Ole Kentuckian

1. Nothing I said in any way placed "blame" on the officials, yet you continued to make an issue of it. I don't think anyone who knows the game would disagree with anything I said. 2. Depending on the opponent and WC's style of play a lot fouls may be called. As I said after the Dunbar game, the coach was saying very little regarding the fouls when Dunbar was up for all of the first half and into the third quarter. Only after WC made it into a game and the fouls mattered did he (and the Dunbar fans) complain. FYI, the single biggest problem Dunbar had in fouling was they couldn't keep both hands off of whomever they were guarding. 3. WC's fans are loud & proud. In fact we outnumber our opponent's crowds often when we go on the road much to their distaste. At least we continue to support our team. It seems as most gyms are nowhere near as full as they used to be. The "physicality" of a game differs in the viewers' eyes. Bodying up is one thing while hacking across the arms and over the back is another, but I'm not concerned about that because WC has played four games with 6th/7th Region officiating, two with 11th Region officiating, two with 14th Region officiating and one with Indiana officiating.

Gee, I don't see where I said anything about the officiating being "poor". My insinuation is that: (1) home teams (which Scott County was in the first game they played) typically do better as any point spread will prove out; and (2) teams playing within their home region vs. out-of-region teams will generally receive the benefit of the doubt on some calls (and vice versa). My saying this doesn't infer that any region's officials are homers (although some certainly are), rather that they're human, PLUS the style of play allowed in one region is often different than what you see in another. Bring Scott County down to Lincoln County to play Wayne County where we'll have 12th Region officials (and the game will be called as it is usually played in the 12th Region) and let's see how that goes. Okay bring on the smart-aleck remarks now.

According to BC's numbers game-by-game Tyler's rebound totals have been: 5, 9, 14, 7, 6, 9, 10, 8, 13, 4, 6, 2, 7, 4, 9, 8, *, 10, 10, 10, 10, 6, & 11 totaling 188 for an average of 8.55 rebounds per game if you divide the 188 by 22. If you divide by 24 you get 7.8 RPG. For some reason no rebounds are listed for him in the first game BC played and an "*" is listed for the game against Lincoln played at Lincoln. The first game BC had 44 team rebounds and the individual totals come to 38. That leaves another 6 rebounds unaccounted for that could be anybody's, team rebounds or Tyler's. The Lincoln game BC had 31 team rebounds and the individual totals are 24 leaving 7 rebounds unaccounted for. There should be a rebound for every missed shot including free throws, but I'm not going to begin to clarify all the particularities involving all of that other than to say that there will most likely be a certain number of "team rebounds" and "dead ball rebounds" in each game. Having said all that (because I'm a stats geek), both Tyler and Elkins are indeed a force around the goal, in rebounding and shot blocking.

Final. I got back from Lexington too late to care about checking BGP (and watched end of UK game on DVR) but why wasn't this posted by someone?

First game played at Scott County with 11th Region officials. Scott wins by 2. Second game played at Lafayette with 11th Region officials (semi-neutral conditions). Wayne wins by 1. Draw your own conclusions.

They're comin' so watch out of the way.

The last couple of games I've watched SW play I felt Coach Wright was doing a whole lot of ranting at officials & players and not much actual coaching. I don't know if ky playermaker was insinuating that the coach was "holding back" on running offensive or defensive schemes to avoid allowing his opposition to better learn how to play SW, but maybe that's what he's doing. if so, I question the end result of last night's contest on his players.

Going to be a VERY INTERESTING REGION.

At the beginning of the season I was very concerned about losing Jason Perkins to graduation because he was the glue guy for the team, but it is now appearing that each WC player is stepping up their game, broadening their contributions and skills which is making it more difficult for opponents to beat them by simply choosing one or two players on which to focus most of their attention. Woods, Blevins and Stearns can play with anyone in the Region while Gillespie has made himself into a much more versatile contributor (& intimidator) and the freshman Baker shows signs of being a force at times. Plus WC is now developing some depth off the bench which will be a huge help down the stretch. The Cards have a shot at achieving something only one other 12th Region team has ever achieved - winning three Regional Titles in a row (and four in five years). The great Monticello teams of 1958-59-60 were the first & thus far only team to win three in a row.

