WVFrank

.......................here's an update on the Cincinnati Heat team which has four NKY girls playing for them. Those players are Heather Sandlin and Joselyn Davis of Boone County, Courtney Sandfoss of NCC, and Sydney Moss (TBA). Sandfoss, who has been mentioned prominently in another thread, is just beginning to round back into shape after a series of tough injuries. The Heat, playing in the 17U Signature Division of the Michael T. White "Showtime National Championships" in Atlanta, made the Final Four before dropping a close decision to eventual champion Texas Fire Black, I believe from the DFW area, and then absorbing a 12 point defeat (in a game much closer than the final score) to a huge (tall and big!) group from Kansas City. The Heat, playing in the 17U grouping even though they are actually a 16U team, acquitted themselves well in winning three straight to make the Final Four. Their quarterfinal win was a thriller against a Memphis Elite group that included the players that won the 15U title in last year's AAU National Championship tournament, and in May was ranked the second best 17U AAU team in the South. After leading most of the contest, the Heat saw Memphis tie the game with about 5 minutes remaining and the dogfight was on. Leading by one, Memphis tried to stall the game out but threw the ball away with 7 seconds left against intense Heat defensive pressure. After a time out the play was set up for the forward opposite Moss to get the final shot. She put the shot up and it rimmed out, but Moss rebounded over bigger players and put the shot back in (while twisted at an awkward angle to get the shot up) at the buzzer for a 54-53 win. That Memphis team didn't lose another game and finished 5th in the tourney. The final two teams the Heat played were loaded with talent. The KC team had the number three ranked senior in the upcoming high school class (2010) and another Top 100 player (per ESPN). I'm not sure how they lost in the semis but strange things can happen in the game of basketball, especially true for girls basketball! The Texas team that won the championship featured lots of size to go with quickness at guard. Both these teams had several girls each in the 6-2, 6-3 range. That's a tough battle for any team like the Heat with one girl at 6-2 and the next biggest at about 6-0. But they compensate with very tough defense and good team play. The Heat will next play in the Summer Derby Classic, another MTWhite event, in Louisville later this month. IMO the girls playing for this particular AAU team will benefit greatly from the coaching they are getting and the competition they're seeing this summer.

Sandlin was obviously one of the keys for Boone County in their run to the Region title last year, but she didn't play the point. That role, and the true leadership role for Boone, was filled by Jacy Bradley. I do agree with you about Sandlin's speed. She can simply fly!

Yes coaching staffs do split up and try to cover as many tournaments as possible. Why wouldn't they try to see as many players as they could when the opportunity is there? But Crunch-time's point is still vaild. There are certain large tournaments that draw teams from across the country, teams that coaches know about and know about their players. Therefore their emphasis is on these larger tournaments and that's where you'll see the most head coaches and top recruiters from the DI schools. For example at the Deep South Classic this April I saw literally dozens of top DI coaches including Pat Summit of Tennessee and Vivian Stringer of Rutgers. That weekend there were several top national tournaments going on and most of the head coaches were moving from one to the other unless they had a particular player or players at one site that they wanted to "be seen by". In other cases they left their chief recruiter to "be seen" while they moved to other sites. I say "to be seen" because there was no contact allowed and all the coaches could do was watch........and "be seen". I guess the main point here is that the top coaches are going to go where there is the most top talent. That doesn't mean that about any tournament with talented players won't be visited by coaches but their emphasis is going to be where they get the most bang for their buck. Tournaments like the Deep South Classic, the Showtime National Championships in Atlanta, the Showtime National Championships West in LA, and tournaments run by Nike and others that have that national draw are those with the most players.

The AAU program that I am most familiar with, one in Ohio but where some NKY girls play, has the very best coaching I've seen at the HS age level. Better in fact than any I've seen from a HS program. Their practices often involve multiple coaches, some with outstanding credentials and experience. There is plenty of work on fundamentals and basic skills. This team also places significant emphasis on defense and team play, and I'm have to believe the players end up much better for having played in this program. Another plus for the program is the coaches they use. From what I've seen their purpose is not winning at all costs but in the total development of their players as individuals. To me that's important and not something you see all the time, at the AAU level or even at the HS level. That's a response I guess to the negatives you addressed. I definitely agree with your thoughts that some of these AAU teams (the one I'm most familiar with certainly does) play very stiff competition over the length of their summer schedule and that certainly aids players in their development.

