Perfect Practice

Has Kyle King been starting for that team all year? I just don't recall that in the games I have seen of the SS 16's. King sounds like another kid from Northern Kentucky in Jake Flesch of Conner. This kid can score when he feels the need (he does hesitate at times though), very good free throw shooter, good penetrator and has the ability to adjust his shot around the rim, and also defends very well. I agree that these SS 16's have very good guards in Gilbert, Schuette, Smith and what I have seen of King. They also seem to represent pretty well. Good for them.

I saw that game as well. I have also seen Stauffer and Thelen a few other times this summer. Jake Thelen may have a better jumpshot than Bobby Stauffer, but I cant say that he is better than him on the offensive end. Stauffer finishes around the rim very well and has the ability to physically dominate his opponent and he did just that against Thelen. Stauffer is also getting very good at putting the ball on the floor from out around the elbow. I also agree with previous statements about Stauffers ability to rebound the basketball. He does that quite well. As far as Thelen, he is a really nice ball player and I am sure he will do very well for CovCath this season. I hope he does and he is a really good kid from what I understand. But for now, I think Thelen and Stauffer are in different leagues. Thelen just needs to get tougher down there. He can do it.

I did see that a King had a nice game against a team called Camp Daryll. If that was Kyle, I cant be sure. He and his brother are tough to tell apart for a spectator. I didnt see him get a whole lot of PT in other games that I watched. But, that might just be because I was watching at the wrong times. There were so many games to watch and walk around too. King is a nice player. Will he be playing with anyone else the rest of the summer?

If you are being surprised by Boone County this year... something is wrong with your schools preparation. Boone County is without a doubt going to be one of the best teams in the 9th. This should be no surprise. They are returning a few seniors (Earls, Cotton, gabbard, popp, etc.) not to mention a few good juniors (Montgomery, Brown, etc.). As long as Gabbard is on the floor, this team will have a shot, and Travis Montgomery (6'4" junior) will really surprise people this year (only because he didnt get much playing time on varsity as a sophomore). It is my opinion that Boone County will be rivaling Highlands for the 2nd best team in NKY, both slightly behind Holmes.

Glad to hear that SS performed well. I am all about any team from KY making some noise in these national tournaments. I had the opportunity to watch some of their games and Gilbert, Smith, and Schuette were performing pretty well from what I could see. One of the Shining Stars programs I watched got beat pretty good, but Im not sure who was on this team. They took like a 20 something point loss. I have heard of this Team Takeover and from what I understand they have a couple of players that have recieved D1 offers. They also won that tournaments Gold bracket if I understand that correctly. So, a loss to them isnt the worst thing that could happen.

Tell what you think of the Ryle Raiders in 2009/2010.

Where do we see the Boone County Rebels going in 2009/2010? What do you think they can do, or need to do to improve from last season?

Lets get some top 5 discussion for 9th region basketball. State who you think will be the top 5 in the 9th region this coming season and why.

I apologize, this thread was under the football blog portion. This was about the SI best sports program. I retract my previous statement. Go on with the talk of field hockey.

This is a football blog. Where did field hockey come from? lol

So a Steelers fan is going to drop the hammer, huh? Go figure. I hope they are ready for the Cincinnati Bengals to drop the hammer on them!

I know that Cooper Downs plays on this team. How is he doing? I also know a Simon Kenton player is on this team, but I forget his name. How is he doing? Who else plays on this team?

I have heard the Eric Gordon All Stars are really good. Hopefully if the Shining Stars-Jackson are local kids, they will be able to get that win. Who all plays for Shining Stars-Jackson?

Who would you like to see the kid play for? He has been with this team for a long time.

Is this the only local tournament this weekend? Where at in Louisville? What all teams will be here?

I agree with you. IMO his fire for the game seems to put him above the other big men in his grade in NKY.

Sounded serious when I first started reading this post. I am glad everything is okay with Vinny. The kid is a really solid player and I am glad he'll get to be on the court.

I report about the kids that I get to watch every highschool season. But, I will also tell you about the kids that I see from all over the state if I get the chance to watch them in a tournament. You say to look at Demlings blog and you will see stuff from kids all over the state, which can be true at times. Rarely do you see anything about any player from up north in the state. But, if you look at his blog on a regular basis, he is generally reporting info about kids from the DSAS or Indiana Elite teams. My point to this whole thing was this: If your going to write a report about kids to look out for over the summer and those same kids are performing really well, then you should see it as your duty as a reporter to give an update once in a while. You know, for people who dont have the luxury to get out to each tournament over the summer. Instead, we hear about and see the same kids on the blog every week. The Shining Stars 16's had a heck of a tournament and he barely said 2 words about them. That team is stacked. The NKY Bulldogs took down the best team in the state. Why no report? Demling is a good writer and I read his pieces on a regular basis. But, It is my opinion, and doesnt have to be yours, that Demling is bias towards certain teams and players. Just like Pat Forde is a Louisville homer! :thumb:

Highlands fans, how do you feel abou this?

He does do a good job. A really good job of covering the kids that he does cover. I also enjoy reading his blog becase I like to know about all the local kids and I hope they all achieve high success. I know that Jody Demling does a lot for many different kids in regards to publicity and getting their names out there. I just think that sometimes he focuses a tad to much on guys that are being talked about nationally. He seems to focus on the exact same kids in each blog. There are other kids out there that are making noise. I dont mean to sound like a Demling-hater by any means. It just seems that if you are going to mention a kid, you should follow up on them, thats all.

Well a mention is good. But, dont you think that some follow up would be the just thing to do. They kids were mentioned and some of them are performing fanstatically, yet they get no further word. Some people may construe that is them not performing well, when in fact, they are.

I could not agree more with you here. I saw all of these kids play in the Adidas It Takes Five and HoopFest. They all seemed to be really good or atleast really solid players. Some of them deserve more pub then they are getting IMO.

Then why mention kids to look out for at the beginning of the summer. Then those kids perform and they get no mention. It makes it seem like they arent performing well, when in reality they are, they just dont get mentioned.

This could be considered an exception if your team isnt playing. But, if you start with a team and they are playing, where is the loyalty? And, most of these kids transfer to different teams because of the organization or name, but then they sit behind other players. This doesnt help them get better. And, lets not kid ourselves. It's very much about winning for the players. If it wasnt, there would be many more teams with lesser talent on each team, and less websites showing record information and which tournaments were won.

I hope they do! The more elite competition the better IMO.