SW shadowed Woods tight so Stearns ripped SW for 21 the first half making mid-range jumpers (ended up with 29 for game) and WC led 40-28 at the end of the half. SW had a brief flurry early in the third, but then starting late in that quarter Woods went to work and since SW choose to play him tight on the perimeter he dribbled, drove and drew fouls ending up scoring 30 points as SW couldn't catch up for WC making their free throws. At this point it doesn't much matter who has to play McCreary County (they'll likely be tied and have to flip for the bye) because the District is at Wayne and SW certainly can't be happy about having to go back there.

WC's "big three" were averaging roughly 62 ppg entering the Scott County game. They totaled 63 in this game which indicates that Scott County placed a premium on keeping Woods from getting shots which led to Stearns & Blevins getting more opportunities which they made good use of. However, WC obviously was subpar on keeping Scott County off the offensive boards which killed them. And then at the end of the game they didn't make their free throws and that's a must. And I agree that Scott County likely played one of their better games of the season but I would expect no less as I'm sure that Coach Hicks did not want Coach Woods to get the best of him in this face-off.

During the late seventies Coach Woods & Coach Hicks played on the same slow pitch softball team called the Pineville (or "Doc's") Raiders - Rodney as SS and Billy as P. Billy's brother, Herschel, also played on the team along with some of the best athletes in Southeastern Kentucky. They won a couple of state championships and you could see in them back then that they both were leaders & winners. Since becoming coaches they would never schedule each other intentionally, but now here they are playing in the finals of the Toyota and then they'll play again in two weeks at the Jock Sutherland Classic at Lafayette. Two great coaches who are among the very best in the state.

1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 18 12 13 16 = 59 Rockcastle Co 17 31 34 12 = 94 Wayne Co Wayne got off to a slow start, down one and with two fouls each on Woods & Blevins at the end of the first quarter, but they kicked it in gear the second quarter and by the end of the third quarter it had been a record setting night for Cardinal basketball. Thru the first three quarters Peyton Woods drilled 11 threes, 2 twos and 3 free throws for 40 points. The 11 threes were a new WC record and he also now holds the record for most threes made in a season. Also making strong contributions were the Cards other 12th Region stand-outs, Blevins with 17 and Stearns with 20. Blevins added 5 threes, Stearns 2 and Bertram 2 for a game total of 20 for WC. The starters sat out all of the fourth quarter. Wayne is now 12-4 and appear to be gelling into form approaching their effort of last season.

Actually you do come off as a sore loser.

I grow tired of reading the ranting & raving about "getting screwed on the road". I have news for you - when you go on the road out of the region (or even in region) you are NOT going to get the benefit of the doubt. The list of times that WC has gone on the road (out of region) and "gotten screwed" is long but I typically don't get all that bent out of shape over it (nor does our coach). You know that it is going to be that way because the officials are graded by the home team coaches, not the visiting coaches. So you "up your game" and do whatever is necessary to overcome such home court advantages. SIDE NOTE: Coach Woods used to have it in all of his contracts that the officials for games with out-of-region teams would use the officials from the visiting team. Why? Because that tended to level the playing field a great deal. But because the officials didn't like the extra travel and some of the teams didn't like having to pay for the additional cost Coach Woods wasn't able to continue it. Plus from observing last night's game I suppose that in the 11th Region they allow placement of two hands on the opponent (w/o calling a foul) because Dunbar did that a lot and it was called (as the rulebook dictates). So the 12th Region officials called it when Dunbar put the second hand on the offensive player. Dunbar continued to foul both halves and paid it no heed because their bench is deep (& talented) and they were comfortably ahead much of the time. Then Wayne County began playing stiffer defense and Dunbar started committing turnovers and taking bad shots and suddenly all of the fouls mattered. Also in the first half and early part of the third quarter Dunbar was shooting easy & comfortable, feeling no pressure and making an extremely high percentage of their shots. Then the game got tight and the shots quit falling as frequently. I was greatly impressed by the Dunbar team. Williams is indeed a player and had he not had to make an emergency exit (to visit the rest room) for a brief period or had that last second shot by Dunbar fallen, the result could have been different. Wayne County was extremely fortunate to play so poorly early and manage to pull out a win. Hopefully they will learn a lesson from it. POSTNOTE: I find it hilarious that anyone would mention Clay County regarding this topic (the 'home team' having an edge with the officials). For as long as I have followed the game (going on six decades) it has been legendary that you do not go to Clay County and win. When Bobby Keith was coach and in his prime, the very best teams from Lexington, Louisville & elsewhere would foolishly make the trip to Manchester and come away having sustained a loss and promising themselves they would never return.

