GoHardITP

How about I change the thread back to who might be a potential candidate for the Male BB position.....just a wild guess, but would Coach Gatewood at Taylor County show any interest in returning back to Jefferson County? The Male job still has tradition and appeal. Coach Gatewood is from Jefferson County so it is not out of the realm of possibility. Now, leaving Goodin for his final season would be tough for sure. Perhaps a high level prep school would be a possibility for him and Sloan could simply move back to Louisville. I know Taylor County hates to think of something like this unfolding, but could it happen? I am just having a little fun with some wild guessing.

What I see the problem for Male BB in recent years is they are losing the best players from JCTMS and Barrett to other schools. You are correct that non-traditional middle school kids may not adapt to expectations around both curriculum and decorum. But those kids that attended traditional middle school know the routine and would do okay at Male. They just have chosen to go elsewhere. There may be talent at Male currently, but plenty of exceptionally talented kids from some of the best middle school teams such as JCTMS & Barrett have never stepped a foot in Male's door. Good example is Jalen Perry. The list doesn't stop there either.

I think Champ is the girl's coach there right now and doing very well this season. Male did seem to make the right hire with Wolfe in the HC football position. It is a critical hire and if Renner is not interested in reuniting with the former Ballard leadership now at Male then it is wide open. If he wants the new challenge, then perhaps he would be open to it. I am not quite sure I have followed the storyline about the AD position at Male. Is it a former Ballard AD that has just recently left Ballard? If so, then if Renner is passed over for the Ballard AD job, it would be perhaps a factor in looking at Male regardless if the Male AD position will not be likely open for a bit of time.

I actually could see that happening and then Eaves to Ballard...LOL

I have watched JTown several times and Brandon is just in a bad spot for his senior season because he lacks any supporting cast. On surface it is easy to suggest more kids need to be involved and the staff needs to develop them, but with the roster that is easier said than done. If you forced that now, the team would not win any more games. If you turn to Johnson and tell the other kids that we are going to ride him as far as he takes us it gives the best chance to win games. If I am an opposing coach and have to play JTown, I can only hope they will try to run a balanced offense with everyone getting shot opportunities. They would be fairly easy to shut down. If I have to stop and contain Johnson who has a free reign to take as many shots as possible it will require a major defensive effort to slow him down. He is good as you get scoring on this HS level, and he is a great team player when he is on a team with talent around him.

For the fun of it, who becomes a possible candidate???? I would have to think a name being mentioned or soon to be mentioned is Jerry Eaves perhaps. He is back in the Louisville community after moving on from a college Head coaching position in NC. I have no idea if he has any interest in HS coaching or not, but he would be well qualified and if he plans to stay in the area he could be the most high profile hire they could make.

What I heard from someone there is that PT had their frosh center, JJ Reed, playing behind Chris Vogt in the first half. Chris Vogt was exceptional either scoring or passing out for open shots once he got the entry pass. He was really unstoppable playing him from behind. From what I was told JJ's Dad got in his ear coming out of half and was on the front row the entire 2nd half encouraging him to get more physical and try to deny the entry pass to the post by getting in front of Chris Vogt causing a much more difficult entry pass from the wing. Again, just what I was told. Not sure if the PT coaches intended to play behind Chris Vogt the 1st half or made the change themselves at halftime. I just heard it was lucky the adjustment was made because Chris Vogt is going to hurt you if the ball gets inside to him as it was in the first half.

Before the Trinity fiasco I would have said Doss and probably only them. But all seems to have changed since then. Beyond the whole fight and aftermath, then Tyler Jefferson is off the team. Last night they only beat Iroquois by 3, 52-49. Iroquois has struggled mightily this season. So my answer would be that Doss likely wins the region, but will not make a deep run like they potentially may have if I projected a few weeks ago.

I love reading JokersWild's production as well, and hats off to him. But my situation is much different. What I said above you may not have understood, I was asked to help out and I shared what I knew were my limitations with full disclosure. If you can find a suitable replacement so you are able to be happy with 6th region reporting, then I will not fight giving up my pen. Sorry for not being able to give you more in depth, but I will try to do better.