No idea.

Absolutely! There is no way to dismiss the importance of the loss of an experienced, poised point guard/team leader. Jacy will be sorely missed by Boone. But, as others have said, Boone County will put together a solid team that will challenge about anyone they face, particularly late in the season.

The rest of the girls are from Ohio. Kindsay Brandt, Rylee Fishman, and Taylor Demaio (not playing yet) from Lakota West, Lindsey Hoskins and Ally Malott from Middletown Madison, Christina Pentaudi (injured) from Tipp City, Amina Affini from Wilmington, and Nicole Disbrow from Dayton Chaminade Julienne.

"Pat". Yeah, even had parents taking pictures! But there were a lot of big name coaches at the event. Typically the head coaches hit one day and moved on to other tournaments and the assistants stayed longer. The Heat actually should have won the game they lost. They were better, IMO of course, than the team they lost to, Queen City Dynasty from Charlotte. But that's how that tournament works, as you know, be on top of your game or you're out, in just about any game. The team that beat the Heat for 9th place, Exodus NYC, was loaded and I can't figure how they lost the game that knock them from the undefeated. They had 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 girls plus the No. 4 ranked junior in the country plus excellent guards. The Heat played them tough for about 12 minutes but didn't handle the Dynasty pressure for a spell and that doomed them. Missed Courtney and another guard who played for them last year but has moved on! But I agree that it's going to be a fun season.

The Heat played in the top 17U division (there were three 17U divisions) in Raleigh and finished 10th out of a field of 32 teams. Not bad for a team that could have been playing in the 16U division. That division was loaded with top national teams (two from California played in the Championship game) and was watched by top college coaches. Moss struggled with conditioning after missing the last part of the HS season and some of the Heat practices because of an accident which affected a leg. She was still pretty solid and did have one good game in which she scored 24 including 7 in the first 3 minutes of the game and 8 in the last 3 minutes of the game. The last 8 were either the last 8 or 8 of the last 10 scored by the Heat and came after their opponent had cut the Heat lead to 3points. Davis and Sandlin are playing for the first time with the Heat and "learning" systems but both played very well at times and will definitely help this Heat team which is just going to get better and better. They have a couple of key players that are injured that will provide big assistance including a big girl and NCC's Courtney Sandfoss.

Try this site. Use the "Search for Tournament" feature/link. http://www.acahoops.com/

I think this might be it.........found it through a little searching. If this isn't it perhaps ebrown can help us out. http://www.kentucky.com/812/story/721477.html

Hope this "diversion" doesn't cause any to get upset but................. Moss played at Lakota last summer. I'd heard about Davis playing there this summer but not Sandlin. The Heat program should again be very solid. Interesting question. Got a link to the article you referenced?

In the game you are talking about Moss played less than half of the third quarter before coming out, then played from the 4:00 mark of the fourth to the 2:00 mark when he fouled out. He probably wouldn't have played even that much if the Wolfpack's other big guy hadn't had a knee problem that restricted him considerably. And Moss scored a total of 2 points in the game so it wouldn't seem he was much of a factor in the loop-sided win. The 11-U NKY Wolfpack has a good players who come off the bench so it may seem they are "pouring it on" when in fact they are simply letting their players play. Those guys who are not starters deserve to play when given the chance.

Per the KHSSA rules I'd say that is correct. That would be the best solution for her to play without moving but I'm not sure it's even a possibility at this point. We'll see. Wish it could happen.

Who are the other three in the picture?

In general I thought the officiating was pretty good overall in the games I saw. And I certainly didn't indicate I thought officiating cost anybody a game. I usually feel the officiating has to be really bad to match the mistakes made by the teams, certainly at the 11-U level. But I still think some of the officials were way too sensitive to comments from the crowd and way too quick to dish out technical fouls. As to the "she" I previously mentioned I only saw the one game she called, and had actually commented that I thought she was one of the better officials I had seen there. The only "missed" call I would have attributed to her was an obvious double dribble near the end of the game. But I still feel her involvement in the post-game discussion involving a coach and the other official was over the line and absolutely unnecessary. She should have left the discussion to her partner since he was the one being questioned. And, by the way, was handling the low-key "discussion" (no arguing, no loud voices, just discussion) very well. I agree that a coach shouldn't do anything to antagonize the official after being "tee-d up" but I also think a wise official cuts some slack to a coach in that situation versus looking for more. And I certainly don't think what I saw the coach do with his clipboard fits the term "slamming" when it comes to the force with which he put it down on the chair next to where he was seated. Perhaps that act warrranted another warning but I don't feel it should have drawn another T. Just my opinion based on my years as an official. Judging by the score of the game involving the team you mentioned that was "threatened" I'd assume there was no need for technicals in that game! :lol:

