QueenoftheSouth

I think that’s what it’ll take for them to beat Boyle.

Boyle vs DCA in the finals. DCA wins district, but it won’t shock me if Boyle upsets them. Mercer vs West, with Mercer winning. They seem to be playing better the last couple weeks and have certainly challenged themselves with their schedule of late. Pulaski vs Somerset with Pulaski winning, but it won’t surprise me if Somerset pulls it off. Southwestern vs Wayne with Southwestern winning.

Have to be able to knock down threes to beat them. The other factor is good size on the interior, and that size has to play a physical brand of ball. 6’6”, reasonably athletic and physical makes a big difference against them. Even better if that size can score as well. You saw that play out when Boyle County had a chance to beat them on Saturday - and the overall athleticism that Boyle has in general. The problem for Boyle is they don’t normally shoot that well but, if they do, I think they have maybe the best chance in the 12th of knocking them off in postseason play. DCA’s size and length is real but those two bigs aren’t physically strong.

Isn’t that what kept him out at the beginning of the season? Hope he didn’t reinjure the same one.

A really nice win over a top 20/25 Ballard team. You called it @se7ens whether you meant to or not! That’s a really good win, especially on the heels of having to play GRC just two days ago.

Agreed.

Pretty solid ranking. I’ll say it again. Boyle’s athleticism is unmatched in the region and is a huge advantage. Brown at times is as good as any player in the region (it’s a shame he wasn’t on the all region team) and Driver is a game changer as a rim protector and rebounder. And they have a lot more athleticism beyond those two. IF they make threes like they did against DCA, they can play with anyone in the region. The numbers say they won’t on a nightly basis but when they do, look out. I do have a question. Why would you say that Mercer should win all 4 games this week? Ballard and Adair are very good, top 20 level teams.

Coach of the Year nearly always goes to a coach of a winning/top team. And almost never goes to a coach of a sub .500 team. At any and all levels of sports.

Hey, I agree with you, but I’ve seen it screwed up by a coach or two in our own region. Not with 7 footers but good bigs. It does require making some adjustments on both sides of the ball compared to what they might have most years. Well worth it for sure, but some can’t figure it out. That’s a fact.

Yes, both things can be true at the same time. Having Ateny is a game changer, literally. And they wouldn’t be nearly as good without him. But also (like you acknowledged) the coach deserves credit for figuring out how to use both of them effectively. To have both on the floor virtually all the time and to turn that into an advantage. I’ve seen coaches that are too stubborn to adapt, married to a system (for instance have to play man) and wouldn’t have played them both together in a regular basis.

Sorry, that’s right. To answer your question, I agree with your assertion. I was conceding that point but then saying why I still thought he should be a finalist.

Totally understand your viewpoint. But last year they had Dut as well as these two. Granted, Ateny only played the last month of the season but he was their best player then. And they had a stronger supporting cast or at least what should have been. I think they should win the region based on personnel. But I will give him a lot of credit for having players understand their roles, developing the inexperienced guys and perhaps most importantly effectively figuring out how to best use that size to his advantage on both sides of the ball. Lots of coaches struggle to define and enforce expectations around roles. He did that very well. I can also think of some coaches who couldn’t or wouldn’t adapt to having two big kids on the floor at the same time. But he figured out how to not only do it, but do it effectively on both sides of the ball, and as a result make it a huge advantage for them.

Completely agree. Unfortunate for the kid but it’s the reality due to his health. Paige is a big miss IMO. Sure he’s not on a great team and better teams often share the wealth in terms of their averages. But he’s a kid that would perform well on any team in the region. He is a top 10 player and is deserving of being on this team. He chose to remain loyal to Danville and it hurt him. On the other side of it, with Mercer being the second best team, how do you leave Preston off? In terms of importance to a top team, he was critical. As was mentioned, they would’ve struggled without him.

I like both a lot. Tough call there as both are clearly the heart of their teams. The go-to guys for their teams, and they’re the top 2 teams. Ellis has had the better career but it’s hard to argue with what Boyd has done this year. Be interesting to see what the coaches say.

