85lived

Congrats to Boyd on the big win over the Ramblers. :thumb: :ylsuper:

They rotate everytime a foul is called so it should work itself out throughout the course of the game.

Rowan had a scare against Morgan and has yet to play Ashland but I have to think they are the team to beat in the 16th. They can be beaten (Morgan should have) but having seen everyone in the region I feel that they are the best team night in and night out. Handling their pressure is the key. They are the quickest team in the region and will guard you the entire 84 feet. Like to see an Ashland / Rowan matchup in the SECOND round of the region.

Impressive point production without Vanderhoof playing. Fleming prides itself on defense so that makes it all the more impressive.

A lot of that probably has to do with the scouting reports he is getting from one of his assistants. The guy writes a novel everywhere he goes. Bet he goes through 2 pencils and an ink pen at every game. He has a 2" thick file on every team in the region. I think he is scheduled for carple tunnel surgery at the end of the season!! :lol:

I believe by rule it is still a technical and ultimately the coach's responsibility to ensure he/she has the correct # of players on the floor. However, officials are also required to count the # of players on the court before putting the ball in play. The officials should never put the ball in play without counting and confirming the proper # of players are on the floor. It is possible that the officials in that game realized they had not done so in that instance and felt that they should not penalize the team who offended the rule because that was not the first time a team had 6 players on the floor in the game and they did catch it the first time when it was the other team. I have no problem with and promote "preventative officiating". The majority of experienced officials in all sports practice this. I will say that it happens at least once in every sporting event & 99% of the time you never know the officials have done so because they do it so discretely.

I think #1 & #2 should be flip flopped but I can see why you would list Rose Hill ahead based on head to head play. I won't disagree with that logic but I still feel that night in and night out Elliott is the best in the region. I also think that #'s 3, 4, & 5 are probably interchangable but am good with your ranking. Any one of the 3 could beat the other on a given night and if the stars are in allignment, could possibly knock off 1 or 2 as Bath already did to Rose Hill & East almost did to Elliott. Of those 3, I'm not sure Raceland can beat Elliott (based on head to head meetings) but if they get someone else to do it for them and get the right matchups in the region they could be in the finals as well. (yes I am assuming that Raceland will beat Lewis and win the 63rd district)

Final

At Elliott on Tuesday. If Elliott is a gracious host they may only win by 50. :creepy:

Been involved in a few of these types of games. Once the snowball starts rolling all you can do sometimes as a coach is sit back and watch it because no matter how hard you try you can't seem to stop it (see UK vs Vandy). I know Coach Trimble will keep this game in perspective. Heard that Vanderhoof got hurt again last night. Our hope for her is it was nothing serious. She has endured enough. As a parent, it is hard to sit and watch a kid go through this much without being affected by it. My sincerest thoughts and well wishes are with her and her family.

Loyal to the end. CRAZY, but loyal. :thumb:

I have absolutely no doubt about that. :thumb: From what I hear from my friends down there he will need to be too with what he has coming up in the program. Some LONGTIME Raceland supporters have told me that there are some really lean years coming in the basketball program there. Scott is probably the right guy to develop what is on the way.

Nothing wrong with those 3. We can't help it if you have personal issues with one of them in particular. On a side note: None of them were roommates of any of tonight's coaches to my knowledge.

I bet the guys on Blazer Blvd are happy about that!! :sssh:

If Russell allows Denton to get shots and she is hitting like she did against Raceland, it will be really tough for them to escape with a win. Lykins and Marth were also hitting well Saturday and are capable on any given night. And, lets not forget Liles, who did not play that well against Raceland but can carry that team on her shoulders as well. They present some matchup problems for Russell but Russell creates problems for them as well. Raceland killed Lewis on the boards with their three 6 footers. I would expect Russell's three 6 footers to do the same. That will be a good first round game. On a positive note for Raceland. Nice to see Vanderhoof back playing. Like someone said, she looked a little rusty (not much) early in the game but played well after getting her game feet back.

It was discussed. It didn't pass.

