tezzyrice

That makes sense considering the way a lot of neutral observers got behind them last year.

I totally agree 5wide. I'd expect to see them slow the ball down and work their offensive sets, but like Bigmark said, if the opportunity to get out and run arises, they'd take advantage of it for an easy dunk.

Same here. Definetly not looking past Christian Co or a potential match up with Lexcath in the quarters. But since the thread was started, might as well speak on it.

No team in nky has the athletes or depth to run with Holmes which is why they intentionally slow the game down, IMO. Boone has the athletes but for whatever reason chose not to play an uptempo game? I think the reasoning for this is earlier in the year when teams were trying to run against them, it became a turnover and dunk fest. The more offensive possessions you give Holmes, the higher percntage they're going to shoot because their offense is so explosive with Rico, Riley, Pittman, and JJ. As to your question: I think it would be a combination of both. We all know EC is going to try and dictate the tempo by pressing/trapping the whole game which is going to lead to easy baskets for the opposition and for Holmes, several dunks. Often times Holmes lets their opponent dictate the tempo because they're confident they will prevail in the end playing whatever style is presented. This is what gives Holmes an advantage IMO. EC is used to only playing that uptempo style. When teams slow the ball down (Cedar Hill, Shelby Valley), they start getting frustrated and pressing too much offensively which leads to bad shooting games. Using those two games as examples, I'd say Holmes would use a similar game plan and use their height advantage and pound the ball inside to Pittman and Rico. EC's lack of depth would also play a factor in the game. They would have to get atleast 3 Holmes players in foul trouble before it affected them. Housely and Rice are both very capable off the bench. You get ONE EC player in foul trouble and they start struggling.

Let's first start off with some of the match ups we'd see: 6'0 Riley v 6'1 Et. Faulkner 6'2 D. Johnson v 6'1 Ev. Faulkner 6'4 J. Johnson v 6'2 C. Knipp 6'5 R. Johnson v 6'2 Ferguson 6'7 Pittman v 6'7 T. Knipp I see EC having a lot of trouble defending the following Holmes lineup with Rico running the point: 6'2 Housely v 6'1 Et. Faulkner 6'4 J. Johnson v 6'2 Ev. Faulkner 6'5 R. Johnson v 6'2 Ferguson 6'6 Rice v 6'2 C. Knipp 6'7 Pittman v 6'7 T. Knipp

Elliott Co is the only home team? :confused: Not everyone wants them to win the state title. I'm sure they'll have a nice following but let's not act like they're the only team that will bring a crowd with them and everyone will be rooting against who they're playing.

Trevor Setty graduated last year. Treg Setty is a soph this year.

G with 27 points and 18 boards. A lot of his success can be attributed to Kevon Rice dad Mike. He took him down 15th street park everyday and helped develop his mid range game. Heard the guy who won the national POY actually called Greg and told him he should have received it...that was pretty cool. Also nice to see another former Dawg have some success...Arrez with 11 points.

That's an understatement. :lol: Kid can jump out of the gym. I watched him several times over the summer, just messing around with Kevon, throw the ball off the backboard and throw it down one handed as well as throw it down backwards several times and catch alley oops from Kevon while playing pick up games. He makes it look so effortless too. He has very long arms for his size. When people see him at Rupp they're going to be surprised with how much he can get up for his size.

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I understand where you guys are coming from but Holmes played a very similar defense last year (full court press/trap defense) but only gave up 46 ppg? Holmes didn't slow the ball down by any means last year either. Up until the sweet 16 they were averaging 66 ppg. I'm just wondering why EC would be giving up so many points when other teams played a similar defense but gave up far less points? (Let's not turn this in to a Holmes/EC debate...I only used them as an example from LAST YEAR to ask something about EC's defense THIS YEAR because of the two similar styles)

Just a question, but if their defense is so good why are they giving up 60 ppg? If they're constantly forcing a lot of turnovers like you say, teams shouldn't be scoring in the 60's like they are. From what I've seen this year Elliott attacks the ball but thats it. They rely on trapping and forcing bad passes which leads to a lot of easy points for the opposition. Very rarely do they just sit down and play tough m-2-m defense. A team that can handle the pressure gives them a lot of problems because of EC's inability to match up size wise.

Well said and good luck to the Lions as well. :thumb:

Eastern

Good defense will make it seem like a team is playing a stall game. Again, unless you were at the games, it's hard to understand where people are coming from as an outsider that simply chooses to form an opinion based on the scores.

I agree Plato.

Do you really think teams in Lex. are going to slow the ball down as much as 9th region teams did in the region tourney? BTW, that 42 average would have been enough to beat high scoring Ballard...Holmes held them to 41 points. I think some may be looking too much at their average ppg during the region tourney. When they play teams who want to get out and run and score, they put up big numbers. They've put 70 or more on Scott Co, Bryan Station, Franklin County, Tates Creek, and Seneca...all of whom were in the BGP top 20 at some point during the year, with Seneca being the only team who didn't finish in the BGP top 20. If teams don't try to slow the ball down against Holmes in Lex, you'll see them put some points up on the board.

