Ole Kentuckian

Edwards brings a strong skill set to go with his size which makes him hard to stop, especially when SW chooses to post him up. I agree that he doesn't play quite as "fast" as he used to, but I think possibly that part of that may be at his coach's directive - they cannot afford for him to get into foul trouble because SW would suffer greatly with him out of the lineup.

You're absolutely correct. They ARE a match-up nightmare for either WC or Lincoln. And I suspect that both may very well have to play them in the region (or not, depends on whether or WC can beat SW a third time and Lincoln beat Boyle a third time. The possible regional match-ups are many depending on who prevails in their respective district finals. Even more interesting is the prospect that either WC/SW or Lincoln/Boyle might face each other for a FOURTH TIME in the region finals (this, after likely playing a third time already in the district finals).

Nothing against the kids or the school, but that's not right. You have individual "career" records You have individual "career school" records But they are not the same. You hop around playing for two or more schools then that's not fair to the kids at Scott County who played their whole career there. Each player typically (that doesn't transfer) is fated to play with certain teammates & coaches whereas those who transfer may end up playing for different schools who provide the player with the opportunity to play with better teammates and thus play more games by going deeper into the post-season. In any case, for those kids who were Scott County kids all their lives it is a kick in the face to have a transfer come in and be credited as having the most career points at that school. If the school has a lot of transfers then they need to provide two lists for their various career records, one for statistics accrued during their time at Scott County and one for those who have played at other schools also. JMO. Ps: Which kind of makes a commentary regarding any school that would have "this problem".

Yes, it apparently is 'cause I don't see it. EDIT: Yeah, I looked at the link to Kentucky.com and apparently when the boxscore info was entered into your post on BGP it doesn't "roll over" for me where I can see it all (and I'm using a 27" monitor).

Apparently so. Neither team (like many across the state) has used their limit. A shame as I was considering going to see it. I've seen Southwestern multiple times, but would have loved an opportunity to see Hoptown.

They've won 12 of their last 13 (losing only to Wayne County) and have been pretty impressive. I'll grant you that last year was pretty well a disappointment considering they had three of the better players in the region and were the returning 12th Region Champs who had made it to the semi-finals of the State the year prior. Edwards is one of the best players in the region, their point guard has upped his game considerably, they have excellent size up front and their young players have come along nicely. What with they & Wayne plus Lincoln & Boyle both sharing districts and being in opposite brackets in those districts it is very likely the four will all be matching off in the Region. The scary part is that two of them are going to be Runners-up coming out of their respective districts which makes for a very tough first round game for whoever draws either of them.

I don't see Conway's points listed and since the individual totals add up to only 56 points, we can safely assume he totaled 17, correct? Uh well, they've been ranked in the top 10-15 since mid-January by most of the polls and they've won 15 in a row. Exactly what is it that "anyone" isn't doing that indicates Lincoln is a highly regarded team? I personally have the highest regard for Lincoln, Southwestern & Boyle along with Wayne County. The 12th Region has some GOOD basketball teams this season and apparently should in the future also looking at the relative youth of many of our better teams.

SW now has a big game with Hop-town coming up this Saturday afternoon.

Yeah, we're all kind of spinning our wheels on this one. Polls, rankings or ratings are subjective even if they use numbers because somebody got to choose what numbers to plug it and let's face the numbers can favor different teams or the region from which they come. We're now coming to the point where some outstanding teams (that deserve to be in anybody's top 10-15-20-25) will be eliminated from post-season play because they got beat by a very good team in their Region or even District. And guess what? The team that wins each Region and even the State Tournament may or MAY NOT be the best from that region or the state. They were just the best team for this time of the year (not-withstanding injuries, ineligibility, girlfriends problems or God knows what) and may have benefitted greatly by the draw, good or bad luck (not to mention officiating). I appreciate all the effort that BGP puts into doing their rankings and that we can all also usually find the Litratings & Cantrall Ratings on here as well as the combo rating. All add to our enjoyment (or gnashing of teeth if we feel our team has been jobbed :() but are a part of why this board even exists. So thanks and best of luck to everyone in the post-season (except that I hope my team beats your team if we play in post-season!!!). :up:

So you're saying that the 12th region officials are more likely to be prejudicial in how they call the games than the 11th Region officials? Frankly, I consider it pretty much a combination of the differences in how the game is played and the respect given (or not) by the officials to the teams & coaches. The 12th Region officials call the game much closer to what the rulebook calls for whereas the 11th Region (and 6th, 7th, 9th, 4th & some others) allow the play to be considerably rougher, with more contact, reaching & pushing, because they typically have bigger & better athletes (larger population = larger schools = more athletes from which to choose). And if anyone IS prejudicial I would say that 11th official are just as guilty if not more so about totally ignoring or penalizing 12th region teams & their coaches' complaints about calls.

