Hightchew, Morse, and Doyle will be relied on this year to step up and help the big guy out.

 

I'd expect to see Hightchew handle the pg duties.

 

I disagree, you will likely see sophomore Michael Beuter take over at PG for the Breds. Beuter might be the smartest player in the 9th Region this year and is deceptively quick. I would look for him to handle the point, Hightchew and Doyle at the 2, 3. Morse will likely be the 4 and Geisler the 5 or they may interchange. Geisler is probably more mobile than Morse so you may see him face the basket more this season.

 

The Breds problem will be depth. After this first 5 I really have no clue who will get minutes. They have solid sophomore in Nathan Grosser who could play some but outside of that not sure of their personnel.

I am not surprised the Cougars are ranked #1 in the coaches poll. They have size and some good guards as well as a fine coach. How long has it been since someone other than Holmes was ranked pre-season #1?

I am not surprised the Cougars are ranked #1 in the coaches poll. They have size and some good guards as well as a fine coach. How long has it been since someone other than Holmes was ranked pre-season #1?

 

Last time Holmes wasn't preseason #1 was in either 05 or 06 when Covcath was relevant in the 9th region title talks.

I disagree, you will likely see sophomore Michael Beuter take over at PG for the Breds. Beuter might be the smartest player in the 9th Region this year and is deceptively quick. I would look for him to handle the point, Hightchew and Doyle at the 2, 3. Morse will likely be the 4 and Geisler the 5 or they may interchange. Geisler is probably more mobile than Morse so you may see him face the basket more this season.

 

The Breds problem will be depth. After this first 5 I really have no clue who will get minutes. They have solid sophomore in Nathan Grosser who could play some but outside of that not sure of their personnel.

 

Not very familiar with the Newcath soph class, which is why I didn't mention Beuter. One thing's for sure...Newcath will be exremely small this year outside of Geisler.

Agreed. It took almost 30 years for the 9th Region to win their second state championship. It might just take another 30 years or some transfer help before they win another. That Bulldog team was special.

 

The nice thing about N. Ky.'s two champions is both Simon Kenton and Holmes were made up of hometown players. So it might be another 30 years unless some out of area transfers come in to a program.

Just saw Holmes' schedule for this year.

 

In a week span, they'll play Boone (2/7), Newcath (2/10), Ballard (2/12), and Conner (2/14).

 

Talk about a tough stretch.

 

We'll know a lot about Conner early in the season. They have Dixie to open the season on 12/1 and then play @ Boone 9 days later on 12/10.

If my memory is correct this is the first time Conner has ever been #1 preseason.

The nice thing about N. Ky.'s two champions is both Simon Kenton and Holmes were made up of hometown players. So it might be another 30 years unless some out of area transfers come in to a program.

 

I don't want to thread-jack but these types of comments make me

 

Care to define "hometown players" how long do you have to be settled in one place before you're considered "hometown"?

 

This is a pretty mobile society we live in.

Not very familiar with the Newcath soph class, which is why I didn't mention Beuter. One thing's for sure...Newcath will be exremely small this year outside of Geisler.

 

Morse is a big kid but your right after Morse and Geisler are gone they are very small.

Here's the two polls (one for all of NKY - one for just the 9th region):

 

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2010/10/05/conner-picked-as-preseason-hoops-favorite/

 

NKBBCA Preseason Top 10

 

1.) Conner (6)

 

2.) Boone County (4)

 

3.) Dixie (4)

 

4.) Holmes (3)

 

5.) Newport Central Catholic

 

6.) Covington Catholic

 

7.) Ryle (1)

 

8.) Simon Kenton

 

9.) Highlands

 

10.) Scott

 

Ninth Region Preseason Coaches’ Top 10

 

1.) Conner (6)

 

2.) Boone County (4)

 

3.) Dixie (4)

 

4.) Holmes (3)

 

5.) Newport Central Catholic

 

6.) Covington Catholic

 

7.) Ryle (1)

 

8.) Highlands

 

9.) Holy Cross

 

10.) Beechwood

 

Here is the Cats Pause top 10....see who know more, the writer or the coaches poll.

 

Top 10 Teams:

 

1. Boone County

2. Conner

3. Covington Catholic

4. Dixie Heights

5. Ryle

6. Holmes

7. Newport Central Catholic

8. Holy Cross

9. Highlands

10. St. Henry

I never put much stock in coaches polls.

 

With that said it's obvious many coaches doubt CCH's guard play.

 

Why wouldn't you put much stock in a coach's poll?

 

Seems to me they'd certainly know the teams in their region/area better than anyone.

Here is the Cats Pause top 10....see who know more, the writer or the coaches poll.

 

Top 10 Teams:

 

1. Boone County

2. Conner

3. Covington Catholic

4. Dixie Heights

5. Ryle

6. Holmes

7. Newport Central Catholic

8. Holy Cross

9. Highlands

10. St. Henry

 

The coaches poll is more accurate than this one IMO.

I agree. No way Covcath is the third best team in the region and I also wouldn't have either them or Ryle ahead of Holmes.

I don't want to thread-jack but these types of comments make me

 

Care to define "hometown players" how long do you have to be settled in one place before you're considered "hometown"?

 

This is a pretty mobile society we live in.

 

My post was purely meant to reply to the other post cited, which I felt included an inference that these two teams weren't "homegrown" (because they were). To answer your question, when players spend a big chunk of the years prior to high school in the district they end up playing for, I consider them homegrown. But to make the record clear and not take this thread down a path off subject, I truly don't care if a team is homegrown or not. If a player shows up from another area in their freshman year or earlier wanting to go to a certain school, I have no problem with it at all.

Why wouldn't you put much stock in a coach's poll?

 

Seems to me they'd certainly know the teams in their region/area better than anyone.

 

Pure speculation prior to the season. See Ryle getting a 1 vote. They spend enough time worrying about their own team to truly know who's coming up through the system that might contribute this year .