Cotton is certainly a very good athlete though. He didn't rebound as well this time around but his defense on Rico was pretty impressive. Rico had to work hard for every point he got.

Not sure about some of the others, but I know all three of the Holmes players' heights are legit...that's what they were measured at during the UK Elite camp. The others, I just used their listed height. I know Middleton of MC is 6'3...he might actually be more in the 6'4 range.

Correct...Conner and Pangallo both made their first two 3 pointers and neither made another 3 the rest of the game. They finished with 7 for the game, and I'm pretty sure 5 came in the first half.

Nice list Mr. Jones. This one actually looks realistic. I personally would have Holmes ahead at #1, but have no problem with the way you have ALL of the teams listed as I think it could play out that way. :thumb:

I don't recall many, if any, saying Ballard was that much better. I do recall people saying that they'd be able to run with EC though which they obviously didn't do too bad considering they scored 72. EC was just too much for them in their home gym and proved they were the better team. Ballard is a fairly small team which is the reason they try to get out and run.

Just looking at the potential match ups IF these two meet, I think EC will have a tougher time shooting from the perimeter than some realize: 6'0 Riley v 6'1 Et. Faulkner 6'2 D. Johnson v 6'1 Ev. Faulkner 6'4 J. Johnson v 6'2 C. Knipp 6'5 R. Johnson v 6'2 Ferguson 6'7 Pittman v 6'7 T. Knipp When Riley and DJ are out of the game, you'd see the following match ups: 6'2 B. Housely v 6'1 Ev. Faulkner 6'4 J. Johnson v 6'1 Et. Faulkner 6'5 R. Johnson v 6'2 Ferguson 6'6 K. Rice v 6'2 C. Knipp 6'7 Pittman v 6'7 T. Knipp

We agree Obie!!! :thumb:

A few things to point out from your post: 1. Elliott relies on offense to win games. Key word is IF they shoot above 50% they can beat anyone, and I agree. But eventually a team isn't going to shoot that well every game. Law of averages catches up to the offense, but defense never quits and is constant. Holmes isn't too shabby from outside either though. If I recall correctly, they actually have a higher 3 pt % than your EC Lions at 40% and Riley is one of the top 3 pt shooters in the state. Pittman, JJ, DJ, and Rico have all shown the ability to hit shots from anywhere on the floor. 2. The way EC fans talk, you'd think they had the USA Dream Team of high school basketball. (No disrespect meant to the fans or their team, but some go WAYY overboard) Never once have I said Holmes was the most atheletic team this state has ever seen, and honestly that'd be foolish thinking by ANYONE considering some of the Ballard, J'town, Scott Co, and other L'ville teams we've seen throughout the years. But for THIS YEAR, I truly believe Holmes is the most athletic team in the state. Very rarely do you see a teams' 5'11/6'0 PG grabbing 8 and 9 rbs a game when there is a 6'4, 6'5, and 6'7 kid out there as well with just as much athleticism. You'll realize what I'm talking about next Thurs. Holmes plays above the rim more than any team in the state and Pittman plays above the square. He's jumped up and not blocked, but GRABBED balls out of mid air several times this year. 3. Individual talent doesn't carry a team. Especially with a group like this one, you have to play as a team to be successful. Holmes has had some pretty talented teams in the past that didn't do squat because they played too much "Me" ball. Not the case with this group and that's evident by the fact that Holmes' TEAMS have been to the state tournament 4 of the past 5 years. Rico, JJ, Pittman, and Rice have also been playing together on the same AAU team pretty much all their lives, so let's not act like EC is the only team who has been playing together for a while and that makes them a superior TEAM. :ohbrother: 4. As far as EC having a different style that I've never seen or witnessed, I'd say Scott Co runs and pressures just as much as EC and Holmes faired pretty well against them I believe. I'll return the comment back though, and say EC hasn't seen a team that will play as good of defense as Holmes does. If you think Holmes doesn't play together as a TEAM, you obviously haven't seen them this year in person. They've lost just 5 games over the past two years and they've beaten some pretty good TEAMS over that span, including a Covcath team (3 times), that pretty much took EC behind the woodshed last year ...BTW, this Holmes teams is MUCH better than they were. Having athletes is nice but 66-5 over a two year span with the same core group speaks for itself. :sssh: 5. If Holmes does get beat, I'll have no problem giving the other team credit, but if they get beat it won't be because they aren't a good team...it will be because they ran in to a team that was just better and executed better THAT NIGHT (which is evident by the fact that Holmes has avenged BOTH losses this year). All of these arguments become moot if neither team advances to the semi's. For right now, I think EC fans need to worry more about Anderson Co and then a potential match up with the only KY team to beat them. Same goes with Holmes fans....Christian Co and Lexcath are both very capable teams. Until the games decide each teams' fate, good luck and hope to see you down the road. :thumb: