bluenation12

Let's get all the bias out of the comments. I'm a neutral observer and say the Middlesboro has more talent and the better team. The question mark from them is their lackluster schedule and I think that will hurt them when it get's crunch time during district and regional play. Then again.... that's why they play the games and were not allowed to pick the winners on paper! :idunno:

Does anyone one know of middle school teams that will be playing in the BCI state tournament or the KBA middle school state tournaments? I believe Summit View 8th grade is playing in one. Not sure which. Any other NKY teams or Eastern Ky teams?

Curious what everyone thinks regarding how important it is for each coach to develop their respective bench throughout the year? In Middle School ball.... Do you identify 5 - 8 top kids and focus on them or should you look to develop most, if not all, the kids on your team? Who is the best?

In the end..... just play. I will say that kids held back and playing against younger players, at a young age, have an advantage. The older they get that physical advantage slips away as they all mature.

SK by 15. SK is starting to look good at times. Once they all find their roles and start developing consistency then they will be alright.

Re-read the sections you highlighted. No where does it state that the kid doesn't have potential. Just pointing out how they play now. I absolutely agree that no one knows how these kids will grow and mature. In fact, I believe the kids that haven't matured yet are the one's to watch.

I agree, that is a really competitive league and it will be wide open. I think it may go deeper than 5. The Wolfpack is the best team and it sounds like the Warriors are right there with them. Beyond that, I believe just about anyteam out there can win on any given night. It will be a fun tourney to watch.

In the end you have to lace them up. I think some of you have mis-understood the earlier post I submitted. My point is that 15 year old playing well against kids 1 1/2 or 2 years younger is not as good as everyone wants to believe. In a few years when these younger kids mature then you may see a leveling of the field. The younger kids need to keep competing and in due time, when their bodies mature, they may be the best player on the court. I will not allow my son to 'play down'. Rather, I challenge him to play against tougher and older competition. In the end, I think that is what will make him better. Him running around beating his chest saying I dominated a kid two years younger doesn't do a whole lot.

Props to Twenhofel and St Mary's. I heard someone say it was a great game. Strange that Twenhofel didn't play much of their bench. I was told that St. Mary's went 9 or 10 deep. Someone said that they didn't even sub in the 2nd half?? Maybe coach is driving a point about something home to his team.

I've watched Highlands, Campbell Co, St Marys, Summit, Woodland and Twenhofel play several games. They all have talented players so it will be interesting watching them grow thru the years to come. Woodland has a lot of upside if their BIGs continue to develope. IMO they are usually the last to come around and a few of them are starting to look pretty impressive. There guard play will need to improve. I look for a PG to take care of the ball, distribute and run the team. I haven't seen that from any of there players thus far. That's different from just getting the ball up the floor. Then again, there aren't many at this age that display that kind of leadership. St Mary's has a few really nice players. They play hard and play together. Camp. Co's big kid should continue to grow and mature. Not a strong shooting team. Summit has some skilled players. There guard play hasn't been the strongest. Again, I look for a PG to run the show. One guard is not physical at all and seems to shy from any physical contact. Just doesn't breakdown a bigger kid against him at all. That will be tougher for him as he gets older. The other one has a lot of potential. He plays hard just needs to control his temper. I like that fire by the way. I believe he will go to Scot? There BIGs aren't very good. sorry! Just one persons opinion. I believe there team splits into several HS next year. Highlands seems to be well rounded. They can go about 7 maybe 8 deep. If those kids find what it takes then they may develope into something nice. Twenhofel is very talented and very deep. One guard can flat out shoot it. Doesn't like to play D. There BIGs are slow but a few of them will play physical. They have a bench that is very quick and can play as well. They will also split between several HS's from what I understand. SK, Scott, Bishop B., Walton, Beechwood to name a few.

The officials are fine and certified. You are right, officials have a thankless job and will always be 1/2 right. If the calling was 7 to 1 then I find it hard to believe the coach on the end of the 1 is complaining. What did he want? More fouls called on his team? I wasn't there but I know their coach very well. Not the strongest X and O coach out there. I commend him though for putting time in with the kids and doing the best he can. The Summit kids are not very disciplined. I believe this has been pointed out by some of there parents in this forum in the past. The kids need to recognize their weaknesses and work to improve them. I won't get into each of their strengths and weaknesses but unless they change that then you will start seeing them slip behind the rest of the players in Northern Ky. I believe they were undefeated as 6th graders? Fell apart last year when CM transferred and now this years team just doesn't have much size or discipline.

Better yet. Why don't they just play within an age group and forget the grades? It's funny how I hear certain kids are dominant and 'just in the 8th grade' but if you have closer examination most have been held back or fell a grade. I watched a team the other evening in Middle school and someone noted how a particular PG looked. He is 15 years old playing against a 13 year old. I don't know about you guys but I'm not feeling very dominant if I'm the 15 year old, especially if I'm not dominating. Lace'em up against guys your own age and see where it stands. This kid that's 15? Well after careful research, he would be the oldest kid on his HS freshmen team. The kid would be considered an older Freshmen. So in the scheme of things, he's not really that good. Imagine that 13 year old when he becomes a freshmen or Sophomore. I think he is probably the better player in the long run.

I agree. Two games is not a lot for these kids. I watched Summit play (AAU Bulls) the NKY Flight a week ago (Mostly 2nd and 3rd team kids from Twenhofel) and the Flight just finished a tournament and the kids played 7 games in 3 days. My point is that wasn't used as an excuse and the Flight took the Bulls (Summit) to the wire with all of their kids. Great game to watch and would be even better if you didn't have one team extremely tired. By the way, did I mention that was never used as an excuse? Two games? Naaaa.... don't even try that as an excuse

Twenhofel should be able to handle St. Mary's. Twenhofel has a deep team that can allow them to really match up with about anyone. The coach seems to be reluctant to go with the speed he has on the bench. He put them in for a two minute segment in their first match up against St. Mary's and they really seemed to open it up. They just couldn't stay in front of the Twen. players. Their coach needs to try a few different lineups in the game and trust his eyes. They seemed to be too comfy with some of the same kids and haven't realized that the others on his bench may be able to push them now. There are a lot of good teams out there so its going to be fun watching it all play out this year.

Twenhofel's 8th grade team pretty much controlled the entire game against St. Mary's. Not a close game at all. They appear to be the best team playing right now. I have watched them play several times and it appears that he goes nearlly 15 deep. I think his second and third team may be better than his first. His first team doesn't have a lot of speed. Anyway, I would like to see an intra-squad scrimmage. I believe it would be tough all the way around. Twenhofel def. has the deepest team I have seen but that doesn't necessarily translate into wins. You can only put 5 on the floor and their coach seems to be reluctant to play his bench. Good kids sitting.