ball_coach_4

He's not better because he's tall. He has more college potential b/c 1. he has a great skillset for a guy that size (that isn't on full display because of the kids around him, and the system) 2. Yes part of his potential is because he's taller than everyone else. They don't make a lot of 6'10"s that can walk and chew bubble gum, so when you have one that can handle the ball, has a nice jump shot, and check 4-5 positions on the court, you've gotten a player with a high ceiling (whether he reaches that is another story). Sutton does more for his team than probably 90% of the players in the state. I just gave Perry a close nod because he's done it against EVERYONE he's played, including #1 nationally ranked Montverde Academy. Not taking anything against Sutton because he didn't get the opportunity to played nationally ranked teams outside of the state, but it is what it is. I'm not arguing against any of them. If Sutton was #1 in Mr. B-Ball or Region POY votes (based on productivity), I wouldn't be mad at all.

Hey PP2 what does Danville look like this season? Do you know anything about them?

I heard about this last week, but here's an excerpt from article in Courier-Journal Saturday talking about the Butler vs. PRP game Friday. Senior guard Drue Wardrip came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points for Butler (4-11), which not only lost five of seven games over the holiday break but also six players, coach Rick Gibson said. PRP, the two-time reigning Sixth Region champs, jumped out to a 12-2 lead as all five starters hit at least one basket. Meanwhile the Bears, who started a freshman, two sophomores, one junior and a senior, missed five of their first six shots and also had seven turnovers in the first quarter. “That’s been our Achilles’ heel here lately,” Gibson said. “The last five or six games we’ve dug ourselves a hole and couldn’t get out of it. “That’s what I was worried about, our young kids getting that wide-eyed look, and we saw it quite a bit.”

The Hollingsworth kid for Dunbar is legit as well. I don't think he's as good as these top 3 listed yet, but one who will be a force for the next couple of years. Putting up huge numbers as a sophomore.

This may be one of the most exciting and unpredictable LIT's in recent history. I can't wait! I feel like there will be some unexpected surprises this week.

This is all true, but PRP doesn't have any good in state wins either, unless you want to count Bryan Station (who appears very talented, but is racking up way more losses than one would've expected). I say this because I've seen most of the teams in this top 20 list, and they all appear to be better teams. PRP doesn't pass the "eye test." I'm anxious to see how they fair in the LIT tomorrow, and the rest of the week. This will give me a better assessment, but I've watched them against Seneca and Butler, and though they won, they were wins against mediocre teams. PRP just didn't look impressive at all.

Sutton had 40 and 14 in that loss to Henderson County in Lexington! He almost brought them back to get that win single handily. I think he had like 12 in the like 4:00. Maybe in less time than that. The kid is a monster.

I believe that Sutton does more his team overall at this moment than Wright does. Wright has a better skill set (though Sutton's isn't bad at all, and he's taller), which is why he's a higher rated college prospect. as BlacknGold said though, Sutton does have better pieces around him than Wright. All in all this record is completely incomplete without Sutton (who I think should be in the running for Mr. Basketball this year) and Jalen Perry (who should be #1 right now for that award). The issue with Spalding is that yes, he is the best college prospect hands down in the state because of his potential (6'10" with a nice skill set, and good athleticism). But productivity isn't the same as these others on the list. Partially because he has 6-7 other college prospects on his team (in the senior class alone), and because he doesn't have that killer instinct that someone like Sutton has. If he did he'd be a lock for the McDonald's All-American game. But he doesn't so when ranking them I'd say he's number 1 (based off college potential), but he wouldn't be top 5 for Mr. Basketball to me this year based off of productivity.

7th Region: Jalen Perry, with Dwayne Sutton right at his heels 6th Region: I'll go against the grain and say Dujante Weaver number 1 (even though he's got more to work with, he's still the catalyst and carrying the top team in the 6th), with Richard Gaines a close second. In both regions, I think you could say 1a, and 1b to those kids.

I like Covington Catholic in this one. Maybe not by 15+, but by 6-10. Moeller played Taylor County tough, but from seeing them, they look to play up or down to competition at times (Taylor County). Covington Catholic is pretty consistent, and they pretty much do what they do on any night.

I'll take Western. I heard they kicked off like 6 varsity players, and are basically playing with a JV team. I don't know what happened, but it had to be something for the coach to basically gut his varsity squad.

I don't think PRP should be rated this high. I wouldn't rate them over Manual, Covington Catholic, Hopkinsville, Eastern, and a couple of others in this list.

Brandon Wells leads Central to an away win with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, a steal and only 1 turnover.

I was saying that Thompson and Wells were already all-region last season as sophomores. 2nd team all 7th region, but still all region players.

Very True!

Didn't Bell have some Division 1 interests when he was just a Sophomore at Butler? I remember reading about this in the Courier Journal a couple of years back. Did that falter? Kind of confusing to me.

Could anybody give some insight on Bryan Station? I saw them play in a preseason scrimmage, and they seemed very athletic and talented. How are they losing as much as they are? Lack of execution? depth?

Huge accomplishment for this young man. I love to see in state kids that can play stay in state. Glad that Pitino is starting to make that a priority.

Mercer by a wide margin.

Apparently so. LOL. I was thinking the same thing. Those schools may have been closed due to the cold though. I know most counties won't allow games if school was out.

Central 55% from the field. Manual 43% as well. Manual also had more turnovers. Only 3 more fouls. They were just outplayed, and Thompson went out for 3 minutes in the 4th with leg cramps.

I would agree do disagree with Manual having more talent 1-7. I think they had the best 2 players on the floor in Sutton and West, but their 2 - 15 really aren't that great. Now they play their roles and it makes them a good team, but I would say that Central had the next best 4 players (not even including the starting guard that's out). That one special player, and West carries the load, but the others I wouldn't deem that talented. Central does have two all-7th region players on it's team from a year ago in Wells (11 pts, 7 assists this game) & Thompson (19 points, 3 blocks), and they're only juniors.

I also think David Sloan (though he's getting a little pub from the KOB) is a little underrated. I think his skill set is unmatched in his class. He just doesn't seem to have a killer instinct every game yet.

The West kid from Manual is legit. He's overshadowed by Sutton (and rightfully so), but he's come into his own this season.

I couldn't agree more with 95% of this. He does treat them all the exact same. This can be good and bad, but he's no more controlling than a kid is going to get at the college level in a winning program. Coming to him can be a complete shock to a freshmen, or a kid that's never been coached that way. Like any coach, he gives players with the ability more wiggle room. Some kids you have to save from themselves, because they can't do what they or their parents think they can do. Some kids get frustrated when they get to his program (and understandably so), but what most of them don't understand is, as a 14-17 year old, they really don't know too much about basketball, and it usually takes a kid who's not used to that structure (which appears extreme) at home; til they get in college to realize that they're ahead of everyone else. I was at the game last night, and he had like 10 former players from recent squads at the game. They grow to appreciate that when they get to the next level. But I agree, he's not a fit for the average player who is just happy to play high school ball (which are a lot of kids). He's way too intense for a kid with that attitude, b/c he runs his program like it's a college program (which can be overkill for a bunch of kids).