Yep, no way of knowing if the stats are legit or not. I learned when I kept them at the collegiate level prior to beginning to keep score at high school level that you have to account for what happens to the ball on each possession and those numbers need to balance each other out. In other words on a possession one of several things can take place: (1) shot taken & missed [2 or 3 field goal attempt is registered + rebound for individual or team]; (2) shot taken & made [2 or 3 field goal credited to player]; (3) foul called [ball taken out of bounds or FT taken & made or missed + foul charged to player + rebound credited to team or player on last free throw if missed]; (3) ball is turned over by team [player is charged with turnover + opposing player may be credited with steal or not]; (4) technical foul is called on player or bench [if team of player or coach T was called on had the ball a turnover may be charged if possession changed on top of the free throws; if they didn't have the ball then not - but it is also possible that a double T or fouls are charged in which case no turnover is charged depending on the circumstances]. And I haven't covered all of the possibilities, but in any case my point being is that for every possession there is a change in possession and a number assigned to the offensive team and an corresponding number assigned to the defensive to balance out that possession. At the end of the game if you have kept the stats correctly all such numbers will balance each other out. Now how many high school teams do you think do that? FYI, 20 rebounds in a 32 minute high school game by one player is a HUGE number, not impossible, but unlikely. However, some players not only possess the physical tools to help make them great rebounders, they have a desire to seek the ball and an intuitive ability to read the shot angle and know where to be when the missed shot comes off the rim or backboard.

Point taken. I hadn't looked at it from that vantage point.

Certainly, the strength or weakness of the opponent, the running clock, whether the player's coach calls plays for the player to get more shots or simply has his team to continue to play in team mode (rather than help the player pad his numbers), all of these things and more matter a great deal. How many players who hold "records" at high schools played on teams that weren't particularly good so their coach allowed them to take most of the shots and perhaps there wasn't anybody else on the team who could rebound well? Individual records can be impressive, but definitely more so when the record of the team the player is/was on is good. More important than total points, rebounds, assists, etc. is: How many wins, district championships, regional championships and state tournament appearances did the player's teams accrue while he played there? Typically you'll see multiple career 1,0000 or 2,000 career point players from the same era of a team where games were won and championships were achieved because they all made each other better to the exclusion of no one. If a player is truly a great player he'll make his team & teammates better and the college scouts will still know he's good enough to have averaged 5-10 points more a game, but choose not to for the betterment of his team.

(Regarding your post about 11th Region teams & Bryan Station in particular) you don't consider an 89-60 whomping at the hands of Wayne County (at East Jessamine) to be a bad loss?

As opposed to anyone from the 12th going to the 11th and winning???

I'm totally against anybody videoing or taping anything said in the locker room. I'm not condoning any coach getting "out of line", but what videoing or taping are not acceptable. What is "crossing the line" with some parents (especially mothers as many of the fathers are already familiar with being yelled at by coaches) isn't with others. I always go back to the fact that coaches are hired & fired for winning, not for raising one's children to be Rhodes scholars. Winning requires a level of competitiveness that many if not most individuals (children or adults) don't possess and often coaches (head coach or staff) will have to motivate their players by making them aware of their thus far "untapped potential" and/or shortcomings. Look at UK right now. They have a zillion McDonald's All-Americans and it seems most of them don't know how to play basic basketball in many ways. And many certainly aren't bringing a full effort for however many minutes they're on the floor. Laugh if you like, but I know that a large number of them would not be able to stay on our local team if they brought that kind lackadaisical attitude to practice or a game. They would end up transferring to some school that would let them have their way because they are so skilled. Coaches cross the line, then it can be addressed, but recording devices in a locker room - NOPE, not the way to get it done.

Yes, he can - he can flat fill it up when he's on.

Well?????? This just adds to the confusion of who should be ranked where doesn't it? Hard to imagine MoCo losing at home to a lessor ranked team, but almost unbelievable that it happened on Senior Night . . . but then that's what Lexington Catholic allowed Lincoln to come in and do to them this very same night. Not how your final home game is supposed to go. Leaves a really bad taste in your mouth I would think. EDIT ADD: Hmmmn, is it possible the rumored coaching change could have aroused Bryan Station to a higher level?