The only comment I'll make about this thread is that I see way too much commenting directly about individual kids, calling them out (by name) for how great they are or aren't. I can only imagine how Coach Jackson & Coach Adams must feel about seeing their kids picked apart like this. Guys, you need to support your teams and the players, but leave the individual coaching to the coaches.

Wayne had 84 thru three quarters and Woods had thirty leaving the game before the end of the quarter. They're approaching the level of play we saw them exhibit last season except that they're all becoming better teammates in the process. They had to have had close to thirty assists tonight.

:sarcastic: Interesting statements. I strongly suspect any team that has a highly successful season does very well at home (as well as on the road). So are either or both of you suggesting that WC gets more breaks at their place than everybody else gets at their place (in region or out)? First I have to say that any team who plays out of region goes to the other team's gym knowing that the officials are graded by the home team's coach and not by their coach. You EXPECT that it is highly unlikely you'll get a 50/50 called game. Human nature dictates otherwise. And if you feel WC gets more than their share of breaks, then how come over the past 21 seasons during which time Wayne County has won eight Regional Titles (NONE of which were played at WC in '94, '95, '97, '02, '04, '11, '13 & '14) and gone 24-0 on other regional teams' floors to win those titles . . . AND remember, all regional games are called by out of region officials? Sure sounds an awfully lot like sour grapes to me. :no:

December 9th...Wayne County @ Lincoln County December 12th...Wayne County @ Southwestern These two early games will give us an idea of how three of what I consider the top four teams in the region will match up. Wayne County returns their "big three", but lost their best defensive player (also their glue guy) and two key subs. Lincoln County returns their two best players and will host the region come March. Southwestern lost their best all-around player but returns everyone else including plus some additions. Unfortunately for us fans Boyle County doesn't play any of these three until January. The 12th Region will be a war all season long and I'm not sure we'll have a firm idea if there will be a prohibitive favorite when we enter post-season play. The 12th is S-T-R-O-N-G this year and has a surplus of outstanding players. It will be exciting!

I'm pretty sure that the HL asks all of the coaches to vote on All State, POY and COY. However if you've been one of the people who've noticed that only 96 (just at one-third of all teams) coaches submitted their players' stats to the KHSAA then you already know that a huge percentage of the coaches in this state have a bad case of apathy when it comes to these things. Not sure if they don't care, lazy, too uninformed or if this just serves as an example of why so many of them don't do a better job of coaching, period. Bottom line, it seems that the same coaches who are involved in their regional & state coaches' associations and HOF's are the same ones who traditionally have their team & players competing for district, region & state honors. The worst aspect of this is that your team can have a great coach who does an excellent job but most of the other coaches in your region don't, thus you, your team and your players don't get those coaches' support when it comes to awards recognition like this.

Rodney Woods, Wayne County NOTE: Voted on by the coaches

Player of the Year - Quentin Snider FIRST TEAM Quentin Snider, Ballard Kelan Martin, Ballard Jackson Davis, Lafayette Camron Justice, Knott Central Justin Johnson, Perry Central Shane Hall, Johnson Central Trent Gilbert, Scott County James Bolden, Holmes Brandon Hatton, Dixie Heights Jordan Green, Henry Clay SECOND TEAM Lamontray Harris, PRP Raymond Spalding, Trinity Nick Ruthsatz, Covington Cathollic Quentin Goodin, Taylor County Brent Bach, Augusta Jaqualis Matlock, Hopkinsville Peyton Woods, Wayne County Braxton Beverly, Perry Central Troy Steward, Fleming County Bryan Wallace, Montgomery County Honorable Mention Eli Boggs, Woodford County Kam Chumbler, McCracken County Jacob Conway, Lincoln County Christian Cunningham, Cordia Justin Edwards, Southwestern Tra Edwards, Hopkinsville Evan Hall, Knott Central Josh Hollan, Hazard Aric Holman, Owensboro Patrick Hubert, St. Mary Chris Hudson, Hazard Antonio McDaniels, PRP Drew McDonald, Newport Central Catholic Wes Noble, Breathitt County Zack Pangallo, Newport Central Catholic Daulton Peters, West Jessamine Seivon Schooling, Bardstown Ralphie Stone, Collins Caleb Wiggington, Taylor County Keon Williams, John Hardin Eli Wright, Apollo NOTE: Listed in order based on coaches' voting (I assume that pertains only to the first & second teams as the Honorable Mention are listed in alphabetical order).