I think if you look at FBALL's post he said they are inexperienced and young. Only one of the seniors (Ferguson) saw much varsity action last year thus the other 3 are inexperienced. Then, the rest of the players are sophmores & a 7th grader. They are the young ones. Hope that clears it up.

Obviously, with the type of season Greenup's had I'm sure all the other teams wanted to draw them. I can guarantee you Coach Keeton won't go down without a fight and he will have the Lady Muskies ready to play against his alma mater.

Ashland just keeps on rolling over their 16th region competition. Coach Bradley has his girls peaking at the right time.

Does if they cannot catch the 3rd strike!!

That was not my intent nor was starting or continuing an argument. Cville answered my question and my comments had nothing to do with seeding or not seeding. Mine were to explain the current state of the Russell basketball program and say we knew this was coming. I have no need or desire to join in your ongoing "dialogue" with you friends from "Ramblerland". Cville answered my question to my satisfaction & hopefully I did the same.

The ones that could play and contribute last year did so. I stated this on another thread but Russell only won by an average of 9 points per game last year. They only had 4 games they won by more than 20 & none by more than 30. The majority of their 27 wins were in the teens or single digits. You can't play substantial minutes unless you are a contributor when your team wins by 9 ppg. Now, I do not have any kids or relatives playing so I can be completely objective about this year's talent. The second most talented basketball player on that team is a 7th grader and by the time he is a senior he may be more talented than Russell's top player this year. Not a knock on the other kids, they all work really hard but there just isn't a lot of basketball talent on that team. There are some good athletes but not great ball players. There is some potential good talent walking the halls over there that could help but for whatever reason they are not playing. That is their choice & I cannot answer that question with anything other than speculation. But honestly, even if this year's team would have played the entire varsity season together last year and this was their second year together their record would only be a few games better at best. Those of us who have been around awhile saw this season coming a few years back. Basketball numbers at Russell just seem down for whatever reason. Even though the girls team continues to be successful there are only 8 girls playing who are high school age. The rest are middle schoolers.

Please explain??

When you seed the only games that count toward your seeding are the district games. A team can pad their schedule and win 20 games & lose their district games and still be a 4 seed while a team that plays a tough schedule and only wins 10 games but wins all of their district games can be the #1 seed. Honestly, no matter if you seed or draw you won't make everyone happy every year. If you seed and you are the #4 seed you won't be happy because you have to play the #1 seed. The #1 seed is happy because they are ALMOST assured they will play in the region. Most years a 2 vs 3 game is a wash because they are usually pretty evenly matched so that game is usually the best game of the tournament. If you draw 1, 2, & 3 all want to draw #4 and they are all happy if they do. BUT, 1 & 2 are really upset when they draw each other as is the case this year. 3 & 4 are happy because they both feel they have a shot to make the region that they may not have had if you seeded. In the meantime, all the other potential district winners hope they get the winner of that 3 vs 4 matchup in the region assuming the #1 or #2 beat them in the district championship because they feel that will be a "cakewalk" to the second round. As I said, you can't make everyone happy no matter what you decide. Parity has really hit our district where there is usually never a clearcut favorite anymore and Raceland (the smallest school in the district) has more than held their own over the last several years including being the "top dog" this year in boys and winning the girls district last year. Because the size difference between the member schools has really shrunk through the years I can't imagine any one team consistently dominating anymore or any one team being at the bottom each year and feeling that they won't ever have a chance to play in the region. I would think we would always want to send the teams with the best chance of representing our district well in the region. Just showing up to be someone's first round "bunny" seems silly when you knew you had no chance of winning the region. I think it would be great to see an all 63rd final in the region. Seeding does more to help that possibilty every year and that is why it seems to be the best solution to most people. I'm just glad we won't have to argue about this anymore!!

Russell has a boy / girl doubleheader on Monday the 25th. The girls play Lewis at 6 and the boys play Greenup at @ 8pm. Tuesday has Raceland girls vs Greenup at 6pm and Raceland boys vs Lewis at @ 8pm. Thursday is the girl final & Friday is the boy final. My prediction is a Russell / Raceland final in both girls and boys.