

I agree, the loss of Henrdickson and Smith played HUGE in Corbin's loss to Eastern.

Thanks

There have been some years where no one else follows high school basketball that much in our region, but Les and some of his writers have really turned it up in Corbin the past several years.

 

Thanks, HDE, but I've learned a lot from you.... maybe when and IF you'll ever retire and I can finally be one of the top dawgs in the 13th Region JK ...

 

And, HDE, you've always been a class act - even when we have our disagreements. You're one of the best in the state.

Yes, Les is one of a kind. Jim McCallister does a nice job with the News Journal. I think Jim really cares about the students and tries his best to give them as much publicity as possible. He covers Whitley, Wburg and Corbin very, very well. We are lucky to have him down here in Whitley County. With a very limited staff, Jim puts out an outstanding sports section each week. I appreciate that he does not try to cover London or Barbourville and leaves that to the local papers in those communities as well. Jim does not get the credit he deserves many times.

 

Bubba, thanks ... I believe:confused: Jim is a great one. He got me in the door writing sports and I will always be grateful of what he has done for me.

 

As for covering different communities .... I think it''s great. One day I'm covering a Corbin/South game and the next day I'm covering Lynn Camp/Red Bird .... that's what is awesome about The Times-Tribune coverage area.

Myself and Tim Branstetter get to cover 16 different teams with the help of maybe one or two stringers and sometimes HDE and its great to visit the different gyms.

I heard this is the most depth South's had in a few years. The only spot to fill is at the 4 spots. South, is stacked at guard with the addition of Carr and the KC kid. It will be interesting to see how Wright, handles his young freshman guard and the Smith kid with this much depth.

 

Who do you see in the starting rotation? I see South playing 4 gaurds and St. John. I see some benefits with the ball handling and tempo but you cant run ahead of your go to guy. Id say Corbin will start 4 guys at 6'3"-6'5" which should create some matchup issues in itself for South...especially in the paint. One thing is for sure, it will be some good basketball when these 2 meet.

I agree ... I believe Corbin remains the team to beat .... I also believe Manns will play a key part in the success this season.

I agree ... I believe Corbin remains the team to beat .... I also believe Manns will play a key part in the success this season.

Ditto Les...Manns will be very aggressive and is probably the only guy in the 13th that can effectively guard St John. Thats why I think it will be a 4 on 4 game between South and Corbin...advantage Corbin.

Who does Corbin start this year?