We are closer to agreement with this last post of yours, but I would disagree that I used their age as an excuse in this loss if you read what I posted. I teased you a bit mentioning the freshmen status because of the sarcasm of your initial post, but not sure where you interpreted my response as making excuses. Anyway, these freshmen who played all season need to play like sophomores in the latter part of the season or the Fern Creek run will end rather abruptly come tourney time. If you look at posts from around the state and see the best freshmen playing it is often noted when mentioning them the fact of their playing as significant contributors as freshmen. Freshmen Jalen Johnson, Freshmen Steven Cager, Freshmen Andrew Taylor, Freshmen Steven Fitzgerald, and Freshmen Trevon Faulkner all are many times described with the "Freshmen" moniker. Check out the Ballard/Hoptown post from last night as an example mentioning Jalen Johnson specifically. It seems to get under your skin for some reason, when it is not that big of a deal to note it. Not sure you are the authority on Coach Schooler to be asserting what he thinks or wants since he doesn't even know you, but I agree he is not using it as an excuse nor have I used that for him. Freshmen will be inconsistent at times, but you get the good with the bad. Nobody appreciates a loss, but also agree that losses can be valuable teaching opportunities....as long as there are not bunches of them. Then it begins to work against confidence.

Considering you are the first and only to seem to voice it bothering to you, I will consider the source. But feel free to take it up with The Guru as I made it clear to him when I stepped up to help in a Region nobody else was doing so. I think you come across as bitter over something, but have no idea why that would be.

Since it is top of mind for you Coach Q.....obliged big guy. Big man for WA, Kyle Jackson, was outstanding on both ends of the court. The WA team was up for this game and played with way more emotion and effort than FC which is what makes HS BB exciting. FC lacked anyone stepping up big beyond Ahmad Price, one of those freshmen. He showed how special he is with what I suspect was at least 20 points or more. The other two and the rest of the team were off with their shooting. BTW...your feelings hurt in some way about these kids? Your negativity shows through your sarcasm and not sure why. It is not common in Jefferson County to see freshmen even play much, but to start and have three on one team start is unique enough that it is hard to recall when it last happened. Hopefully they fulfill their potential and give Fern Creek a trip to Rupp that has never happened in FC history before. At least they have 4 tries at it, but there will be losses along the way.

I have to agree with Doubletake that it is always best for opposing coaches to likely sit out the debate on other teams especially if the comments can carry the perception of sour grapes or stirring up trouble that simply does not exist. Every team that creates depth with their roster has to balance playing time. That said, the Travelers have a unique position because they play in the most elite and high profile HS league in the world in the NIKE EYBL circuit. During all the live periods, a vast majority of the country's best college prospects come together and battle it out in front of college coaches who understand they will be seeing the nation's best go at it. Younger kids who are playing up a year (16U or 17U) may be willing to sacrifice some minutes knowing the next season they are passed the torch and will be playing that major contributing role like the older guys in front of them. Playing in the EYBL gives you that luxury.

Dow is from Louisville and played his first two seasons at Ballard. He transferred to Mercer County for this past season. Elkins is from Boyle County.

I guess the same could be said about Tyler Ulis or Devon Booker too. With the right Coach and the right program those are not challenges, they are opportunities. Hollowell & Lovan will be learning the EYBL ropes from two of the best and then they get the torch passed on to them for the next year. Exposure in the EYBL is priceless when you are ready for it. Exposure cuts both ways, but that Coach will have them ready. Those two young guards have the potential be McD AAs one day, and playing in the EYBL will give them the stage to prove it.

Last year was the first year of transition to the new Coach so this is year #2. Last year was a tough transition with player/coach issues that surfaced which was not expected because the new coach was formally on the staff before he was promoted. It was difficult enough that those aforementioned players simply did not come back for year #2. Then there was another wave that were either kicked off or left around this past holiday season which may have been something they caused with their actions. At the end of the day the kids remaining are playing hard for their coach and although they may be less talented, the program has fewer distractions and everyone on the same page.

If you saw that team last year which I did, the players you would have expected to be returning and on the court are not on the team. Several never attended Butler from the beginning of the season such as the starting PG at Boyle County, Bell. Dunlop who transferred to Seneca and Eddie Murphy who is no longer at Butler were each players that would clearly have been expected to be starters or major contributors. William Johnson was the most talented player on the team who did start the season, but left during the Christmas break along with several other players who left mid season when Johnson did. So that is 4 by name and several others who were playing which was my point of the comment. If those players were there, they would have been expected to be major contributors.

Bullitt East is in a position to secure the #1 seed in district tournament play if they can win this game against district opponent Jeffersontown. In this district all four teams play each other a single time. Oddly, if Jeffersontown (5-15) wins this game they create a 3 way tie providing Fern Creek beats Whitefield Academy on this same evening. Every team would have beaten Whitefield and they all would have a 2-1 district record should Jeffersontown win. Bullitt East has lost 4 out of their last 6 games. Jeffersontown won their last game against Franklin County by 15 in a game that Brandon Johnson scored 43. Despite only 5 wins, they have played some good teams to close games. Bullitt East could win by 25 or the result could be a Jeffersontown win.

