QueenoftheSouth

I think Ellis is the best player and Coach Adkins is as good of a coach as their is in the 12th. They look like a completely different team this year with him at the helm.

Lincoln travels to Mercer tonight in a match-up of two top 5 teams (at least in my opinion). Who wins? If someone that knows how could post a poll, that’d be great.

Fair enough. We will find out in the near future!

I just don’t see it. IMO, the only reason this is even a conversation is Jeff Jackson. From a talent perspective Boyle should be the heavy favorite. As was mentioned by @LethalPG, Boyle’s guards makes this a really bad matchup for Lincoln. Plus, the size advantage goes to Boyle. Where are you seeing the advantage for Lincoln? How do you view it as an upset if Boyle wins? I think Boyle is top 2 in the region in terms of talent.

What a difference maker he’s going to be. I was very impressed with him in somewhat limited minutes and without him really factoring into their offense. When he is playing 26-28 minutes, look out! Once they integrate him into the lineup, they’re now a clear favorite.

Agreed. When both of their bigs are in, it’s becomes even more difficult. Boyle mostly relied on spreading the floor and having their guards try to create off the dribble (with a high ball screen at times). I’m just saying that Boyle has guards with an elite level of athleticism, and that they generally rely on their ability to beat their man off the dribble (or getting steals from their defensive pressure) for their offense. But DCA had an elite athlete (Dut) with a 6” height advantage guarding one of them, then had shot blockers waiting in the event that they did get in the lane. Everyone knew that going into the game. Simply creating off the dribble didn't work for Boyle back in December and it didn’t work last night. I’m just saying that when they couldn't rely on their guards to create points off the dribble, the result was a lot of standing. The times that they were able to create, I didn’t see kicks to shooters. I didn’t see movement off ball to get other guys involved and to get open looks. Those things are even more important against a team with the size of DCA.

St X just continues to get it done!

The new big kid for DCA had 16 rebounds? I’d like to know how many minutes he played because it couldn’t have been more then 3/4 of the game, maybe less. When they start playing him starter minutes, they’re going to be a much better team. And he only had 6 points tonight. I could see that going up a lot over the remainder of the season. He has a pretty stroke and moves very well. DCA’s movement in the halfcourt was much better than Boyle’s. Boyle has great guards that they rely on to create their offense. They had a spurt where they did create some points from their defensive pressure, but that was in a short window. Tonight they were facing a good backcourt that was backed up defensively by all that height inside, and they struggled with that. Their spacing and movement in the halfcourt was not what you’d expect at this point in the season. That was a glaring difference between the two teams in crunch time.

I expect DCA to win this one. I think it’ll take a strong shooting night from three for Boyle to have a chance. Quite a bit north of their 30% mark for the season, which is certainly possible. Also, Boyle thrives against teams with weak back courts and that’s not DCA. A series definitely goes to DCA, but Boyle has enough talent to beat DCA on a given night.

If Lincoln wins the 12th, Jackson should win coach of the year for the entire state! I just don’t see that happening.

Impressive win for the Warriors. They were in control throughout.

Is Boyle second in the district? Or did you mean tied for second? I don’t know how they’d be above Lincoln. I think Boyle wins this one easily. The talent discrepancy is just too large for it to be a competitive game. I still maintain that Boyle and DCA are the two most talented teams in the region. Boyle is wildly inconsistent but talented. Their guards are such a matchup problem and Seneca Driver is long and a strong rebounder. I look forward to seeing how they fare in their last 4 games (after tonight) because, while they’ve been on a winning streak, that stretch has been the weakest stretch on their schedule. Those 4 games will challenge them.

Boyle’s success is very much dependent on matchups, more than anyone else in the region. No one they play will have as athletic of a backcourt as them. But if the other team can mitigate that, and has other strengths, that’ can be a challenge for Boyle. They are a terrible matchup for Lincoln and it took Lincoln shooting almost 50% from three to get a last second win in the first game. Plus, if Seneca Driver plays the whole game against a team with as little size as Lincoln, he could get 20 rebounds! I look forward to seeing the outcome of Boyle’s game against DCA. It’s a much, much tougher matchup for them. I think it’ll be difficult for them to beat DCA unless they shoot very well from three. They haven’t on the season but have had games where that’s happened. Regardless, I still believe those are the 2 most talented teams in the region.

Although a loss, this was an impressive effort by Lincoln. They had a look at the buzzer to win it on DCA’s home floor. I really thought this would be a solid double digit win for DCA. I think this bodes well for Lincoln in district and region. I’m anxious to see what they do on Friday against Boyle, who had to fight to get a win against West Jessamine tonight.

I agree on those points, though I already think DCA is sitting at the top. This addition could be very helpful or could negatively impact chemistry. No way to tell until it happens. Pulaski with a healthy Fraley is a different team, for sure.

Good analysis once again. I agree that DCA is alone at the top at this point. Before the season, I thought Mercer had a legit shot of winning region, and definitely being top 3. If they can keep Barnes healthy, I think they’re trending in that direction. Barnes is paired with arguably the best player in the region in Ellis, and that makes for a great combo. And their coach seems to be doing a really nice job getting their other players to buy into their roles..

DCA has great rim protection and is solid defensively. But I think points allowed is largely a function of style/pace of play and isn’t a great measure of the quality of a team’s defense.

Newport only beat Sayre by a couple points in the first round. Based on that, I would’ve thought this final would’ve been closer. DCA has size and talent.

Two-thirds (24) of DCA’s shots were three pointers, yet they only shot 29% from deep. Am I reading that right?

I’m looking forward to seeing how this one turns out now that Fraley is back for Pulaski. I’m expecting a home win for Somerset.

I don’t want to speak for CAT, but I’d say the overall point is that the football workouts are not mandatory, meaning the kids choose to go; that they’ve been done like this for years; that the workouts are not to blame for the basketball team’s woes the last couple years; and that in fact the increase in speed, agility, verticals and stamina actually benefits the team on the basketball floor. If you got all that, you’re not misssing anything. I’m just surprised that this turned into such a big topic.

I’m not surprised at all. Looking forward to seeing how they do. Are they just (likely) the best team in the 12th region or can they make some noise against some really nice teams?

As a guy who follows the 12th region closely, I can tell you that Boyle’s football conditioning is not to blame for their sub .500 record over the past 2 years. It really only has a potentially negative impact for about 7-10 days in early January. Maybe. I do agree with what someone said above. It’s more about getting used to it. I’d say there’s a period in early January (when this all starts) during which the players are going to be sore and “dead legged.” But, as also said above, this has been going on for years. Since the basketball staff knows it’s coming, if they’re concerned about a negative impact (and I’m not saying they are), it seems they could have their guys easing into some lifting during the couple weeks (Christmas break) leading up to the start of of the football lifting. Issue avoided. Also, no one is talking about the good it does for these kids and, as a result, the basketball team. Every basketball player that plays football is getting stronger, quicker and faster over their 4 year career. Heck, if I were coaching basketball at Boyle, I’d be asking if my non-football guys could also work out and lift with the football team.

Yep, a nice win for the Patriots.

At this time of the year, they would not be mandatory workouts. That means it’s up to the players, so I don't’t know why the administration or AD would get involved.