The fact that he practiced only once isn't a big concern to me. Heck, I might give the girls some rest as well in early February for the good of the rest of the season.

 

Was this a district game?

Walton was not prepared or inspired. Very flat and Owen punch them in the mouth on numerous ocassions and they did not respond at all. I saw very little fight in them last night and that was sad. The season is not over, but for Walton it may be. Congrats to Owen the more prepared and more inspired team.

Which players were missing, and why wasn't their coach there?

 

They were not missing players or their coach. Gayheart went down in the 4th quarter with about 2 minutes left (hope she is alright). It was a 20+ game at the time, don't know why she was still in. But, he had all his starters in the game still.

What happened to the "Best" team in the region? All we heard two or three weeks ago was how great they are. Now they are struggling to win a game. Could it be that they were over confident or over rated? Could it be their coach was over confident or over rated? That might explain why they only had one practice leading up to the game against a strong Owen County team. The coach must have thought they were returning to their usually week schedule and was not concerned. As a wise man once said "That's why we play the games". From what I have seen Walton is not near as good, or deep as they think they are. I only witnessed them having two or three offensive scoring threats, then after that you could play anyone off the bench and it would not make a bit of difference. I still maintain that South is the "Best" team in the region. I also think four or five teams have a shot to win it. It should make for a great tournament. Go South!

Owen, aka the Rodney Dangerfield of the 8th, dominated. Coach Osborne has done a tremendous with this team. The 8th region tourney is gonna be fun.

They came back Thursday so there was no excuse for not practicing only one day. Looks like a total lack of preparation for the Owen game and their performance showed it.

Good Point!! I couldn't agree more. I mean you could argue difficultly of schedule but when it comes down to it Owen is now 18-4 Walton is 17-7. IMO Walton is the more talented team from 2 thru 5 when you look at the starters. The reason I say 2 thru 5 is because IMO Gayheart is the best player on the floor in that game. So if you have more talent at 4 of the 5 spots on the floor and get beat that bad lack of preparation is the first thing that comes to mind.

I've been telling everyone who would listen that Owen has the starting lineup to win it all. This isn't a very deep team, but Osborne has his starters playing extraordinarily well. Gayheart is no longer just a scorer - she's matured into the complete player Owen needed. Her passing, in particular, is extraordinary, and she is now elevating her team with her play. Neeley is every coach's delight from the perimeter; one of the best outside shooters I've seen this year. Toole has developed into a capable inside presence; something I felt they didn't have last year. And Waldrop is the perfect complement to those three; active on offense and defense, with a really nice intermediate jumper. When the defenses focus on Gayheart and Neeley, Waldrop does a good job of finding a way to get open for those 10-15 foot jumpers.

 

Congrats to the Lady Rebels on another quality win...with convincing wins over both Anderson and W-V, the Lady Rebs have stamped themselves as one of the five favorites to win the 8th region title...

If the current trend continues, I don't look for them to win the district and they might not even come out of it. The coach needs to evaluate where they are at and start getting them prepared for every game. Walton has some talent but it may not be as much as some people think. Other teams are progressing more as they prepare for the districts.

If Walton has Dixon (which is a beast), and two D-1 players in Sandlin and Judy (as advertised earlier this year) then the way this team is currently playing is completely unacceptable. I have heard about transfers etc. etc. etc. Either Walton is not as good as they thought they were or they have the worst coach on the planet. Thoughts?

If Walton has Dixon (which is a beast), and two D-1 players in Sandlin and Judy (as advertised earlier this year) then the way this team is currently playing is completely unacceptable. I have heard about transfers etc. etc. etc. Either Walton is not as good as they thought they were or they have the worst coach on the planet. Thoughts?

 

Walton has no D-1 players or anything close to that level. They have some talent and some girls that will go onto play small college but that's about it. Honestly, I don't think they are any better than they were the first game of the year. At times I even think they have regressed. If they continue down the same path they are on, I don't expect them to make any noise come tournament time. May be one and done in the districts.

If Walton has Dixon (which is a beast), and two D-1 players in Sandlin and Judy (as advertised earlier this year) then the way this team is currently playing is completely unacceptable. I have heard about transfers etc. etc. etc. Either Walton is not as good as they thought they were or they have the worst coach on the planet. Thoughts?

Whoa!! Hold up on that carwash gentlemen. Dixon is a beast! However if Sandlin and Judy were advertised as D1 earlier this year then someone has led you astray. While both are solid players at this point D1 is a big reach. I think Judy has the potential but next year will tell the story for her. All that aside Walton is solid as any team on the inside. The issue is the same one that I have been pointing out since the pre-season scrimmages. They do not have a true point guard and will struggle greatly against teams that have solid backcourts and they will normally beat teams that have mediocre (meaning ordinary) backcourts. They have a couple of great shooting guards but they do not have a solid ball handler to run the whole thing through. This will continue to plauge them as it did last year.

I will go on record and say WV will be playing in Warsaw in 3 weeks.

I would sure like to see the Walton fans on BGP to unite for their girl's sake. They've taken their lumps this year, who hasn't? They are still a talented team who can make some noise in the post season. A little positive fan support wouldn't hurt... just saying.

WV played 2 games on Jan. 22. Then played Jan. 25,27,28, and 29. They proceeded to travel to Richmond and played on Feb. 2. That is 7 games in 11 days. I can understand Coach Miller's decision to have only one practice before the Owen game. The postseason is just two weeks away and team's need fresh legs. Last night's game was basically meaningless to the Bearcats. I think the coaching staff was just looking at the big picture. I expected Owen could win, just not by blowout fashion.

I cannot believe my eyes!!! Please, somebody tell me it's not happening - again! What is it with either the Waltonians or the Veronians or both with the year-in-year-out coach bashing? If my caluclations are correct, a W-L record of 57-25 in just under three years at W-V looks pretty good to an objective observer, as it comes in at 69.5%. Get off the man's back, let him guide the girls through a slump and get ready for the tournament. He knows what he is doing, or at least if not, he is beating 69.5% of opponents with blind luck. Multiple players with D-1 talent at W-V ... whoever came up with this scouting report was off a tad. Let the chefs keep working their recipe without a bunch of relatives/wanna-be-coaches/alleged fans screwing it up before its time to be served. There is time to rest, to heal, to get ready for tourney time.