ESPNdeux

Movement on offense in the 2nd half and the way they defended the final play come to mind... Still can't figure out why Shaq Thomas was on Brimah leaving Ellis on Hamilton on the last play. That allowed the big/small switch and gave Boatright the matchup to get the step back. And when Boatright came off the ball screen you had to jump him and double, Force the ball out of his hands and make someone other than their best player beat you.

A lot of head scratchers in this one...

Were they out of time outs?

Uh... What happened at the end?

It's very easy to say to build a culture at a small school, but you have to have buy in and good attitudes from your players as well. It's not like these coaches can just throw in the next guy if one isn't doing what he should and he will have anywhere near as much talent. In some cases in these schools, there is no 'next guy.' It's a one man depth chart at some positions... When you have 20-25 kids playing a game where you field 11, that's how it goes.

While this point may not be totally off base, you have to look at the context... Lickert won 13 games in 3 years at a school that had won less than a handful in the half dozen years before and then the team that he left (built) won 8 games and was ranked in the top 10 in the state. That was quite an accomplishment and his move up the coaching ladder was undoubtedly warranted.

I'm not sure the smallest school to win the state tournament is relevant if it is before the days of mass consolidations. Because the playing field now is not what it was then. Just saying.

There still is no response here to anything quoted... So... Yeah... I gave you numbers that support the argument, you returned with... nothing. So... Do you think our small class designation should be larger than all surrounding states? Should the schools with less than 300 kids just wallow in their pity? Close their doors? Cancel their seasons? No wait, I know, they should start a tournament called the "Middling School Tournament" because their enrollments are low. Or this one could adapt to provide what they promise to, which is a small school tournament.

:lol2:... Yeah I see your point there definitely...

Do you think Ludlow would like to have that opportunity to compete like that more than once every 10-15 years?

Why do you have to insult the smaller schools with name calling? You know, at one point, the entire idea of the All A Classic was probably laughed at as the Kentucky Little Guys Tournament Championship or whatever else you say about it by the teams left out. Look what became of it. Now, it's time to adapt to serve it's originally and still stated intended purpose. This thing is called the All A Classic but you don't get All A teams. You don't see advertisements for NCAA games when NAIA teams are playing....

Um... No... The numbers I posted are 4 grade totals. You can find them here (http://www.khsaa.org/reports/enrollments/20112012schoolenrollmenttotalsbyalpha.pdf) Secondly, the big school enrollment numbers have nothing to do with this. You are quick to point out that the schools are (only) 1/3rd the size of the big schools... But how about the ones further down the list that are 1/10th the size of the big schools. Or even 1/3rd the size of the 'big' A schools. Look at surrounding states that actually do class basketball.... the cutoff for small school class is almost universally around the 280-300 range... Right where this one should be. Again, if we're calling it the All A Classic, lets make it for the truly small schools.

Since HC and the 9th are the ones primarily mentioned on this thread... from most recent enrollment #'s posted via KHSAA of the 12 schools that play in that tournament... Lloyd Memorial- 558 St. Henry- 511 Newport- 448 Holy Cross (Covington)- 431 Newport Catholic-393 Beechwood-368 Ludlow-274 Bellevue- 227 Dayton- 222 Covington Latin- 201 Villa- 176 Heritage- 45 There is a clear divide and correlation of success of the top 6 vs the bottom 6... Can anyone tell me the last time a school from the bottom 6 won the regional All A? How bout advanced to a final? Or even a semi final? When was the last time one of the bottom 6 did it in consecutive years? But it's for the small schools? Right?

Except the schools playing in it now are not the small schools...

I believe that right now the current set up for the all A is 'the smallest ____ (number) schools'... Not even an enrollment cutoff number.

:lol2: This is the most comical statement I've read on this thread yet, because I know factually I could call people 'from' almost all of those schools you are describing right now and they would agree that the structure is flawed.

John Thornton was quoted as saying that he and the Bengals both regretted that they didn't 'work harder' at getting a deal done for him to be here...

Rumors are Zimmer and the Vikings are after him as well... Hate to say this because you don't want to jinx it, but you gotta think the Bengals are the favorites if the money is right... By all accounts, he's still got a lot of friends in the DLine room...

Why are you diverting the conversation to a totally different topic? Bottom line? Most can see the All A as currently constructed is broken.

1. Who cares if it fills the gym? 2. Yes I do think schools the size of Ludlow would fill the gym. I also think you could rob a bank in those towns on that night because there would be no one left. But it would be the thrill for those schools/kids.

All of this is fine and dandy, and I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but all of this fluff distorts what was the A's original purpose. Personally, I don't see why they couldn't designate a scholarship with a smaller amount of schools. May it be less of a scholarship? Sure. But it all counts.

To respond to this, I agree (and it's factual) that the A was not originally intended for public schools only. While some schools by the old 4 class system would be eligible, some would not. The idea that cutting the enrollment max number screwing up the regional assignments is flawed, because the A isn't affiliated with the KHSAA. The simple solution is to cap the enrollment number, look at the geography of the schools, and draw your own regional lines. It could exist on a statewide level if there were the appropriate adjustments made.

I honestly was surprised Holmes didn't try some zone the way they were getting beat off the dribble. If you're a coach and your best player is iso'd for the last shot, you can live with the results.

The bolded is what needs to happen but never will. Why? Because it's about $$$. Original intent was to allow small schools to compete. Now it's to make money. It's a shame because the tournament is not what it promises by it's namesake.... What would need to happen is for what happened in the first place. The true small schools (as designated by whatever enrollment number) would need to collectively 'drop out,' perhaps play in their own tournament. But that might be a bit far fetched.

Wasn't Wilson already hired by Bellevue and let go from the AD position for some reason? Also, I thought I had heard through the grapevine that Montgomery applied a couple years back and did not get it in favor of an out of towner after being led to believe he had the inside track, and there may have been some hurt feelings there...