Two rivals face off in a game that could shape the district pairings. Butler is still staying in games despite losing a majority of their team that expected to be on the court this year. Western is hovering around .500 and figures to win this game.

One of the stats that I prefer when comparing how well a player is scoring for his team is Points/shot taken which highlights how efficient a player is over volume scoring. Not in every case, but it can be a really good comparison in evaluating the scoring capabilities of players on different teams. The PPG stat can be misleading because many of the higher PPG scorers play on teams where they have the green light shooting 20 plus times in a game. Maybe the coach prefers them taking a majority of the shots or their teammates are simply not that good at scoring. Contrast that with a balanced team made up of multiple scoring threats and you simply will not have a single high scoring player. If I am the coach, I prefer the multiple threat scoring team for several reasons, including the fact that players tend to be more happy playing on a team that one guy is not shooting the majority of the time. It would be interesting to see those stats side by side when presented.

Not a great week for the teams at the top of the 6th Region this week as 4 of the Top 5 teams lost games to opponents from out of the region. Only DeSales won and their 3 victories were over teams that were not on paper going to challenge them anyway. There is 3 weeks remaining in the regular season and the final remaining games give teams an opportunity to get on a roll entering the district tournaments. Top 10 1.) Doss Despite losing their only game of the week, overall it was a decent bounce back game after the really bad lost to Trinity which also was the site of the reported attack on the Doss Head Coach, Tony Williams, after that game ended. The bad news is Doss has lost two in a row, the good news is that each of those losses were to the Top 2 teams in the powerful 7th Region, Trinity & Ballard. It appears the potential fall out from the controversy that erupted from the post game fight that resulted in the arrest of a parent and player did not surface against Ballard. Doss made the game very competitive and only lost by the score of 76-69. However, it is likely the Doss team has also lost the services of Tyler Jefferson who is rumored to be off the team going forward. That will be a blow to the team as he was a dominating inside force and also had extensive big game experience. Doss has three games this next week, with the only competitive game being next Saturday when the play Dunbar in Lexington. They remain undefeated in regional play and are 17-5 overall. 2.) DeSales 18-5 with a 8-2 record in the region after 3 victories last week. Each of the victories were from outside the 6th Region and were expected on paper to be easy wins. DeSales moves up to the #2 spot this week, but it is more because of the losses PRP incurred versus what DeSales accomplished. The only game on the schedule this coming week for DeSales is against John Hardin who actually upset PRP this past week and could be a tougher game than what their record might suggest. 3.) PRP 13-6 with a 6-1 record in the region, but they lost 2 consecutive games last week and 3 out of their last 4 games which caused some thought to move them down further. However, who do you place above them at the moment plus they have only lost to Doss in the region which makes it hard to drop them any further for the time being. The team does appear to be struggling, but the loss to Covington Catholic came when PRP was missing their starting PG who had to sit after getting two technical fouls in the previous game. This week PRP plays an out of state opponent from Ohio and Moore HS as they attempt to right the ship. 4.) Fern Creek Fern Creek rises to 4th in the rankings with a record of 13-8 and 6-2 in the region. They went 1-1 last week with a split when they lost 63-65 in a close game to Waggener, while beating 13th Region opponent Knox Central in the KOB Showcase. Fern Creek moved past Bullitt East in the rankings this week, despite having lost to BE in their only head to head match up. That was a close game won in the final minute of play so these two teams are very close. They likely will play in the District Final to see who moves to the regional tournament as the #1 seed. The nod to Fern Creek is based on recent play as they have went 3-1 since the LIT. Meanwhile, Bullitt East has went 2-4 during that same period. Their respective 6th Region records also favor FC who is 6-2 while BE is 3-3. Fern Creek has two 6th Region games this week against Whitefield and Iroquois. 5.) Bullitt East After going 1-2 last week, the Chargers are now 14-9 and 3-3 in the region which is probably not where they expected to be at this point in the season. Quite a few of the 9 losses leave you wondering how they could have lost to what would seem lesser opponents. The two recent losses from last week were to respectable teams in Fairdale and Bardstown, but both of those losses were played at home. This coming week brings a huge district game at Jeffersontown where they could lock up the #1 seed for district play and they end the week at CAL. 6.) Fairdale Fairdale climbs up once again moving up to the 6th spot on the strong week where they went 2-1, including a big win over 6th Region foe, Bullitt East. They followed that with a 1 point victory in the KOB Showcase over Newport and prolific scorer Ethan Snapp. Their lone loss was to Jeffersonville, IN in their final game at the Showcase. They are now 10-10 and also 7-1 in regional play, with games against Atherton and Butler this coming week. 7.) Western Western switches spots with Fairdale after losing their only game of the week to 7th Region foe Central. They have a .500 record at 7-7 and 4-3 in the region. They have 3 games this week starting with an easy tune up with Walden and then play rival Butler. They finish the week playing Trinity so if they can finish 2-1 it will be a good week for them. 8.) Southern Southern stays at the 8th spot even though they went 1-2 to fall below .500 on the season with a 10-11 record. After a hard fought 68-64 victory over Shawnee, they suffered a blowout loss to Waggener followed by a closer loss to Eastern, 85-76. 9.) North Bullitt North Bullitt rises to the 9th spot after Whitefield Academy lost consecutive contests last week and drops out of the Top 10. North Bullitt went 1-1 in close contests losing to North Oldham and beating Bethlehem. They are 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the region, however it is hard to consider a higher ranking given their region losses are to #8 Southern and unranked Holy Cross. None of the teams they have beaten in the 6th region are ranked in the Top 10 either. THey only have 1 6th region game remaining when they play Bullitt East on February 13. Until then they really are not playing any significant teams to consider moving them up beyond the 9th spot they currently hold. 10.) Bullitt Central With a win last week over previously ranked Whitefield Academy the final spot goes to Bullitt Central who plays both Valley and Holy Cross this coming week in addition to LaRue County. All three games are on the road so this will be a good challenge for Bullitt Central to prove they belong in the Top 10. They are 9-12 on the season and 4-5 within the region. Top Player(s) Co-Players for the week are the Trio of Freshmen from Fern Creek- Ahmad Price, Anthony Wales, & Trey Hill. Against Waggener Trey Hill has 12 points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists and 2 blocks while against Knox Central Ahmad Price had 19 points and Anthony Wales had 15. Fern Creek has played a very competitive schedule starting the three freshmen and currently has 13 wins. In their last game they accounted for 60 % of the points, 50% of the rebounds, 70% of the assists and 70% of the steals. They form the nucleus of what many believe will be a strong Fern Creek team for the foreseeable future.

