wheelhouse

I feel another thread about transfers and eligibility approaching....

I absolutely get what you're saying, but I think you may be using too broad a brush here. I hang out regularly with a group of parents in this demographic -- we're all happy about the possibility of our boys playing some/any level of college ball and earning scholarship money by doing so. If not, trust me, each of our families has a Plan B. More accurately, we have Plans B through J or K.

Actually, a little homework will reveal that I specifically used the phrase "educated guess" when asking for information on Ryle, Dixie, Lloyd, and Ludlow -- and that is precisely what Walter provided. Yes, BGP can be frustrating when we feel someone omitted something important, but let's leave the outrage for life's bigger problems.

While there's nothing wrong with a few trips down memory lane, this thread is still missing a few of next year's projected starting lineups. Ryle, Lloyd, Dixie, Ludlow -- any folks out there with educated guesses?

Basketball analytics experts like the folks at krossover.com have demonstrated for some time that college and professional players'/teams' shooting percentages are significantly higher early in the clock. Though it's not a gimme, this does suggest that when a high-school team holds the ball way beyond the typical college shot-clock limit, their odds are growing worse by the second. I'm sure there are multiple factors involved, but it's just a thought

Point very well taken, but I would hesitate to characterize hold-back critics as wannabes or chronic complainers. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll admit that I am uncomfortable with hold-backs on the basis of athletics even though I absolutely respect any family's right to do so. My discomfort stems from the fact that high-school sports are officially listed as extracurricular activities. By definition, "extracurricular" means "outside the regular curriculum or program of courses"; in other words, they supposedly are not the main focus of any student's high school experience -- so when someone takes an action that puts athletics ahead of academics, or even on par with academics, it bothers me. At the same time, I'm not one to judge; if sports are a kid's best chance at paying for a college education, or if they are a point of personal pride with a particular student-athlete or family, I definitely get it. I just don't want to be branded as a whiner just because I'm not a huge fan of the practice.

It think it was Rick Pitino who once remarked that hard work is a talent; that statement certainly applies to Liam. Congrats to him, and best of luck at MSJU!

Maybe someone could start a thread about which qualities they think Mr. Basketball entails or a thread about physical play vs. dirty play. In the meantime, I'd like to read more about who's scouting Dorian Henry and what they're seeing. Thanks in advance.

By sheer coincidence I was discussing this very topic with a university admissions director this morning. This may not apply across the board, but for large public universities that are not open-admission schools, the three main criteria (in no particular order) apparently are class rank (percentile more than numeric unless you're valedictorian or salutatorian), ACT scores, and both unweighted and weighted GPA. Sorry for continuing the thread diversion, but I thought this information might be helpful in general.

This debate has been simmering for several decades among professional educators and scholars alike. One recent study -- Public Schools Outperform Private Schools, Book Says - Education Week has a good review -- suggests that private schools' perceived "edge" may be due to the relatively high socioeconomic status enjoyed by many of the families who tend to favor a private school education. If the students/families are narrowed down to a similar set of demographics across the board, then apparently public schools do just fine and may even display a slight advantage. I have no horse in this race, but like others on this thread I'm not comfortable with the idea that any school has an exclusive claim to excellence. Each of us has a right to school pride -- just not at the expense of others' dignity.

If he attends UC then his first two assignments would likely be the SGs from Fairmont State and then Bellarmine. Hey, he might end up guarding Brent Bach!

Add Butler and Purdue to the list of Cumberland's offers. And not to contradict BGP wisdom on Jarron, but local college conversations put him at the 2.

There's a big, big difference between ranking or critiquing players and what you're doing here. Would you be okay with a thread entitled, "WANTED! New Point Guard at [supply name] High School"?

Just before Rondo was traded some television sports show displayed a stat that amounted to his assist opportunities per game -- in other words, passes that reached the hands of players with scoring opportunities regardless of outcome. For the life of me I can't remember the title of the category nor can I find any reference to it online, but even given the subjective nature of such numbers I wish there were a way to track them for young, developing point guards.

The ref didn't make any cheap comments about jawing at assistant coaches. Honestly?

According to a member of the family, Ian has left the Holmes team but no official transfer to another school has occurred yet. This type of unsubstantiated rumor can really hurt a kid, so let's all please be careful.

This question nagged me for years so I asked a local college coach. He claims that virtually any defense designed to disguise or compensate for the (defending) team's obvious weakness can be called a "gimmick" or "junk" defense.

Starting five were Avery, McClendon, Bolden, Mullins, Covington.

Every point here is well-considered and absolutely accurate, but a couple of Bulldogs did play good defense last night, including an extended stretch in the second period when, if I'm not mistaken, Tisdale only had one bucket. Unfortunately, these particular Holmes players weren't big scorers so there won't be much discussion of their work -- there's no stat line for how many screens a player fights through per game. Maybe I'm too old-school, but the role of the stopper doesn't seem to get much love these days. And it's still true that Holmes needs to adjust and improve overall on the defensive end or this could be a long winter.

Those are definitely the published times, but a Holmes player gave me the 5:30/7:00 schedule. The way I see it, if we arrive at 5:30 and the game starts at 6:00 it's not a problem. If we arrive at 6:00 and the game's at 5:30, well....

Yup. From what I heard it's JV at 5:30 and Varsity at 7:00, but I defer to anyone who may know better.

Of course, time will tell -- that is the point of any preseason poll. In the meantime, "whatever" is a response most folks abandon right after middle school.

The thread title is "Kentucky vs. Ohio" but the discussion seems primarily to be about NKY vs. Cincinnati, plus it seems to be about specific high school match-ups as opposed to statewide talent. Now, maybe that's the whole point, in which case it's pretty hard to reach a decisive conclusion. On the other hand, if national AAU rankings are any indicator then Ohio can claim an edge.

I was in attendance and pretty up-close for the varsity and JV contests this past Tuesday -- both teams and both staffs clearly were treating this like a regular-season game, and that perception has been reinforced by the attitudes and behaviors of Holmes players during the rest of the week. We all expect players and squads to improve as the season unfolds, but right now the rankings for Scott Cty. and Holmes seem perfectly reasonable unless 1) you want to quibble about their rank relative to one another or 2) you've witnessed most or all early scrimmages involving ranked teams.

As they say, these are good problems to have. By the way -- and I apologize for a brief thread diversion -- according to one of the Holmes players, Rob Tubbs is attending Purcell Marian. Confirm?