Wayne County can indeed shoot the rock and once they get going the opposition has a difficult time not getting caught up in a their style of play. However I think what gets overlooked is that despite their fondness for a high tempo game, they can play solid defense. Yes, they do give up points, but when that occurs it is often a 2 for 3 swap (discouraging to make three trips up & down the floor, go three for three from the field and find that you're three points further down than you were), plus as I said it gets their opponent caught up in a faster tempo than benefits them. Outstanding job done tonight by WC's defensive stopper, Jason Perkins. Boyle County's outstanding guard, Tyler was held to eleven points. I give Tyler props for not forcing his shots, but demerits for allowing himself to become frustrated and get into early foul trouble (he hit the bench in the first half with two fouls and was fortunate that the officials hadn't tagged him with a couple more). Boyle stayed true to their game plan the first half, had WC frustrated and prevailed 30-25 (fewest points WC has been held to in the first half), but then WC came out the second half and responded with necessary changes and bombed five threes on Boyle in the third quarter putting up 27 and WC outscored Boyle 44-27 in the second half. The score might have been higher (both ways) but WC pulled the ball out to burn time due to having Blevins with four fouls. Wayne is the real thing, but Boyle is everything I had heard & read. They have some impressive & skilled players. They, Lincoln and Southwestern are the most likely roadblocks to WC winning the region. Lincoln going on the road and beating LexCath is big and makes them the appear to be the biggest threat although I have a ton of respect for SW and the possibility that Wayne might end up playing them four times to win the Region is daunting. You got WC & SW in one district, Lincoln & Boyle in another and a possible wildcard w/East Jessamine. Going to be a very interesting Region.

I was there when WKU decimated UK at Athens, Georgia. And previous to that I watched McDaniels decimate my high school team. He and Wesley Unseld (only 6'8") were undoubtedly the two best big men to ever come out of the Kentucky high school level. Two of the four teams in that year's Final Four had their spot vacated, WKU & Villanova and Villanova's Howard Porter, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four was discovered to have signed a pro contract previous to the NCAA Tournament. But I'll guarantee you that the NCAA will NEVER vacate the winning team's spot. That is sacrosanct and perhaps part of the reason that UCLA program was never touched by NCAA until after John Wooden had been retired for several seasons (then the hammer came down).

Okay, trump this one (in terms of "going back"). In the 1928-29 and 1929-30 seasons Monticello had a player who was 6'11" by the end of his senior year. His name was Brad Lair and in 1929-30 he set the Monticello record for most points scored in a half (with 41 in the 2nd half) and for a game (50) against Burnside in which MHS won 102-11. One would have thought that a team with such a player (and another all-regional player to boot) would have won the state or done exceedingly well, but they lost 37-24, in the semi-finals of their Region to the Kavanaugh team that went on to lose to Corinth in the State Championship game, 22-20. (FYI, this was all researched and is verifiable) I'm not certain but during this time they may have still been using the center jump after every made goal in which case having a player that tall would have been unreasonably advantageous. After he graduated he went to UK to play for Adolph Rupp (see: Kentucky Dateline Articles) but didn't even finish his first semester there and never made it on the floor. After that he went on to briefly play for the "House of David" traveling basketball team. He was indeed that tall, because when I was a young boy I remember him sitting around outside our local pool hall and I was astounded at his height. The other outstanding player for that team ran our local clothing store and he was encyclopedia of knowledge about basketball in Kentucky from the late twenties forward. He was also known to help out the less fortunate players of Monticello and Wayne County with clothes.

There's no perceived reward or benefit gained by a player from being transported to & from games, thus the KHSAA doesn't care how he or she gets to & from the game(s). The school system under which the team the player plays for cares only because there is a question of liability & safety and the coach cars because he wants to make sure they're all at the game when they're supposed to be. "Back in the day" almost everybody got to & from games via whatever private transportation could be organized by volunteers in the community (I transported a majority of my school's varsity basketball team in my 12-passenger van), but as our society became more & more litigious, that began coming to an end and now the vast majority of school transport their student-athletes via school bus or other school-organized means. Some school systems allow their student-athletes to ride home with their parents/family after the game, but the student-athlete must ride on the bus going to the game. I suppose in that case it is tied more to making sure the players arrive at the athletic activity on a timely basis - and I'd guess the parents/family probably sign a waiver of liability in order to be able to bring their son or daughter back home (or where ever they're going).

That the game was played at KCC is key to all that occurred and has been said. Because of that I can't allow this game to heavily influence my thinking about when they will meet again. However WHERE the region will be played IS key.

Curious, in the other "half of those games" does he make calls that adversely affect the opposing teams? Just saying . . .

My understanding is that the current assigning secretary for the 12th Region officials is retiring after this year. That will mean a new assigning secretary and perhaps things will change somewhat. And if in fact, favoritism has in some way caused some of the 12th's better officials to quit, then maybe they'll reconsider and return. Lord knows we need as many good officials as we can get.