Newport blew a late lead, but Fairdale was mostly in control the whole game. Newport made a pretty big run to take that lead as they came from behind when Snapp got on fire towards the end of the game. Not sure, but I bet he got close to 15 of those 27 points on a run where he was spectacular. I was able to see Snapp for the first time and came away impressed with his shooting touch and ability to get separation. Up to the point he triggered that comeback I had a few doubts on his ability to score with really good athletic defense being applied to him in the man to man match-up as he struggled a bit for a good part of the game. But he impressed me with his scoring outburst when he took control of the game. Offensively he is spectacular at the high school level, but I am not convinced he can guard elite players. However, they have to guard him and it takes a lot to focus on stopping him. With the right system I can see him playing D1 somewhere. He will be bigger and stronger in time. He reminds me a bit of Stephan Curry coming into college with his quick release and thin frame.

I think this is a good way to end the debate if you get hung up about the impact on being held back for whatever purpose. Given he is not any older than most freshmen, consider him a freshmen for comparison purposes if it takes away the bias on hold back opinions. He still is competing well against several grades of kids who are still older than him, of whom also could be kids who were held back themselves. Hats off to the 15 year old kid competing well out there and making an impact for his team.

August and September birthdays are always the "swing" months for kids entering school, specifically kindergarten. Some parents elect to send those kids who have just turned five or will just be turning five to school which makes them very young for their grade. Others elect to let them wait a year and enter as they just turn six or will be turning six right after school year begins. These kids become the older group of a grade. In the case of these birthday months those that become part of the older group are not hold backs, such as the case of yourself. This thread started with the false assumption that an 8th grader playing varsity was actually 16. It was cleared up the 8th grader was 15, which as an 8th grader would be a hold back at some point of their academic career, but not unusual in the sense a 16 year old 8th grader would obviously be.

I truly am agnostic in this debate. As a coach I have had both on my roster and it would be hypocritical of me to be someone who criticize while taking advantage of it. As kids move up the ladder in grades, it becomes less and less of a factor. I feel it makes the biggest difference during the middle school years when some are hitting or through puberty and others have not even started. It is much easier to mention a grade a player is in because the roster usually defines it while their age is not really easily known. However, when someone is mentioning a young phenom who is an 8th grader or even freshmen and someone points out they are an older kid for their grade then I would not find that dissing on the kid. If it is true then it is an observation worth noting. Likewise if their is a freshmen who is very young and playing as a 13 or 14 year old it is equally worth noting. Having that extra year and someone pointing that out just gives a perspective that has impact. However, there is nothing wrong in my opinion for a parent to choose to give their young son or daughter that physical advantage should they choose to do so given it is within the rules. The abusers are those that fake birth certificates and the like who play kids several years older than they should be playing. There are those out there who do that.