Don't care where Rondo was ranked coming out of high school because I saw him play as a junior and as a senior. As a junior at Eastern he scored 46 points against us (and no, he didn't have a great outside shot then), but we won 88-83 in the 5th 3rd at LexCath. The following season we played Oak Hill when they had him, Josh Smith (the one who went directly to the NBA) and several other high school greats and were down by only single digits at halftime, but the second half they put on a show. Rondo would fly down the court and throw the ball up against the backboard so Smith could follow in with a slam dunk. As badly as I wanted our team to beat Rondo's team I could not help but admire and be astounded at his skills as they rolled to a 94-60 win (we were 28-5 that season and ranked in the top ten). I could see that Rondo was something special and as a UK fan prayed he would go to UK, but knew he preferred UL because of Pitino's style of play. Fortunately for UK Pitino was sure he was going to get Sebastian Telfair (didn't-he went pro) so Tubby got him. While I was happy (then) both Rondo, his family & supporters and I were extremely unhappy thereafter as Tubby wasn't having any of what Rondo had to offer. He wanted Rondo to cut his game back to 5/10 speed instead of 10/10 speed and so Rondo went pro after two years of that foolishness (more testimony as to why Tubby disliked recruiting and coaching blue chip players and UK made the Final Four under him only once). Was he a great shooter in high school? No. But I have seen very few who could control and handle the ball and his team like him. When he left for the NBA I told my closest friend that he would be a star there and they didn't believe it because Tubby had mishandled him so badly that many misjudged his abilities and felt he would flop in the pros. I can't speak to Russell's abilities, but I can tell you that Rondo was a unique player who had unique skills and was SMART about how to play the game - in high school. I've seen nothing else like him at the high school level.

??? PP2, I don't think we disagree at all. I just pointed out (in my last post) that Taylor's value goes up when he has better players playing along side him because they can convert his passes whereas weaker teammates won't.

I don't think we disagree on all that much either. However, I've seen what I'm touting regarding players averaging more ppg when there are fewer other offensive options on the team many, many times. Example: In 2004, Wayne County won the region with a 28-5 record. Leading the team in scoring were Tyrone Green (All-State), Jerrod Gibbons and Stephen Sexton, in that order. The following year Green, Gibbons & others were gone and Sexton was left to play with a bunch of much younger players and the team was 8-21 and lost in the first round of the District. Yet he scored 25.8 ppg and was All-State. Example: UK's 2012 team where the top scorer averaged 14.2 and the number six guy averaged 9.9. Nobody averaged "All American" numbers, but all averaged essentially double-figures, and Davis & MKG still made All American. Yet Davis, MKG, Jones & Lamb all could have easily averaged 20 ppg or more had they been the offensive focus of the team for which they played. Sharing the scoring makes for a great team (look at how much UK's outside shooting has improved since everyone on the inside or who drives learned to kick it out). Relying on one guy is dangerous. Not doing so played a huge part of why WC was so successful this season until the combination of some players having off games (undoubtedly some credit due to an excellent defense effort) along with the of WC's other two scoring threats getting hit with fouls and playing the fewest minutes of their season. Where you're 100% correct is that with a player like Tim Taylor, he will shine bigger because when he doesn't have good players to which to distribute his passes, then they won't score and he won't get assists. Both he and his coach would be upset watching the ball go through their hands and opportunities go a wasting (what happened to Steven Sexton his senior year-WC fans never wanted him to pass because nobody else on that team could be depended upon to score if he gave it to them).