Busick or Atkins. I’d like to see Atkins get it because I felt that he got hosed last year. To me the turnaround he orchestrated at Mercer in his first year, even with the team having lost several seniors that played a lot of minutes, was an outstanding job. I know that’s last year but he’s done a great job this year as well and he’s certainly challenged his team by playing a great schedule. His resume says a lot about the caliber of coach he is. But I can certainly support Busick. I was expecting them to be in that 3-5 range to start the season. What he’s done by involving the bigs on both sides of the ball has been impressive. That said, the supporting cast has proven to be a lot more talented than most people thought, so that has certainly helped a ton.

Watching him last night, I’m excited about him going to UK. I think he’d get meaningful minutes on this year’s UK team. He moves well for his size and is pretty strong for a 7’1” kid that moves that well. And they’ll probably put another 10 pounds on him by the time the season starts. He anticipates well and is a good and willing passer. Just has a nose for the ball and has good instincts. I can see him as a good fit at the top of Pope’s offense.

It’s getting late for Pulaski. With this loss and their previous game loss to Mercer by 12, are they really top 3 in the region? I didn’t see either of these games but not the results I would’ve expected from them at this point in the season.

I watched this one and I think Moreno will make an immediate impact at UK. He looks every bit of 7’1” and has gotten stronger which I think is huge for him. I think he will be a good rim protector, interior defender and rebounder right away. And I think he will be just fine offensively as well, and that aspect will only get better with time. As far as him getting 20 boards, he stayed in the lane on defense. With his length and athleticism, and him rarely leaving the paint, it’s not hard to see why he would have 20 boards in that game. I think he averages about 15.

Somerset getting it going at the right time!

I always like the rankings that have the numbers behind them. They’re not perfect but are better than the subjective ones, especially in high school athletics as it’s just so hard for people to know enough about teams from across the state. On the other end of the spectrum is KSR’s rankings. They should stick to college athletics!

Not surprised by the execution. They’re a well coached team. That’s a nice win for Somerset. Everyone finally healthy for them?

I think it’s highly likely that its end up being Lincoln & Boyle playing to make the regional tournament.

And it was at Mercer! I’m really surprised by this one.

Not sure what’s controversial about what I said. That’s pretty much how coaches are assessed, especially the part about what they do in games they should/shouldn’t win and do their teams improve? All the other stuff I referenced ends up impacting those results IMO. Pretty common sense stuff and the results are what they are. Wherher I could do a better job as a coach is irrelevant. I’m not in that role and have no interest in being a coach. Instead, I like I assume you and most others on this site, are on here because we like to talk the game and often times have school specific interests. Coaching isn’t an easy job, just like officiating. But with both jobs, some are good at it and others aren’t. And both signed up knowing the public criticism that are part of those roles. Yet it seems that some people are very willing to call out officials yet more sensitive about holding coaches accountable. I know plenty of officials that say exactly what you said above. If you’re going to complain about the officiating, and you think you know so much, then maybeyou should sign up and give it a try.

First, Lincoln has some good players just not enough, and a big part of that is that they lack size in a region where the top teams are very big. To beat those teams, they have to shoot the ball extremely well, better than their averages. They have players that are capable of that, but it’s not going to happen night in and night out. And yes, they are well coached. That’s my assessment and it hasn’t changed. As far as assessing any coach, I don’t gauge them based on just wins and losses, and certainly not in any one game. I look at their body of work. As a high school coach especially, as far as talent goes, you have to play the hand your dealt each year. Then there’s strength of schedule they play that plays a huge role in winning percentage. And as far as winning or losing one postseason game, I don’t overemphasize that either. Yes, they upset DCA in the district championship last year only to get run out of the gym in their first regional game. So how do I assess the job a coach does? Look at their schedule. How many games do they lose that they shouldn’t, win that they shouldn’t, and do they take care of business in games they should win? Do they adjust what they do based on personnel year to year and based on who they are playing? Do the players know their roles and play with discipline? And does the team get better as the year goes? So any comments I make about the job a coach does is viewed through that prism. Not knee jerk reactions based on a single game, win or loss. But over the course of a season, then over the course of multiple seasons.