There were certainly a number of "Rabbit-eared" officials at this tournament. Technical fouls were called like they were going out of style, on players and coaches alike. They ejected a coach for "slamming" down his clipboard twice, the first time on the floor at such a distance and velocity that the board didn't even bounce, then on a chair from a distance of about two inches above the seat. They threatened fans with ejection on more than one occasion in the games I watched. One official jumped into a low-keyed discussion between her officiating partner and the winning coach after the game was over (a two point difference) and threatened the coach with a technical foul 3-4 minutes after the game was over and no one else was on the floor. And the discussion was about a call (non-call) make by her partner, one in which she wasn't even involved. To his credit the original official in the discussion walked off when his partner went on her "authority" kick. Basketball officiating is a tough, tough job. The game is so fast-paced and competitive. I know because I officiated for a number of years. But good officials can't have rabbit ears. They have to go about their jobs and ignore the complaints, as long as those complaints don't get totally out of hand, which didn't happen, IMO, in the 10-12 games I observed. And good officials certainly walk away from potential confrontations once they've made their calls, especially after the game is over and it's a less than heated discussion which doesn't even involve them. Hopefully many of those problems were ones of newness to the officiating game and those officials will learn although some of the people involved certainly didn't look "new"! And, to not impugn all the officials at the tournament, I also saw games where there were absolutely no issues. But the overall officiating performance for the tournament was sullied by the several who didn't seem to be able block out the complaints that are going to be there for officials in any BB game they call.

Link: http://www.playkba.com/

The fifth of paNDA's pictures (and doesn't he do a GREAT job with those?!?!) shows Assistant Coaches Chris Douthit (on the end to the right) and Callen Cheesman next.

Do you mean a post player who could average 15 PPG and 10 RPG playing out of position much of the time? A post player who also would average more assists per game than any of the guards on the team and have an assist to turnover ratio better than any of the guards? A post player who actually had 11 assists in a single game? A post player who could actually match Towles 19 and 15 (actual rebound number in Ryle game) with a 19 and 14 of her own?

Following the various threads about younger players playing up and then transferring as well as the various other threads discussing eligibility raises a question. What about a player like Moss who played up as an eight grader at Ryle and has now left the team as a ninth grader. She appears to be a player without a home as long as she stays at Ryle. For those familiar with the rules, as well as with "how things have gone" in the past for players who have changed schools, what are the options for a player in a situation like Moss?

She is still at Ryle but it is pretty obvious that if she wishes to continue her HS BB career she will have to transfer. That will likely require that her family move. Significant, significant decision that affects the entire family which includes four siblings. Sad this thing turned as it did. But probably could have had no other conclusion.

No. She was not suspended at the beginning of the year.

I would suggest you check your "stop action" again. I don't need it. I was there and counted the rebounds myself, and I've been doing this for a LOOOONG time. At times my count on things like this does vary from the "official" book but typically not by much. And I'm not "the parent just wanting to give my child credit". I do understand that sometimes stats people for HS teams may be young people who are new to the technique and true definition of what constitutes a rebound, or an assist (particularly open to some "funky" interpretations), or to whom a turnover should be attributed. But I've followed and scored and kept stats for BB games for a very long time, even through interpretation changes, and I KNOW what I counted for Moss...........12...........just checked my tally again. I'm not trying to be confrontational here but I saw 12 rebounds (and I DO know what a rebound is!) and that's exactly what the Ryle statistician had as well. Perhaps it's a conspiracy!

No doubt! The future is difficult to predict. One never even knows if the make-up of any particular team will be the same from year-to-year. For example, I know for a fact there is a possibilty of one Ryle player not living in the Ryle district next year. That type thing can happen at any school, with the sometime extreme you mentioned occasionally happening.